Adyra donned her robe and cinched it with the potion belt.
The potion flasks in the quick-access slots wouldn't fall off if the belt was turned upside down or tossed around. Not even if someone else other than the mermaid Royal Family tried to. The box at the side, with the spare potions, would place a {Geas} on whoever took a flask off to use the potion to heal or aid the princess or to leave it alone if there was no need. Each HP potion healed 3,333 HP, each MP potion restored 4,444 MP. She had four of each in the quick-access belts, along with two that would alleviate the effects of poison and two that would help her cure diseases and purge contaminants from her body.
She understood the message. She could be forced to fight today. It made sense. The kidnappers were out there, and if they went through all the trouble to take the mermaids all the way here, they wouldn't let them go without a fight. Grasping her staff, she left her bedroom and went to the main hall. She wanted food.
The tables and the hall were full of sleeping people, their soft snores a cacophony of rumbles. The tavern staff was just starting their day, looking confused. She raised her hand to wave at the fox-tailed barmaid and took a seat at the bar.
"Elyse, good morning," she greeted cheerfully. Then slightly winced at the {Appraise} attempt coming from the barmaid.
The human woman's eyes went wide. "Your Highness!" She snapped, even more confused now. "You came from upstairs... Are you a... guest?"
She almost said 'ghost'. Adyra remembered what her sister told her and just smiled, letting it slip. "Yes, I am. I arrived yesterday, don't you remember? You introduced me to Martha and Jennifer. Lovely ladies."
The [Barmaid] tried but failed to find sarcasm in the red-headed [Princess] words. She asked herself why would she take a [Princess] to sit with the [Prostitutes] when she looked at the floor filled with asleep sailors and dock workers. All male. A naive princess. But Martha and Jennifer weren't in the tavern yesterday. It was their day off and they only come here on days they work to get drunk enough to endure their shifts at the brothel next block.
She was about to ask the young girl about that when the door was thrown open. Armed soldiers entered. The leader, a [Sergeant], pointed at the barmaid.
"You, [Barmaid]. Where are the soldiers dispatched yesterday to stop a fight here?"
Elyse looked at the girl sitting in front of her. "A fight?" she mouthed. The [Princess] nodded.
"I'm sorry. I don't know of any fight, [Sergeant]. Maybe one of the sleeping patrons knows more," she answered.
Jeffries came from the kitchen at that moment. "Elyse, we are out of booze. For some reason, all of our casks are empty."
She'd just restocked two days ago. The liquor they had was supposed to last for a week.
The soldiers kicked some patrons awake. After some time, it was clear none of them knew anything. Worse, they all thought it was yesterday. Finally, the [Sergeant] approached Adyra.
"You, Adventurer! Do you know something?" He demanded. Adyra didn't like his tone of voice. Before she could decide what to do, the man pulled her shoulder. "I'm talking to you!"
Adyra knew one didn't need {Appraise} to see someone's titles. On the other hand, titles were so rare that few people would stop to concentrate on everyone to know their titles. Nevertheless, doing that to random people was awfully rude. She thought about what to do. Should she be haughty? Start yet another fight? She decided to stick to the basics. First, introduce herself. Her smile was cordial and slightly casual.
"Sorry, I'm no adventurer. I'm Adyra, [Crown Princess] of the mermaid kingdom of Atlantis. I would like you to remove your hand from my shoulder," her smile vanished. "Now."
"Listen here, you--" The sergeant's outburst was cut short by one of his subordinates. Adyra already knew that the subordinate had checked her information.
"She's what she claims, sir. A mermaid [Princess]," the subordinate whispered.
The rough guard shot a look of disbelief at his subordinate. Adyra was done with these stupid humans. It seemed that unless they had the full Status sheet of someone, they automatically assumed what would be the most convenient for them.
"He's correct," she said, her voice entirely lacking a sliver of the friendly tone from before. She narrowed her eyes and continued, threatening him. "Now, [Sergeant], will you remove your hand from my shoulder or should I remove the hand myself?"
He pulled the offending appendage to his chest, where he held it with the other hand protectively. Without giving them pause to talk back, she continued.
"Now, should I tell the [Lord] of this city you've manhandled visiting Royalty? The last time I checked, a lot of goods from Atlantis go through this port. What would the merchant houses do if we stopped trading with ships that docked here?"
The lessons in economics and trade she got from Queen Shallot paid off already.
"Where are your guards, your chaperone?" He asked, clearly stating she was too young to be out here, alone.
Deciding to mess with the guards and perhaps make them do something useful for a change, Adyra grinned. Her eyes, however, remained fierce. "Didn't you detect them? You and your men should be glad I ordered them to stand down, or your blood would be now staining the floor of this fine establishment."
The sergeant's eyes wandered around, taking in the seedy and raunchy dockside tavern. He couldn't help but make them roll in disbelief.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
"Perhaps a lesson is necessary, after all," she threatened.
> Contested Charisma check. Critical success. You advanced 5 levels in the Intimidate Skill.
>
> Your opponents are mentally stunned for 1 second.
Bolstered by the System message, her fierce gaze was now boring a hole in the man's skull. Adyra smiled, placating some of his fears. "Or you could help me inspect one of the docked ships for contraband."
The guardsmen behind the sergeant were looking around, searching for the hidden escort that would surely put an end to their lives.
