7

In the morning, Sion, Scima, and Eva gather before King Rihtwis in the throne room. They bow before him as he begins to speak.

“The danger posed to you as you depart has been quelled. As planned, you shall leave the city for Ecg today. A carriage is being prepared as we speak. Gather your things and gather at the gate, where the carriage will be awaiting you.”

The three of them rise and turn to leave the hall. They all return to their rooms as ordered. Sion has no difficulty gathering his things. He has nothing more than what he arrived in the city with. He carries it exactly as he had when he left the village.

He’s the first to arrive at the main gate. Sion arrives even before the carriage does. He looks around for Regn. Adalwolf told him while they were running that he would bring Regn when the carriage was leaving the city.

Regn rounds the corner quickly. He crashes into Sion and brings him to the ground. Regn excitedly presses his snout into Sion. Sion laughs and reaches up to stroke Regn’s fur. He notices that the fur feels softer and smoother than it had before. Sion stays under Regn for a while.

“Regn, I’m happy to see you too, but can you let me stand?”

Regn lifts his snout quickly and pouts as though embarrassed. Sion stands up and begins to stroke the fur at the top of his head. As he does so, he sees Adalwolf approaching from the same direction Regn had. Adalwolf greets Sion when he sees him.

“Good morning, Sion. I intended to meet you with Regn, but he’s a fast one. He took off as fast as he could. Must’ve noticed you were there.” Sion turns to face Adalwolf while still petting Regn.

“Good morning, Mr. Adalwolf. Thank you for taking care of Regn this week.”

“It was my pleasure.”

As they talk, Scima, General Shard, and Theyni approach. Scima wears a simple black shirt and light gray pants and holds two large sacks on both shoulders.

“Sion! You’re already here!”

“Good morning.”

“Morning. The carriage really isn’t ready yet, huh?” Scima watches Sion pet Regn, then turns to General Shard. “Is it really fine to let him walk through the city again?”

“One more time won’t hurt, Scima boy.”

“I guess that’s true.”

The carriage then arrives, drawn by two horses. The horses tense up as they stare at Regn anxiously. They shy away from Scima as he approaches them. After several minutes, they seem to calm down, and allow Scima to take their reins. Scima tosses his bags back into the carriage with a loud clank. Sion faces Scima and begins to approach the carriage.

“Scima, what did you bring?” Scima turns back to his bags then back towards Sion.

“Money, clothes, weapons, and armor.”

“Do you really need so many?”

Before Scima can answer, three more people emerge from the main entrance of the castle. King Rihtwis walks out with Geard and Eva at his side. Eva wears an elegant white dress that falls down to above her knees, adorned with soft pink frills. King Rihwis addresses everyone.

“Remain as you are. There is no need to spend time on formality.” King Rihtwis and Geard stop and allow Eva to get close to the carriage. King Rihtwis continues once she turns back towards him. “My darling Evangelina, young Scima, young Sion, I applaud you for your skill and talent. You have all worked hard, and I truly believe you to be the three most suited children of our fine kingdom. Continue to work hard and bring honor to our nation. Then return to us with pride in your chest.” Geard nods, having nothing to add. Eva bows her head and responds.

“Yes, Your Majesty. I shall not fail you nor the kingdom.” King Rihtwis steps closer to his daughter.

“My darling Evangelina, we are in good company.”

“Father, I’ll work hard at Sagax.”

“I’m sure you will, my dear Eva. Be well and be safe.”

As King Rihtwis and Geard return to the castle, Sion helps Eva into the carriage. He then disembarks and climbs on Regn’s back. Scima spurs the horses and the carriage begins to depart Clea Castle, Regn trotting beside it.

Their departure becomes a procession as the people of Clea gather to the side of them. They cheer when they see the royal family’s insignia on the carriage. Sion maneuvers himself and Regn behind the carriage while they walk through the city.

When they pass through the gate of Clea, Regn returns to his place beside the carriage. Sion twists his torso to face Scima.

“How long is it to reach Ecg?”

“Just one or two days.”

“Alright. What is Ecg like?”

“It’s nothing interesting. It’s just a quick stop.” Eva pokes her head out.

“That’s not true. Ecg is an economic hub on the border between Dracabana and Saturgranum. As part of the alliance between us, we both exert influence on the city. Both kingdoms send an official to the city, which is who we are to greet when we arrive. Although I would prefer if we could avoid spending the night.”

“Why’s that?” Scima interjects with a smile.

“He must have a son or a friend’s nephew or something!” Eva chides him.

“Scima, don’t speak of him that way. He’s a skilled and respectable official of the kingdom.”

