The three main domesticated beasts used to pull carts and wagons are horses, rhinorses, and oxen. Horses are the fastest while rhinorses are the strongest. A rhinorse-drawn cart can take double the time but the beast can pull almost six times as much as a horse and eats just as much as a single horse. Oxen sit in between these two. They are slower than the horses but also stronger and they can be easily sold for their meat if the cart is going to do the return trip lighter than it came.
Excerpt from The Merchant's Guild Manual
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Dawn looked around the living room and found only Cythrel. Sora and Gurf were outside training and sparing, Pearl took Lola and Deb for a walk, stating she needed space to move, air to breathe and time to think. She kept her male body upstairs, working on some low circle spells inspired on his fight against the goblins. Aidan had better calligraphy than Lumina.
The conversation with Pearl still rang in her mind. Dawn was stupefied by her own statements. She closed her eyes and focused on her own body. It felt natural. It felt her own. Would she relinquish it to Lumina? She had no idea. A big part of her wanted to just rip off Lumina's soul away and be done with it. But that was against her beliefs. 'A heart that doesn't beat wins a hollow victory'. A worthless victory.
"Dawn, can I ask you something?" Cythrel interrupted her musings.
"Of course. What is it?"
"Who is this friend you have imprisoned in the capital, and why don't you just walk in as the princess and get her out?"
Dawn sat on a couch to answer.
"She is Claire, Lumina's right-hand handmaid. She helped us escape the hospital and worked as a decoy to let us escape through the tunnel. There was a bounty on our heads and five hundred gold for bringing the princess back. She was captured and sent to the capital. I don't even know if she is still alive, but we owe her. And I really don't know how people will react. They could lock me up in the castle and kill everyone involved in the kidnapping."
"I doubt they would dare to touch the scion of the Godslayer. Pearl is out of the question, nobody would be dumb to harm a royal. Sora is also under the same protection as Aidan. Deb, Lola, and Gurf are just escorting the princesses. Sneaking into the castle or the stockades would be really dumb. You get Pearl by the arm and walk in through the front door."
"I guess you are right. Sneaking in without expertise or previous knowledge would be too hard. The direct approach might work. I want to go to the academy first, to meet the headmaster. Thank you."
Cythrel climbed on Dawn's lap and snuggled.
"You are welcome."
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A horse-drawn carriage and two riding horses were provided to them by the village. Gurf and Sora were going to ride as escorts, Aidan along with the driver and the princesses and maids inside. The road to the capital would take eight to ten days, depending on the road conditions ahead. Sometimes the thawing snow would cause mud banks to form and the carriage could bog down.
They checked on Mrs. Anders one last time and renewed their warnings to comply with Lumina's orders. Gurf checked the luggage bindings and they departed. A couple of hours on the road and Skippy came with a big boar piglet for lunch. The dragon placed his catch on the rack, entered the carriage, and relished in cuddling with the women for a while before he left to hunt again.
Skippy still didn't understand the eating virgins part. They were much better pillows and masseuses than food, he was sure of it. Some squeals could hurt the ears, but it was still worth it.
They traveled for two days without any major incident. A few hours before sunset they found a lot of wagons ahead. Some of them were off the road and the rhinorses and other pack beasts were loose grazing on the plains. It was impossible to move forward.
Dawn and Aidan looked at the rhinorses grazing and had a panic attack. The fear he felt back in the academy square, the pain of having his bones crushed, the recovery at the hospital. The women inside the carriage held Dawn and it was up to Sora to ride next to Aidan and calm him down.
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They stopped the carriage a good fifty meters away from the traffic jam ahead. Gurf took the lead and went ahead to ask for news. He returned with bad ones.
"The river ahead flooded and overturned the bridge five days ago. The waters are still high and impossible to cross in several kilometers to each side. The merchants are very angry and a fight could break out anytime. What should we do, Aidan?" He asked after delivering the news.
There was also the problem of someone trying to attack them and claim the bounty. But they would be stuck on this side of this river for a month if they did nothing.
"I guess we make a bridge then. Gurf, Sora, I'll need you to escort her Highness. We are going to need as much magic as we can." Aidan focused on his familiar link and after a few minutes later Skippy returned to him. He went to the carriage door and helped Dawn get down.