Remembering to breathe again, the [Sergeant] bowed. "We are at your service, Your Highness."
"Good," Adyra chirped. "Now, have your men gently help the patrons back on their feet so they can go on with their day," She ordered. When some guards kicked the still asleep patrons, she warned, "Gently, I said." Turning to talk to the [Barmaid], she asked candidly, "Elyse, I'm starving. Could you get me something for breakfast? The fried fish from yesterday and some bread will do nicely."
"Jeffries!" The [Barmaid] yelled toward the kitchen.
----------------------------------------
The mermaid stood on the dirty cobblestones, smelling the sea breeze. Reminded her of home, and also that the sea next to the city was absolutely disgusting. She now knew what the rancid, foul stench that permeated the settlement was, and she felt appalled by it. She couldn't believe the surface had such terrible waste disposal customs. Then she saw a man dump his chamber pot out the second-floor window into the side alley, splashing on the wall of the adjacent building.
The fried fish made one last attempt at freedom, even though she carefully chewed and savored it.
Winning the bout, Adyra turned to look at the guardsmen behind her. "Sergeant, lead the way. We are going to inspect the Destiny's Dreamer. I hope you know where she's docked."
"I do, prin... Your Highness," he stammered on his pronouns.
"Good. Lead on," she extended her left hand.
"Men, form up and escort the [Princess]," he shouted louder than necessary.
People on the windows were watching the peculiar scene. Adyra knew the sergeant now wanted to show off, probably an attempt to increase his own social worth. Twelve guards boxed Adyra on all sides but left her sufficient room to maneuver.
Full of MP, she cast a few spells on herself. Focusing on her memorized magic circles, she started to weave one. To her, it felt as if the world slowed down but it was all done in the blink of an eye.
First, the Essence. Two concentric glowing rings appeared on the edge of the circle. This outermost part of the magic circle defined what element or affinity the spell would use. In this case, Force. The correct sequence of glyphs filled the outer rim of the circle.
Then the Motivator. The purpose of the spell. Dozens of lines crisscrossed the circle, connecting runes on the outer edge. These lines would guide the magic to achieve the purpose, creating a semantic correlation between the affinity and effect. When this step ended, the lines looked like a multi-pointed star.
Next, the Shape. So far she had the intent of protection using Force. Now she needed to give the intent form. Another dual set of rings appeared on the inside of the star. Glyphs filled it, conveying the idea of a person, of the originator of the magic. This would make the spell take on the shape of the caster. At last, the final glyphs would tell the magic to envelop the caster, instead of appearing on the inside.
This step was the most important. Nobody wanted a magical barrier springing inside one's body.
Finally, the Quantifier. So far she had a barrier of stiff Force that would set around the outside of her body and clothes, but it would last for a moment and vanish. She added runes to make it move along with the body, to make it connect to her MP pool so she could reinforce it to resist impacts, to make it throttle the resting energy consumption to last as long as it would, and to make it invisible.
The magic circle snapped shut and she poured MP into it. The spell was cast.
> Arcane Armor
Even with the staff's bonuses, it used more MP than the damage it prevented, but MP recovered faster than HP, it didn't hurt as much to lose a bunch of, and nobody died when the MP pool depleted. For a spellcaster, losing all her MP meant she was both defenseless and harmless, but that's what the MP potions were for.
To outside observers, the lines traced themselves with neck-breaking celerity, the magic circle shining above the mermaid [Wizard]'s staff for a split-second.
Thinking about the staff, Adyra knew she'd use the implement for the rest of her life. It made her think about her family's peculiar situation.
She knew the line of succession should be by seniority. Arista should be the next queen, but her refusal was adamant each time the subject came up. The youngest [Princess] still remembered when she was a little calf, when her sister would tell her she would be [Queen] one day as she was soothed to sleep.
An old worry took over her heart. Would she be a good queen? Would she be able to guide the mermaids toward a brighter future? She clutched the bone shaft of the implement and stared at the dim glow the jewels shed.
Even when her sister's wanderlust took her away from Atlantis, that staff would stay with her, a priceless gift. Adyra's heart swelled with pride. She had to do her utmost, for the sake of her country, for the sake of her suffering sisters held in captivity, for the sake of the trust her sister put in her hands.
It also put a painful dent in her heart. Not the weight of the burden she one day would've to shoulder. How far her sister felt. Even now as she felt the weigh and the weight of the little fairies on her shoulders. So close yet so far. Adyra sniffled.
"No-nothing," she stuttered and choked on a sob. She was talking in ultrasonic frequencies to keep their conversation private. "I was just having silly thoughts."
Her sister's tenderness only aggravated her worries. Adyra felt silly and immature. She was a grown woman. Why couldn't she just shrug off these feelings?
"I'm scared," she finally offered after a long pause as they marched down the streets to the docks. "Not of some kidnappers. Of the future, of the coming years."
Adira forgot to breathe for a few moments. To hear her sister open up like that, especially the part about whimsical deities, doubting such immense power the older mermaid had, painted a perspective in which her concerns were just a teardrop in a vast ocean. Insignificant. Petty. She blinked and some tears wetted her cheeks.
"I don't understand," she answered, steeling herself to keep her composure. None of the guardsmen were looking at her but she knew she was under the city's scrutiny.
"I'll try," She vowed, more to herself than to her sister.