It was early in the morning when a long line of coaches left the gates of Brettholz, heading north on the road that cut through the snow covered fields.

Aboard one of those carriages, Marcus was restlessly drumming his chitin-covered fingers on his seat. Though he would have liked to relax and enjoy the trip he couldn't help feeling quite anxious about what the future had in hold. Not only was he heading to the capital to take part in some very fancy formal festivity —something which would have made him uneasy under any circumstance— but the events of the previous two weeks had led him to believe that something terrible was about to happen.

That was not because anything bad had happened though, but rather because everything had gone far too smoothly.

After Magister Orr's departure from Stonebarrow, the Vex Queen had been able to solve most of the problems that had plagued him in the last few months. The new Copy drones had reached maturity and surprisingly Tiny had gotten used to them quite easily, treating them as if they were Marcus himself —which they sort of were in a way— allowing him to take a break from looking after her. Then, after a few days of complete rest during which he had done absolutely nothing except napping, bathing and eating, he had decided to test the Crown of Silence by making a visit to Brettholz. There, he had been delighted to discover that the Relic worked even better than he had thought, not only hiding his aura from others but also shielding him from the mental noise made by other people, to the point that now he could actually stand in the middle of a crowd with only minimal discomfort. Because of this, since he didn’t really have anything better to do, he had decided to stay in town for the time being, squatting at Eisen's palace while hanging out with his friends and visiting Golam’s shop to discuss new drone models.

Those relatively few days of time off had been a godsend for his mood, and by the time of his departure he had been more cheerful and content than he had been in months. The only drawback was that he really wasn't used to things going this well for so long, and now he was getting a bit paranoid about how the universe was going to balance it out.

Marcus was so busy brooding that he barely paid attention to Felix and Klara, who were sitting in the coach with him and were currently chatting with each other. Cooper was also there, sitting at his master's feet just like a dog, and the Vex Queen took some modicum of comfort from the Hunter's presence.

However, after a few minutes, the two humans seemed to notice Marcus's uneasiness, and they both turned towards him.

“Hey Marcus?” Felix asked. “Why are you so glum? Is there something wrong?”

The Vex Queen raised his head, shaking himself from his thoughts.

“Uhm...” He replied hesitantly. “Well, no. Nothing in particular. I guess I'm just worried about the banquet, that's all. I'm not really used to this kind of event anymore.”

“Oh, don't worry!” The young man encouraged him. “I'm sure everything will be fine!”

“Yeah, if anyone has to worry about it, that's Felix.” Klara added with a mischievous smile. “If he gets drunk again, he could end up burning down the royal palace!”

“Oh come on!” The apprentice sorcerer protested. “Why are you still on about that? I only burned a rug and I wasn't drunk either, I only had a couple of beers!”

“Well, if a couple of beers are enough for you to burn a rug, I dread to see what you'd do if you were to have something stronger.” The girl replied sarcastically.

Marcus smiled, remembering the incident they were speaking about. The week before he, Felix and Klara were visiting a pub when the young man, who had indeed been a little tipsy at the time, had accidentally set a rug on fire while trying to show off his powers. The flames had been quickly put out before they could spread to anything else, so the damage had been negligible, but still Klara didn't seem intentioned to let the apprentice sorcerer live it down any time soon. Marcus strongly suspected the main reason for this was that the one Felix had been showing off to had been a rather cute barmaid.

The boy however, showing the denseness typical of a teenager without previous romantic experiences, didn't seem to understand the reason for his girlfriend's attitude, much to Marcus's amusement.

“Whatever.” He said drily, and then he turned to the Vex Queen, clearly hoping to change the subject. “Anyway, what did you do with your ogre, Marcus? I didn't see it around in Brettholz, but I remember you saying that you wanted to bring it along.”

“Oh, Tiny is in one of the coaches.” Marcus immediately answered, deciding to help his friend get out of that awkward situation. “The red one without windows, to be precise. I had the marquis send someone to pick her and the rest of my Copy drones up in Stonebarrow yesterday.”

