Iris and Minerva took care of the villagers and our recruits. They would make sure everyone settled in. They also had a lot of shopping to do. This was our first stop in a major city. We could get supplies, clothing, weapons, armour…

“Hey, maybe we can finally get Mantus’ armour adjusted for you.” I said to Lucy as she returned with her family.

“Cool. Although I have been fighting a lot in my fox form recently. Maybe we should give it to Lily?”

“My lady, that is too generous! I could never accept that!” Lily complained.

“Lucy does have a point. Since she seems to turn into a kitsune, and was already rather strong before, armour seems less of an issue for her. And it would allow you to better fight beside us, Lily.”

“Besides, you are our Storm Knight… Storm Maid Knight.” Lucy corrected herself. “Proper armour would suit you.”

“True. We should ask the king if he knows a smith.”

Despite Lily’s objections there was a certain longing in her gaze. I was sure she would really love that armour.

Alister, Lynn and Ben paid no attention to our conversation. They were busy looking around with open mouths. I suspected it was their first time at a palace. Magnus was listening, but did not comment. He led us into the palace. Almost everything seemed to be made of stone, metal and glass. It was rare to see wood. Even the doors were mostly made of stone.

Interestingly, everything seemed rather large. High ceilings, big doors,... Dwarves were shorter than humans, so I would have expected things to be smaller. Then again, maybe that was a rich person thing. Even in my old world palaces were often oversized. And rich people seemed to like high ceilings, according to the videos I had seen.

“Is it… is it really alright for us to be here?” Lynn asked, looking around nervously.

“Sure mom! We are nobility now!” Lucy said.

“But… how do we behave? I don’t know how to curtsey! I need a new dress!”

“It’s fine dear.” Alister said. “I am sure no one expects us to meet with important people.”

“The king will hold a banquet soon and you will certainly be invited.” Magnus said.

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“Oh no!” Lynn answered, looking terrified.

“We get to meet a king! Does he have a court elemental too?” Ben asked.

“I am not sure what a court elemental is.” Magnus answered.

“A nice lady that can be scary and slaughter things for you! She plays with me a lot! Unlike lazy. He would never get an important job like that! He never slaughters anything.” Ben explained.

Terath had been really lazy the entire trip. He barely ever did anything. Most of the time, I even forgot that he was here.

Magnus seemed rather confused by Ben’s explanation.

“Where is Shani anyway?” Lucy asked.

“I… I have no idea.” Was she with Iris? Or maybe Thessia? “I last saw her when we passed through the palace gate. Maybe she went with Thessia? I think she is currently inquiring about a place for her tree. Josef and Elandru were with her…”

“Who is this court elemental?” Magnus asked, looking at me.

“Oh, she is an elemental lord called Shani. She joined our court. It’s an archfey thing.” Which was a great excuse.

“Ah. I am not familiar with archfey courts. But I can help with the dress situation. If you want, I can send a seamstress to your quarters.” Magnus suggested.

“Perfect! We are looking forward to it.” Lucy said, smiling.

“But… that sounds expensive!” Lynn protested.

“I told you mom, we do have money. Besides, we want them properly tailored anyway, for our tails. You don’t just cut a hole in a fancy dress.”

“We? Are you getting a dress as well?” I asked Lucy.

“We are getting dresses. So far all of our outfits have pants. While they are practical, I don’t think we will end up in a fight here. We can go for something different.”

I looked down at my pants. I was still using the outfits I had purchased in Iron Rock. While I had considered a dress back then, I had never actually worn one.

“Hm. Ok, I will give it a try. Can we have them enchanted?” I asked.

“That can be arranged.” Magnus said.

“Enchanted! Why would we need magical clothing?” Lynn asked.

“Because it's super comfortable! And it helps keep them clean.” Lucy explained.

“Can I get magical clothes? Pleeease!” Ben begged.

“Sure!” Lucy promised.

“He is still growing! We can’t spend that much money on clothes that will soon be too small.” Lynn protested.

“Maybe they can be enchanted to grow with him? Anyway, you don’t have to worry about money.” I assured her.

Eventually we arrived at our residence. It felt slightly absurd but we had five maid quarters, each sleeping two, and four VIP bedrooms, each with its own bathroom. There was a small lounge in the entryway, with a small bar, a dining room and a small kitchen.

We took some time to get cleaned. Magnus returned a bit later to deliver an invitation. The king wanted to have dinner with us.

“It’s just a small private meal with some trusted people.” He assured us. “You do not have to worry about your wardrobe tonight and I will send a seamstress tomorrow. Will your court elemental be joining us? I am still not entirely sure about her function. Is she a noble? You called her a lord?”

“Ah, that is just a classification. Elemental lords are essentially the most powerful elementals. They evolve from their base forms after they have been around for a long time. They are fully sentient and rather powerful.” I looked at his widening face. “Wait… did you think we were talking about an elementalist? Like a humanoid mage?”

“I… I might have misunderstood.” He admitted.

“No worries. She is a bit unusual. She might also call herself my wrath and talk about slaughtering in my name. But she won’t harm innocents.” I assured him. “Oh, and she likes to carry this big scythe made of lightning. And her laugh can be disturbing if you are not used to it, especially when shows her teeth.”

Despite my reassuring smile Magnus looked slightly alarmed.