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Welcome Home

The journey to Tab isn’t nearly as eventful as the first few days had been. The group saw no other people on the road for several more days after crossing the bridge over the river. Bao did want to revisit the old Bolbian he had first met along the beach, but when they arrived at the old seaside hut, there was no trace of the man. Keyon and Belos both agreed that the man valued his solitude more than anything. Even someone like Bao with no ill will towards him was too much of a risk. Maybe someday they’ll meet again, but if the old man has his way, it’s unlikely.

A few more days on the road and the countryside gets busier. They see the occasional farmhouse which gives them the chance to purchase better food. Sometimes Kikka and Katz have a chance to play with the animals while Keyon and Letz barter with the farmers. Keyon knows how to speak formally, and since Letz has worked for wealthy houses before, he plays the role of a diligent servant well. They can pose as wealthy travelers and get what they need without exposing the princess.

Maria doesn’t do any of the talking now that they’re meeting citizens of Tab. Her hood is pulled up for the first time since meeting Bao. They already draw enough attention, and they can’t risk her being recognized now.

Bao looks at their group again. It really is odd. A Half-Elf riding alongside a hooded woman. Bao acting as their Sosun bodyguard. All accompanied by a Bolbian slave, a Redmane servant, and a Zultanite and Strix child. They’d all better be on their best behavior.

Eventually, Maria lets everyone know that they’ll soon be approaching the walls of the city of Tab. They can enter the gates at any time during the day but doing so would likely cause a scene. Instead, she insists that they camp outside the walls and at night the guards can let them into the city.

“One more night!?” Kikka isn’t happy when the promise of a nice bed is so close, “I want to see the city so bad!”

Katz puts a wing over the girl’s shoulder, “Don’t worry Kikka, we’ll be there soon. Plus, you get to see the city walls at night. Lots of people choose to camp outside on the last night just to see the walls up close. It’s very cool, I’ve done it a lot.”

“Really? It’s cool?”

“Absolutely! The walls are giant and made of stone. Once your inside, you can’t see them as well so it’s best to admire them from the outside.”

Now Bao is looking forward to seeing these walls. From what he can gather, he and Kikka are the only ones who haven't seen the walls of the capital city before.

Sure enough, later that day the walls come into view, and they are even more grand than Bao or Kikka had imagined. Outside the walls, only farmland and farmhouses dot the landscape. There is nothing here to obstruct the view. Conversely, the walls completely block any view of inside the city. They are right up against the walls now, yet Bao still has no idea what this famous city looks like.

The group finds a place off the road to make camp while Keyon leaves to speak with the guards. Just like Katz said, there are many people preparing to spend their final night of travel outside. The group doesn't look out of place at all now.

Bao eyes the guards while Keyon speaks with them. They are wearing orange accented armor. Two of them are talking to him when one runs off in a hurry. He returns with an older guard in white armor and the three of them continue to speak to Keyon. They keep motioning and looking back towards their group. After some time, the guards finally leave, and Keyon returns to the rest of his group.

“Alright, it’s done. Don’t get too comfortable tonight everyone. The guard captain agrees with our plan to enter the city late at night. He certainly was surprised to hear from us though.”

“I’m sure he was,” Maria laughs at the idea, “It’s not every day their boss’s boss comes by unannounced.”

“That being said, there’s a lot of communication that needs to happen before the palace hears about us and makes the proper arrangements. Just because the captain was on board doesn’t mean that someone else won’t panic when they hear about you and send someone right away.”

“That’s a good point,” Bao chimes in where he can, “If your family hears about you, I can imagine they’d want to see you safe and sound as soon as possible.”

“Whoa you’re right!” Letz has an idea, “Do you think the emperor will come to get you?”

Maria laughs at the thought, “Oh no, no, no, I don’t think my big brother would come all the way out here just to pick me up! My big sister though, I wouldn’t be surprised if she tried to rally every free hand in the castle to come get me!”

