Zach finished unveiling his festival plans to Riley and Beebee, then they filled their remaining time with light conversation. Beebee was in the middle of telling a story about her first day on the job, just two months ago, when the tower door opened. Her story cut off mid-sentence.

The two maids jumped to their feet and bowed as the Princess entered, leaving only Zach still sitting down. He wondered if he should stand and bow too, but Evelyn seemed to like it when he treated her more casually.

"Hello, Zach," Evelyn said with a smile. "Since you're here today, I take it that you and Riley were successful?"

The Princess was wearing a thin gold tiara, shaped like a chain of small leaves, and a shimmery blue dress that nearly touched the floor. It was sleeveless, but she wore a small white sweater to keep her shoulders warm now that summer was on its way out.

"Hello, Evelyn. And yes, it worked out perfectly. It was a little weird waking up in the same bed I went to sleep in, after all that flipping."

"I'd imagine." She sat down at the small table across from Zach, then turned to Riley who was standing at attention. "How about you, Riley? You were treated well?"

Riley went a little pink in the face as she answered, "Yes, Zach was a perfect gentleman."

Beebee was glancing from Riley to Zach and back again. "Wait… did you two sleep together last night?"

Riley's face became a deeper shade of red. "Yes, but only like we do for the Princess."

"Oh, okay," Beebee said, seemingly satisfied. Then she turned to Zach and said, "So you can stay here every night now, right? That's wonderful!"

Zach couldn't help but smile. "It is indeed wonderful, but I don't think I'll stay every night. I still have things I need to do in my own world." He tried not to think too much about all his ties and responsibilities there. He still wasn't sure how he would handle that side of things…

He took a breath, then addressed Evelyn, "I would like to stay in New Albion from time to time, and since I can't really tell anyone else about my strange situation, could I maybe…" He trailed off, unsure how to ask for such an unusual favor from the Princess and her maids.

Evelyn nodded. "I would like you to keep your connection to the other world secret, so I offer you my support whenever you need to prevent your flipping. Riley, are you willing to lend your hand again?"

"For such a handsome gentleman, I'm both willing and eager," Riley responded.

Zach coughed a little in surprise, then tilted his head in thought. That was the first innuendo Riley's said in Beebee's presence. Maybe she tries to tone it down around the younger girl?

"On a related note," Riley continued, "I still need to visit the baths. May I depart, Princess?"

Evelyn nodded. "Sure thing. And take Beebee with you. She was supposed to clean the steam room this morning, but I don't think she did."

"Sorry, Princess!" Beebee said, bowing apologetically. "I forgot."

As the two maids left the room, Zach couldn't help but think that Alexia never would have let him be alone with the Princess. It was nice that everyone else seemed to trust him, at least.

What kind of mission could Alexia be on, anyway? he wondered. He was curious, but not enough to ask about it.

Evelyn said, "I'm glad my tip worked for you, and I hope you don't mind me taking interest in your situation. I'd still like to understand the flipping phenomenon and you're my only source of information."

"I don't mind at all. And I'm happy to have your support." He paused for a moment as he gathered his thoughts, then he said, "Without your help, I'd be blind and alone and at the mercy of the flipping."

Evelyn smiled. "Happy to help."

"Um, on a different topic… what's the deal with Okwata? Beebee got really sad when she mentioned it."

"Ah. That's not a happy subject for me either, but I'll explain. Okwata was a city far to the southeast that used to be part of the Kingdom of New Albion. It's located near your world's New Orleans, and it was a major port of trade for the Kingdom."

She took a breath, then added, "It was destroyed in 2005. A massive hurricane struck the city, flooding the streets, wiping buildings off the map, and destroying the city's protective walls. My mother and much of Beebee's extended family died in the storm and its aftermath." The statement hung heavy in the air for a moment before she continued.

"In addition to the destruction and disease from the water, monsters got in through the ruined walls. My father ordered everyone to withdraw from the area and he officially abandoned the territory. The borders of New Albion were redefined to something similar to eastern Colorado, Nebraska, Kansas, and Missouri. Nothing downstream of where the Arkansas River meets the Mississippi River is part of the Kingdom anymore."

It was nice to hear all the familiar names, and Zach had just enough geographical knowledge to be able to picture the area she was describing. And given the importance of Bridges, it made sense that rivers would be used to define the borders.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

Zach raised a finger and asked, "Did that storm happen to hit in August?" He was thinking of Hurricane Katrina, which had devastated much of the American Southeast, and New Orleans in particular.

"It did indeed. I know what you're thinking and I agree that it was probably the same hurricane. I can't easily confirm it, but I believe that major weather events affect both of our worlds, even if daily weather isn't always synced. I'd bet that earthquakes and volcano eruptions match too."

Zach leaned back in his chair, processing all that information. Since he still had the ability to flip back and forth between the worlds, there had to be ways to utilize the two worlds' similarities.

He thought, I could warn the people here of severe storms that my world is tracking, though that's less of an issue this far inland. Oh right, I was already thinking that geological features are probably the same. I could find minerals that have already been mined in my world, but have yet to be tapped here.

He made a mental note to research the locations of significant mines online, once he was back in his own world. Gold seemed the easiest to find information about and to sell, so he planned to focus on gold mines first. He could wait to research rarer materials that New Albion had less use for.

