After several awkward minutes waiting in the carriage, it was time to put on the show. The curtains covering every window dissipated into thin air. The carriage turned from a warm and ornate interior into a glass box, revealing large windows all around us allowing onlookers to view us from every angle. Both me and Eclis sat with our backs straight, showing a picture-perfect pose of high society etiquette. For a moment I felt a little less human and more of a glass figurine on display, but that moment passed when Heinricks goofy smile reappeared in view atop a massive brown stallion.

“What do you think lass? He’s a beaut.” He patted the horse’s side proudly, “Tis an Friesian horse. Comes from the best stock the Etten’s offer. They’re well known for their war horses and this one I raised myself.” I smiled. Heinrick was riding a tall and muscular pure black horse. He’d left its mane and tail unbraided, so it fell in waves along the horse’s neck glistening in the light. It had long wavy black feathers that were well groomed and the shoes it wore were purple, an ode to the Dumont house colours.

“He’s absolutely beautiful. What is his name?” I reached out the window sliding my fingers down its shiny fur.

“I named him Bandit.” Bandit, hearings its name perked up and snorted.

“Well, Bandit is a very handsome man. Did you say it came from the Etten house?” Beside Heinrick Richard appeared as well, also riding a black stallion but unlike Hienrick’s massive warhorse, Richards was much leaner. It looked like it was built for racing.

“Yes, James Etten breeds and raises war horses for our army. We can’t provide Pegasi for every knight after all.” Heinrick gave a jealous look to Eclis.

“Where is James by the way? I haven’t seen him since the first night at the palace.” Heinrick’s eyes lit up.

“Why yes, he has been very busy recently but I’m sure there is someway he can find the time to make it to the celebrations, hmm?” Heinrick answered my question, but he was looking at Eclis. When I turned back too him, he looked completely apathetic.

“I would love it if James could make the celebrations. The more of us the merrier right?” Eclis considered me for a long moment before nodding to Richard.

“Yes! We shall all have a drink together at the banquet tonight.” Heinrick checked in front of our carriage. “Looks like there’s a slight delay.” Heinrick let out a frustrated sigh. He wasn’t someone who could remain idle. If he wasn’t training, he was working on something for the dutchy and if it wasn’t that, he was talking. “Do you know the difference between the imperial knights and ours, Lass?”

“Other than the colour scheme?” I was happy to talk while we waited.

“There are fewer imperial knights than there are Dumont knights, but they’re said to be the best of the best. Even better than ours,” He spoke that part reluctantly before leaning in, “Supposedly.” I giggled. “Our knights are trained for war whereas theirs are trained to uphold the law as well as mind one’s honor in the capital. See the armour their wearing? Full suites of plate enchanted to protect them from the sun. Unlike us they’re not powerful enough to handle it yet.” Each of the knights were clad in white enameled armour trimmed in gold with the imperial crest of the phoenix proudly displayed on their chests and shields. Resting against their shoulders were ornately carved lances, protected between two wings was their crystal spearheads that shone unnaturally in the sun. “They’re all lesser vampires as well. Knights of roses who have just recently fledged into full vampires, most get their first name as an imperial knight.”

“So was James an exception then?”

“Aye, he was. See James was already trained as a knight by me, and once he fledged, he pledged his allegiance and loyalty solely to our prince over here.” Heinrick raised his voice slightly as he spoke, taking a jab at Eclis. “He is an excellent fighter, a loyal vassal, and a good man.” I had a feeling this wasn’t meant for me at all. Eclis showed no reaction though.

“He sounds like he’s a good friend of yours Sir Heinrick.” I decided to play along.

“The very best. James was willing to put his life on the line may times during the war for liberation. Do you know he was paramount in solidifying the relationship between Dumont and the Elves? He even saved Eclis at the battle in Fairfront.” I couldn’t stop my smile from growing. I think I understood what Heinrick was getting at. Was Eclis punishing James by keeping him away from the dutchy? James was no where to be seen, and the only reason I could assume for it was that James happened to be the previous knight of Esmeralda the Rose who betrayed Eclis.

“I can’t wait to hear the story from him then.” Heinrick smiled at me as well.