“Oh, I wondered what it was for.” The boy nodded. “I've seen a few carriages like that in Oakfell from time to time. Usually they carry animals in them.”

“Yeah, it was the marquis who came up with the idea of renting one.” Marcus explained. “That way, Tiny can be safely kept locked and hidden for the whole trip.”

“Makes sense.” Klara agreed. “Letting an ogre roam freely in an inhabited area would probably not be a good idea.”

“Yeah. That said, I'm pretty sure that Tiny would eventually find a way to sneak out if she was left alone.” The Vex Queen said. “The Sneaky in her name is not just for show. But luckily I've got five of my Copy drones to keep an eye on her inside the carriage. That should be enough to keep her in check.”

“Are you sure?” Felix asked, looking a bit worried. “Wouldn’t she be able to overpower your drones if she wanted to? I mean, ogres are really damn strong, and your copies are not exactly your strongest drones.”

“We've been over this already.” Marcus replied. “She can't overpower my drones because she literally can’t think about using violence at all. Besides, she is genuinely loyal to me and she actually obeys my orders.” He paused for a moment and then corrected himself. “Well, she tries to, at least. But I can tell that she is always well intentioned.”

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Well, you’re the one who can read minds, so I'll trust your judgment.” The young man said. “Anyway, since you seem to have your ogre problem covered, do you have any plan for what you're going to do in Rennhafen?”

“Not really.” The Vex Queen shrugged. “I don't even know whether or not I'm going to have free time. For all I know, I might be busy attending all kinds of formal events for all of our stay in Rennhafen.”

“That would get boring quickly for me.” The young man commented. “Are you sure you wouldn't rather visit the city with me and Klara?”

“I would, but sadly it's not up to me.” Marcus sighed. “Eisen and his buddies want to showcase me around for some political reason. And to make things worse, the marquis has made it clear that I'm going to have to wear those fancy dresses again, which means that I'm going to have to stay still for hours while some maids dress me up like a doll.” He shuddered and glanced at Klara. “Really, I don't know how you girls have the patience to go through all that on a regular basis.”

“I don't know either.” The girl replied. “I never got to wear one of those fancy dresses, as you called them.” A wistful expression flashed on her face. “I admit I'd be curious to try at least once though.”

“Well I'm not, so if you want to trade places I'm all for it.” Marcus commented in a disgruntled voice.

“I'm afraid that wouldn't work, sadly.” The girl smiled faintly. “Those nobles want to see the famed Vex Queen, not some random village girl.”

“Splendid. So basically I'm going to be some kind of circus freak for them, uh?” The Vex Queen said sardonically. “I hope they at least won't make me dance while throwing peanuts at me.”

“Speaking of circuses... do you think there will be one in Rennhafen?” Felix asked.

“Maybe.” Klara replied. “But I wouldn't bet on it, since we're in the middle of winter right now. Usually they stay in the south where it's warmer at this time of the year.”

“Oh... that's a shame.” The apprentice sorcerer seemed rather disappointed. “I've always wanted to see a circus, and I hoped that I’d find one in Rennhafen.”

“Felix, you've spent the past two weeks listing all the things you wanted to do in the capital.” The human girl said. “Having one less option isn't going to ruin your fun.”

“Yeah.” The Vex Queen agreed. Then, with a mischievous smile on his face, he added: “Besides, you could use this chance to take Klara to the Red Light district. I bet there are a lot of interesting activities you could do there…”

This not so subtle innuendo immediately made Klara blush heavily, but somehow it passed miles over Felix's head.

“Yeah, that's a good idea!” The young man approved. “There are a lot of interesting locations we could visit! I've heard there is a very big theater, theme restaurants, pubs and even a few spas! Not to mention all the shops that sell pretty much everything! I can't wait to see it all with my eyes!”

Both Marcus and Klara stared at the young man in disbelief for a few seconds. Then the human girl let out an exasperated sigh while the Vex Queen had to struggle to repress the urge to chuckle.

