27.

They looked like ants before the ridiculously large metal gate that stood before them. Florian could walk and stand on his own. He no longer needed to be carried. He regained most of his strength a few days ago when they had been making their way down the mountain. His torso and left shoulder still felt a bit weird but all in all, he felt as if he had been back to normal. Well, as normal as he could be. His mind had still been riddled with questions. At the forefront was Alaric's declaration a few days ago. He and Ashe begged Alaric to explain but he just ignored them. He could tell that Ashe was hurt by his words. And then there was Alaric's insane plan of assassinating the king. A plan that he would not be a part of. Florian did not know what to feel. One part of him wanted to be angry at Alaric and he had been angry for the longest time. He had been angry ever since Alaric protected them at Diable Island. The other part of him was sad for Alaric. He had been his brother for as long as he could remember. He couldn't let Alaric die, there is still so much he wanted to know and only Alaric could tell them. Florian had a feeling that everything would get revealed in the city that they were just a few steps away from entering. He stood at the front of their small group. Ashe stood next to him, she had the same expression she carried for the past few days. Her eyebrows were furrowed. Close behind them walked Everard and further back Savia walked alongside Alaric. Both of them had their hoods up. The soldiers that had been manning the gate looked at them suspiciously. He was about to walk through the gates when the soldiers stopped him. This caused Yago to growl at the soldiers.

"Sorry sir, I cannot allow unauthorised figures into the city without proper identification," one soldier said.

Alaric walked up to where Florian stood. He pulled his hood down.

The soldier looked at him.

"Excuse us, but you will have to let us through," Alaric instructed.

"We don't have to do anything!" Another soldier exclaimed with his hand placed firmly on his sheathed blade.

Alaric chuckled, enhancing the soldier’s unease.

"You cannot kick us out when you have been looking for me this entire time."

The men did not speak, instead waited for Alaric to explain.

"Send a message to Great Lord Ivo. Alaric, the man he has been searching for is on his doorstep."

Florian thought he heard one of the soldiers gasp. This was another reason to be angry at Alaric. He never shared his plans with the rest of the group. This had been the first time Florian had heard that people were looking for him.

"Um…Lord Alaric. You are still alive. I am afraid Great Lord Ivo is not currently within the city. But I have orders to escort you to the castle." The soldier that threatened them at first said.

"Do so then. We are fatigued from our travels."

The soldiers seemed to hesitate but immediately got to work.

"We will have a carriage ready for you shortly." The soldiers yelled.

After the soldiers were out of earshot, Alaric turned to the group.

"We will be safe, no one will try anything as long as you are with me," Alaric said.

"You said you were a nobleman but you never said you were someone of such great importance. To be personally escorted to Great Lord Ivo's castle. Who are you? His secret lovechild or something?" Everard questioned.

"Wouldn't you like to know, boy?"

Everard scoffed.

"Regardless, we just have to wait in this city for Ivo to return, then you four can be on your way to Meinspir."

Florian looked toward Ashe. Her scowl grew deeper.

"On a first-name basis with a Great Lord. Is there something I am missing here?"

Everard's question was met with a glare from Alaric.

"Do not act as if you are not hiding things from us, boy."

Yago growled at Alaric mirroring Everard's glare.

The carriage arriving broke the building tension.

Florian dragged Ashe into the carriage. It had been spacious inside and the cushions had been comfortable. Unlike the rocks, they have been sleeping on within the mountains. Next to enter the carriage was Everard who helped Yago. Savia entered next and finally Alaric. Once everyone was settled in, the carriage began to move into the city. The carriage had been pulled by two armoured horses which were controlled by a soldier. The streets bustled with people, all of them wore luxury garments. Men were dressed in suits and the women in dresses. Everyone held an instrument that blocked the rain from ruining their clothes. He also noticed that despite all the rain the streets were mostly clear of puddles. All the water flowed on the slanted roads into small slits alongside the road. The soldier who drove the carriage spoke up.

"Impressive isn't it? I assume it is the first time you are visiting our city. It hasn't always been like this y'know. Adhu Aqua was always flooded with water y'know. That's til our previous Great Lord developed our anti-flood system, y'know."

Florian wondered how many times the man could say 'y'know' in a singular sentence. But no matter how he looked at it, the city was incredibly impressive. Tall buildings, immaculate streets and people that seemed to be wealthy if their clothing said anything. The driver gave credit to the previous Great Lord, which was not going to go well for Alaric. He glanced at Alaric and there it was, he had been scowling. Florian continued to sightsee. He was not fond of new places as Ashe was but he could respect when something was incredible, and this city was nothing short of it. A few people glanced at their carriage but most ignored them. The people seemed happy.

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"Y'know being from outta town, you musta heard the stereotypes of us Aquians, y'know."

"Stereotypes?" Florian asked.

The driver chuckled. "Y'know how they say, the people of Adhu Aqua act as if they know it all, have it all and spend it all. Y'know."

Florian did not know what the man was explaining. Alaric explained further.

"Other than Meinspir, Adhu Aqua is the most affluent of the Great Cities. Everyone who lives here has a lot of sentz. Due to that and the great business education that is taught within the city, the people here get a bad reputation. While most are the fault of the Aquians, some are just unfair comments."

"What kind of comments?"

"They think we think that we are better than them, smarter than them and more elite than them. But as I said, the Aquians do not do themselves favours."

The driver chuckled at Alaric's last comment. "Damn straight we don't."

