New horizons (1)

While Edwoyn was showering, I roughly moved the long piece of furniture from the hallway in front of the bathroom door. Now I could do my business without fear of him escaping or eavesdropping.

I won't let him think he can do anything!

I went back to the house with peace of mind to change my clothes and do my hair while waiting for Justine to come back. I contacted her with my communicator to beg her to do me one last little favor if she was still in the capital, claiming that I could no longer move freely.

Because of the property seal, it was impossible for me to move far away from the prince. If that happened, my property would die in terrible pain without anything happening to me. This spell created to keep slaves on a leash bound him to me for life. It would have been unfortunate if my new acquisition had died prematurely because of this preventive spell. In any case: the impostor was as much hampered as I was by this mortal bond.

After a long wait, I heard the leader returning from a walk. A grey suitcase was rolling noisily behind her.

“Hello Aurora, how is your little experiment going? What a disaster that you chose this poor kid, I would have felt sorry for him if only he wasn't a noble scum...”

“He's not to be pitied: he's never been better off!”

“As if I could believe you…”

Justine slid her luggage under the central table of the workshop and handed me a purse. “I brought back some change and took the opportunity to buy a horse from our usual breeder. A beautiful thoroughbred from Eragnol. He is waiting for you in his box.”

The Republic of Eragnol was known for breeding the most robust and graceful horses on the Continent. Its dry climate put a strain on nature and only the strongest creatures survived. Justine had chosen the top of the range for a prince who was not even sure he would survive long. Perhaps she wanted to exchange her own mount for this beautiful stallion once Edwoyn got out of the house?

“And... did you bring back what I asked for in communication?”

Justine pointed to a bag she had left at the entrance. I hoped the clothes would fit him, because small as he was, we might have had to look in the children's sector...

“That's perfect, thank you.”

“Just make sure you get everything ready before restraining yourself in with seal next time...”

I took my leave, rolling my eyes. Justine still preferred to believe that I was being reckless rather than accept the fact that I might have been abusing her kindness all this time. That was undoubtedly what made her even more manipulable... Enough daydreaming, it was time to go back to my property which was waiting for me wisely where I had left it.

“I'm freezing in here!” he protested, having stopped his struggle against the blocked door.

“Good for you. I've taken care of getting you some clothes. Put these on without too much delay, we're going out.”

After I moved the wardrobe, I gently opened the door and handed him the shopping bag. He thanked me with an incomprehensible grunt and shut himself up in the bathroom. Meanwhile, I burned his pajamas in our incinerator without bothering to watch them disappear.

You'll have to get used to it Nathan, the dead don't leave a trace.

~~~~

When he was done with the shower, I showed him to his room briefly and then led him to the horse stable attached to the house. It had a few boxes, but it was sufficient to store all our stuff and two horses. With the bounty from this mission, we would be able to undertake the extension work that Justine had been talking about for the past year.

When Edwoyn discovered the male horse with a light and dark buckskin coat, he was amazed. He explained that he loved these animals and that he often visited the royal stables to see them. So much the better if he already knew how to ride a horse, it would save time on his training.

“It's time to harness the animals, the equipment is over there. Don't think about running away: it's useless,” I reminded him, pointing to the silver mark on the base of his neck. “A kilometer is all you have.”

The walk until the city was soothingly silent. We could only hear the wind whistling in our ears or the branches of the trees stirring until we had left our grove. This region of Asyria was one of the least hilly, with the northeast consisting only of endless plains and small settlements here and there. In the countryside around the capital, we found mainly hedged farmland and cattle farms.

The beginnings of the surrounding towns were clearly visible, as the view was very clear and the morning fog had given way to the vast purplish sky.

Edwoyn was trailing behind me and contemplating everything around him with great fascination. His mind was obviously elsewhere, which was why he was keeping quiet for a change. I think he was just beginning to realize that he would never go back. That he was going to have to do his own chores and witness a corruption that no prince could have conceived from his golden throne.

Daddy's boy didn't seem to have given up his former comforts yet, but he would. Otherwise, he was beginning a kind of personal mourning, starting with denial. Was it so terrible to no longer be a member of the nobility?

The latter had chosen to name his steed "Prince".

In memory of his past life, I thought.