"Thank you for answering my questions, Evelyn. Did you have any for me?"

She shook her head. "Not right now, and I'm sure you're eager to get back to your festival preparations."

Zach jolted. "You know about that?"

A smug smile appeared on Evelyn's face. "I know everything my maids know." Then she added, "Well, almost everything. I try not to pry into their private time."

----------------------------------------

Zach let himself out of the castle, making his way through the now-familiar staff hallways. He had seen only a tiny bit of the other halls, the ones for royalty and dignitaries and other people of importance, the halls with beautiful decorations instead of drab gray stone. I wonder if Evelyn or one of the maids would give me a tour if I asked…

His thoughts shifted to something more urgent. The festival is so close now, the day after tomorrow. I'll need to get all the business deals finalized today.

He had already made contact with all his suppliers, but he wanted to check back in with each of them, just in case. If a single part of the plan failed, Zach would be stuck with a lot of useless supplies and rental equipment.

Zach started with the importer. His name was Altro, and he focused on imports from the Southlands, which Zach guessed meant South America. Altro's shop was just a few blocks north of the castle, near the docks at the confluence of the Red and Righ rivers. Over the years, people had widened the channel into a small reservoir to support all the docked ships.

And now that Zach knew what Bridges were, he understood how goods could make it all the way to New Albion from another continent. In some cases, the trip was faster than modern technology could have managed. When he also considered that Conjurers could easily keep goods refrigerated, he was quite impressed by the magic world's ability to transport perishable foods long distances.

Zach entered the shop and searched for Altro. Crates of grains, fruits, and vegetables filled the warehouse-like building, stacked into tall aisles. The fruits and other spoilable goods would likely be shipped off that morning, to restaurants and vendor stands around the city, but the long-keeping goods might take weeks to sell.

Zach finally spotted the short, dark-haired man near the back door, bringing in a bulky burlap bag. "Altro!" he called out. "Want some help with that?"

"Zach!" the man shouted back. "I'm fine, but you have good timing. These are your beans. Just arrived from Okwata, and the Southlands before that."

Zach continued his approach, weaving through the aisles lined with crates. "Okwata? I didn't realize people still lived there."

Altro set the heavy bag on the floor. He was wearing leather overalls and a plain short-sleeve shirt. His arms were surprisingly muscular for his short stature. He'd been a porter before he started a business of his own and he still did much of the physical labor himself.

He answered, "Some people do, but they aren't part of the Kingdom anymore. Trading with them means steep taxes and giving middlemen a cut of the profits, but we don't have much alternative; there just aren't a lot of Bridges willing to travel direct from New Albion to the other kingdoms."

"Oh," Zach said. It made sense, but the existence of other kingdoms was something Zach knew nothing about. He changed the topic. "If those are my beans, can I pick them up today? I'd like to go get them roasted."

Altro looked up at Zach from under thick eyebrows and curly hair. "If you want them roasted, I can do that myself. Just don't tell anyone it was me, since the Albyne House funded the roaster and doesn't want anyone else using it. I roast all their beans before delivering."

"Albyne House? Is that the snooty club near Nevin's map shop?" Zach guessed.

"That's the one. You're getting to know your way around New Albion pretty well, Zach."

Zach blushed at the praise. "I suppose so. I just like to wander and talk to other merchants, and I have a good memory."

"Wait!" Zach blurted. He just remembered that coffee beans were best used within 24 hours of being roasted. "If you can roast them, can you wait until tomorrow evening to do it? I'll come pick up the roasted beans and sugar the next morning."

"Sure, I can do that. How does six Harts sound for the roasting?"

Zach thought, $30 to roast that many beans? That's not bad at all. He smiled and offered his hand. "Sounds great. See you around eight?"

Altro clasped Zach's wrist. "Eight it is. You can pay in full then, right?"

Zach nodded. "Of course. Thanks in advance, Altro."

He left the shop and made his way to the next stop on his list: equipment rental. The rental place was a large and cluttered warehouse with several men and women on staff. Zach had never interacted with any single employee enough to form a professional relationship, but the business was organized enough that it hadn't caused any trouble.

He waited at the front desk for someone to help him, then confirmed with the woman that they'd have all the equipment ready for pickup on Saturday morning. She had him sign a 'writ', a legal promise that he'd pay the agreed upon amount, and he moved on to his next destination.

Zach continued down his list, checking on his milk order, the horse and cart rental, and a custom-made sign. The sign was the only one he had to pay for in advance, but it only cost eight Harts.

Like everything else, it would be ready for pickup on Saturday morning.

Just two days away, and I won't even be in this world for one of them… Zach's mind was racing around in circles, debating whether he should run back to the castle to find Riley, so he could stay the night in New Albion for more time to work on the festival.

But if I stay tonight and something goes wrong the next night and I end up flipping… I'd be stuck in the wrong world during the festival. My entire plan would fall apart. And because of the business deals and writs, I'd be financially ruined.

Zach shook his head as he continued towards the Hard Fought Rest. No, it isn't worth the risk. I'll just flip tonight and get up early on the 22nd. I wonder if I can request a 7am wake-up from the innkeeper?