2nd scene: The Imperial capital
It was nauseating. It had been many days on that dammed carriage, bumping into every little stone along the road. She was promised the journey would not take long. An absurd lie, but it wasn´t the way to the capital that bothered her. It was that she needed to use that long pompous dress through heat and cold.
At least she was inside the carriage, though. The knights that came with her had to use their full armour the entire time, only taking the helmets out, and had to go on their own horses without any protection from the sun or rain.
“We should be able to see the city now”
Roland, her uncle, said with a smile with his uncut beard covering his mouth.
“What is that!?”
The middle-aged man almost laughed at his niece´s expression.
“The capital is quite a sight, isn’t it?”
Walls the height of a hundred men could be seen in the horizon. Two great statues of humanoid beings, seemingly of sandstone, stood so tall she thought they could easily smash a person below their feet.
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“What are those beings?? Are they alive!?”
She almost fell out of the carriage, trying to see everything.
“They are called wardens, but as far as I know they are just statues… Legend has it that they would come to life to defend the city. That´s just a story, though.”
Roland used a small piece of cloth to clean the sweat out of his face. He too wasn´t used to the heat, but it made him happy to see her excited for the first time since their trip began.
The imperial capital was known to be grandiose, the pride of all emperors that made it ever more impressive.
“Liria, my dear, sit steady or you are going to fall out of the carriage”
She obeyed, gaining back her composure and looking slightly embarrassed for putting half of her body out through the window.
“Are there things like the wardens in the Academy?”
“Surely, there will be many great things to see there. I specially liked the Alchemy experiments in my time… but things have progressed so much...”
Roland almost lost himself in his memory, but she didn´t mind that. He did it quite often. Still, Liria had waited her entire life to get away from their secluded manor in the north and see the wonders of the imperial capital.
“After we reach my Home, we are going to bath and wear new clothes. We are not in our best right now so no exploring until you look like a proper Lady”
She cringed. Her light brown hair was indeed a mess and her dress looked more like a dirty blanket, but her curiosity was growing exponentially. The merchant caravans could be seen in lines with the common folk to enter the gates. The largest waiting lines she had ever seen. Thankfully, she was a noble and had instant access through any city in the empire.