"Wouldn't it be bad to show Lumina using earth magic?" Sora suggested. The princess Sky element was well known.
"How many merchants here understand magic enough to know that?" Countered Aidan. "Gurf, can you act as a crier?"
"Yes, of course," The hunter on horseback was taller than anyone else there. He shouted. "Make way for Princess Lumina of Yutis!"
Every person in hearing range turned and several came forward to see what was going on. And then instead of opening a path, it created a mob. The merchants and their guards began to argue if the bounty was still valid or not. Five hundred gold coins would elicit greedy thoughts on a monk. Some of them decided to take the initiative and come forward to grab their bounty. And like a wave, the mob mentality and the prospect of someone else claiming the bounty before them made the others join in. A wave of people began to move toward them.
"Ring of Spikes."
Before they could close in, Aidan tried his new spell. He modified the Ring of Conflagration to use the Earth element and sprouted waist-high barbed stone spikes at the edges of its area about ten meters away from Aidan. It could also leave some spots open for crossing. He made a semicircle between them and the mob. It ruined the road, but without a bridge, it was useless anyway. The ones in the lead were still pushed forward but there was enough room to stop before getting impaled on the spikes.
"How dare you move against the princess!" Shouted Aidan. "Step aside, rabble, before I am forced to burn you down."
He really hated this haughty act, but that was the language these people understood. Some really stupid ones were already trying to circle around the spikes.
"Halt!" Dawn commanded the crowd. It made some of them pause, but one man at the lead circled around the spikes and ran to grab her. Sora shot his leg.
"Explosive fireball."
Aidan shot a really big one straight up. The fireball flew a hundred meters up and exploded in a blossom of fire and a promise of swift destruction. The heat from the fire basked everyone there and soon after came the shockwave and a deafening roar, blowing up splatters of mud, a cloud of dust and debris away from where they were.
The pack animals that were loose on the grass around the road fled in all directions away from the blast. Their own horses had to be caught by Sora and Gurf before they would stampede and impale themselves on the stone spikes.
Even Aidan was startled by the power of the spell. It was not at the level he intended. It could mean two things. Either his wizardry was impaired by the use of the staff a few days ago or some deeper change happened in him.
He straightened himself and shouted, taking advantage of the silence.
"Merchants, the next spell will be straight at you, taking your lives and destroying your merchandise. I suggest you rein in your guards before it is too late. Kneel before the princess!"
A few of them were already on their knees or sitting down, they just stood there. One by one the crowd bent the leg and soon all of them were down on a knee.
"Your Highness, your orders? How shall we punish this rabble?" Aidan the thespian kept on with his act. He offered Dawn a hand as if they were going to dance.
Dawn took the hand and walked ahead, the stone spikes retracting before her. "Thank you, Lord Aidan, for breaking this winter chill that was getting on my nerves. Who leads these merchants? Caravan masters, present yourselves!"
The merchants knew how deep in the mire they were, literally and figuratively. A royal command was absolute. And the elder ones knew that a mage that could use earth and fire magic also could use one of the two most destructive elements to exist, Magma.
They came forward, sporting their best business smile. Some of them even had the presence to bring gifts.
A gray-haired elder came with a gold and emerald necklace. "Your Highness, princess Lumina. I thank the gods for this day where I could admire your beauty. Please accept this token of my gratitude."
"Your Highness, I have this finest silk for you!" Another one groveled.
"Gentlemen, the princess is tired from traveling and homesick. Don't burden her." Aidan spoke and was reinforced by a roar from Skippy on his shoulder.
The merchants retreated half a step. Dawn leaned on Aidan's ear and pretended to whisper. Royals wouldn't address commoners without a very good reason. It was the job of their retinue.
"Princess Lumina desires to go home. She appreciates your gifts and will reward you properly. You and you, your caravans will be the first to cross the river after us."
"But the bridge!" One of them in the back spoke out of turn.
Once again Dawn whispered something. Aidan took the gifts from the merchants and continued.
"Yes, your Highness. I shall do as you command. Sir Gurf, please escort the princess back to her carriage."
Gurf and Sora dismounted and came to take the gifts and bring Dawn by the hand back to the carriage, leaving Aidan alone.
"Now, where should I begin?" Aidan mused.