I can’t believe I had to cancel tea with Denny and Robert for trip into the middle of nowhere…to act like a spy. This is my sisters job, not mine. If she is going to act like the mighty ‘Heir to the Seat’, then I have no idea why I need to do anything.

And…and, when I asked if I can bring Denny and Robert along, I was told that if I should try, she was going to have them disappear. Denny and Robert would disappear! They are MY friends. These are people and relationships I cultivate to put this family of mine in a good light. Do they have any idea how hard it is to deal with the whispers of the ruthlessness of the royal family? Do they have any idea how hard it is to get people on our side? No, of course not. If mother was still alive, I wouldn’t have to deal with their schemes. At least I think so. My maids seem to think that the Queen was a decent woman. None of this shadow essence in the night stuff.

So here I am on top of a knoll in the middle of forest, with seven people standing around looking into the distance. I can see the village from here. There are big ugly walls, crenelations lining the top of the ugly walls, and towers spaced out every 30m around the village. A couple of the towers are bigger than others. They are ugly as well. I have to admit it’s impressive for being this far out. The stories Denny told me have people living in rock caves. This place is almost a real city…except it’s ugly.

“Ah Princess would you like to sit down, we brought some amenities for you to use.”

Snitch number one is trying to buttery me up again. I still haven’t found a replacement for her, so until then, I will have to be civil…but not nice.

“No, I am fine.” I am not fine, but if I cave into her ministrations easily, I will have lost the fight. I never would have guessed she was my sister’s little bird. I haven’t been able to figure out how my sister did it. Was she always a snitch, or did she convert her after becoming part of my support staff. I need to know, so I don’t repeat the mistake.

I start squinting into the distance. I am not sure exactly what I am looking for, but I don’t see much. Being a Weak light doesn’t help me much for scouting…which just reinforces I am here as figure piece. I look over to the scout and the look on his face is not good.

“Lieutenant Collins, you look worried. Is there something we need to address?”

“No, Princess…well, nothing immediately. There is a Strong heading to the village fairly quickly. We have time to view the village from here, and then move to the village.”

“Just a Strong?”

“Just a Strong, Princess.”

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“Hmmm…this is not what my sister was expecting. She indicated that target should either be just outside the village or inside village. You are not getting anything from those points?”

“It’s a little difficult to say Princess. The village is very busy at the moment. There are several Parities active, and many more Weaks. I don’t sense any Strongs in the area, other than the one heading in. If you want absolute positioning, I will need some time to filter through some of the essence noise created by all the activity.”

“How long will that take?”

“Give me 20 minutes, Princess. From the information we have, we are probably looking for a concentration of Paritys, maybe in formation or the like. We can then focus in from there.”

“Sounds good Lieutenant Collins. Lieutenant Merles, can you keep us masked for that long?”

“Yes, Princess. So long as we are not actively stirring the essences, I should be able to create enough background movement to prevent anyone from discerning our location. But Princess, they probably know we are already here. If they have any scouts worth their position, they picked us up when we came in. I would suggest we move slowly from this location to something nearby…if we want to keep security.”

“No, we shouldn’t need to do that, Lieutenant Merles. We are only here on the whim of bored Princess…as my sister has stated.” My sister really does painting me as a complete twit. Oh, the bored princess decided to take several elite guards and do an untethered transport out in the middle of nowhere for no reason. I only did that once, and that was 4 years ago.

“Well, is there anything anyone else has picked up? I am pretty much useless for anything at this distance, and my sister would not have sent us out here on a complete whim.”

“Ah, if I may Princess, there is an exceptionally strong Light essence user on the far side of the village. I can see the essence concentration from here. It’s like a funnel, pulling in all the essence from around the area.”

“Ah…Sergeant…I am sorry, what was your name?”

“Wilcox, Princess. I was brought in last month, after your previous light healer disappeared.”

Yes, disappeared. I am not sure how my sister knew about Gerald, but she did, and now I have to find someone else to have fun with.

“Lieutenant Collins, you are not seeing anything there?”

“No, Princess. There is a clump of Parities there, but I can’t tell if they are inside or outside of the village.”

“Wilcox, keep me updated if something else interesting happens there.”

“Yes, Princess.”

My sister did say it was a light bear, so I guess that makes sense. If that is so, then what’s up with the Strong coming in. Bah, this is all such a pain. Sitting out in the middle of nowhere, waiting for something important to happen, that really doesn’t matter. At the end of day, they will either work for us, or die.

I do think I picked the wrong clothes for this. When my sister said it was an impromptu vacation to the fringes of the kingdom, I expected some form of…well, civilization. Instead, I am in the middle of the woods…damp woods. My hair is not going to hold up in this humidity. Even if I start walking now, I am just going to show up looking like sweaty commoner. I suppose I could tie my hair back…I think I brought some pretty ribbons. The gold one will match the stitching on my sleeves…yes, that will work.

“Parker, get me my gold hair ribbon. The humidity is going to ruin my hair.”

“Yes, Princess.”

Bored, bored, bored. I would ask for tea, but there isn’t a decent place to sit. I don’t know why I am here. This is just another case of a random Strong showing up, causing a lot of fuss. This should be a military matter, not something for a Princess of the Seat.

I really did want to have lunch with Denny and Robert.