Chapter 10
We escort Dollop and her grandfather and they're goods inside the capital of the Ovarian Kingdom. We leave them at the nearest merchant guild and continue on towards the castle. Because the Ovarian kingdom is famous for having riding beasts for adventures and others to tame the ovarian kingdom is also an important trading hub for many. Since the Ovarian Kingdom lies between the land and sea they get all kinds of goods and because of this placement they have access to all kinds of riding beasts. Big strong beasts for galloping across the land or creatures that could swim. They even have Griffins and other beasts that can fly. The Ovarian Kingdom has all kinds of riding beasts for any kind of occasion; they're all so very well trained. But because of all this and being very well trained buying a riding beast from the Ovarian Kingdom can be very expensive. I look around and gaze at all the businesses and stalls in the capital. There's a lot of people here buying and spelling. I can see numerous couples and families enjoying their day off together. The Ovarian Kingdom also gets lots of visitors that aren't all human either. The ovarian Kingdom has made deals and contracts with other races like elves, dwarves and other intelligent creatures of our world.
"We should probably head to the castle first and report to his majesty about what's going on" I say.
"Yeah we should but if we don't make it to the tamer beast company before too long they'll run out of riding beasts" Zeke said.
"Then we'll just have to split up into teams of two. Abigail and Caleb can head to the castle with Amethyst to inform his majesty but the problems at hand" ,Leon said, "while Zeke and June can come with me to the tamer beast company to ascertain about buying some riding beasts since the team leader needs to be present for a party to buy beasts" Leon continued.
"Sure but are you sure about sending Abigail and Caleb with me don't you at least want Caleb to go with you in case things get complicated" I point out.
"No it's fine the president of the company owes us one so he won't try anything funny and secondly you're heading into the castle to meet the king I figured having Abigail and Caleb with you makes a pretty strong point and if anything happens you have the two best fighters in hand hand combat with you" Leon says. I can feel Leon's concern radiating as he insists on having Abigail and Caleb with me although I can't tell if it's for my protection as a princess or out of concern because he likes me or not I cannot tell. We bid farewell to each other and agreed to meet up in front of the tamer beast company when we're done visiting the king of the Ovarian Kingdom. As I finally have a moment to myself I can't help but worry about my family. I can tell that they're safe but they're doing everything in their power to hide themselves including their magic. Every once in a while I get blips of magic from them, sort of like Morse code using Magic. Since I'm the only one who can sense their magic from this far away, they know that I'm the only one who understands the various fluctuations in their magic. Over the last several days the way I understand it they've all made it to one of our prepared hideouts. With Prince Keith's forces all over the country looking for them they've been extra cautious about hiding their presence and wish that they knew if I was safe or not. Since neither my father nor my brothers can sense magic as far as I can, they have no way of knowing if I'm safe or not. The only message that I keep getting is that they're safe and Prince Keith's forces are all over the place. As I look up for my train of thought I can't help but notice that a few people are staring in my general direction but it didn't seem like they weren't staring at me. I turn around and see Abigail and Caleb locked hands making small talk and occasionally smoochy faces at each other. Abigail seemed to have noticed me smiling in their direction.
"Forgive us Amethyst Leon never lets us you know do couples stuff when we're out and about mainly because it's usually for missions or traveling through dangerous areas so we have to stay on our toes" Abigail said as both her and Caleb blush away and back off for each other.
"Please don't worry about me, go right ahead. I was just admiring how close you two are" I said.
"Well we've been together for 2 and 1/2 years and the Stray Stars adventuring party have been together for five" Abigail said.
"And you know what they say adventure and danger brings couples together or at least that's what adventurers say" Caleb said. I can't help but admire their strong relationship. Most couples who adventure together usually don't last for one reason or another but I can see that they truly love and care for each other. As we draw closer to the castle there are a lot more people and everyone has a smile on their face and children running around laughing. The last thing I want is for someone to start causing trouble especially since there's so many innocent people here. I should focus on what I can do, not what I can't do. The important thing right now is to warn the Ovarian kingdom's King about the appending danger and possible spies. Since many kingdoms either have a strong defense or tricky landscape it's a common practice to have a spy on the inside of the most troubling kingdoms. The Ovarian Kingdom may not have a strong military defense but they do know how to use their troublesome landscape to protect themselves. I am almost certain that there is a spy within the king's men. I am even more certain that there is someone here who is working with Prince Keith and his demon cohort since we came across a hooded stranger who was using powerful demon magic. Magic powerful enough that it seems similar to Miser's Magic but something about it was a bit more evil. An idea strikes me and I turn back to bring it up to Abigail and Caleb.
"Do you think that hooded stranger that we came across in the forest could be out here to release some powerful monsters?" I say to Abigail as I see her and Caleb making kissy faces at each other.
"You could be on to something as adventurers, we do steal away powerful monsters all throughout the country and I do know that some countries have monsters they're so powerful they've been sealed away for generations" Abigail said.
"And powerful monsters can either be killed and turned into more Magic for something more sinister or as a sort of distraction" Caleb said. We all give each other a grim look across our faces.
"I think it's best if we hurry just in case" Abigail said. As we dash off towards the castle I try to sense the stranger that I sensed before but unfortunately I am unable to find his location. He's definitely trying to hide. I just hope it's not for a worst case scenario. We spend the next 40 minutes explaining to the king about what's going on. About Prince Keith and Miser who uses strange demon magic and about a hooded stranger in the forest near the castle it was also using demon Magic but much darker kind.