“How many siblings to you have?”

“Well, there’s my oldest brother, the emperor. Then after him is my big sister Claudia, my brother Hektor, my brother Raul, then me. After that is my little sister Coco, and finally, my baby brother, Rico,” she pauses for a minute to count them in her head, “I have four brothers, and two sisters. There’s seven of us.”

“Wow! You have such a big family Maria!” Kikka is amazed at the thought, “Are they all as pretty as you are?”

Maria laughs at the awkward question, “I would say Claudia is the most beautiful of us girls, but Coco is definitely the cutest. I’m sure you’ll get to meet them soon. You’d love them!”

“Well don’t forget Kikka, your family is growing a little as well,” Letz motions to the rest of the group, “You have me, Katz, Bao, and even Belos now,” it’s easy for the Redmane boy to accept being a part of a larger family.

Kikka is not as excited though, “Yeah maybe, but Belos isn’t very pretty.”

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The Bolbian lost his mask during their fight with Arnit. He hasn’t been able to replace it yet, “Hey now, I’ll have you know that this face is actually considered very handsome as far as bugs go,” he leans towards the little girl to tease her a bit. Kikka gives out a scream that quickly dissolves into laughter and everyone else joins in the cheers.

The rest of their day is uneventful. Maria and Bao talk about life inside the city, Belos tries to keep a low profile, and the children play around the camp. Throughout the day Keyon speaks with the guards about any updates from the castle but nothing changes their original plan.

At night Keyon and Bao take turns staying up waiting for news from the guards. Bao is first but it's during Keyon’s shift that everyone is woken up and told to hurry through the guard’s entrance.

Bao knew they were going to make a discrete entrance into the city, but this almost seems like too much. When everyone is inside the guard house, they’re instructed to put on heavy cloaks on top of their own clothes. They pull the hoods over their faces so far that they can barely see. When they step outside into the city, Bao can’t even appreciate it.

It’s dark out and nothing can be heard except their own footsteps. He had expected at least some kind of reception at this point, but it seems everyone is more concerned about making it to the castle unseen first. They're hurried into two separate carriages and before the children are even fully awake, the group is riding through the city. Maria and Keyon are riding separately in the first carriage, while the five others are cramped into the last one. The children don’t seem to mind. They use each other as pillows and fall back to sleep on the bumpy ride.

When the carriage doors finally open, it’s disorienting. The last thing the group saw was the dark and dirty street at the gate entrance. Now, they are in a large brightly lit room filled with carriages with all sorts of decoration. When Bao steps out of the ride, he sees Maria and Keyon are also here. He was worried for a moment that they would be separated but it’s reassuring that he can rely on them to navigate this new experience.

Dozens of servants of all different races quickly start unloading their things as they are guided out of this large room. Maria and Keyon don’t pay them any mind so Bao isn’t worried about where their stuff will end up. They leave the room and walk down a series of small corridors. Bao is sure he has already lost his way. No sooner do they enter a large, decorated hallway when they're greeted by a dozen more servants led by a tall, beautiful woman.

“My dear Maria!” the woman rushes to the princess and greets her in a tight embrace, “I was so worried about you, when I heard you had arrived discretely at the gate I wanted to rush there immediately. Everyone said I should wait, but it was only when our dear oldest brother instructed me to do so that I finally give in.”

This woman is Maria’s sister? It must be her older sister Claudia then, but the two couldn’t look more different. This woman has fiery red hair compared to Maria’s gold. Claudia is also taller than anyone else in the room. She has a commanding stature that makes it easy to see her as a member of royalty.

“Thank you, Claudia. These last several days have been really hard,” Maria looks as if she is about to break down. She is finally home and only now beginning to feel a bit of relief, “I wouldn't be standing here right now if it wasn’t for each of these people with me. Especially Keyon.”

Keyon immediately bows before Princess Claudia, “Your highness, I was simply following my duty to Tab and to the royal family. I would gladly lay down my life if it meant preserving the peace of Tab.”

