Chapter 38: Chapter Thirty-Six – Travel by Carriage

“Big Sis!” Eskame squealed running up to me with a plush fox in her hands. “Look! Adewita made dis for me!”

“It’s cute,” I smiled giving both the plush and Eskame a pat on the head. “Almost as cute as you.”

“Yay! Can I bring it wif me?”

“Of course. We’ll be gone for a while, and I wouldn’t want your stuffie to get lonely without you.”

“Yay! You can come with me Misses Fox!” Eskame twirled in place hugging her new stuffed animal tightly to her chest. She was almost too cute, especially given that she was formerly Otrea. I almost chuckled thinking about how cringy this would all be to her once she awoke from the [Impose Naivety] spell.

“The carriage is ready Lady Bernice,” Harriette bowed with a hand over her heart. “Shall I carry your luggage for you?”

“Seriously Harriette, I’m begging you to drop the whole servant act. You said you were going to be my older sister. Learning that I’m a god’s daughter shouldn’t be precedent to break your promise to me.”

“You’re not just any god’s daughter Lady Bernice. You’re the daughter of a Primordial god. The first child of their pantheon in known history. I don’t deserve to flatter myself by pretending I have any sort of familial relationship with you.”

“You don’t have to pretend to be my older sister anymore if you don’t want to,” I sighed. “But please drop the fancy titles with me. I’ve already tried hard enough to get everyone else to stop using them. As Laurmonja’s daughter I should have the right to request you avoid flowery speech with me.”

“Very well… I’ll try to obey your wishes, Bernice.”

“Thank you,” I took a deep breath before glancing out at the opulent carriage that Harriette had prepared. “Why a carriage? Why not teleport to the closest city and then travel from there? Is there a place where carriages can teleport?”

“It is possible to teleport a carriage, however, we will have to avoid the teleportation circles entirely. My sister has influence within the Scaleborn Kingdom, and she wishes to kill me. It would be hard to hide our arrival if we teleported, as most cities like to keep records of who is coming and going.”

“Likewise… I’m something of a wanted criminal back home, so I’d also like to avoid the teleportation circles.” Eurycelia added, chewing her lower lip.

“You’re a wanted criminal?” I blinked a few times at Eurycelia, struggling to process this new information. “What did you do to be a criminal?!”

“Eh… In our homeland it is common for the powerful to take what they want from the less powerful. If you are strong enough to claim something then you deserve it. Well, nobody told me that only works for High Scaleborn. If a Lesser Scaleborn attempts to take something from a High Scaleborn, then they are sentenced to death for upsetting the natural order of things.”

“So… if they catch you, they’re going to kill you?!”

“Well… I am traveling with an oracle who is also the daughter of a god. I figure that if the worse comes your status alone would be enough to force them to pardon me.”

“Then why not teleport over there and just wave my parentage around first thing.”

“Religion is not compelled by magic,” Harriette answered. “While the government and a majority of the population would be willing to give you anything. There will be those who resent you, and those who resent us for getting to travel with you. They may foolishly believe proving themselves superior to your guards will earn your favor. Or that drinking the blood of your heart will allow them to steal your power. Overall, the wisest course of action is to keep you hidden unless there are no other options available.”

“Is your sister the kind who’d try to earn my favor by harming you in front of me?”

“She is the kind who would drink the blood of your heart believing it will grant her divinity. If she learns of our arrival I suggest you leave me behind and put as much distance between you and her as possible.”

“Well… Traveling by carriage will prevent us from ever having to meet her right? The carriage looks really fancy, where did you get it?”

“Lady Otrea had it built to impress Princess Ellione apparently. Kyra mentioned it existed and after some searching we found it hidden in the corner of the garden. All I had to do was acquire horses and pack for our travels.”

“So those horses are real?” I gazed at the two snow-white horses leading our carriage. “They’re not spirits bound to the carriage by Lady Otrea or anything?”

“They are real horses, I paid a significant bounty for them.”

“I’m almost disappointed. Everything else is so magical I would’ve assumed a carriage crafted by Lady Otrea would summon it’s own horses.”

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“The Princess was a huge fan of horses,” Kyra noted coming up to stand beside the rest of us, a bulging backpack slung over her shoulder. “Master Otrea probably thought the Princess wouldn’t like spirits in the shape of horses as much as the real thing. So it wasn’t worth doing.”

“Big Sis!” Eskame whined bouncing from one foot to the other. “Can we go now? Misses Fox wants to sit down!”

“Yeah let’s go. Everybody ready?”

I got a resounding chorus of affirmations from everyone and we made our way to the carriage. Harriette charged ahead of me to pull the door open, beckoning me inside.

“Now this is the kind of ridiculousness I expect from Lady Otrea,” I muttered gazing about the inside of the carriage. Much like the gazebo, it was enchanted to be a lot bigger on the inside than it appeared on the outside. Instead of being a little box with a few chairs, the carriage was more akin to a camping car.

We had two bedrooms, one with a large bed, another with a half-dozen small bunks—probably for servants. Additionally, there was a small kitchenette area with an enchanted cookfire that Harriette swore would produce no smoke once she saw me gazing at it. From there we had a large lounge area with enough seating for at least six people comfortably, a dozen if you didn’t mind getting close to each other.

“These seats are so fuzzy and soft!” Eskame giggled while rubbing her cheek against one of the sofas in the lounge area.

“They are made from the fur of Chinchilla-Wyverns. Master Otrea hunted them herself.”

“…Chinchilla-Wyverns? Did I hear that correctly?”

“Yes… Dreadful creatures,” Kyra shivered. “They ravage orchards, devouring even the trees at times. The only thing good about them is their fur. It is the softest known in the world.”

“Ah… I’d love to see one.” I mumbled, my mind consumed with images of adorable little rodent balls with dragon wings.

“I could arrange that,” Eurycelia smiled wrapping an arm around my waist. “With my magic I could give you one as a pet if you wanted.”

“I don’t think I could handle raising something that eats whole trees for meals.”

“Get yourself a dragon crystal and make it an undead,” Kyra offered. “Then all it will eat is your magic.”

“Which I already don’t have enough of,” I sighed.

“Someday.”

“Yeah… hopefully I can get some practice in while we travel.”

“There are lots of things we can do while we travel,” Eurycelia noted with a mischievous look in her eyes. “It’ll be fun.”

“I brought a few games,” Kyra smiled. “That’ll keep us occupied.”

“Sounds like a lot of fun.”

I gazed around at my traveling companions and smiled. We were taking the long way to collect our coffee, but with this crew I was certain it’d be fun. After all, sometimes the best memories are the ones made en route.

“Well, I’ll be in the driver’s chair if you need me.” Harriette said, making her way to a door in the front of the carriage. “I’ll stop around midday to make lunch for everyone.”

“Thanks Harriette.”

“You’re welcome La… Bernice.”

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