Chapter 8: Louis

I hate horse riding; it makes everything below the hip hurt but I couldn't deny the need for us to move quickly. While I knew royalty received specialized education, I was incredibly impressed on how well her highness managed. She was perfect though, so it made perfect sense that the lady could ride elegantly.

Roads were good in this section of the country; maintenance was prompt and relay stations were every thirty miles. It was approximately one hundred and twelve miles to Vivaldi, but we planned to stop at Quarter Town. It was smaller but would have decent smiths to make the rigging we would need.

Travel in itself was boring.

Travel in itself was boring.

I stated this twice to show how important it was.

Journeys and adventures had excitement, and trips could be enjoyable. The act of plodding along on a horse, mile in mile out, over the same landscape sucked. A single saving grace was the princess next to me, who I could observe casually without suspicion.

These roads were well traveled and two people on mounts didn't warrant a second glance, I don't know how long it would take for word to spread that lady Harmony was missing. Quarter town was off the normal trade route so it should take longer for others to be aware. With a few days there than two days to Vivaldi we could be out of the kingdom and into the princedom within a week. It was late just after the sun had set when they made it into the city.

"Let's drop off the horses and find a place to crash for the night." There wasn't much to say. Rental horse had a magical brand that allowed one to track the horse down. It also identified where it came from. The two measures did well enough to allow for a thriving network of stables in which one could borrow a horse.

I pretended that I could still walk with a noble swagger. Harmony seemed no worse for wear but did carry a look of exhaustion. This kind of travel wouldn't be what a princess was used to. Great care of others was required of a gentlemen thief, so I took charge of figuring out where to stay. Frankly, I wished I could foist all the responsibility off on someone else since I was so exhausted. Traven stays were a bit more affordable here, and showed no dismissed quality, as they were important locations within smaller towns.

"Two rooms" I said to the front desk/bar

"Only got one, got two beds in communal."

"I'll take the room and one in communal."

I didn't remember much after getting the princess settled. I stored my stuff in hers and crashed on one of the empty beds. It was a small hall with a half dozen beds, I had slept in far worse.

The following day was calm and slow. We could find no signs or posters telling us the princess was missing. This was ideal for us since no one should be looking for us here. We did two main things while we were in town, one organizes and set ourselves up for a long trip, and two acquire the services of a smith.

Most of the prep work was done in Fortissimo, which left us with little to do in regard to preparation. there. The smith came second. I had several specialized pinions and a few rack pins I wanted made. I left my set in Alexandria.

"What would one need with something like this?" Feldman Smith was the smith I had chosen; I didn't know him personally.

"I fancy a bit of mountain climbing, on my way to Copperfield range. " I didn't want to tell him that these were tools for scaling large buildings. I had handed him some old drawings, they were made some time ago, but the tool was still perfect for what we did.

"Not strong enough to operate in those mountains, to many heavy sentiments. We need to make some changes to the design if you want them to work." Feldman was a tall wire thin man, a far cry from the normal jacked black smith one would expect to see. He rubbed his thick brush mustache.

"Can't we just change the material if its not strong enough?" There was a long pause as Smith considered it.

"Nope, the only other option is to change the design." I couldn't see his lips move under his bottle brush, but even I knew that didn't sound right.

"There must be another way, can't you just make them as is?" Thumbing his mustache, he looked up at me over the design drawings. I don't know how to operate the rig if I don't have them built to spec.

"You have no idea how these works do you?" Of course, I didn't, I just knew how to use them. He paused as he looked at the lower left where the information for the part was.

"This set is going to be used for thin wall work, I plan to anchor on the other side."

"We can do it this way, if we clad it." He spoke after a long while.

"Cladding is fine I just need them to be that design." He tilted his head left and right before he returned his gaze to me.

"Be more expensive to do it that way." I had enough but I would be low on funds. It wouldn't do to mooch off the target of my affection.

"How expensive we are talking about here?" I asked uncertain about how far this would go.

"Twenty precent, this is going to need the good stuff."

"Ten." I responded

"Twenty"

"Not going to budge are you." I asked hoping I could get a discount."

"All right all right ill leave the rush fee off and you take twenty." He said as if passing a stone.

"Deal." I had to make a few omelets to break a few eggs it would seem.

A quick handshake and an invoice latter. I had done all that I needed to do. I toured around, past the center square, through a park with a large fountain. There was a small marketplace just outside of the premier inn, and they were selling street food. With this in mind, I decide to see if the princess would be interested in a little outing.

"Let's wait until the last day. That way if something goes wrong, we can leave in a hurry." For now, with the main requirements achieved. She seemed content to stay into night but made mention to a few other things.

"I found out there's some dyes and magics that can disguise you that aren't obvious."

"That seems like it would be a pricy service not available out of the way." Anything magic related beyond the scope of day-to-day care, was generally under the mage association. A smaller town like this would not have a magician or spellcaster to do that kind of work.

"I know but I think Vivaldi has a branch association, if not I can dye my hair with something cheep to at lest make it until we can get something to make it simpler for us."

"It would be a shame to hide your stunning hair. We should try to find another way."

"I know, my hair is gorgeous, he even said…" She trailed off, and I felt a sharp spike of jealously.

"Who said that?" I asked keeping my voice level

"Oh, my father my maid my mother, all three brothers, Xavier…lots of the servants did." I didn't miss how she hung up on his name. We weren't close enough, so I said instead.

"It sounds like a lot of people noticed how pretty you are." Nothing like a shameless line to close distance.

"I know I am after all I'm a princess. After all." She said smugly.

Well that failed, I would really have to try to get some charm out for our little outing in three days. We stayed mostly inn bound as to keep a low profile. I checked every day for posters and spent the rest of the time looking for places to explore later with lady Harmony. I also stopped by the blacksmith to pick up our gear. I planned to visit a rope maker I had meet on my journey to the capital to pick up some special ropes. I sent a courier with my order so it should be done by the time we get there. Messenger birds traveled fast, faster than wanted posters that was for sure.

I should have realized birds went both ways because the day of the outing we found ourselves being followed.