Chapter 23

Evelyn Baranet looked out the right side of the ship, her gaze centered on the Mountains by the Sea. Recently, she learned that it wasn't the 'right side' but the starboard. She didn't really get why sailors would make up names for something so simple and obvious, but who was she to judge? She wasn't a sailor nor did she particularly like to travel by ship, so it didn't make a difference for her either way. If the sailors insisted on calling it 'starboard', she would comply. It's not like it hurt her, after all.

The part of Midarior they were sailing through right now — close to the Mountains by the Sea — was somewhat of a no man's sea. With Thabinat having no consequential ports on the coast side of the Mountains, and not much caring about them too, it left space for either Aldunis or Minyth to claim some maritime space. However, they didn't move to do so. Sure, they claimed the space close to them a little, but none of them moved to completely annex the territory. Evelyn suspected it was mainly because there was nothing to gain out of it. Both kingdoms had their own coasts to worry about and profit off from, and with this part of Midarior having no ports nearby, it would be too costly to maintain their presence there. The Tower didn't care about it either. Their only concern was what was happening near their little isle and whatever news that could be concerning the Empire, or more precisely, the rebirth of it. They were the ones carrying its legacy, after all, no matter how much Thabinat wants to prove it was themselves.

She was sailing from Nardan to Sylio, having received news from her father — who was a fairly influential noble — about someone she considered as close as a little sister. Apparently, someone had kidnapped her. Evelyn had no idea who would be stupid enough to do this, but she was determined to carry out the justice herself. She suspected that no one else in the Palace of Aldunis truly cared about Annette, so she had to take matters into her own hands. If anything, she was surprised that the king had finally openly revealed Annie's existence to the nobility, even if most of them knew about it already. She knew that the king didn't love his daughter and only saw her as an unwanted complication to his line of succession. She had no idea who had learned about Annette's existence, or how, but they surely had no good intentions toward her. They could be looking for a ransom if they were not informed well enough about the king's feelings toward her, or they could be looking to use her in order to threaten the king directly by taking her to any of the neighboring kingdoms or using her to gain political power themselves.

Either way, she knew that whatever means Aldunis would expend in order to find her would definitely not guarantee her safety, as the king was probably wanting to get rid of her himself, but was snubbed out of a chance by this unfortunate kidnapping. If she had to guess, whatever hunters the king would send after Annette had orders to kill her, rather than bring her home. Evelyn would find her first and make sure she was safe, after which they would probably be on the run together. She had no intentions of going back to Avinea and her stepmother and step-brothers just to be met with their contempt again. She had loved her father, and she would miss him, but it was not enough for her to stay where no one had wanted her.

Evelyn decided to sail to Sylio instead of Avinea for that very reason. Well, it was a few reasons, to be exact. One: whoever kidnapped Annie was surely out of the city by now and could well be in Sylio, trying to get away. Two: someone who she wanted to be her mentor was currently there, and three: there just weren't that many ships taking passengers to Avinea directly.

Her ship was not that far from Sylio, with only two or three days of sailing and smelling the sea salt left. After that, she would make sure whoever dared to hurt her little sister was made to pay in blood.

*****

Sebastian Fidusmark was stripped of his title of the Captain of the Royal Guard by the king and given a task that could restore his old position. Recapture the bastard princess Annette Gwynaedd or kill her while making sure it looked like an accident. King Clemen had apparently had high hopes for him, even wanting to promote him to a higher post that would see Sebastian be responsible for the whole city, not just the king's in his Palace. He would have never guessed that. He was satisfied and honestly shocked when the king first graced him with his original post. He had no talent in combat magic, no achievements to back up his experience, and no notable family to pull the strings. His only relative growing up was his grandfather, who taught him about loyalty and honor, two Virtues that his family — now only he — had always lived by. Still, the king chose him personally.

His grandfather didn't teach him much about the history of his clan besides those two points. He would always mention how it wasn't important and he should be able to forge his own path in this world, rather than cling to the old ways of his family. Sebastian always thought it was slightly hypocritical of his grandfather to say this but then also go on about loyalty and honor, but we'll, those were important values to have, so he never complained.

Years serving as the Captain had left him feeling much older than he actually was, which was thirty. He always thought that protecting the king would include much more fighting and being always prepared and such. He wasn't ready for the endless politics and scheming, alliances and backstabbing, lost morals, and hard decisions. Those years had left him with his hair looking like it belonged to an older gentleman, rather than a young-ish man. His head was still full of it and he was grateful for that. If his family didn't pass on to him their flame magic, then at least they favored him with good genetics.

Sebastian spent the day after being assigned his task packing his things and leaving those he couldn't pack with a trusted friend. He couldn't afford to bring a whole squad for this hunt, as his mission was to be carried out in secret. The king also apparently didn't trust many of the people at his disposal, excluding Sebastian. He was given only a few coins as help and wanted posters of the man he had 'kidnapped' the princess. They were drawn out of memory, though, so he couldn't really tell how helpful they would turn out to be.

He was alone, and he felt surprisingly… free. There was no favor to satisfy, no one to correct his behavior, or him correcting others' behavior. He had almost forgotten how it felt now that he was on his horse, just outside the city walls of Avinea. His head was dangerously clear of any worry. He feared that feeling because he had an important task to do, after all. He couldn't afford dilly dallying and being lost in his head.

Yet, he couldn't shake off the feeling of being duty-free. It was strange. Ever since graduating from a martial academy, it was all he had known. Duty. Duty to his king, a duty to his kingdom, duty to his people, and he carried out this duty to the best of his abilities, sacrificing his own personal life in the process. His grandfather taught him well because his honor and loyalty made it hard for those thoughts he had to persist for long. He had a task to do and he would do it.

His aim was to head south, the direction that the man — Keziah was his name, but Sebastian couldn't be sure of that, not to mention he could have been lying about his name when they had first met in the jails of the watchmen — was head the last time he saw him and the S-ranked adventurer that appeared out of nowhere. Sebastian really hoped that she wouldn't stick around them for too long because he had no idea how he could handle her.

The first, most notable thing south of Avinea was Sylio, a small port town, so Sebastian thought it was as good a place to start as any. He reined in his horse and steered him to the right, following the Midarior Rim south.

*****

In a local tavern in Sylio, a man dressed in dark clothes with dark hair, and dark eyes sipped on his ale. His purpose for being there was simple — he wanted to drink and not be bothered by the many sailors that plagued this town. He petted his black dog, for whom he was always glad to have followed him. He didn't have much of a purpose in being in Sylio. Only wanting to see how life was being lived at this particular spot on this planet. He would have left already, if not for the strange tingling he had for the last few hours or so. He hadn't had that feeling in a long time and it made him curious as to what might have caused it. He would act on it if it proved interesting, but he didn't have any obligation to do so.

He waited to see what it was while sipping on his ale in the darker corner of the tavern.