Chapter 23: Eastern City

Stretching my legs led me into Majesty City, I turn to the carriage driver and had him wait for me. I took a walk around to see how the merchants were doing with their shops. So far they were still building their inventory and making sure they had fair prices for their goods. After a while of walking around I finally met back at the carriage. I feel much better seeing everything with my own two eyes. As long as nothing goes wrong then things will run smoothly. I climb into the carriage, at this moment I had no clue what was about to.

I immediately felt exhausted once I walked through the palace halls to my study. I can only imagine that huge pile of paperwork waiting for me to complete it. The two guards at my door pushed open the study room door letting me in. I paused at the door as my gaze fell upon Castian who sat at my table. I noticed that all that paperwork that had waited for me was no more. Did he just..? A very tired looking Sir Derek entered my study, it was as though he hasn't gotten a lick of sleep. "Sir Derek?" I ask him as he walks over to my study desk and hands Castian some more papers. Castian looks up when he realizes that I was in the room, his eyebags! "My Queen, you've returned." He says weakily.

I've only been gone an hour and these two looked as though they would die of exhaustion already! "I have but what's all this?" I ask as Castian stands and leaves the desk. Sir Derek bows. "We thought we should do something for her Majesty. So I've been helping the Duke sort through the paperwork." He answers with a weak smile. I looked over at Castian who walked over to my side and without a single warning rests his head directly on my shoulder. As though it was the normal thing to do I ended up reaching up to pat his head. Ever since he came back he's gotten more bold but for some reason I couldn't get mad at him.

Castian straightens and walks out the room, Sir Derek bows and follows after him I stood there completely frozen to the spot. As a Queen I was used to not showing any feelings whatsoever. But when it comes to Castian it seems I have become soft and unable to act like myself. Should I keep my distance? If this keeps up I will begin to have feelings for him. What if he only sees me as his Queen? And the only reason he's been acting strange is because that's just his true personality. Admittedly I like this new part of him and would hate if he suddenly reverts back to acting like he used to before everything changed. I shake my head and sit at my study desk, instead of worrying about him I should review the completed work.

After a while I was finally doe for the day. I learned some interesting things from the reports I read about all the other cities. Like a couple of the cities had been going through drought even before the war. I should figure out what these cities are lacking and how I can turn them into a place that can be lived in. That was not the only problem though, it's getting to one of the cities by carriage. According to some reports the road was blocked and even ruined. There was also trees that grow there easily thanks to magic. There is something in this city that is making everything react abnormally. I think this is something that needs immediate attention. And since it's closest to Farmers city due East and will take at leat three days to travel there then I should go prepared.

Glancing over the report I learned something even more interesting about this city, I place the report onto the table and lean back. I wasn't doing much of anything tomorrow and the day was already ending....I think I should check out this city next. If what the report says is true than it's all the more reason to go tomorrow, because the reason why that city is in the state its in is because someone with really powerful magic is living there. One more day. That's as long as I need to wait. Just one more day.

Three Days Later

Eastern City. We finally arrived, and just as I thought there was no way through. "We'll have to walk the rest of the way." I say as Brim, Mangola, and I stepped down from the carriage. "What the hell happened to this place? It's a mess!" Brim says in shock. Right before us was nothing but damaged trees and tree growth. It was like a forest, "I doubt we'll be able to go through that without running into any beasts." I say slipping on my gloves and then pulling my hair into a ponytail. "Indeed." Mangola agrees as we climbed over debri and fallen tree strumps that covered most the rode into the city. Once we made it over we began our journey through the trees.

"So what are we looking for exactly?" Mangola asked as we continued to walked through what seemed like an endless loop of greenery. "We'll know once we lay eyes upon it. I'm not too sure myself but I get the feeling that it will be useful to us." I answer. Brim and Mangola look at each other. They both had the same thought, there was definitely some kind of magic at work here. "As long as you are careful Queen Ranessa." Brim says as she keeps her gaurd up. One never knows what crazy creature lived in a place like this. "Aren't I always careful?" I ask. The sound of bushes nearby making a rustling noise had them stop in place.

"What is that?" Brim ask as she looks in direction that the noise came from, which was to the right of them. Not far off were a few bushes, Brim walks over and saw that it was nothing. "Odd, I'm sure I saw this move." She mutters. "Looks like it was nothing, come on let's keep moving." Mangola shudders as they continued to walk. I glanced back at the bushes before also moving forward. I have a feeling that whatever or whoever I was looking for just might be closer than I thought.