I had to answer so many questions about the killings, the baron and if there was a receiver or not before I could go back to my story. Mostly I had to say ‘I don’t know’ because…I didn’t know. The receiver part was the easiest to answer since I was sure I would have recognised the golden array they talked about.

“When everyone left the man changed the way he talked for some reason.”

“Before, did he ‘taulk loik dis’ or more like. ‘Vhel get on vith eet,’” Daral asked with very exaggerated movements of his mouth.

“The first. I think?”

“Northerner then, probably Oclaran,” Daral said.

“Well, then he came upstairs to use the transmitter so I had to go out the window and climb down but he used it when I was halfway and made me slip and fall the rest. I think he must have heard me then.”

“Transmitters shouldn’t affect you unless you stick your head into the dish, even then it's a very discreet piece of equipment. You shouldn’t have felt much from how far away you were.”

“Maybe she’s more sensitive cause of her mana issues?” Ian said. I didn’t much like my mana being characterised as an issue. I was starting to fully enjoy it after suppressing it for so long while living with Mother.

With all the discussion and questions they asked I ended up retelling most of the story with more numbers and details. I was starting to think my storytelling wasn’t great after seeing all the important bits I missed. But in my defence, there was a lot to tell and I hadn’t figured out which to tell first. Also, they kept interrupting me

The knight and the aspirants kept discussing numbers and combat capabilities while Ian upturned a potion into a cotton rag. I smelt the perfume but didn’t comment on it again and pulled up my tunic so he could see my back to dab at the burns.

After the discussion ended the shield dropped and I remembered I hadn’t told them about the person below trying to listen in. I waved and enacted putting the shield back up which didn’t work so I had to ask, quietly.

When I told them about it they looked at me like I was a day late. The mage below was the entire reason for the shield and while they liked that I told them it should have been a lot earlier.

My storytelling really was terrible.

The prevailing theory was an Oclaran trying to establish a base near an important supply line to the castle Annalisa’s great-grandfather had taken. They didn’t know why or which faction he belonged to since the supremacism could have still been legitimate. The reason for faking a more pronounced accent was something no one could agree on.

We were going to stay in the same room with a double watch till morning. Then leave without arousing suspicion to report what we knew back to Drasda. Barick had a weak argument for gathering more information but I’d ruined that by alerting them. I was ready to try to help out in the watch rotation but I had apparently done enough already.

I flopped onto the bed and winced. I had to turn and lie on my stomach because of the bandage across my back. It was a weird way to sleep but with all the running and stress I was too tired to try to flop around to a new position.

…

“Are you sure I can’t convince you to stay another night?” Pennie asked. “The owner has issued very generous discounts after last night's mishap.”

“No, thank you,” Annalise said and helped me up onto Missy outside the inn. “We need to get going to Kiteer. We’re expected to be there soon.”

“I’m sure whoever is expecting you will understand that the roads were too dangerous for travel.”

“We can handle ourselves, even if last night’s incident did involve mages.”

Annalise got up behind me. She was wearing her chest piece under her cloak along with the other three. I was the only one not in a cloak and back in my old clothes to play into being unimportant and different from the intruder. By her rigid posture, I could tell Annalise was tense as we moved down the short road.

The gate was closed and had an unknown mage stationed near it, trying to turn away grumpy people looking to leave. Including the woman with the wagon from the other evening.

“You’re not listening!” he said. “The gate will remain closed by order of the council.”

The village was still small enough that they didn’t have to elect a mayor and were allowed to run themselves as long as they followed the law. This village definitely wasn’t, at least that’s what Barick kept repeating. The man could be exhausting when he could do nothing but quote legal opinions and regulations.

We rode to the side of the small crowd and people made way for the horses, especially with Missy leading.

“What reason do you have for baring people’s exit?” Annalise asked.

The mage craned his neck upwards and squinted into the sun behind us. “The gates have been closed due to an attack last night and potential danger from further attacks on the road.”

