We walked along the road at a brisk pace, close to my maximum. Our destination was the dock south of the next town down the Kren River, Retbyrg. And we had to get there before dark, so we circled the city walls to save time. Lucky for me: I was more than happy to walk through the meadows. They were so much better for my paws, and walking felt like flying again. Just outside the south gate of Retbyrg was another quay, where the Kren joined the only slightly smaller Igul River. This allowed larger boats to travel from here. They were bigger than the ones at Krenburg but still shaped like a box, with low sides and a flat bottom and a slanted stern. Each could carry three horses. I would travel with Prince John in the first boat, the three clerics in the second, and Larina and the guard in the last.

Getting the horses into the boats with their low freeboard could have been a challenge. But the people here had a clever solution. Two long poles were fixed to each side of a boat but a rope under the boat and people stood on the poles at the quay to counterbalance. Now Prince John led his horse onto the boat with no risk of capsizing, in fact, the boat not even swayed at all. The horse lay down and I could take my time to balance it out. But even with the Prince on my side, there was a tilt: his horse was heavier. ‘No need to diet yet, countess,’ I praised myself. The other boats were quickly loaded in a similar way.

Now the poles were needed for the original function. They were the steering tools for the stakers, on for each boat who stood at the stern. Using his pole, he pushed us into the current and held us there with it. We were on the river just as the sun was setting. That way we would travel at night while we rested. At least that was the plan.

While our staker on his plank at the bow was busy getting the boat into the current, the prince unpacked his supper. I just took a head of cabbage out of my saddlebag. Today I sliced it nicely, as the knife was next to it, and well, I was eating with a prince. Of course, we did not share: I would not have eaten raw cabbage back then as a human, and the prince unwrapped a pastry that looked very nice if not for the strong smell of meat. In retrospect, I should have asked the kitchen for some vegetable pies. But cuddling with Freya had been important too.

I lay on my back, chewing my cabbage, watching the sky turn dark blue and the stars appear. It was a warm, cloudless summer evening. Before it got completely dark, a three-quarter moon rose. That meant the staker could push us all night.

Lying there, I wanted to cuddle with Count Radel. I missed Freya for her steady talking and warm friendship. But without the count, I felt incomplete. He was probably camping somewhere out there on his way to Karenburg, looking up at the same starry night sky as me. I sighed deeply. And long, given my large lungs. Thus, the prince did not miss it. "Dear Countess, what ails you?"

"Count Radel." I sighed again.

"So the rumours have substance?"

"Prince John, yes, Count Radel will marrying me. He going Karenburg for parents. I fear they hearing I am beast. Prince, John, when looking me, what seeing?"

"Honestly, countess?"

Of course! I nodded, “yes please.”

"You are an interesting mystery. At first, I was not amused when Vice-Administrator bestowed upon you the title of Lady. I thought he was using you as a practical joke to send a message to the nobility. And of course, I was disappointed when you beat me in the race. But that impressed Count Larel so much that he declared you his heir, which not only surprised me but got me thinking. It was highly unlikely that both Vice-Administrator and Count Larel would join forces for a practical joke. And you were unaffected by your titles, you didn't change, as if you didn't care. In this respect, you are a good match for Count Radel. And now hearing your confirmation, so you have fallen for him?" He looked at me, and just hearing his name made me smile.

But the prince shook his head. "I think you are more clever than your command of Kren let the people think, and you are an honest person who tries to do good. But I don't understand Count Radel. Sorry, you are a well-built woman to the waist, but, uh, no. Frankly, Countess Kiara, you are as strange to me as the day you arrived. But," he raised his hand, "you are a very friendly alien, and I respect your duty to join us."

"Thank you," I said, though the complex subtleties of his response were beyond me. And then I yawned.

"How about a bedtime story? About another strong countess? Do you know about the founding story of the lands of Kren?"

A story sounded nice. And of course, I didn't know anything about the local history. "No, please telling." I laid my head back and looked up at the sky, his face at the outer edge of my vision.

"Interrupt me if you don't understand, or shake your head. So let’s begin. About four hundred years ago, Krenburg was the sole village of the domain of the Count of Kren and part of the Kingdom of Kwal. It was the time second schism of the clergy. Er, you see, originally there was the Nuncipal in Lomaho, the, er, king of all the clergy." Finally I nodded. "But about said 400 years ago, some clerics didn't like having a king." The prince frowned. He was clearly unhappy telling me this as if I were a five-year-old. "They later formed the brown clerics." I nodded. "But before that, there was a war. Some kings were happy to get rid of the Nuncipal. They fought with the Brown Clerics. But there was also fighting within the kingdoms."

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"Brother fighting brother."

"Yes, thank you. The Count of Kren was undecided. He had only three daughters, which meant that Kren would be linked to whomever they married, no matter which side he would join. The count loved his daughters. So he delayed taking sides. And Kren is in the north and the fighting started in the south, where we are going. It slowly moved north to Kwal. Kwal was already a kingdom for a long time. And King Chorta the Brown of Kwal was happy to get rid of the Nuncipal. At that time he was still King Chorta of Kwal." I nodded occasionally to keep him going, even though I only understood half of it. "But the army of Kwal was more loyal to the Nuncipal because many officers had graduated from the university there, which was run by the loyal clergy."

