The Road To Wig

The Knights of the Dusk knew how to handle harsh conditions. They spent most of their active duty camping in the woods and traveling on foot. They did not, however, spend a lot of time traveling with children –let alone a noble child. So, they had initially opted to stop at least once each day so Lady Eunora could stretch her legs and have a comfortable meal. And if she had asked, they would have stopped more. The knighthood was meant to be at the beck and call of the Dawns, their and the land’s protectors. So, there was no greater calling than protecting a child of the Dawn.

Now, however, that visage has shattered.

Nora, as Lady Eunora preferred, was lax regarding almost every aspect of noble life. She was willing to sit in the carriage the entirety of the day, didn’t mind cold or dry food, and she would chat with her caretakers –George Limrick and Arella. Of all the knights, they seemed to have the highest affinity for dealing with the eccentric young Lady. That was not even to mention the two squires, Arlen and Klein, who seemed to be able to banter with the young noble. Klein was unexpectedly casual with their interactions. Meanwhile, Arlen was quite clearly clueless about how these interactions with nobles usually went.

Sir Limrick and Dame Arella did know how these things usually went, but were more preoccupied with the fact that their temporary ward was more like a feral cat than any noble child they had ever met. And Sir Limrick had regularly escorted Lady Evelyn and Lord Raphael.

So, it was all about building trust and instilling strong boundaries. They’d quietly agreed on this upon the incident in Juvel. The long road to Wig was both a help and a detriment to this plan, though.

It was a help in that each day, Lady Nora interacted with Arlen more and more casually. And whenever Sir Limrick scolded Arlen for his casual attitude or his careless remarks, the Lady smiled –or, on one such occasion two days after departing Juvel, she even laughed.

A detriment, however, because Lady Nora spent most of her time in the compartment alone, reading that spellbook she’d purchased at Mira’s Magical Means, practicing her Skills, or generally seeping mana out of the carriage. Which caused a rather large number of blights to be drawn to the envoy. It was nothing that the Captain and the scouts couldn’t handle, but as the days passed, it was getting progressively worse. It had begun outside Adeline and continued for the first full day toward Wig. It wasn’t until the second travel day on the road to Wig that everything seemed to stop.

It was such a shock that Sir Limrick had knocked on the window of the carriage himself and verified Lady Nora’s well-being. But each time he looked in, she just seemed to be sleeping. She had a sleep mask on and was curled up underneath her oversized blanket that had mysteriously appeared in the carriage on the way from Adeline to Juvel. The knights, of course, understood that Lady Nora had a Skill relating to such a thing. They had been briefed she likely had a [Young Lady of Weaving] Class or something similar. However, several times, Sir Limrick would check on Lady Nora over the course of the day and would see her sweating or looking rather harried. Each time, he would ask her how she was feeling, but she would just smile and wave to her spellbook.

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Your First Spellbook was actually a series produced by the mage tower of Juvel and was usually only sold directly from the tower. It had been rather curious to Dame Arella when Lady Nora had purchased such a thing from a random shop in Yllan Square, but, of course, fateful encounters often happen for a reason, she’d decided. The series was quite helpful for learning several mage Skills.

By the fourth day, Sir Limrick and Dame Arella had spent the evenings with Lady Nora and grown rather fond of the odd little girl. Sometimes, she spoke beyond her years. Asking questions only true Lords and Ladies would ask –Dame Arella often thought of when Lady Nora claimed she would never forgive the Gods for her Affirmation.

By day seven, Sir Limrick and Dame Arella could feel the change in Lady Nora’s countenance. She was clearly more comfortable than leaving the main estate, but the knights were shocked at the difference a mere week had made. Away from her family, she flourished. Away from that oppressive estate, she had bloomed. It gave the knights hope that perhaps she wasn’t quite as feral as they’d heard.

Sir Limrick and Dame Arella had been told she’d refused to leave her room after Awakening –but there was no reason given. The Captain seemed to be under the impression it was mourning for her desired Class, but Captain Rellar had also said the Countess hadn’t given him an actual reason aside from ‘she had failed in her duty and her diligence.’ Both Sir Limrick and Dame Arella had shown their distaste for that phrase –it was a popular one among the Dawns who functioned as trainers and squad captains. There were several aunts and uncles who no longer possessed the title of a Dawn heir but served as members of the Dusk.

They were nothing special for a noble, usually, but that didn’t mean they were normal. One couldn’t compare a member of the Dawn to a layman –not even a Dawn from a branch family. Their base Classes were often [Uncommon], more so than any other noble family in the Queendom. Except for maybe the Duchy of Nemo, but the Duke of Nemo didn’t really count.

Still, Sir Limrick and Dame Arella were worried about Lady Nora. Though she had been smiling more, they wondered how much was genuine. She had just always been so scared. And then she became angry. She ran away. She used a Skill to alter the Captain’s mind. Perhaps, the two knights said amongst themselves, they were the ones who should be scared.

It was on the ninth day that Lady Nora went back to seeping mana from the carriage. It was also that day that a bramble descended upon the carriage.

There were forty-two blights in total. Dame Arella called it out –and she was never wrong when it came to counts. There were twig blights, thistle blights, vine blights, and at least one weeping blight. It wouldn’t be until after the battle that the final breakdown would come in, but Sir Limrick knew it wouldn’t be as easy as the fight before.