I thought it was ridiculously we were talking three carriages this time. Apparently, they considered a fourth but elected to go with just three. I quickly realized why, though. The Princess had sent five of her own servants to help us with things. The knight commander brought three knights as well; the captain and two rode on horseback, while the last rode in a carriage. In addition, there was Alyssa, William, Lady Evelyn, the goblin, and myself. Which made another group of five. Three coachmen, a priestess, and a scribe completed our group. Nineteen in total.

  Utterly ridiculous, with Lady Evelyn counted among our fighters who gave us seven. That felt like overkill. Also, with three maids and two butlers seemed way more than necessary, but when I paused to think about it, I realized that the difference was clear; Lady Evelyn and I were likely not going to be expected to lift a finger.

  I got inside the middle carriage, and Alyssa and William joined me before Lady Evelyn. The carriages we got from the king were way nicer and had soft seats, but they were only intended to sit four per carriage, which was another reason we needed three of them.

  As soon as the door closed and we began moving, Lady Evelyn flickered her finger. “Stille Verursachen.”

  The silence spell, I sort of expected it, but not so instantly. “Something the matter?” I asked.

  “This is not how we should set up the carriage, so we will only get this one chance. Alyssa and I belong, but William will be riding with the boys after this. So, William and Alyssa, do you wish to continue serving Julia? Because I will be asking for your help if so. But know that what I am going to discuss doesn’t leave this carriage.”

  “I am ready to serve,” Alyssa said as she straightened her posture.

  William hiestated. “I am willing to keep this meeting a secret even if I don’t agree with what is said.”

  Lady Evelyn nodded. “Sir Beladone. I don’t trust him. And I would advise you both act cautiously around him.”

  Alyssa gasped. “But, sir Beladone is a knight commander? You think he is guilty of treason?”

  William just looked intently as he waited for an answer to that question.

  “No, no, nothing like that. Sir Beladone is a fine knight commander. While his personality leaves much to be desired, even that I wouldn’t be too worried about under normal conditions, the thing is. He values Anlage above all else.”

  William chirped up. “Isn’t that exactly what he should be doing?”

  It seemed reasonable to me, but I didn’t comment for the moment. I could already feel the tension in Lady Evelyn at that question.

  “Not when it may reduce Julia’s status. Maidens don’t come, but every few hundred years, that means no one alive today, except perhaps the oldest of elves have seen one. It becomes more of an abstract idea. One he would not place above the country. But a Maiden serves the world. And while Anlage is my home as well, I would never want to see it harmed. Julia was chosen by the gods to save the world, not Anlage.”

  “What you're suggesting is treason!” William shouted. Not that anyone outside the carriage could hear.

  “Yes, but that is the point. If Beladone is going to betray the Wind Maiden and make it harder for her to save the world, then that means he is going to be an obstacle that makes it harder for the Wind Maiden to save Anlage. I trust the Wind Miaden and the divine more than Beladone. But I am not asking you to do anything active in the sense of direct treason.”

  “What are you asking then?” William said, rubbing his chin.

  Alyssa was just looking down for the moment.

  “Be wary of the knights he brought. They will likely be watching Julia like a hawk. Anything they can use against her. I ask that you not aid him and, if possible, hinder him.”

  Alyssa looked at me and then smiled. “I shall swear it on my honor as an Anlage knight.”

  “But the king could have asked the knight commander to do that. Even interfering would lead to treason and possible execution,” William said.

  “I-”

  Lady Evelyn put her hand out. “The Wind Maiden is divinely chosen. If you are not ready to die for her, then you are a failure as a knight, and if you would die for her. Dying by a monster’s fang, a bandit's sword, or a stupid king’s ax should make little difference. If you can handle it. You can ask her to reassign you.”

  He paused for a moment, then nodded. “I will try my best.”

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  “Good,” Lady Evelyn said before looking at me. “Now, Julia, what is this issue you have with Tessa?”

  “Its just kind of creepy, isn’t it?” I asked.

  “It?” Alyssa asked, tilting her head. “Tessa is a girl, is she not?”

  “Very rude,” Lady Evelyn said as she let out a sigh. “I will try to keep her out of your wagon for the first couple of days, but she is leaving her duty to observe the Anlage King’s actions in order to observe you. And she has already declared herself your ally. Being rude to her would be the absolute worst thing to do.”

  I gripped the hem of my skirt. “I didn’t even realize I said it like that.”

  Lady Evelyn rubbed her temple. “Well, as I said, I will try to keep her away for a bit, but we are going to have to work on that and soon. Losing the support of an entire nation would obviously be bad.”