~~~~

In the great bustling city of Luleath, we wandered the streets, shopping in the clothing and furniture shops nearby. Edwoyn had a penchant for anything beyond our budget, but he was going to have to restrain himself because if he didn't, I was going to strangle him until he never thought of making me spend another coin. In the end, if I didn't do anything to him, it was only in the interest of preserving Big Brother.

I had to carve gently into the rock to reveal the jewel at its heart, certainly not to reduce it to dust...

Most of the streets on the outskirts of the town were built around wide dirt alleys for stagecoaches or commercial convoys. Entire neighborhoods of beige-clad buildings had recently sprung up. Their round-tipped slate tiles reminded me of reptiles basking in the sun. As for the rest, many chic shopping districts entertained the nobles who had nothing else to do but squander their wealth.

As in every metropolis of the kingdom, Luleath had vast public squares with teleportation circles and a whole array of monuments in honor of the monarchy. The Haussmannian style of architecture dominated these streets just as it did in Hiven Palace and the rest of the Capitol, which gave me a few shivers of disgust when I lingered too long on them, though everything was beyond reproach.

My property was scanning the surroundings, marveling at every banality... He also enjoyed examining passers-by to find one who would recognize him.

We passed a group of young nobles who were discussing the murder of the prince, lamenting the loss of an icon of beauty. They said they dreamed of seeing him become a professional model when he grew up, although this would remain a fantasy. The women then compared him to his mother Désirée, who they said was a real diva. I must have been blind because there was nothing admirable – especially physically – about the odd brat next to me when I gave him a deprecating look.

He was obsessively attracted to them and devoured them with his eyes. The ladies became frightened when they noticed him acting strangely, and carefully avoided him.

This prince must not meet his people very often!

He managed to make me smile in spite of myself, so ridiculous, was it.

Past this perimeter reeking of nobility, we reached the heart of a completely different place. All this newness, order, and glitz had not succeeded in distorting the soul of this city: the emancipation of the working class could be felt everywhere you looked. Luleath was the work of its inhabitants, and they would not cede their territory to the nobles who had only to live in the faux-burgs like recluses.

Ignoring all constraints, narrower passages opened up between the irregular stone facades of the houses. The latter leaned against each other for lack of space, becoming a labyrinth for strangers. Shops with glass fronts tried to attract attention by displaying their products on the pavements. At this point, the streets were mostly pedestrian and we could see many more passers-by who, like us, were using magic to levitate their luggage.

We walked along an arched walkway wide enough for carts to pass and gradually moved into the lower part of Luleath. The high walls and brown roofs made it easier to get into the shadows. The vegetation was almost non-existent, except for the ivy that spread like an infection over some of the walls.

The wetter pavement, the smell of roasted meat and beer in the air tickled my nose nicely. Numerous objects such as empty bottles and single-use magical artifacts were lying around without anyone bothering to pick them up. The blinds of the shops ended up completely covering the aisles, enclosing us in a more intimate atmosphere.

It was another world, more chaotic, familiar, shady, full of danger and rumors... It was the oldest part of the city, and probably the most crowded. Edwoyn followed me with an uneasy air, becoming quieter and quieter as we stopped in the shops. He sensed that something was wrong and kept his guard up. His instincts were not lacking: the depths of the city were not guarded by any soldiers, called peacekeepers here. Who knows what might be going on...

The first black market shop we passed was selling unsafe remedies and fraudulent enchanted scrolls. These papers contained compressed spells that could only be activated once. This is a good alternative to having to carry incantation sand or use spells that we do not master. The leaf burns up just like the incantation sand, leaving no evidence once the spell is cast...

Edwoyn quickly realized that all these products were the result of trafficking. Especially when he read small signs describing the effects of the poisons on display or when he was told that the vials he was sniffing curiously were samples of cyanide.

“What are we doing in this evil place?” he whispered to me after a long hesitation.

“The equipment I want to buy from you is only available on the black market.”

Edwoyn stopped short “Do we have to go there? I'm not comfortable with all these criminals and their illegal goods...”

I turned around fiercely, exasperated by his insistence “YES, we have to go because it is necessary. Without a weapon, you have no chance of surviving outside your palace. The world is not a rosy place, you'll have to get used to it sooner or later. There are so many things you don't know about the daily lives of your subjects... For example, you wouldn't have believed in the existence of black markets until you saw one with your own eyes.”

The capricious brat pouted while crossing his arms. I huffed in exasperation, then stepped back to take him away by force.

“So, how about a change of pace, and go and choose a weapon of choice?”