After the party Auna and Ciela headed back to the villa to gather their things. Duke Pearl followed them to the villa. They would be going with him to Lapis, then Pearl. Chloe will be waiting for them in her hometown close to the border of Pearl. It was a small town, and a detour for the duke.
“Ready children?” Duke Pearl was waiting by a carriage the boys were inside. He helped the girls climb up, and their monsters jumped in easily. “Good day Dukes of Bloodwave.”
“Children we will take the carriage directly through Lapis. We could take a teleportation circle however it makes the triplets feel so ill. I hope you girls don’t mind.”
“No worries, sir. We are used to camping out.”
“I’m glad to hear it Auna.”
Auna was sat beside Jensen with Ciela by the wall. Diego sat on the other side of Jensen, the other two were on the other bench with Duke Pearl. Their monsters sat on the floor settling in for a long ride. Auna couldn’t help but fall asleep her head resting on Jensen. Ciela was also sleeping. They would be riding through the night tonight, the soldiers taking turns sleeping in their separate carriage. The beasts pulling the carriages were magical ones that could easily run full speed for 12 hours, they would be fine walking for 24 hours at a time.
The morning light woke Auna, she noticed Jensen was drooling on her shoulder. They had been sleeping with their heads together. She also noticed she really had to use a washroom. She began to look around to see if they would be stopping anytime soon.
“What is wrong dear?” Duke Pearl had a book in his hand as the boys were sleeping with their heads on his lap. Ciela was beside Auna lightly snoring. At his question Auna became very red. She did not want to be crass and tell the man her bladder was seriously threatening to burst.
“Ah, I think I know what is wrong.” He pulled the window open and called for a man on a horse beast. “We need to make a stop; the children will need to use a restroom soon. How long?”
“We are pulling into a public rest stop in a few minutes. There are washrooms on site.” The man left as Duke Pearl nodded.
“It shouldn’t be long dear.”
After a few minutes they did pull into the public rest stop, Auna flew out of the carriage directly to the building with the washrooms. The horse beasts were given a break, while the soldiers set up camp. They would stay for a few hours before leaving for the next stop. There were many public rest stops for people to rest, camp, and clean up in the kingdom. They were mostly on major roads though. High traffic areas were safer for travellers, the rest stop increasing that safety. There were guards at each one.
“Feeling better?” Duke Pearl asked as a female soldier gave a scolding glare.
“Yes, sir thank you.” Auna bowed.
“You are so polite. You can just call me by name like you do with the Bloodwaves.”
“Sir, I don’t know your name?” Aunas’ words made the female soldier laugh.
“Right, my name is Nick.”
“Nice to meet you, Nick.” Auna bowed again.
They set up to eat breakfast the boys and Ciela looking like zombies. Auna was wide awake though and decided to practice her sword swings. Jensen watched with half closed eyes. The triplets laying on the ground trying to go back to sleep. Ciela went to look for new plants, hoping to put some in her storage. Their tamed monsters were out exploring, Theo had a rabbit in his mouth trying to offer it to the cook. The cook did not look pleased to have a bloody rabbit covered in wolf spit offered to him.
“You work too hard!” Bruno yelled after some time.
“You work too little. I have to get stronger. I’m thinking about asking Gary to take me to a dungeon to learn.”
“He won’t do that; you need written permission from your guardian to go into a dungeon before twelve-years-old.”
“Maybe I should sneak into a lower level one?”
“I’m all for helping you do that; however, Nick is going to faint if we do.”
“There will be no dungeon sneaking!” Nick was standing looking pale at the thought.
“Fine, I won’t sneak into a low-level dungeon.” Auna winked at Bruno who laughed at her statement. He had caught on that she was willing to attempt their dungeon again. Her situation had changed.
“I feel like you are going to cause just as much issues as the boys. I will write a letter to the king to see if I can get permission for you to enter one of the lower dungeons.” The Duke shook his head walking away.
“My moon you really want to try our dungeon again. Shouldn’t we wait until we are a few years older?”
“We can yeah, but I just want to get properly prepared. You know?”
“Don’t get too excited, I want you to live a long healthy life.”
“How can I do that if I’m given to the church at sixteen?”
“That won’t happen, the crops are looking good. They will bring in money.”
“I guess but will it be enough to earn seven platinum a year?”
“We can do the maple candies. The magic in the dungeon allows plants to grow all year. The white flowers mimic a cold environment so we can plant them around the trees. When they bloom, we can get sap, then they will wither after a few months. They will regrow and we can harvest sap again. We can even line it up to the winter season.” Ciela was rattling off information.