  I nodded. “I understand.”

  “Oh!” Alyssa said suddenly. “You only mentioned the knights. What of the maids from the Princess?”

  “I shall worry about them, so you can treat them as you normally would.”

  With that, the silence spell ended, and we continued down the road, a much smoother one in this nicer carriage.

  We ended up stopping for lunch at the edge of the western gate. Lady Evelyn had set a messenger last night, so they had the entire west room of the building cleared out for just us. It was a strange idea to consider. I guess the bath got cleared for us too, at least with nineteen, we nearly filled up the space.

  It felt a bit unnerving to think of the knights looking for me to fail, but it just reminded me of when I first met Lady Evelyn; she had been clear from the first day that I would need to keep up my noble mannerisms at all times. The meal was simple compared to the castle, just roast chicken and some greens, but it was filling all the same.

  Back on the road, William got into a different carriage to protect the boys, the scribe, and the butlers. Marie, the head maid or my new head attendant, got in my carriage in place of William. She had short hair, just barely below her shoulders, that was black and glossy, with a little brown sheen underneath. She seemed polite, but it was too soon for me to make any judgment about her true character.

  Apparently, it would take us a few days to get to Trent. Since we were in the northern part of the nation, where the bulk of the large cities were, the roads were maintained and guarded, so there was really no hint of an issue along the route. I wished I could say it was boring, but Lady Evelyn wasn’t about to let me slack on my training. I thought I had become a good reader, but she said I was more at the level of a thirteen-year-old noble. Not good enough for the academy yet.

  We actually stopped in Fluss briefly, and I was able to pick up some letters there. It was gonna be the best place to do so for a bit, since the average village didn’t contain a guild. Lady Evelyn also picked up a package herself, but she didn’t even bother to open it.

  Dear Julia,

  Mom here. You aren’t getting lazy, are you? Sounds like the capital has way too many people to need my daughter. Hopefully, that just means you will be done and home soon.

  Dad here. I did some carvings of the scale you said the capital was. It is hard to believe something that big exists. You aren’t scared, are you?

  Sally here. I can’t believe you missed harvest! And you aren’t going to make it back for winter packing? That is so mean! These people are mean! You are going to be back for my birthday, right?

  Sandra here. You know all the letters! Dang! Your amazing big sister! I am gonna try to work hard and catch up.

  Allen here. Aww, but why can’t I have a sword? You are bringing back something cool, right? What spear? I heard knights use spears with, like, axes and other things on them, and they are way different from the kind we use. I would settle for one of those!

  Mom here. Don’t worry about Sally; she will get over it. Just be safe, okay? And come home soon.

  Love, your family

  I smiled. I was a bit sad, to be honest, and they didn’t tell me how Roger was doing! If I wasn’t going to hear from them for weeks at a time, why would they forget about Roger? I could see out of the corner of my eye that Lady Evelyn was watching me. If I showed too much emotion, she would probably make me wait to read the letters, so it was really important that I kept my face under control.

  Sally, I am sorry. Your birthday, though. It was in the spring, early spring. I'd better be home by that time. The royal capital was far to the north, and Hatula is to the southeast. We were traveling west near the border, visiting all the villages. This was mainly a chance to give me more time to learn with Lady Evelyn. Once we reached the western villages, we planned to travel south and then east.

  Taking out any sort of delays, the trip alone should take about a month or two. Which might be cutting it close for winter packing, but I should be able to make it. But with the marriages, I didn’t know, and I really didn’t want to make a promise to my little sister that I couldn’t keep.

  “We will be coming to Ziegel soon, it is the last city before Trent,” Lady Evelyn said. “We will stop there for a proper bath and to top off our supplies.”

  “We have to hit the wall while we are there! They have the best food they will have all year during the first two weeks of autumn!” Alyssa chimed in. “I haven’t been to the Ziegel wall in like five years. We can, right?”

  Marie snickered a bit but remained silent otherwise.

  “I suppose,” Lady Evelyn said. “I never had the autumn wall festival food; I suppose that is worth a minor detail.”

  “Really? You haven’t? Oh gosh! You are in for a real treat! It is the best!” Alyssa said as she began humming.

  “Wait, so you visited Ziegel often?” I asked.

  Alyssa shook her head. “Oh yeah, multiple times a year. It is only like a two-day walk. The roads are well paved, and there are enough carriages going back and forth that even if you got hurt, you’d probably only need to wait a day to get help. Everyone in Trent visits Ziegel a few times a year.”

  Interesting. Well, I guess I was finally going to see part of the culture that Alyssa was raised in. I smiled softly. I was actually kind of excited.