“It’s the truth. Better to be honest and crass than a sweet-talking liar.” Eva frowns slightly but says nothing. “Sorry, Lady Eva. I’ll hold back in the city.” Sion responds, still confused.

“Why do you want to avoid his son?” Scima answers him bluntly.

“His son is fine, she wants to avoid marriage talks.”

“Marriage talks?”

“Yeah. She’s tired of all these officials trying to get their sons’ to seduce her and raise their own status.”

“Scima, marriage talks are an important duty of a royal.”

“I know. And I know they’re not one you care for much, my lady.”

The topic dies down and they continue to make light conversation as they travel. Scima looks at the sky as the sun begins to dip beneath the horizon, then looks over at Sion.

“Should we set up camp for the night soon?” Sion looks up at the sky.

“We should be able to travel through the night too. Couldn’t we?”

“Not all of us are animals that can keep walking all day and not care like you and Regn.”

“Are the horses tired?”

“Yeah, they’re getting there.”

“Then we should set up camp soon.”

“Lady Eva, is that alright with you too?”

“Yes. You understand the horses better than me.”

After they travel a little further, Scima stops the horses. He slides off the carriage and opens one door. He helps Eva out of the carriage then hops up inside. He pulls a metal pole out from under the seats and exits the carriage once more. He pulls the pole and extends it to its full length, far larger than him. He drives the pole deep into the ground, it still standing as tall as him. He leads the horses to the pole and ties a tight knot to keep them there. Eva stands and watches him.

Sion gets off Regn and walks to the carriage. He rummages beneath the seats until he finds the camping gear. He grabs the three sets and carries them all out of the carriage. He lays out three sheets then aligns another over them. He looks down at the sheets, then turns towards Eva.

“Eva, can you help me?” Eva is caught off guard.

“Oh! Yes.” Eva joins Sion at the tents. “Do you know how the tents work?” Sion pretends not to see the magic woven into the sheets.

“No, not at all.”

“It’s a magic tool. Wind Magic will activate and form the tent, so all we need to do is hold down the edges.” Sion starts to go through the camping sets.

“Got it.”

Sion pulls out four smooth stones and places them on the corners of the sheets. The stones grow heavier as they touch the fabric. As Sion moves to the next set, Eva touches the middle of the sheet. It glows softly at her touch, and begins to push her hand up. The sheet puffs up into a tent, and Eva moves onto the next set. The other two puff up properly as well.

As Eva completes the tents, Scima starts a small fire. The three of them sit around the fire, and Sion starts talking.

“It was lucky that we didn’t run into any monsters today, huh?” Scima looks confused.

“Not really. It was unlucky that we had to deal with all those goblins when we first tried to leave.”

“What do you mean?”

“The roads leading into Clea are all usually safe. Ancient magic usually keeps any monsters away. Even this far away, there’s still a bit of an effect, and with a monster like Regn around, nothing would get close to us. But it’s weird we haven’t seen any other people either.”

“Ah, I see. So monsters get scared.”

“You say that like it’s weird for monsters to get scared.”

“The monsters in the forest wouldn’t even shy away from Regn’s mom.”

“And you just hung out there?”

“Of course not. The hunters watched over me.” Scima looks over at Eva.

“And we barely think about this village.”

“We really should look into it.” Sion looks up at the moon hanging bright in the sky.

“We should eat and then go to bed.”

They eat a simple meal together around the fire, then they each enter their tents.

The next morning, Sion gently pushes the entrance of his tent open and walks out. He looks around and sees the other two tents standing unchanged in the light of the rising sun. He stretches out his back and looks back towards the tent. He touches it gingerly, but can’t figure out how the magic tool works. He gives up and steps away from the tent. He scans around while he waits for Scima and Eva to awaken.

Regn comes bounding towards him, crashing into him once more. Sion rubs his furry head.

“Let’s play a little this morning. It’s been a while.”

Regn pulls away from Sion excitedly and yips happily. Sion stands up and looks around at the plains around them. Sion jogs across the plain, Regn following him, then bends over and picks up a round stone that fits nicely in his hand.

“Alright. Let’s play.”

Sion throws the stone with all his might. It’s sent flying far into the horizon. Regn starts dashing after it, following after its shadow. He picks the rock up with his mouth and tosses it into the air. As it falls in front of him, Regn spins, smacking the stone back towards Sion with his tail. Sion reaches out with his hand clad in his soul magic, catching the stone as it slams into his palm. Sion looks out and watches Regn run back to him.

“Sorry, that was too far, wasn’t it. That was a bad throw. And I’ve gotten stronger.”