“You could do that? Control the trees that way and the flowers?” Jensen looked impressed.
“I can yes. I have been watching the flowers, the white ones don’t grow often and where they are is cold. If we plant enough of them around the trees it will mimic winter. The soil will be good enough that even if we are tapping them more than usual, they should grow fine. I noticed the white flowers died out even though their bulbs are fine. They must run on a cycle. And if we can’t make the flowers work, we can use magic to frost and freeze the ground, so the trees think it is winter to produce sap. Then we can make candy and sell syrup.” Ciela was sitting down with the older kids listening intently.
“There are not many orchards dedicated to maple trees in this kingdom. There are a few but none can produce on a large scale. It is a high class treat to have maple sugar, or a rural treat in some areas. Other trees that produce fruit are more popular because you can make more money off of them quicker.” Diego explained.
“We have the space though, and no risk for monsters taking the trees down.” Auna shrugged.
“You two do know we are only eight strong right?” Diego glared at them.
“We do our own maple syrup in the crater. We spend a few hours in the winter, you know that. It actually isn’t that much work because it stores well. The issue is getting enough sugar to make the actual candies. Without it they can appear cloudy.” Auna pondered.
“We could make a field of sugar cane; it only needs to be replanted every 3-5 years. We could also make structures in the dungeon. A store house, and a processing building. We could make and store a lot of sugar, sugar sells well, right?” Ciela looked at Diego.
“It does yeah. But I don’t think we could produce high quality stuff, at least not a quality that will sell well. Instead, we should focus on the candies. They would be unique and sell well. They could be stored as well.” Diego was writing in his notebook. He often carried one with him.
“We need bees by the way.” Ciela was looking oddly seriously. “Before we start doing too much. I noticed the flowers are doing okay, but they need to be properly pollinated. The crops would benefit as well.”
“How are we going to get bees though?” Diego looked at her.
“We need a hive and then place that hive in the dungeon.” Ciela was very matter of fact.
“How do we get a beehive?” Diego asked as Nick walked up.
“Why do you kids want a beehive?”
They stayed silent for a few minutes before Auna asked Jensen. “Can we trust him?”
“Yes.”
“We need it for the dungeon we control. In our crater home a tree became a dungeon. The first floor is a huge field of dungeon flowers we have been tilling for crops.”
“Your serious.” Nick sat down with the children, waving the soldiers away from them.
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“Yes. The second floor is an island. It seems like a fairly small island we walked around the beach. There is a sea around it as far as our eyes could see. There were some low-level monsters in the forest on the island. We had decided not to continue to investigate because of how odd the dungeon is.”
“Wow, so why do you need the beehive.” Nick was a bit in shock.
“We are growing crops, trees, and of course our little farmer is experimenting with the dungeon flowers. She said we need the beehive.” Ciela was nodding to Aunas’ words.
“Wait. How are you managing to sneak away from the school, get to a crater in the middle of the Great Monster Forest, and explore a dungeon without being found out?” Nick was waving his hands in the in a stop motion.
“We use my doors. I have a skill similar to the teleportation circles and the anchor teleportation method. It allows us to walk through a doorway and be in another place. The mana cost is very low, and I control who can use them. They are connected similarly to selecting a floor in a dungeon. I can control which doors people can go in as well.”
“That is amazing. Do the Bloodwaves know about this?”
“They about the doors only. I don’t want to tell them about the dungeon. And they haven’t had a reason to go to our crater.”
“Will you tell them about the dungeon?”
“No. I feel like they would tell the king. I don’t want the king knowing yet.”
“I understand I don’t have as close of a relationship with the king. I won’t tell him.”
“Will you tell me the real reason your wife doesn’t travel with you? A secret or a secret.” Aunas’ true friend skill had let her know Nick was lying at the party.
“You picked up on that did you?” Nick sighed. “Jensen told me you know how your mother came to this land, and the triplets’ mother as well. After the slaves, who were not publicly known as slaves, started to be dragged to the events she stopped going. She hated to see them like that. Corals’ wife ran away, and we took the boys. They are officially adopted though they are the only heirs of Coral, so they kept their name.”
“Everyone still believes your mothers marriage is political. They swept the event under the rug, the women surfaced later. People were led to believe after the cities in the wastelands attacked us, they sent over brides for political alliances. We know it isn’t true. It just hurts her. Especially because some people seem to know there is something fishy going on with the marriages. Lord Corral couldn’t even get a new wife due to his reputation being so bad.”