“My understanding was that it was not a significant event?”

“No, our mages we’re strong enough to chase away the attacker—s.”

“Well, you’ve informed the people here of the dangers and they still wish to leave. You can’t block them,” she said and glanced behind her to more approaching mages.

“On the contrary,” the man from last night said. “We are under an obligation to protect our inhabitants and we foresee these attacks to put them in unnecessary danger.”

I didn’t dare turn around like Annalise did, despite being curious about what he looked like. “Who might you be?”

“Zara, member of the council that oversees this village.”

“Well, Zara, I’ll escort these people so you can transfer that obligation to me. We have an important contact to meet in Kiteer that we can’t miss over some random hooligans.”

“I can’t in good conscience leave these people to an unknown guardian.”

Her hand rubbed past the sore spots on my back as she pulled out something from her saddle to show Zara.

“A graduate from Equitier? While I’m sure you can handle yourself overconfidence has killed many a mage. Do you really want the deaths of these people on your conscience?”

“That’s up to them and me. You don’t want an investigation into kidnapping, do you? People might mention something about explosive spells being flung around within populated areas.”

There was a long silence before the man spoke up again. “Open the gate.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Our guards saw some pointed ears among the attackers,” he said as the gate creaked open. “Best be on the lookout for them on the road.”

“You’re accusing elves of attacking a human settlement?”

“Who can say, it was quite dark at the time.”

Most of the small crowd had moved through the door and no longer blocked our path. Some stayed behind and whispered amongst each other as Missy started to move forward and out the gate.

I couldn’t help my curiosity and quickly glanced under Annalise’s arm to Zara. I’d built up an expectation of an imposing figure but the man looked thin and pale. His dark blonde hair fell across his face, leaving only one greyish eye looking out over us. The corners of his mouth twitched as he turned away and addressed the mages that had come with him.

“He thinks he’s clever, accusing the elves,” Ian said once we were far enough away. “Thinks that makes it hard for people to act on any reports.”

“Hard to believe people still try to give them a bad name,” Alisa said. “They need to stop so we get more coming to Equitier, there’s not enough to go around.”

“Gross,” Barick said.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“Oh come off it, I’ve seen you stare at Galia.”

“Language like that might be why we don’t get more elves coming here,” Annalise said.

“Really Captain? You only say that because you’re one of the culprits. How is Haradai nowadays?”

“Well…he went back home after school…and let’s stop objectifying our potential allies,” Annalise said.

“Allies now?” Daral asked. “They’re not ones to change willingly. What happened?”

“Father was in talks with them before he fell ill. Oclar is trying to pressure one of their settlements into a trade agreement for different woods. Presumably to build large vessels by what they’re demanding.”

“Shipbuilding wood for what? No chance Andraka lets them build anything bigger than a fishing boat in their channel.”

I felt Annalise shrug behind me and leaned forward so she didn’t agitate my raw skin. “Sorry, Valeria. It was only the start of talks before the curse hit hard. We’re not sure if that's the real answer or just a pretence for aggression.”

My mood was spoiled for the rest of the morning’s ride. I didn’t want to think about my choice to save the duke. I’d given up telling myself I would use his life as leverage but hadn’t come up with a good way to help myself with the deed. The days I had left to think about it were coming and going quickly.

I wanted to trust Annalise to give me the gold she promised for helping but didn’t feel comfortable relying on that promise. And from the way the others talked about spending thousands of roe on ‘rent’ and ‘tuition.’ I didn’t think it was a long-term solution. Cities sounded scary and someone with no skills would get chewed up and spat out, in the words of Daral.

I also needed somewhere to reliably store the doll and something to let me live outside of servitude.

Being a stablehand seemed like my best option so far and I rubbed the side of Missy’s neck when she agreed I would be good at it. Potato thought there were piles of crap bigger than me and I wouldn’t last a week.