"I understand and I appreciate you coming in person to warn me and it makes more sense on why you wanted to speak to me alone" the Ovarian king, Julius, said.
"It's no problem. I thought it would be best to talk about this just between us. If word got out about an impending disaster or a spy amongst your men it would only cause more harm than good" I said.
"Yes, needless worry about an impending disaster, that may or may not even happen, would only put everyone in the castle on edge. As for the Spy thing everything has been normal. I have not noticed anything out of the ordinary, just some thugs who keep circling my capital and attacking innocent people who come to make trade here," Julius said.
"Yes we came across them upon approach to the capital. They were trying to rob a little girl and her grandfather of their goods but we put a stop to it and set them packing" I said.
"Who is we?"
"Oh I joined the Stray Stars adventuring party. It was a convenient way to go about telling the other royals and looking for any kind of clues about what's going on" I said. There was a knock at the door.
"Your majesty, sorry to interrupt but we really must get you to your next appointment with Lord of Eric about his money problems in the countryside" said a young woman I'm guessing who was one of his aides. King Julius escorts me out of one of the private rooms and down the hall to where Abigail and Caleb are waiting.
"I heard of the Stray Stars adventuring party. They are quite good of course they'd have to be in order to defeat a dragon" King Julius said as Abigail and Caleb came into view.
"Still even if the reason for joining an adventuring party is simply a means to an end. You, princess Amethyst, joining an adventuring party is quite surprising. Your father and I talked quite a lot and you have always turned down every single adventure party as ever come your way. If you simply wanted protection all you had to do was ask. There is no need for you to join an adventuring party if you simply didn't want to" King Julia said. I see Abigail and Caleb look over in surprise when hearing this.
"Please King Julius, it's nothing like that. True, it's convenient but it's also something that I wanted to do. The Stray Stars helped me out so I feel like I can trust them with all this. And second you know I would never join an adventuring party for any reason other than to be able to have fun as myself regardless of current circumstances" I say.
"Be that as it may, if you ever need anything you know I have to contact me. I bet you for a while princess Amethyst and be well if it is true that Prince Keith and an unknown demon are targeting us they will most definitely come after you lot. I can't imagine anyone being okay with some Interlopers spoiling their plans" King Julius said. King and Julia waves us goodbye as the three of us finally leave the castle.
"I didn't know you were scouted by other adventuring parties before" Abigail turned to me and said.
"Oh yeah but to be honest when I was younger my master, the former adventurer, had me, my brothers, sign up for an adventuring ID once before but as you know if you don't perform a quest within the first year your ID becomes invalid and you'll have to redo the whole beginners process all over again" I said sheepishly.
"Just how many adventuring parties tried to scout you for their teams" Caleb said. I take a few minutes to think as we reach the bottom of the stairs.
"15, 16 maybe I don't know it's been so long ago I don't really remember" I said.
"And you turned all of them down, how come?" Abigail asked.
"Well you have to remember I am a princess ignoring the whole protective family part. The last thing I wanted was to be addressed as "princess" or "my lady" the entire time I'm with my adventuring party. It gets quite old and annoying" I said.
"If your teacher never allowed you to take a quest within the first year then why did he want you adventuring IDs to begin with?" Caleb asked.
"When he accepted a quest he took us with him and you can't take someone on a quest with you who's not an adventurer. It leads to all kinds of problems" I said.
"Yeah I guess that's understandable but are we really that much different from others I mean we still treat you like a princess and Leon will hardly let you do any of the chore work that normally goes on with camping" Abigail said.
"Yeah well I can't stand being called a princess but I've gotten used to others treating you like one. I mean the staff of castles have to do all that stuff" I said.
"What kind of stuff?" Abigail asked.
"Oh you know just the usual kind of stuff: cooking, cleaning, washing, teaching, and other small stuff that aren't really necessary. Like sharpening a royal weapon or bringing their food in when they're sick or don't want to go to the dining room. Reading them a book at night if they have requested it or to bring them a drink of water. The list is long, varied and annoying" I said.
"It definitely sounds annoying not being able to do anything for yourself" Caleb said.
"But keep in mind I do know how to do stuff myself I know how to cook for one so don't assume that all nobility and royals don't know how to cook" I said.
"Wow really I would love to sample your cooking. I can imagine what kinds of recipes that you have tried ever since you were a kid" Abigail said, eyes practically sparkling at the mention of food.
"Curious, how did you learn to cook anyway if your staff didn't want to let you do things for yourself out of fear that you would get hurt" Caleb wondered.
"Just keep this in mind when staff are given orders they have to follow it. So if I ordered my staff to teach me how to cook then they would have to teach me how to cook safely. It's all a matter of finding your way around a problem. And besides, the last thing I wanted was to one day take up an adventuring quest and have nothing but unseasoned and unflavored meat to have for dinner late at night in the middle of nowhere with potentially no one else around to cook" I said "people can call me many things but the one thing that they'll never call me is stupid or ignorant. Traveling without knowing the basics of how to cook is basically asking to have tasteless slop for every meal day in and day out. No thank you" I said as I walked off in the direction of the riding beast company that Leon said to meet up at.