“Look’s like its time to move out.” His smile turned sour, “And we have someone joining us it would seem.” When I gave him a questioning look he answered, “The crown prince.”

Thank the gods for this bodies previous training on how to control it’s expression. Without it I would’ve just advertised my disdain for him to all the prying eyes right now. The crown prince had sent me a personal invitation through Eclis to dine with him. Try as I might, Richard assured me I was in no easy position to refuse and my hopes that it wouldn’t be any time soon were just dashed. It wasn’t that I didn’t have the agency to refuse him. No one would punish me if I did but I was now as much apart of the Dumont house as Eclis himself. If I refused to even give the crown prince a chance before I began rejecting him it would be taken as Eclis himself rejecting an alliance with the imperial faction.

“Then he’s back from the Shimmering Isles?” I asked Richard but it was Eclis who answered.

“So it would seem.”

Heinrick rode in front of our carriage, and we finally began to move towards the city. Richard was riding in back so I could see him easily over Eclis. Both men could still hear me with their vampiric hearing, but I wouldn’t be able to hear them unless they yelled over the sound of hooves on cobblestone. I also had to consider the fact that anything I said from now on would be heard by the crown prince and the emperor.

We had started our parade outside the city limits. Along the road were various carriages and carts with tents scattered between them. As we drew nearer the city the camps grew larger with food vendors and business stalls set up amidst them. Large crowds lined the roads on either side and I began to understand that the troupe of knights surrounding us weren’t just there for show. There were halflings, orcs, beast men and the occasional human smiling and waving at us as we passed. Ahead and behind us were other carriages and if I stood up, I could catch a glimpses of street dancers in the distance.

The city we were nearing was situated in a fertile valley surrounded by farmland on one side and backed by a forest on the other. A massive river cut through the forest and fed the farmland on the other side as it snaked its way to the ocean. They diverted part of it to moat around the city with four massive draw bridges allowing the people to enter and exit. The river was large enough to allow for massive sea vessels to travel along it ferrying trade goods to and from the capital. The city itself was built upon a hill slowly rising up towards the castle that stood vigil at its center. Even from here the massive spires and peaks cast dazzling rainbows as the sun hit the gems encrusted on the roof. The castle was built as a symbol of the beauty and splendor the free races were capable of and materials for it were harvested and brought here from across the continent. It was a magnificent sight to behold.

“Are there fire dancers here?” I sat back down, trying to contain my excitement. What I would give to be able to watch the parade go by, rather than being stuck in it.

“Yes, and magicians along with many bards and dance troupes. There’s likely even an Elven choir here for the festivities tonight.” He sounded bored but that didn’t bother me right now.

“Won’t the people want something a bit more exciting than just seeing us in a carriage?” I was speaking fast but I couldn’t help it. The excitement of the crowds lining the street was buzzing through me.

“While the parade is in my name, most are here for the party rather than to see me. This is what is expected of us since you’ll be joining me on the way there anyways.”

“What would you have done if I weren’t here?”

“Ride my Pegasus I suppose. Surrounded by my knights.” My eyes grew wide.

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“You have a Pegasus?” Eclis’ Pegasus died when he was captured, and the novel never mentioned him getting one again.

“I do. It’s the imperial faction’s gift.” His mask cracked ever so slightly. I could hear the pride he had over it. Eclis loved his Pegasus in the past.

“And we didn’t ride it?” I felt cheated. Very cheated. “Why didn’t you show it to me? That is so cool!”

“Do you even know how to ride?” I paused.

“No. I don’t. But that doesn’t matter, it’s a Pegasus!” His lips twitched.

“The people expect to see something more ‘noble’ than us riding together on a Pegasus. Some other time.”

“What’s more noble than riding a Pegasus.” I muttered defeated.

“I heard that!” Hienrick called behind him. A smile crossed my face.

We crossed the drawbridge and I tried to subtly get a good look at the waters below. From what I could see they were not swampy and crocodile infested, like I’d initially imagined. Lilies and reeds grew at the banks and the water itself was clear and clean looking.