"The university from Mage Tarik cominged?"

It was embarrassing to see even the Prince cringe at my misuse of Kren grammar. "Yes, the university where Mage Tarik came from. So his army turned against the king and arrested King Chorta. An administrator from the Nuncipal was installed, who called himself Nua. The nobility of Kwal were not happy and saw themselves threatened by Nua." He sighed when he saw me shaking my head. "The nobility thought they too were being replaced by clerics. They looked for allies, er, they looked for noble friends to help them." He sighed again, frowning at his efforts to form the sentences in a way I could understand. "They forgo, er, however, er, they did not ask the Count of Kren, as he was old and Krenburg was to fall to whoever would win the marriage with his daughter. This came to the ears, er, Nua heard of it. He thought he could easily get Kren and maybe even marry one of the daughters to make his claim more legitimate". He stopped and took out a small leather waterskin. Since we had drunk from the river earlier, it had to be something other than water. And yes, I could smell the alcohol. But I was not yet ready to drink from a leather bag and refused.

"Nua left with a small part of his army. The legend tells of five hundred soldiers. Of course, the count knew he was coming. He told his daughters to flee to the woods beyond the ridge." I nodded, I would tell my children the same. Before my mind wandered further in the direction of possible offspring, he continued: "But the daughters would not go. Instead, they went to Krenburg and then south along the Kren River. The same route we took. But they raised an army of peasants, unknown to the count. Mostly the eldest, Aniha von Kren. She was already 16 (which was 24 in Earth years, I reminded me), but she rode at the head of her small army, the legend tells of 80 men and women."

He took another sip from his waterskin.

"The Kwal army came by boat, like us, but upriver, towed by horses. Aniha did not have enough boats or even horses. She led her small army on foot, and they travelled on the ridge. You see, south of Ratern is a gorge, well, a small one. From their vantage point, they were the first to see the enemy towing their boats along the river. They descended into the gorge and laid ambush where the river flowed through a small lake-like opening with shallow banks. Aniha timed it so that the enemy would pass them after midnight. She waited for a few boats to pass, then suddenly charged forward, cutting off all the towing lines and further attacked through the chaos, Aniha herself at the front. She waded through the shallow river and threw a knife at Nua, hitting him in his right eye socket, even though it was the middle of the night. He died instantly. When she climbed aboard his boat, and the army saw that he had been killed by a 16-year-old woman, they surrendered and instead swore allegiance to her. Using the boats, they travelled back to Kwal and liberated it as well, freeing the king. In gratitude, Kren became an independent kingdom from the north of the gorge on, and Aniha von Kren became the first of a number of queens who reigned Kren until the foundation of the Republic. Kren was the only kingdom in this part of the world with succession via the oldest daughter."

"From queen next queen?"

"Yes, but the last queen seen fighting was Queen Cratega in the war before forming the Republic. My great-great-great-great-great-grandmother." I had counted the generations on his hand. "Thus, you fit well to Kren, we have a history of strong women. Wait a moment." He opened his saddlebag.

"Maybe tomorrow?" I yawned again. "Not sleepinged good."

He nodded. "Countess, you are right. It is late and we have to travel a lot tomorrow."

Although I was dead tired, I could not sleep. Space was not the problem. I could stretch out long enough with my tail under me and my head on my paws, my well-practised sleeping position. The smell of mouldy wood and the prince's horse was strong and a little annoying. But what really kept me awake were the mosquitoes. We were moving with the current. In other words, we were sitting still on the water, apart from the occasional course correction by the staker. Every mosquito in the area had sniffed us out and come to feast on us. And my big ears were not only excellent for catching their buzzing even from a distance, they were also the most inviting target for them.

It was long after midnight when I fell asleep from exhaustion.

* * *

"Good morning," the prince greeted me.

I opened one eye with a groan. The sun was high in the sky. I was still very tired. Lifting my head a little, I could see another town ahead.

"We will soon disembark at Trategyrn."

Not only my ears, but every part of my body not covered by fur (and some places even there) itched. It was driving me mad. "Sorry," I said and jumped into the river. The cool water woke me up and soothed the itching. The prince and the staker both cursed after me, as the boat almost capsized. "Sorry," I shouted again, holding on to the side to stabilise it until the prince's horse was moved more towards the centre.

Then I let go and dived, swimming with breaststrokes next to the boat until the cool water had somewhat soothed the itching. I climbed up the bank and ran away from the mosquitoes. When I was far enough away from the river, I turned onto a parallel course. From here I could see that each boat was surrounded by a dark cloud of mosquitos from where these bloodsuckers were still feasting on their poor victims.

I was tired. But I would rather walk than give my blood to the mosquitos on the boat. Even if it meant eating grass and sorrels for breakfast.