“Thank you for sharing.” Auna began to stand.
“You are going to set up doors in your friends’ homes, aren’t you?”
“Did you just figure that out?” Auna winked walking towards the cook for food.
It wasn’t long before they were all back into the carriage. They would stop to camp for the night later down the road. They would be close to the Lapis border by mid-day tomorrow, the plan was to rest tomorrow night in Lapis. Currently Auna and Jensen had the chest board out. Auna had won five games Jensen won two.
“That makes six for Auna. Jensen just give up.” Mateo patted his shoulder.
“Shall we play something else? I have Stratego.” Auna knew this game was his favourite from their last world.
“Why didn’t you say so. We used to play that game every day! You know it is my favourite.” Jensen quickly began to pack up the chess board.
“Is that a game from your last world?” Nick put his book down slightly.
“Yes. I made it by hand, we bought a paint set when we were still in the crater. Ciela helped paint it.”
The next hours passed with the kids playing games. They had stopped a few times to stretch and use a restroom. They stopped to set up camp, ate dinner and began to get ready for bed.
“The moon is so pretty tonight.” Auna was gazing upwards.
“Why don’t you dance for a bit? The tents are set up so once you are done you can go right to bed.” Jensen was settling on to the ground.
“Do you want to dance with me?”
“Thought you’d never ask my moon.” Jensen was up right away hand in Aunas’.
They danced for a long time, different dances from their old world. They had both practiced many styles in their old world. Especially on the moon colonies with so many high class people. Soon Auna was dancing on her own, she began to dance her dream dance.
Auna was surprised when the people watching her all fell asleep, the guards also fell asleep. They weren’t slumped over though; they were more like in a trance. She was a bit embarrassed and worried that if the guards were asleep something bad could happen. She stood there for a few minutes. The looks of tranced faces turned into daze, then confused.
“What just happened?” Nick asked holding his head.
“I’m sorry I have a skill that can lull people to sleep if I dance a certain way.” Auna bowed her head in shame.
“Wow, at least we know it works. We should head to bed and be more careful with your skills child. Nothing happened this time but that might not be true in the future.”
“Of course, sir.”
They headed off to bed without another word. The girls slept in their own tent. Ciela and Auna curled up with their monsters instead of in their sleeping rolls. The wolves were much warmer, and more comfortable.
Morning came too quickly. The long journey was hard on their small bodies. They were not use to the lack of sleep; the adults were more accustomed to it.
“Ugh. I feel tired still.” Auna crawled to the floor of the carriage stretching out she put her head on Theodore.
“Your body is weaker than everyone else due to your curse and how you were raised. This journey will be harder for you. Try to rest.” Nick placed a blanket over the nearly sleeping Auna. When she woke it was already lunch time.
“Morning sleepy head.” Mateo waved as she disembarked the now empty carriage.
“Morning.” Auna stumbled a bit over the uneven ground.
“How are you feeling? Traveling to new places can make people sick sometimes.” Nick brought her a bowl of soup, everyone else was eating sandwiches. “Soup will be easier on your body.”
“I appreciate it, really. Thank you.” She took the soup and began to eat. As Nick touched her forehead trying to tell if she had a fever.
After lunch they rested for a bit, they were on track to enter Lapis for the evening camping. The rest of the carriage ride Auna laid on the floor sometimes reading. She didn’t have much energy. Given how she was raised her immune system was very weak, she could have gotten sick from the garden party from someone. She was not used to being in a moving carriage for so long either.
They set up camp in Lapis, which had many rivers and lakes. Auna was sent to bed early and given more blankets than the previous night. She slept deeply enough that she was carried to the carriage the next morning. She had a slight fever. She spent the next few days spending very little time awake, sick from travel. They arrived at Chloes’ town without issue. Auna was housed at the town doctor’s house.
Is that really the only information you are going to show Mr. Voice? I think I liked it better when you a narration skill. Auna thought lazily as she looked through the log of her skill. Even when she slept Mr. Voice would narrate. It made it easy for her to recall information at later dates. It helped her study a lot due to the search feature. She was in the spare room of the doctors’ house. It was night-time.
Auna got up and walked outside to get fresh air. She felt a lot better. She was excited she would see Chloe again. By the place of the moon in the sky she knew the sun would be raising in a few hours. She was about to head back inside when a tall man came out in a sleeping gown with a blanket.
