Crull

She was. Elswyth had him quickly eat breakfast before they left. She seemed in a rather good spirits, even humming softly to herself. Probably happy that unless something drastically delayed them then she would soon be rid of him.

Even if they were getting along perfectly well, Heron was fully aware that Elswyth felt uncomfortable with nobility.

When they left the inn, the first thing Heron realized was that it was incredibly warm out. And the sun was remarkably bright for how early it was. Not a single cloud was in the sky.

But the air was fresh, and nowhere near as stifling as the castle that Heron had grown up in. One of the plus sides to being in an open space.

He climbed up onto the carriage and was quickly joined by Elswyth. The woman sat beside of him and offered him the reins which he took. They were both quiet as the horses started trotting. Both of them were in their own thoughts.

That last day of travel was off to an actually rather peaceful start. It was relaxing, just sitting there and guiding the horses. Especially as the horses were listening really well. They were good horses though, well trained and unspoiled.

He was not sure how well he could have handled more temperamental horses.

There were no incidents worth speaking of during the ride and it was about mid afternoon when the boundaries of the capital could be seen.

The city of Crull was a sprawling rambling mess. Fitting really for the oldest and biggest city in the world. It had once had city walls but had long outgrown it and never bothered building another. The old wall still stood separating the oldest part of the city with all the newer portions, though only superficially as the gates were never closed, well almost never. They had closed during the last war due to a siege, as all the people had sought shelter in the walls. But that had been an emergency.

The biggest building in the city was the castle, which was almost as old as the city and predated the walls. It was a towering sleek black edifice with five towers, four smaller ones surrounding a middle one that was twice as big as the others. It was more than a little impressive to look at.

And the castle rose from the sea of other buildings. It was hard to describe the other buildings all the way because they were so varied. There were sections of the city in which builders had seemed to try to make the building fairly similar but for the most part houses, and other buildings, had been made in any shape and size.

And then there were the gardens. Crull had a lot of green mixed into the black, grey, and brown buildings from how much plants they had planted within the city.

Heron found the whole city to be far different from his own home. The capital city of Amriel, Raimfast, was an orderly place that had been built far more neatly. And there were a whole lot more back alleys in Crull than in Raimfast.

Somehow though he was not at all afraid as he drove into the sprawling city. Sure, you were more likely to get robbed here, or even stabbed, but it was more thrilling than scary. All his life Heron had been overprotected and honestly he was ready to show that he was not as weak as others always assumed.

Of course he wasn't all that strong either. Even with a familiar he was still only a fledgling wizard and his knife skills would only get him so far either. But still he felt like he could hold his own well enough.

Besides, he would be staying in the castle which would be far safer than an inn.

He wasn't gonna be in that much danger after all. Even when this capable woman who had accompanied him so far left for her next job.

And being in a carriage reduced the chances of getting robbed within the city. While it did indicate wealth it also would be more noticeable so it was actually fairly safe inside of the city. It was outside where it might have caused issues.

Like when it had been attacked when he had first entered Jarenkul. Heron's heart hurt thinking of the men who had died protecting him. He wished he could have protected them, kept them from dying. He had been too weak though.

And now there were so many families that would be bereaved. All because his skills weren't good enough. Because as a leader he was terrible, incapable of doing all that much due to his frail body.

He was still thinking these depressing thoughts when they rode into the palace grounds. One of the stablehands came up to deal with the carriage as Elswyth got down and then helped him down. After that face-planting he had learned to swallow his pride.

Heron took a deep breath trying to prepare himself mentally for meeting the queen of Jarenkul.