Annalise had seemed uninterested in any talking until after lunch where we had stopped by the river which had looped back towards our path.

I finished my meal and tried to get up but yanked my head to the side with the hair I had sat on.

It had happened so many times before and I was usually good at keeping it away but this one instance sent me over the edge. I pulled out the dagger Annalise had left with me and held it up by my neck, next to my bundled-up hair.

Alisa almost dropped her bowl of rehydrated rations and choked as she tried to swallow quickly. “Wait—wait.”

She had her hands pressed together in a way that wouldn’t let her cast spells, a placating gesture. “You’ll make it uneven if you do that. Let me?”

I removed the dagger from where I had been slowly pressing into the strands. Alisa quickly jumped to a pack on her horse, pulling out scissors and a fine tooth comb. Annalise seemed to think I didn’t need the dagger anymore and took it back to store on her own hip.

Alisa beckoned me over to sit near her and knelt on the ground behind me. “Have you changed your mind about cutting it?”

While I liked it, trying to deal with the length was getting exhausting. I shook my head.

“Let’s cut it to the shoulders and see how you like it.”

I simply nodded and let Alisa start to snip and drag the comb through my hair. It reminded me of the last time someone cut my hair, the day before the doll had been created using it. I tried to push that memory away and focus on how nice the teeth of the comb felt on my scalp.

I’d always been happy when Trissa did my hair. She might have been disappointed it wasn’t long enough for her more complex braids but she’d understand travelling with it all was a pain. It made me realise why Alisa’s blond hair always stayed bundled up while Annalise had hers above the shoulder.

It must have all been in my mind because removing some hair shouldn’t have felt like that much weight was gone. Moving my head around was easier. The cool breeze on the back of my neck was comforting. And I could see properly without having to brush strands out of my eyes.

The compliments on the new look were also nice to hear.

…

At the evening camp the woman with the donkey cart, Abela and Diddy, camped near us after Daral’s persuasion. We’d made an effort to stay with the people who left with us this morning despite knowing there was no threat. It added time to our trip but we would have been arriving in Kiteer past the time the gates closed and would have waited till morning anyway.

Daral managed to trade some of our provisions for cups full of the wine she was carrying. It tasted icky but was less harsh than the alcohol I was used to being around. I was only allowed one cup because I was a ‘pipsqueak.’ But I still felt light on my feet and warmth in my chest.

Trying to find the stamina to talk was harder so I sat a bit away from the others who were chatting away. The animals were more relaxing company for the evening.

The horses didn’t like Diddy much for some reason. I felt bad for the poor guy and leaned against him as the others started a second cup of wine, except Ian who had volunteered to be the responsible one. The donkey let out a long and loud bray when I thought about the time Apple had flung Alisa off her back when an acorn dropped on her rear. I was giggling along as well which confused the others who decided they had given me too much wine.

Missy countered with how I’d almost fallen off her when sleeping. Diddy brayed with more laughter.

Such betrayal.

I ruined everyone's opinion and goodwill when I let a nearby snake curl around me. The push and pull of its body was fascinating but no one else cared to take up my offer to touch the ‘highly venomous creature.’ Mages apparently didn’t like the harmful serpents that didn’t have mana for them to easily detect.

I let go of the lovely creature away from the nasty people and went back to lean against Diddy who I had to twirl for and reassure the snake was gone. He was warm and soft and his breaths lifted me in a smooth rhythm.

I opened my eyes to Annalise carrying me to a tent and didn’t bother protesting before closing them again.

…

My backside was getting used to the long horse rides but I was still excited that the end was in sight. I didn’t know what a train was like but they made it sound many times more comfortable than horseback.

We’d been passing farms, pastures and grain storage for ages without the city in sight. I gagged and bundled up my shirt over my nose and mouth as we rode past a traditional tannery. We’d been unlucky with the wind direction since it was placed away from the path that had turned cobbled again a while ago. Mages had spells to speed up the process and make it smell less but ‘ruined the feel of real leather.’ I was already convinced it was a worthy trade off.