Sion throws the stone in another long arc, trying to use just enough power for them to play. The stone flies true this time. As it falls to the ground, Regn is already below it. As he did when he returned the stone to Sion, Regn spins sharply and smacks the stone with his tail. Again the stone is launched back towards Sion in a straight line. Sion catches it with his magic, then pitches it towards Regn at full force. Regn spins and hits the pitch cleanly back towards Sion. They continue for a few more volleys without dropping the stone or missing their return.

Sion again pitches the stone. And again Regn hits it. However, when Regn hits the stone, it cracks apart. The broken pieces splinter out powerfully as the stone is again sent flying back towards Sion. When Sion wraps his hand alone the stone, feeling it’s new jagged edges and smaller form, he hears Scima grumble behind him.

“Ow…” Scima raises his voice to talk to Sion. “What are you doing so early in the morning?” Sion opens his palm and looks into it, then at Scima.

“We’re playing catch.”

“What kind of catch are you playing for that rock to get so messed up… Well, I’ll start getting the carriage ready. If we make good time we might get to Ecg by the afternoon.” Regn approaches Sion and pushes his snout into him. Sion strokes his head.

“Sorry. We broke the rock, so we shouldn’t play anymore today.”

Sion kills time by jogging around the plains, Regn keeping pace with him. Meanwhile, Scima leads the horses to the carriage and attaches the harness. He then returns to the tents and begins to deflate them as Eva emerges from hers. He straightens out his back and greets her.

“Good morning, Lady Eva.”

“Good morning.” She turns and sees Sion and Regn. “What is Sion doing?”

“I have no idea. Lady Eva, if you’re ready, we can leave soon. I’ll go get Sion.”

“Yes, let’s depart soon.” Scima nods then runs towards Sion. He grabs Sion’s shoulder when he reaches him.

“Sion, stop running around. We’re leaving soon.”

“Got it.” Sion turns towards Regn. “Regn! We’re leaving now!” Regn’s head swivels as he turns towards Sion and stops. Sion and Scima start walking towards the carriage, Regn trotting after them.

When she sees them approaching, Eva climbs into the carriage. After a few moments of waiting, Scima takes his place at the reins and Sion enters the carriage. Eva is a little surprised at Sion’s presence.

“Sion, weren’t you going to ride Regn?”

“Regn got tired, so I’m letting him rest a little.”

As Eva nods, Scima spurs the horses forward. The carriage continues on their journey through the plains. Scima watches the plains roll past them through the window for a while. Eventually, he turns back towards Eva.

“I’ve been thinking about it myself a little, but I can’t figure it out. Eva, how is marriage a duty of the royal family?” Eva is caught off guard by the sudden question.

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Marriage is something you do because you love someone. How could that be a duty?” Scima scoffs.

“Maybe that’s true for peasants like us, but not for Lady Eva.” Sion turns to face the back of Scima’s head.

“How could that be true?” Eva answers him with a small twinge of sadness in her voice.

“It’s simply that love isn’t a concern in the marriages of royals. All that matters is that the position of our family and the kingdom is stronger.” Sion turns back to Eva.

“Isn’t that sad? What if you did love somebody?”

“It wouldn’t matter. I would give up on them if I had to.” Scima turns his head to peer at Eva, but says nothing.

“How can you handle that?”

“I just decided that I wouldn’t fall in love.”

“That’s still so bad. In the village, everyone looked so happy when they got married. I’m sure it must be because of love. How is it alright for you to not be allowed to have that?”

“Sion, I’m really alright. I have enough love for Dracabana. I don’t need anymore.”

Sion can’t find anything else to say. Scima turns back to the road uneasily as a heavy silence hangs over the inside of the carriage. He stares off into the distance, unsure if he disliked them talking about love or not talking at all more.

After a long while of silence, nobody able to find the right words, Regn returns to his place beside the carriage. Sion lightens up when he sees Regn’s head bob past the window. Scima keeps looking straight ahead, then calls back to Sion with an uncharacteristic weakness in his voice.

“Sion, we can see Ecg now.”

Sion brightens up again, then leans through the opening to the front of the carriage to look. As he sticks his head through the opening, Regn appears at his side and pulls Sion out of the carriage. When Sion sits properly on Regn’s back, he looks towards the direction the road leads.

On the horizon, Sion sees great wooden walls. They’re not nearly as large and imposing as the walls of Clea and the castle, especially from such a great distance, but even from so far, Sion can tell how much larger and sturdier they are than the walls of his home. Sion’s heart pounds in excitement at the sight of the border city as the carriage continues on its course towards it.