“I can see why you were so sick when they brought you here. Come child at least put on a blanket.” Auna noticed at his words she was wearing a short sleeping gown with short sleeves.
“I didn’t notice sorry.” Auna grabbed the blanket and walked back inside with the doctor.
“I was told you didn’t go outside until you were six. As a fairy born that must have been hard. I understand why you are so drawn to the outdoors now. Come let me make you some hot chocolate.”
Auna drank the hot chocolate then got dressed as did the doctor. Nick showed up with the other children once the sun was up. Auna had been reading a book while the doctor worked.
“Are you alright my moon?”
“Yeah, sorry for being a worry.” Auna was pulled into a tight hug by Jensen while Nick sighed in relief.
“Thank you doctor.”
“Of course, Lord Pearl. I am happy to help. Our lord is very friendly with you. Being this close to the border I often see residence of Pearl here as well.”
“I thank you further then for your continued help in keeping my people healthy.” Nick took Auna with him to Chloes’ house. It was a nice farm with cattle and fields. A few of her siblings could be seen working around the farm. They waved with bright smiles as they saw them. Chloe was chattering away about who was who there was just too many.
“My room is this way. I’m the only girl that still lives here so I have a room to myself. My sister moved in with her husband last year.” There was a small room with a bed and desk in it. It was cute filled with different drawings, and mementos.
“You can put the door here.” She had moved a floor length mirror for a space to be free on the wall.
“Can I put it on the back of the mirror?” Auna thought out loud.
“Would that work?” Chloe moved the mirror with the help of the boys into a position that the back was facing Auna. She walked over placing her hand on it.
Soon there was a door that looked wooden on the back of the mirror. It would be hidden much better this way. They tested the door; it was a bit awkward to walk into like walking up a step and having to duck at the same time. They didn’t spend too much time in the crater as Chloe said her family would check on them soon.
They ate dinner with Chloes’ family as they had been insistent on hosting them. They also spent the night with them instead of going to an inn. The girls slept in their rolls on the floor of Chloes’ room. They did stay up chatting for a bit before her mother came in to scold them. Her mother was a nice lady with strong features. She was a true farmers’ daughter.
In the morning they continued towards the Pearl estate. They lived closer to the sea, which was at the other end of their territory. It took a few days of hard traveling to get there. This time though Auna was not as sick. She was just tired and put to bed as soon as they got to the estate. There was a room ready for the girls.
“Good morning.” Auna said as she entered the dining room the maid led her to.
“Good morning my moon, your just in time breakfast is going to be served soon.”
“I’m glad, I am very hungry.” Auna took a seat beside Jensen across from the triplets who were sitting beside Ciela.
“Hello, I am Seni. Mother of these unruly boys.” She glanced with love on her face at the boys. “I hope they are not causing too many issues for you.”
“Of course, not ma’am. They are true gentlemen.”
Seni laughed at Aunas’ words. “No need to lie. I know they are wild.”
“You can be a wild gentleman.” Auna took a bite of her breakfast that was given to her. It was eggs with fresh fruit and toast. There was also an odd sauce that tasted good on it.
“I suppose you can be.”
After breakfast Auna installed a door in Jensens’ room to the crater orchard door. She made sure to give Nick and Seni access as well. They were now all standing in the crater. Nick and Seni were exploring it asking a million questions. Finally, Auna asked if they wanted to see the dungeon.
“So, this is the dungeon the king is trying to find. It has the right name.” Nick was shaking his head. When a person entered a dungeon, they would get a notification of the dungeons name and that they have entered it. She had removed them from the do not enter list.
“Yes, I am surprised they didn’t figure it out. It’s a combination of our soul names. Are they just not that bright?” Auna looked at Nick as she asked, while she selected level one.
“Who would think an eight-year-old claimed a dungeon? Also, soul names are not documented. You also made sure your name was private right way, so no one could have caught it. Don’t blame them for not figuring it out.” Nick started walking around the dungeon floor shaking his head. “This is amazing did you guess till this yourself?”
“This little farmer works us to the bone.” Bruno gave Ciela a poke in the cheek.
“Impressive though. We can get you a few beehives and move them in.”
“We would appreciate it.”
The rest of the summer break was spent at the Pearl estate. They swam in the sea, ate good food, and relaxed properly. They almost did not want it to end. Soon they had to go back to school. The kings’ solution was the talk of the teachers and students social circles. It made it very difficult to make more friends. Auna kept to her roommates and Jensen with his roommates. Everyone else would pester about why she took religion but didn’t want to be adopted by them.