The city doors were open and they arched high above our heads. They were tall enough that something like a giant could easily walk through them and not be hindered. The bridge was wide enough that two giants could cross its planks. Surrounding the city was a smooth polished stone wall as tall as the doors we passed under and topped with guard towers. As our carriage crossed the threshold fireworks erupted from them, cascading down the walls and a cacophonous roar of cheering sent me craning in every direction to soak in the scenery.

“Woow! This is amazing!” I laughed and waved at the cheering crowed while flower petals rained down on us from citizens on their balconies.

“It’s quite the sight to see isn’t it, Miss?” Richard yelled, beaming proudly.

“The city is beautiful Richard! I see know why you love it so much!” I didn’t need to yell at him for him to hear but it was just so loud that I had to yell to hear myself. The roaring jeer slowly died down and the sound of music replaced it in the streets.

We were travelling up the main thoroughfare. It was incredibly wide for a street, as large as a six-lane highway and was likely lined with pop up stalls during the day. Right now, it was packed on all sides with festival goers while magic barriers were erected to prevent anyone from falling into the way of the horses.

This was as much a military march as it was a parade. The crown prince had added his own knights to the march and behind us I could see his rose crest emblazoned across his chariot, only visible because we were now climbing an incline towards the palace. A flash of gold caught my eye. He was waving and smiling at the people, standing proudly in full plate armour while the sun played with his wavy golden hair. He and his knights were clad in red and pewter colours representative of his house and they had interspersed with the rest of the knights. In truth it was quite marvelous seeing the knights of all three houses together like this. Our own warriors looked like Death Knights atop their black Friesian warhorses. They wore black, purple and silver trimmed armour with the Dumont Pegasus and Tiger emblazoned on their backs and the sun and moon symbols over their hearts. The Imperial knights in their white and gold armour rode white horses while the Alenta Knights rode grey speckled Andalusian horses. It was one of the few breeds I did recognize.

Now that we were in the city, I spotted the occasional elf in the crowd. They were easy to pick out compared to the rest with their tall slender frames, pointed ears and long shimmering hair. They reminded me a lot of statues in how perfect their physiques were and I recognized that a lot of the things I found attractive in Ethan came from his Elven bloodline. They had gem like eyes, slender faces and were overall taller than normal humans, standing at least six feet minimum.

“They’re high elves of Ilsimar.” Eclis noticed my interested stares and I realized everyone else probably could tell as well. I must look like the most excited puppy right now, waving to the crowd and craning to take in the sights. While Eclis still pretended to be apathetic, he at least was trying to afford me some explanations while he stood next to me.

“You won’t see any night elves until the sun sets.” That would mean I’d likely miss meeting any, since they hadn’t sent delegations to the capital in centuries by now and I’d be locked up in the palace instead of free to roam the streets.

“That’s too bad. What about the wood elves?” I craned my neck to look.

“Look for bands of performers. They often travel the continent, I’m sure there’s bound to be one along our way.”

“Are there any fey here?” The fey consisted of many different types of fairies and silvans, their more humanoid counterparts. Of all the races they were the most dangerous ones to deal with since they were driven by their chaotic and mischievous natures. They were the last to join the war effort though the novel never explained just what they did to contribute.

Eclis searched the crowd but didn’t reply. I had nearly forgotten I’d asked when he called out, nodding up. Above us was a small fairy about the size of a chihuahua. It had wings that buzzed so fast I couldn’t see them. Its face was human in concept, but it had flower petals sprouting from all sides of its face. Its entire body was the colour of a pink and white flower. Its eyes were completely black, huge and elongated like that of a bug. I was able to get such a good look at it because it had stopped flitting about to look directly at me as well. Instinctually I felt uncomfortable, but I knew if it tried anything Eclis would protect me. It seemed to know this to since it looked at Eclis, sticking its tongue out to tell him off very theatrically. It flew away as I laughed.

“It was so cute!” I continued to smile, completely unfazed now by his non reaction.

“It’s rare that they visit cities given all the iron found here. That one was here personally to see you.”

“To see me?” I pointed at myself doubtful. This was a parade for him after all. He nodded. “Why me? How do you know?”