Farmers around us cared more for the horses, their breed and pedigree rather than the mages that rode them. Many used the same rain spells as those back in the town but the water that fell had a weird feeling to it. Ian was confused about what I meant but said it must be the part of the spell meant to linger and keep pests away.

We crested a hill and I was impressed by the size of the buildings that sprawled out in front of us. I was shocked to learn that it was only the outer city and contained a fraction of the houses and people that were inside the main walls.

Mentions of the area the fallen capital took up were staggering to try to comprehend.

The first thing I noticed is how little the people cared about us. No one looked at us and no one cared there were horses on the street they crossed seconds before we passed. People wore clothes in shapes and styles I’d never seen before and I started to understand Trissa’s interest.

Carts and carriages were able to move past each other in either direction with space to spare for people, stalls and their customers. A few called to us from behind their wares but gave up easily when they saw no one would dismount.

It felt like the walls suddenly towered over us out of nowhere. Easily overshadowing the three storey buildings against it. It looked to be one solid piece of beige sandstone with the two towers on either side of the gate’s tunnel made out of bricks more for aesthetics than necessity. A set of solid iron doors hung on either side of the tunnel with a line built in the ground for them to swing on. Another set of pointed iron bars hung above the middle section, looking ready to skewer the next passerby.

Members of The Watch stood in three man groups at each side with a few more leaning over the side of the wall. The mages in the uniform looked indistinguishable from their peers. They looked relaxed with most having left their pikes against a small post to the side.

We joined the back of a fast moving line into the tunnel. Carts got a peek under the flaps and random barrels were cracked open. Most people walked through without a glance from the Watch members while others were stopped. Back in the town and village, I think I could reliably pick out the mages without using my senses but here some of the dirtiest people had mana while others sitting in carriages had none.

It was all a bit overwhelming having so many people around. There were just as many critters and animals with far too many emotions scampering and trotting around. A few were sickening but I tried to block them out, I couldn’t feel bad for every mouse caught by the cat.

I was the only one on horseback as we approached the front of the line with everyone dismounting to better maneuver the horses. Daral’s was a bit spooked from everything going on around us but I calmed him enough to be still.

Annalise pulled out a large gold coin that had a peculiar mana pattern on it. The watch officer who stopped us glanced at her and held his palm to his heart with a nod. “Captain.”

She returned the nod. “Good morning Officer, do you know when the next train to Drasda will be departing?”

The man shook his head and waved over one of his colleagues who said one was coming in that afternoon from Riker Bay.

Most light disappeared as we went through the tunnel but I could make out holes in the wall around us. I felt like ducking away from the iron prongs of the middle gate even though they were a full yard above me.

The sunlight was back in a few steps but I still squinted as we exited. The area beyond the wall was almost identical to that outside but with the street going in a straight line instead of curving. The stone below us looked more worn and the stalls had mostly turned into full shops.

A loud bang had me ducking into Missy and bracing for the rush of wind that would follow.

The laughter of children made me look back up. A mage was using a spell to make small explosions in the air that rained down colourful motes of light instead of bright flashes.

“You okay Val?” Annalise asked. I stared at the spell for a bit longer before telling her I was fine.

“Okay, I trust all of us, except the obvious, knows how to get to a station on time?” There was a round of excited nods. “I will leave you behind if you’re not there. I’ll be contacting the local garrison about the village and getting us and the horse's passage. In the meantime, you’re at liberty to explore.”

“Will the tickets be coming out of our pay?” Alisa asked.

“Not if you take care of Missy and Valeria while I do it. Bonus for whoever does it”

“Yes, ma’am,” Alisa volunteered and took the reins of Missy. The others were already moving away with Barick and Daral leaving together with Potato who Ian bribed them to handle.