“Man, this boy is denser than lead!” He thought. “Well, I guess it's pretty normal, maybe. I probably wasn't really that much better at picking up signs from girls when I was his age either.”

However, Felix wasn't done digging himself deeper. With a blissful obliviousness, he turned to the Vex Queen and asked:

“By the way Marcus, are you sure you wouldn’t rather have us wait for you? If you do have some free time, we could all visit the Red Light district together.”

The Vex Queen had to struggle once again not to chuckle. Felix’s puppy-like innocence was just adorable, but the cold stare that Klara was giving him was a clear indicator of what she thought of that proposal.

“Oh, don’t worry about me Felix. I wouldn’t want to have you wait for me. Besides, wouldn’t you rather spend some time alone with Klara?” Marcus said, hoping that his friend would take the hint.

Naturally, he didn't.

“Oh, not at all!” The boy promptly replied. “The more the merrier, as they say!”

This time, the contrast between the dumb innocence showing on the boy's face and the exasperated irritation on the girl's was too much for Marcus, and he burst out laughing wildly.

“What's so funny?” Felix asked, completely unaware of the stink look that Klara was giving him.

“Nothing.” Marcus replied, tears in his eyes. “I… well, I was just thinking about how it was to be young and innocent.”

“You're not that old though.”

“I'm still older than you. And I have more experience in certain areas.”

“Like what?”

“Well, I don’t think that’s for me to say.” The Vex Queen smiled back at him. “Besides, I don’t want to ruin the surprise.”

“Ugh. Fine. Keep your secrets then.” The young man turned towards Klara. “Do you have any idea about what she is talking about?” He asked, pointing at Marcus.

“No.” The girl replied in an icy tone.

“Uhm... ok?” The apprentice sorcerer seemed confused by Klara's attitude. “Is everything alright?”

“Yes.”

“Are you sure? You seem upset for some reason.”

“I'm fine, Felix.” The young woman stated in a hard voice, all while refusing to look in the boy's direction. “I just don't feel like talking right now. So why don't you chat with Marcus, since you clearly like her company so much? I'm sure you won't get bored.”

“Well… I do like Marcus’s company, but it'd feel rude not to include you in our conversation.” Was the young man's painfully honest answer. “Also, it’s just more fun when the three of us do things all together, is it not?”

In response to that, Klara stiffened even more, while Marcus desperately tried not to laugh, though he felt as if he was going to explode.

“Alright, he really is a desperate case.” He thought. “I didn't think that someone this thick could even exist.” He froze, as a sudden realization flashed in his mind. “Or maybe it is I who has misunderstood their relationship? I thought that they were a couple by now, but maybe they have yet to declare their feelings for each other? That would explain Felix’s obliviousness, to an extent. Although I really thought that they had done something together back when they took a vacation to their hometown.” He scratched his cheek as he pondered this matter. “Maybe I should actually ask them about it, though maybe right now it’s not the time.”

And then he sat there, watching in silence as the two humans kept arguing with each other, with Felix being confused by Klara’s reaction and the girl getting more and more irritated as time went on.

After a while this became awkward rather than funny for the Vex Queen, to the point that he actually started wishing he could be in another carriage and leave the two youngsters alone to sort their problems by themselves. But since he didn’t feel like interrupting them either, he instead started focusing on his drones, both the ones that were accompanying him and the majority that were left behind. Thankfully the Crown didn’t seem to interfere with that mental link, and even as he kept heading more and more north he was still capable of controlling his drones with ease. It was only after a few hours, when the carriages entered a forest called the Shaded Woods, that the link with the drones in Brettholz started to fade, and even then it took quite a while for it to vanish completely.

A quick calculation using a map of the province as a reference told Marcus that the range of his telepathy had increased again, and now it was more or less thirty-five kilometers in radius.

That realization made the Vex Queen feel rather good for some reason, and it significantly improved his mood to the point that he was finally able to relax and enjoy the trip for the rest of the day.