25. Plan

Simon startled as Waldina appeared out of thin air right in front of him. Waldina on the other hand cursed the difficulty of fine tuning the leap. Obviously she had aimed to appear right behind Simon, on top of the horse. By no means had she aimed to appear in front of the damn horse…

Luckily Simon had fast reflexes and Waldina was agile: the ninja turned around in the air in a way that she’d be able to reach the saddle whilst Simon grabbed her by the waist and dragged her to his lap.

“What have I done to receive such an honor?” Simon’s words were slightly displeased and reprimanding but Waldina ignored them skillfully.

“Actually it’s about the letter Claudia received,” she began hesitantly while trying to fix her position in Simon’s lap. She didn’t quite enjoy being in such close proximity with another person, not to mention the uncomfortability of riding the horse on the lap of a man.

“Is that so,” Simon sighed tightly, fixing his gaze at the road and not to the lady sitting tightly against him. He could practically feel her breathing on his skin and it really didn’t help with concentrating on serious matters. He enjoyed this almost as much as Waldina herself.

“Yes. Cliffertown’s knights are after us,” Waldina stated first and breathed quickly. The words got Simon to curse outloud, but he let the ninja finish speaking first before interrupting.

“And Claudia’s mom got her enrolled into some knights and mages academy in Xunte Sintra. As a Diaz,” Waldina finished explaining.

“So did I get it right: We have to get Claudia to Xunte Sintra and avoid running into Claudia’s pursuers?” Simon repeated the words as he let the words sink into his mind. Waldina nodded without a word.

“Oh well that’s nice. It was starting to feel way too easy,” Simon mumbled, finally turning to look at Waldina. He tried his best not to lash out of anger at the ninja, who was by no means behind the troubles they faced. It once again reminded him of the fact that messengers were often the unluckiest.

“And our schedule? I bet Cliffertown can be anywhere close to us but I hope we’ll have other choices in regard to Xunte Sintra,” Simon was making plans in his head. Abruptly he signaled to his troops to stop. The knights and carriage riding behind him swiftly changed into walking pace. Then Simon signed to turn away from the road, to the forest where they’d be safe from any curious travelers’ eyes’.

“What’s wrong Simon?” one of the knights asked with worry in his voice. They were currently tying the forces to nearby trees.

“Trouble in paradise,” Simon began, instantly getting the attention of each of his knights. Then he explained carefully every piece of information Waldina had shared with him. Claudia confirmed the story to be correct after she got down from the carriage.

“We’ll be having a hard time reaching Xunte Sintra with a carriage in that time limit,” Lidia noted as they went through their plan of action. A couple of knights agreed with her.

“That’s correct. Thus lady Claudia will be traveling on horseback with a small group in order to reach Xunte Sintra in time. The other group will travel according to our original plan and Lidia will pretend to be Claudia in the carriage,” Simon proposed the first stage of their plan. Lidia turned to look at him with deep disapproval: “The lady doesn’t have other ladyknights with her, other than me. We can’t possibly force her to travel alone with men. It would tarnish her reputation.”

“Yeah well what if she’s traveling as mister Diaz? Then this whole problem is no longer a problem,” Simon glanced at Lidia, seeking approval and understanding. She nodded ever so slightly, trying to gulp down his plan.

“What if I’d travel alone with Waldina and Kiandra? That way no one will be able to recognize me as lady Aminoff,” Claudia suggested, her smile full of satisfaction. She was so ready for her grand adventure and traveling with a ninja and a fairy seemed perfect.

“Absolutely no,” Simon and Lidia denied it in unison.

“But then we’d only need two horses and we’d be more agile. Besides you’ve already seen that Waldina and Kiandra are better fighters than you,” Claudia continued, slightly mocking and smiling wider. Simon and Lidia turned to look at each other, hesitantly. Claudia was proud of her suggestion and she was sure it would be far better than the plans her knights were thinking of.

“Unfortunately, I cannot carry such a responsibility with me,” Waldina interrupted and kneeled, before bowing deeply, her head nearly touching the ground. In the stories she’d read, it was a common way of respecting someone of higher status.

“I can take care of myself, no need to worry,” Claudia defied but the ninja shook her head hard. You know it’s not true. You don’t have the necessary skills for fighting.”

“I’ll learn.”

“It might be too late by then. Besides I have other places I need to be at,” Waldina continued dismissing the offer and thinking through the info for her next stage-exam. Originally she had planned separating from Claudia’s group a bit before reaching Drittio to go and finish her third stage-exam and to level up. Xunte Sintra was located so far away that traveling in search of her stage-exams wouldn’t be efficient nor wise. Besides, doing so would only endanger Claudia and her future in the academy.