"There is also another reason that most hate Aquians… This city has a reputation for producing some of the most powerful casters in the history of Hominus. Many kings from the past such as King Balthander came from Adhu Aqua. Naturally, this makes the other cities quite jealous. Especially, Cognizance" Alaric explained.

"Doesn't help that they are our neighbours y'know. Damn Coggies think that the frozen palace got anything on our city, damn crazy they are y'know." The driver was cackling at that point.

Ashe leaned to whisper something to Alaric. Ashe's scowl got deeper at Alaric's response. Florian assumed that she did not like the answer.

The light in the sky was dimming as the carriage finally stopped before the castle. It had been a long journey to the castle. The ride was not quiet however, the driver who was named Ballack kept talking and explaining things about the city. He went through the different power struggles and even the best places to eat. Much like everything else in this city, the castle made them look tiny. The entire castle had been made of stone, the roofs were spiked upwards like all the other buildings. It towered over the rest of the city. It had even been built on an elevated plane. Green banners broke the grey of the stone. There were large gardens that sat out in front of the castle. They had been currently tended to by dishevelled looking people. Unlike the citizens, they had been wearing rags. It suddenly clicked with him that they were mysurs. Of course, there would still be those that were getting taken advantage of. A soldier dressed in armour met them in front of the castle. His armour shone in the fleeting light. His armour had green accents. He had sharp blue eyes and kept his hair trimmed short. His face had been hardened and his jawline was strong. Florian could tell that the man had been glaring at Alaric.

"Lord Alaric, you have been missing for sixteen years. I'd have never assumed you would show up, you must have heard Great Lord Ivo's call." The soldier said.

Florian could tell from the man's tone that he did not seem happy.

"Your Great Lord called for me, it is well mannered to do as he says. You do not simply disobey a Great Lord." Alaric said.

The soldier turned to walk towards the castle, their group followed close behind.

"Col Gregory, second commander of 'The Eyes'. I shall oversee your stay until Great Lord Ivo returns."

"Alaric Burchard, son of-"

"Son of previous Great Lord Jerial Burchard, there is no one in this city that doesn't know who you are." Col interrupted.

Florian heard Everard gasp.

"I guess, I thought you all thought me dead," Alaric claimed.

"Most do, Great Lord Ivo however never stopped searching for you. Where have you been all this time?" Col glanced at them.

"I have been around. Only heard of the call recently. Figured I would make a turn."

Col scoffed at Alaric's remarks.

The rest of the walk was done in complete silence. They stopped before the large wooden doors that were manned by two soldiers. At Col's presence, the soldiers gave him a salute and opened the doors. The small group entered.

"The place has not changed since Great Lord Ivo's ascension. He ordered that every room remained the same. He was very particular about that."

Florian stared at the infrastructure within the castle. Beautiful was an understatement. The floor was covered in rolled out carpet, paintings covered the walls and the vast amounts of ornaments were streaked in gold and silver. There had been many soldiers patrolling the hallways of the castle. They all saluted Col and glanced at the small group following him. Mysurs could be seen cleaning at various locations in the castle. He looked toward Ashe, her eyes sparkled as she scanned every nook and cranny of the castle. It hadn't settled in that this was Alaric's home before he was at Diable. This was way more luxurious than anything he had ever seen in his lifetime. Col led them to a room that had a long table that was surrounded by chairs. Mysurs came from a different room carrying large platters of food and began to place them on the large table. The mysurs bowed at Col once the food was placed. He did not miss the look of disgust on Col's face as he nodded to the mysurs.

"Never understood why but Great Lord Ivo always had a soft spot for the powerless," Col said.

Florian frowned.

"I understand why, but that is only something Ivo can tell you about," Alaric said.

"Eat up here and afterwards I will have some of my men escort you to your rooms," Col ordered. "Lord Alaric, do not assume you know anything about Great Lord Ivo. You know nothing about this city, not when you abandoned it. The Heir of Adhu Aqua abandoned its people when tragedy befell the city." Col turned to walk away.

Alaric laughed. Everyone in the room looked at him. "You know nothing. None of you does. Not what's about to happen nor what happened sixteen years ago."

Col stopped at the door, he didn't turn to look at Alaric.

"I was just five, a scared kid. That no one bothered to check on. I was held up like an idol, their hero's only son. But no one truly cared about me. Do not speak when you know nothing, Commander."

Col left after Alaric's admission.

Florian had never heard any of this before. He wondered how long Alaric bottled all his problems. No one spoke until Alaric's next words. "Let's eat."

The food was delicious, fantastic, any superlative that could describe the bliss that the food brought. After surviving on dried fruit and nuts for days, this was a great change. There was a wide variety of meats, vegetables, fruits and bread. Ashe, Florian and Savia were stuffing their faces while Alaric and Everard ate more calmly.

"Is it true?" Everard asked.

"Yes, Jerial Burchard is my father," Alaric stated.

Alaric placed down his cutlery and looked at them.

"Leave at first light, this city will not be safe for you four," Alaric warned.

Florian looked at Ashe who met his eyes. They had not said a word.

"No."

It had been Savia who spoke. Florian had not heard her speak so loudly before. It seemed as if Alaric was surprised at her as well, his eyes had been wide and his lips were parted.

"Do not be st-" Alaric was interrupted.

"I will drag your lifeless body from this city if I have to, but you will be with us when we leave for Meinspir," Savia said.

Ashe laughed first, then Florian.

"You plan to die here, fine. Just do not expect me to idly follow your death wishes." Savia continued.

Alaric sighed. "Do what you want."

They began to eat once again.