Claudia walks to the humbled soldier and places a hand on his shoulder, “Let's hope it never comes to that. Starting with me, this family owes you a great dept for your services. The kingdom thanks you. I’ll find a way to pay you back,” Claudia’s attention turns to the group from the other carriage, “And who are these, sister?”

“Claudia, this is Bao and his company. Each one of them had a part to play in me arriving here safely. The story is too long get into here. Let’s talk about it more privately.”

“Right, it’s late,” Claudia rushes back to Maria and hugs her tightly again, “I was just so worried about you. You all should get some rest. The servants will take care of your things and take you to the guest rooms. We’ll talk more in the morning.”

Everyone is led to their rooms. Bao, Katz, Kikka, and Letz are all taken to a large family room. Multiple luxurious beds line the room, and the children waste no time jumping into whichever one catches their attention.

“Aw finally a fancy bed! I’ve been dreaming of this for years!” Kikka snuggles under a fluffy blanket.

“I think you mean days. Do you even know how long a year is?” Letz is lying in the bed across from her. The two are too tired to have a back and forth tonight and drift to sleep once more.

“Is this really all of us?” Bao feels like their group has just been cut in half without any warning.

“Who are we missing?” Katz is in a bed with a window seat. He’s looking outside in thought, “The princess and Keyon both live here, they have their own rooms here.”

“That's true,” Bao hadn’t thought of that. For him, this was only one big stop on a larger journey. For the other two this was their destination. Bao looked around the room with him and the children, thinking about how Maria described them as “Bao and his company”. When they leave the city, it really will just be the four of them. The four of them... and Belos.

“Where is Belos at? Didn’t he follow us here?”

“You didn’t really think the capital city would allow a Bolbian inside the royal palace, did you?” Katz’s question borders on demeaning, “You took a Bolbian as a slave and brought him to the most heavily guarded building in the kingdom. He’s probably wherever the other slaves sleep.”

“Wait, that’s not-” Bao starts to feel guilty that he even brought Belos here in the first place.

“You thought you could play the system? Please, the Bolbain knew what he was doing, but you? ‘In name only’? Yeah right” Katz isn’t in the mood to say any more. He pulls the blanket over his head and leaves Bao to his confusion and guilt.

He was naive in thinking that things would be different if he was the one who took a slave. The truth is the system runs apart from whatever he would like it to be. It’s much bigger than any one person. That doesn't mean he needs to accept it. It only means they might not stay in the city nearly as long as he had hoped.

Tab, the capital city of the nation of the same name. This is the home of Maria and Keyon. Bao already knows those two hold rigid beliefs, only now he is realizing that everyone in this entire kingdom must hold similar ideas. How many people live in this city? Hundreds? Thousands? More people than Bao has ever seen before. Yet right now he feels more isolated than ever.

He’s already seen Keyon and Maria concede on some points. There’s some encouragement in that. Maybe he can’t change the minds of everyone in the city, but he can influence those around him. For now, that will need to do. Bao tries to adjust to the sensation of this strange bed and fades into dreams.

“Welcome home Maria. Welcome home Keyon.”

High in the palace everyone begins to fall fast asleep. In truth, Belos never made it past the carriage room. There is no possibility he would have been allowed inside the palace. He was not instructed by any authority, but he’s done this many times in other residencies. He works quietly with the servants and slaves to unload his group’s belongings. When things are finished the servants go inside to their quarters. Belos follows the slaves outside to their own section of the grounds.

The slave quarters are modest but probably the best in the kingdom by virtue of being at the palace. It’s certainly better than sleeping on the road. It’s inside, relatively not cold, and safe. Tomorrow, he will attend to the chores with the other slaves and if Bao leaves the palace, someone will come get him. He is in the palace, he knows he will have a giant target on his back. All he needs to do is keep his head down and work diligently. Anything more than that could get him killed. He should be able to manage a few days like this.