Mina reached her hand up over the top of the hole and grabbed what was most certainly a foot. She snorted a quiet laugh. How does he still manage to not have shoes?

A hand grabbed hers, and she was steadied as she climbed up onto the last rung of the ladder before being hauled up out of the hole in the city's street.

She glanced back down into the hole. This hardly feels real. "I imagine they'll not be too pleased that we've destroyed the entrance to their secret tunnel," she said flippantly. Those must have been breeding areas for the long-ears back there. I can only imagine what would happen if such a thing were to be publicly discovered. The common thought is that they're all brought back by the army after campaigns! This bears some thinking on…

"Oops," said Carl. "Didn't really think that through, I guess. Hope Lawrence doesn't get in trouble."

"He said he was quitting, so I'm certain he won't mind," she said, taking in her surroundings. He was quite the useful person to have. And he looked at and spoke normally with me, too. Perhaps the entire city isn't as rotten as I'd thought. Then again, he has been working at the Creature Marketplace for some time…

Mina continued to look about, taking stock of the small street they'd come out onto. This seems familiar. It couldn't be… "Is this the very same street I've left my steamcar at the end of?" Did Lawrence somehow know? He couldn't have, could he?

"Maybe," Carl said, sounding unsure. "They all look alike to me. All these buildings are pretty much identical."

Mina sighed. Yes, it feels as though the builders have simply given up attempting to find other means of constructing things. The entire kingdom has given up on any form of innovation. "I know," she said as she began to walk in the direction of her steamcar. "So unoriginal. And expensive, too. Did you know that we've mined nearly all of the limestone in the kingdom? We've even been importing it for the past decade, and it costs more to purchase the limestone to make the mortar now than it does to fund the entire rest of a structure's construction regardless of its size." And it's not even feasible to make larger buildings anymore given the astronomical cost of importing that much limestone.

"Why don't they just stop using bricks?" Carl asked, walking beside her. "Or use a different kind of mortar. Not like I'm an expert, but there's more than just, uh, limestone-based mortars, right?"

"I've never spent time considering it," she replied. Perhaps I should have. Reading about rocks is so incredibly dull, though. "But surely there must be a better solution. We've been constructing these same types of buildings for at least a century." Or, at least, that's as far back as I was willing to read in the brief period when I was interested in why brick was used so frequently.

"Look on the bright side," Carl said as they reached the end of the street, "I bet when we go other places they won't all have brick and mortar buildings. That'll be cool to see, right?"

"Yes, that's certainly true," Mina said. She spotted her steamcar and let out a small sigh of relief. I was a bit paranoid that someone would have absconded with it. I've never been out of the castle so late in the day. A thought occurred to her. And I do believe I would be much more worried if Carl were not here beside me.

They continued walking towards the steamcar while the girl who no longer regarded herself as being a princess considered a new avenue of thought.

"Hey," Carl called out abruptly, "uh, I know it's your car and all, but would you mind if I try driving a bit?" He rubbed at his beard as he stared at her steamcar. "I've never driven anything quite like this before."

Mina nearly stumbled at the question, then laughed as she looked over. "After all that talk of safety previously, I'd hope you won't mind if I pay careful attention to how you drive." And I intend to point out even the slightest maneuver which causes me to feel unsafe.

"You better," Carl said in a tone that made him seem put-upon. "There's gonna be a test."

A test? "Ooh, now you sound like a proper tutor," she managed to say in a teasing voice before her giggling overtook her as she pictured Carl as a tutor. I think the entire castle would be terrified of him. He'd be stomping around—probably still barefoot—and poking holes in everything accidentally with his spear. Coffee consumption would likely double as well. And if he encountered one of my sisters… The thought gave her an entirely new reason to giggle while she seated herself in the passenger side of her steamcar.

"Hoo boy, this is a tighter fit than I expected," Carl said with a grunt as the steamcar rocked from his additional weight.

The sight of the huge man trying to squeeze into the space between the seat and the steering wheel which she'd adjusted for her own use nearly set her off laughing once more, but an idea struck her. "Hm, perhaps I could make the seat adjustable." Just as quickly, however, she grew annoyed, and not for the first time. "I wish I had something to write on. I feel as though I'm forgetting a dozen new ideas every minute tonight."

"Seatbelts first, I think," Carl said as he started inspecting the area around himself. After a minute or so, he stopped and turned to her. "Uh, how do I start this?" he asked with a confused expression on his face.

Aha, this seems like a good opportunity to determine whether he's magically-inclined or more the warrior type. "Simply channel a small amount of fire energy into the reverse side of the wheel," she said. If he can use magic, it should be a simple matter.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Carl's face screwed up into a comical expression. "I'm kinda still learning how all that works," he said. "Any chance you can help me out for now?"

No magic at all, it seems. Fascinating. But that would mean that in order for him to drive the car, I would have to… No, that would be too cumbersome. There must be a way. Perhaps… She grasped the wheel as she considered it. "I've never attempted this," she warned. She began to create a small mana weave that was similar to the one she'd learned as a child to keep her hands warm on cold days. It only needed to be cast once in the morning and would persist for a very long time, but it had been tricky for her to learn because she'd had trouble regulating the temperature. If she stopped regulating the temperature, however, and then gave the resulting heat a direction…

She felt the weave take place and immediately felt drained, just as she always did when she used any form of real magic. No, spellcraft is simply not my strength. She leaned back into her seat while she began to recover from the sudden exhaustion. "Ooh, that was a bit more tiring than I expected," she murmured.

