Next Steps

When the twins, Renat and Eira convened back in a room at the inn after a short rest, they plotted their next move. It was no small task to find one woman in the sea of humanity, and now they were looking for a second one as well.

However this time, they at least had a starting point. Mairwen had remembered that Dania came from the small town named Abeyance. The only problem was that it was none of them had ever heard of such a place.

Even after some consultation with a map from Alaron's cloak, they still had no idea where to look. "The world is a very big place," the Guardian said apologetically. "Not every town can be on here. I would say it would have been shocking if such a small place had been worth mentioning on such a large map."

"You are quite sure that you want to go there?" Renat wanted to confirm. After the woman nodded, he sighed, "I do hope after all this time that Dania's sister still lives there."

"She does; I am sure that she does. And before you ask, I am sure that we should be looking for her. I feel quite foolish for not seeing it before. Dania wasn't calling me her sister in her letters, she was calling me to find her sister," Maiwen said with conviction. It all seemed so obvious to her now.

What a strange and brilliant friend she had made in the female scientist! Even while in some sort of trouble, Dania had managed to leave the princess bread crumbs without her captor suspecting. Mairwen only hoped she was up to the task of finding the woman before it was too late. The lizard creatures warned that the time was coming up sooner than later.

"We need a better map," Eira said at last. "I could go to the palace alone and look through the castle records for such a place. Surely it is in one of the hundreds of cartographic sketches in the royal library."

The other three shook their heads. "What if someone recognizes you and follows you back?"

"You cannot get into the palace without giving your identity. Mother and Father will hear about it in a heartbeat. I do want you to keep your job, Eira. We will have to find another way."

"Where else can we view a set of maps?" Alaron asked the others. "It has been too long since I have been into Valiant for pleasure and even longer since I went to the market--except for yesterday of course."

"Don't look at me," Mairwen answered. "Since you left, my focus has been on keeping everyone at the palace safe and sane as well as planning a wedding. There wasn't a huge amount of time for wandering the streets to find a mapmaker."

The twins' eyes shifted to Eira, who quickly held up her hands in defense. "I don't go for frilly things like shopping or baths. I am the princess's shadow. If she hasn't been there, I haven't either."

Renat rubbed his forehead. "I might know someone who can help us, but we will have to sober him up, I am guessing..."

"You don't mean, Pete. You have got to be joking." Mairwen groaned. Her husband was a brilliant man, but it was a crazy suggestion.

Alaron agreed with a nod. "I think you may have hit your head too hard. Or those broken ribs of yours have punctured your lung and affected your breathing."

"Hear me out. Pete knows me as a country bumpkin not a prince, so he can help us without causing us to be discovered. He peddles a little bit of everything and you can be sure he knows a cartographer or can find us one quickly." Renat pleaded his case.

"What makes you think he is even in town?" Eira challenged. Her mistress's hesitation had given her courage to speak her own mind.

Renat raised his eyebrows at her words, but answered. "If I am right, he will be right where we left him yesterday- or close by- drinking away the money that I gave him. Once he starts something, he rarely stops unless forced."

"A creature of excess, I see. You think very highly of your brother's friend," Alaron mused. "Though after meeting him, I cannot say I blame you."

"My opinion doesn't matter. Petyr is a good man somewhere deep down. Deep, deep down. And he will help us. That's the important part." Renat stood up and held his ribs.

The fractured bones still ached from the impact of the sword's pommel against his chest. The knot on the back of his head was also unpleasant, but as long as he did not touch it, he could almost forget it was there.

The soldier shook her head. "There has to be another option...I don't like putting our fate in the hands of a drunkard."

"And you both are not in any shape to travel," the Guardian looked at the injured prince and princess. They both quickly disagreed.

"I have never felt better!" The dark haired woman moved her shoulder in every possible direction. The motion was smooth and fluid without any sign of pain.

"I cannot claim the same," the scientist admitted, "but I have been hurt much worse. I promise not to slow us down."

"Stubborn, both of you," the silver-eyed man chuckled.

"If we are, we learned from you," Mairwen countered. She raised one eyebrow waiting for a challenge that never came. Alaron knew his own weaknesses.

"Hand me your signet ring. I mean the one you used for the writ for the chancellor." Holding out his hand, the Guardian prepared to receive the small trinket. Mairwen removed it from her neck where it was tied on a string, keeping the beautiful Seeker necklace company.

"I do wish that thing worked at a longer range. What happened when you tried to use it?" the Guardian motioned to the silver fairy.

Mairwen froze and touched the delicate pixie with one finger. A distant expression came over her face as she sighed. "I tried to use the Seeker many times, especially when Dania first disappeared. Once the fairy wandered about for the better part of a day. I followed her to the edge of town but she went no further and returned to my neck. The other times, she just seemed...confused. Now the necklace does not even try to react."

"Confused? Not react? As in it does not think you are going to find Dania?" The cloaked man wondered if they were going on a fool's errand.

"I don't know how to explain what was happening. I showed Hanna the problem. She said it could be too great a distance. The Seeker was only ever meant for short range helping. It's merely a tool, not a miracle worker. So it's up to us, which was true all along anyway." The princess laid out the facts, hoping it would not change her brother's mind.

"All magic has its limitations, I suppose. We will have to put in the work ourselves. It would have been nice though. We would not have needed a map with a magical little guide." The Guardian would have loved nothing more than a shortcut just now.

Almost anything would have been better than dealing with the insufferable fool from the day before. He sighed, seeing no other choice. Taking a parchment from his cloak along with a pen and ink, he gathered the signet ring and sat down to use the table's flat surface.

"I am curious how many writs you have made before to do not one, but two so easily." Mairwen peered over her brother's shoulder with a judgmental glance.

"I was Emperor for a short while if you recall. Writs were par for the course. I was drugged for a lot of it, but I remember the incessant signing and sealing. It was one of the few things that Cafer would actually let me do." The Guardian scrawled out a bunch of words, then melted some wax from a block. Dripping the hot liquid onto the paper, Alaron pressed the ring into it and left the royal impression. "Done."

"What is it for?" Renat asked, his curiosity piqued.

Blowing on the wax, Alaron passed the writ to his brother-in-law. "See for yourself."

"Money?" The scientist puzzled for a moment, before it dawned on him.

"Eira will go to the money-changer and get a withdrawal. If we are going to pay off another tab of that drunkard and then go wherever we are going, we will need some funding. I am not using all of the reserves I have, no offense." The Guardian had a small fortune that he had been gifted, but Alaron needed to make it last as long as possible.

Renat passed the paper to Eira. "I assume you will be the one to handle this."

The soldier looked down at the paper and her eyes widened. "If the Guardian would shadow me, I would be much obliged. If anyone sees how much money I am taking, it is possible I will get attacked."

"Good idea," Alaron threw up his hood. "We will be back shortly. You two get some rest. There will be very little time for it on the road."

Renat nodded and laid down, grateful for a moment to rest his ribs.

"Be careful," Mairwen urged them.

"You too."

With that the Guardian and soldier left the small room at the inn. Mairwen barred the door behind them. The princess turned to say something to her husband, but after worrying most of the night about his wife, he was already fast asleep. She kissed his forehead and lay down beside him, happy for the moment of peace.