“Because it let you see it.” While I thought about that a plume of fire caught my attention. We were passing through a large market square and on top of the portal stone was a troupe of wood elf performers. Unlike their high elf cousins, the wood elves came in an array of skin tones. All the high elves I had seen had golden, white, or black hair but the wood elves had blacks, browns, reds, and green hair. Their dance was far more graceful than I’d ever seen a human perform and it reminded me of the perfect movements you’d see in an animated character back home. All of them had a ball of fire chained to one foot that they spun and twirled and flipped with. It sailed beautifully around their bodies. In the center of their performance were two women dancing with flaming hula hoops. They sent them sailing into the sky before catching them with a leg or arm dancing their bodies through them as naturally as if they were breathing.

By now I gave up trying to contain my excitement. Everything here was so new for me. The smells of exotic foods I’d never tried tantalized my nose, the notes of music I’d never heard tickled my ears and the sight of all the merriment dazzled my eyes. Seeing all this really hammered home that this was truly my new reality. A world I’d been escaping to for the past three years, dreaming of all the things I would do if only I had the chance to actually be here. This moment really captured everything I’d imagined this world could be for me. I’d begun replacing all my most cherished memories with memories from here, and I’d caught myself thinking of the palace as home rather than ‘the palace’. In a couple years would I still want to leave? If I were being honest, no. I didn’t want to go. I wanted my family to be happy. I bit my lip after coming to that realization.

Beside me Eclis was waving to the crowd, smiling at them and playing his role as hero. He looked every bit the sexy dark prince of the Dumont house. When he caught me staring at him and smiling, he turned his back to me leaving me to giggle. If I pretended his acting was him being shy it turned from off putting to cute really fast.

Eventually I grew tired of standing in the carriage waiving and smiling at the crowds. There were numerous attempts to throw flowers at our carriage, but the barriers erected destroyed anything thrown over them. I wondered absentmindedly how the fairy managed to get so close with defences like this.

The entire city was as big as any of our super cities back home. Unlike I had imagined, the streets weren’t filled with mud and sewage like our own medieval age. Thank the gods for magic. Because it was so massive, It took nearly three hours to ride through the city proper, not counting the hour it took to ride through the country. I was tired by the time we neared the castle. By now we were travelling through massive mansions and estates that the capital’s nobles resided in. Somewhere here, Eclis also had an estate that would be my temporary home while in the capital. The shopping district we had passed was lavish compared to the market district where all the performers were. Here the crowds were of a more refined thread. People wearing high fashion dresses similar to the ones I owned lined the streets and the men accompanying them wore tailored suites instead of common work clothes.

The mansions gave way to a massive courtyard that surrounded the castle. Here there were two public gardens, a university, and a public library standing at all four corners of the castle. The gardens were filled with people wanting to get the last glimpse of the Hero of the Empire as he entered the very symbol he worked so hard towards for the ‘first time’.

“Why are there no walls surrounding the castle?” It seemed so odd to me. The city was surrounded by a moat and high walls, yet the castle itself and all its grounds were completely unguarded.

“It is, you just can’t see them.” Eclis pointed to glowing engravings surrounding the perimeter of the castle. “Those mark out where the wall is. It’s invisible so that the people can always look upon and be inspired by their symbol of freedom and hope. This castle is as much a place for the Emperor to rein as it is a symbol of the promise of freedom and protection for the people of Ganimede.”

The castle itself was certainly a splendid symbol. It was beautiful. At its center were three massively tall towers closely grouped together and the building’s wings spiraled out from the center covering a large amount of land. Each of its wings were built in the fashion of a different kingdom or race of the empire while the center incorporated pieces of each style, merging them all together as one. We passed through the wall and I could very much feel the warm hum of magic as we did. It was like passing through something thick and gooey but being left completely dry afterwards.

Eclis spoke, “Anyone who isn’t welcome in the palace cannot pass through the wall. In peaceful times like now, the person will simply be repelled. In times of war, they will no longer exist.” I looked one last time as the wall slowly receded in the distance. The rest of the parade had begun filling the courtyard around the palace. Only our carriage, the knights, and the crown prince’s chariot had entered the imperial castle grounds.