“What do you want to receive in exchange?” Claudia turned the tide of the conversation without any regard for Simon’s and Lidia’s oppositions.

“It’s not about the rewards, it’s about responsibilities and following my own goals,” Waldina defied whilst glancing at Kiandra, as if asking for help.

“Hmm,” Claudia continued deep in thought. She refused to look at Simon or Lidia, who didn’t seem too happy about her plans.

“How about grimoires? Earlier you were searching for fire magic grimoire so how about we get you that one and couple of others?” Claudia suggested parts hopeful and parts sure of her victory. She had money and grimoires were obtained with money. Yet Waldina shook her head yet again, unsatisfied: “I’ll get those when the time’s right. I have money and I’ll keep earning more. So no, it’s not worth the risk.”

“Protection from the nobility?”

“‘Cause I look like I need help and protection?” Waldina snorted, though in her eyes there was a hint of humour and interest glinting.

“Hmph. You’re right… What else could be,” Claudia rested her hands at her hips and circled around, nervous.

“Can you give us information regarding Slehtkubi?” Kiandra inquired all of a sudden, surprising everyone. Waldina squinted her eyes yet stayed quiet.

“Slehtkubi?” Claudia’s confused voice sounded out.

“Why do you need information about Slehtkubi, of all the possible countries? Our enemy country,” Simon spat out the words full of suspicion and disgust.

“‘If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles’ (Sun Tzu, The Art of War),” Waldina quoted a famous Chinese philosopher’s words. When she closed her mouth she realized the people of this world couldn’t possibly know of the great philosophers and thoughts in her home world. Yet she held onto the hope that the saying would be universal enough so that she’d be understood.

“Understood,” Simon nodded in approval and stroked his beard, thinking. “How about Claudia buying you some grimoires in the city of Xunte Sintra. And we’ll contact you after we arrive in Xunte Sintra so that we might share information about Slehtkubi with you.”

“So payment after the task?” Waldina raised her eyebrow in question. “That doesn’t give me any real promise that I’d get useful information out of this.”

“What makes you doubt that we wouldn’t have useful info on Slehtkubi?” Simon challenged caring little of the way Lidia was trying to remind him how dangerous it would be to let Claudia travel with someone they barely knew.

“Why would the knights of a noble living at the very edge of this world have information or interest in Slehtkubi?” Waldina took the challenge without batting her eyes. Simon knew how to stand his ground, but so did she.

“We have a great information network and a time limit of a month to gather that info,” Simon grinned, pointing at the time it could take to reach Xunte Sintra via carriage. Waldina sighed deeply and looked at Kiandra, exhausted. Yet the fairy just shrugged and smiled.

“Not to mention the money you’ll get for your travels. As Claudia’s protector we’ll pay for all of your expenses,” Lidia let out, still unsure. She hadn’t made up her mind whether to trust her precious lady to travel with Waldina or not. Yet she was worried over Claudia and wanted to make sure the ninja would be serious about the task, if they made her do it. If money ensured her lady’s safety, she’d even sell her own body.

“Uhh… May I chat with Kiandra in private?” Waldina requested simultaneously signing the fairy to step - or fly in this case - to the side with her. The knights and Claudia approved of this, though unreluctantly. After ensuring they were outside hearing range, Waldina turned her back to the knights and took out cloth wrapped around her bracelet. Her bracelet was once again shining with purple color.

“A penny for your thoughts,” Kiandra urged as she flew around the purple haired ninja. Waldina’s gaze was tightly locked on to her bracelet and the information it was showing. She looked for the map and Kiandra flew closer to take a look at it.

“We’re here now. Just outside the town of Twande. Over there is Drittio,” Waldina muttered as she went through all of the locations she recognized on the map. “Somewhere around here is my third stage-exam.” Waldina pointed to about half way between Twande and Drittio with her finger. Kiandra just nodded.

“The fastest route to Xunte Sintra, which is located over here,” Waldina zoomed out the map so that she could see the city located far away. Then she drew a line from their current location all the way up to Xunte Sintra. It went straight through the town of Drittio which meant the third stage-exam wouldn’t be on their way at all.

“Can’t you just return and do it later?” Kiandra suggested hopeful. She found the offer most intriguing and not the least because of the rewards offered.

“Perhaps. But traveling there on horseback will likely take a couple of weeks, at the very least. Imagine the same on foot,” Waldina noted, slightly amused. “Not to mention how many possible stage-exams I’ll be missing out because of this extra trip.”

“Well, you could do a third exam while we travel with Claudia. It can’t be that much of a detour nor danger. Besides, you’ve got me,” Kiandra grinned widely and could literally see how Waldina began accepting the choice of agreeing to this plan.

“Fine,” Waldina nodded and tied her scarf-like cloth back to its place, hiding the bracelet before turning to face the others.