"What'd you do?" Carl asked.

She shook her head a bit, attempting to persuade her vision to become less fuzzy. "I pushed most of my mana into a loop that will continually draw fire energy until it runs out," she said quietly. "It's an extension of a simple use of magic I was taught to provide warmth on colder days, adjusted to provide significantly more heat along a vector." I imagine nearly anyone else could have cast it trivially and with no ill effects…

The steamcar suddenly moved forward without warning, and Mina smiled faintly at the proof that her magic had succeeded. I may be weak, but at least I'm not incompetent. She began rubbing the sides of her head in an attempt to make the remaining wooziness pass.

"Nice," said Carl in an approving tone while nodding his head.

She grinned. At least it seems to have been worth the effort.

He grinned over at her. "How long's that gonna last?"

"I've no idea," Mina said. Perhaps a day? Half a day? My capacity for magic is small, but manifesting heat from fire energy is one of the most efficient forms of magic. "I imagine it should last quite some time, though. Enough to carry us out of the city, at the least."

"You don't wanna drive out?" Carl asked.

The steamcar accelerated and began to move at an extremely slow rate.

Mina pulled her goggles out of her pocket. She felt exhausted, and not solely from the mana she'd just expended. The act of standing up to Reynard Arderne—to the city—had been unbelievably cathartic. When the auction caller had declared her the winner after she'd nudged and needled the father of the man who'd tried to blackmail her into becoming his sex slave earlier that day…

She wasn't sure she'd ever felt that good in her life. And then Carl had given her that approving, reassuring smile and ruffled her hair, telling her she'd done a good job… It was… It was almost like—

No, it was not like that. She pushed the thought away. "I think I've had about all the excitement I can manage for one day," she said. "I'm grateful that you asked, though." She felt the same warm feeling bubbling up within her that she'd felt when he'd ruffled her hair earlier and stomped down on it. Hard.

"Fair enough," Carl said.

Mina put her goggles on just in time to be jolted by the steamcar's sudden stop.

"Oops, those are a bit stronger than I expected," Carl said, sounding a bit embarrassed.

"Yes, I was able to have most of the chassis as well as the wheels inscribed with glyphs to increase their durability," Mina said with a touch of pride in her voice. "As such, I was also able to significantly increase the stopping power of the brakes without risking the integrity of the steamcar's components. The engine would otherwise surely explode from the pressure as well."

Carl grunted, then began to rub his beard as she'd noticed he tended to do when he was thinking about something. "You'll have to show me more how this magic system works sometime," he said soon after. "Um," he paused. "Is there a way we can go which'll have a long street without many people on the way out?"

An odd request, given that we're already fairly close to the nobles' district gate. But I suppose if we travel around to that street… "Turn right here. I'll direct you."

"Cool. I wanna see how fast this baby can go without accidentally throwing one of us out the side," Carl said as he drove away from the intersection, increasing their speed with a surprising degree of smoothness instead of the more jerky acceleration she was used to.

"Ooh, that's something I've always intended to test!" Mina said, feeling her excitement returning and her exhaustion fading. I wish I had some way to measure the speed of it! Perhaps I could create a device that would measure the rotational speed of the tires while the steamcar is in motion… "I'm not usually allowed to be out this late, however, and the streets are always so crowded during the day!" I can't imagine my mother ever permitting me to be out of the castle anywhere near sunset, even. If it weren't for that colossal wave in the afternoon, she likely still would have had one of the Royal Guard assigned to prevent me from taking my steamcar out at all! "Turn left here."

"Early curfew, huh?" Carl asked, taking the turn just as smoothly and slowing down enough that she felt hardly any of the pulling which sometimes made it difficult to remain seated while she turned. "Wait, is that from your parents, or—"

"I don't wish to talk about that," she said firmly. Not now, and not ever again. Isemeine Charus can die for all I care. The turn of her thoughts dampened her ebullient mood.

"Oh," said Carl, his tone apologetic. "Sorry."

Mina continued to direct him as she struggled to avoid dwelling on her past. She didn't want to be Isemeine anymore, but it was so difficult! The memories continued to come back, the thoughts of what she would have been doing tomorrow, and the next day, and the next week, the fear of the punishments and—

She tried to push all those thoughts away, but there were so many! She—

Carl's right hand shot up to grasp her left shoulder as he swerved to avoid an unexpected steamcar that had driven out of a side street and nearly collided with them.

Mina flinched at the unexpected touch and held her breath for a moment.

But it was just Carl, and she relaxed once more. His hand dropped away soon after, just as she'd expected it to.

"Now a right onto this street," Mina said at the appropriate time. "We'll continue along here for a short while." She looked up at him. "I must say, Carl, I do feel quite secure now while you're driving." Though… I suppose it's not solely because he's driving… She sighed.