Halkegenia Online - Chapter 7 - Part 2
Yuuki Asuna, Asuna the Flash, Commander of the Knights of Blood, and now a Faerie transported to the world of Halkegenia, regarded the latest addition of her troop with mixed feelings. Having rinsed his hair of the black ink that he had used as dye, and scrubbed his face clean, Asuna could almost believe that he really was of royal blood. Kino vouched for his story in any case, claiming that he was Millia's cousin, Wales Tudor, the Crown Prince of Albion. Even as she looked him over, the Prince studied her in turn with clear blue eyes. She mused at the absurdity of the coincidence of meeting the Prince of Albion like this, but Asuna found that she was fast growing to accept the absurd.
After meeting in the midst of battle, they had taken flight as the distant alarms continued to ring with barely a moment to make introductions. Kino and Caramella had explained what had transpired in the city as they traveled with occasional clarification offered by Wales. It was a story that Asuna was still struggling to make sense of. Caramella's unveiling in the middle of the city, the gunpowder explosion set off by Kino, and the improbable meeting with the Prince.
But most important in Asuna's eyes had been the discovery made by Kino. They were not alone in this world. The sailors on the docks had spoken of Faeries known as Cait Syth appearing in the Kingdom of Tristain. Cait Syth, Kimura had described them as a feline themed race from the game of ALfheim. The very thought lifted Asuna's spirits. They weren't the only people transported to this world, there were others like them, perhaps even the entire world of ALfheim had been transported, and with it, maybe, 'Kirito'.
So, even though the York infiltration had been for all intents a complete disaster, it was also an incredible success. They were in more danger now than ever, now that the Rebels had been alerted to their presence, yet they also had a clear goal and perhaps even a means to make it a reality.
"All of the sentries are in position." Arguile reported as he approached the small patch of ground where Asuna and Wales were seated facing each other.
In the dim light of the early morning, beneath the thick forest canopy, the former SAO survivors lay curled up beneath blankets and bed rolls. It was dangerous to remain in one place for long, but it was even more dangerous to travel in broad daylight. Asuna's scouts had spotted dragons and even warships on more than one occasion. Whether the the rebels were searching for them in particular, or simply patrolling near the the front lines was still unclear.
Following behind Arguile were Nishida and Baku, the unofficial spokesmen for the non-combat members of their group, as well as two others, a powerful looking man in high grade armor called Ivan, and a taller, thinner man named Shio, both were former clearers. They were members of the reformed Knights of Blood, leading the B and C defensive squads responsible for protecting the troop as they traveled and keeping everyone together.
"Good." Asuna said. "And you made sure the sentries have clear instructions to stay hidden from the air?" The last thing they needed was to be revealed by their own efforts to keep watch.
"Yes, Asuna-sama." Arguile replied dutifully.
"Then we should take this time to lay out our next move." Asuna said.
There had been little time to do much organized planning since the escape from York. As soon as they had arrived at their campsite, hidden some distance from the port, Asuna had ordered them to break camp and prepare to march. What had followed had been a tortuous night on the move, covering half again as much ground as they had on any of the other nights. There had been little time for more than a whispered exchange as they traveled.
"Should we wake them?" Arguile nodded to Asuna's side where Kino lay curled up in Caramella's arms beneath a course blanket. In sleep, snuggled up to each other, they both looked so much younger, so much more innocent.
"No, we can let them rest. They're both exhausted." Asuna shook her head, ignoring her own fatigue.
Asuna turned her attention back to Prince Wales. She had already apologized for her indiscretion when they had first met, it had not, she reflected, been the best first impression to give to Royalty. Surprisingly, Wales had apologized in turn for having been so forward, and begged pardon for whatever offense he had given. Asuna hadn't been quite sure how to reply, and so had simply decided to consider the matter settled.
"Let me properly introduce you." Asuna said. "Prince Wales, this is Arguile-san, my second in command," the knight gave a respectful nod to the Prince of Air before Asuna continued, "The two next to him are Nishida-san and Baku-san, they represent the members of our group who are not fighters."
"It is an honor to meet you Prince Wales." The elderly Nishida said, Baku giving a small bow.
"Finally, the men standing behind them are Ivan and Shio, leaders of two of our combat squads."
"Prince Wales." Ivan rumbled politely.
"An honor." Shio said, arms crossed.
Wales rose to his feet and gave a formal bow. "It is my great honor to meet all of you. I am Prince Wales Tudor, Crown Prince of Albion. Though it is belated, in the name of the Royal House of Air, I welcome you to Albion. I only wish I could receive you in happier times."
"Which is the problem." Asuna said. "The matter at hand is still getting off of Albion and down to the continent."
"I cannot blame you for that." Wales agreed with a small smile, "I suppose that Albionese hospitality has declined recently. In that much I may be of service."
"Your ship." Asuna said.
Wales nodded, face growing serious, "With the sinking of the Interceptor, the Eagle is all that is left of the Royal fleet, but she's one of the finest vessels in the skies and well crewed. If any ship can slip through Reconquista's blockades and deliver you safely to the continent, it will be the Eagle. The only problem will be arranging to meet with her."
"I apologize." Asuna said politely, "We took you from your rendezvous, didn't we."
The prince waved a hand. "These things happen." Wales replied with no hint of concern, as if Asuna had merely spilled her tea. "Though I won't be able to make it to the backup retrieval point on schedule, we have contingencies in place for a situation like this, but it will require that we make our way inland a ways I fear."
With the clearers, Nishida, and Baku, all gathered around him, the Prince began to sketch out a rough map of Albion in the earth at his feet. "We'll need to make our way to the town of Queenswall. From there I can signal my ship to make one last pickup attempt along the coast."
"Forgive me for asking." Nishida said. "But if it's an airship, what prevents it from simply overflying the Island?"
"Nothing save the Rebel patrols." Wales explained. "The Eagle is a fine ship, but she's only survived this long on cunning and the skills of our navigators. If she were to run across the top of the Isle, half the Rebel fleet would be upon her. And as the Eagle is our last ship, my crew have been ordered to take no risks with her, even for me."
"So we make for Queenswall so that you can send your message." Arguile said. "Then we make for the coast once more?"
"Exactly." Wales said, tracing a line. "We should be able to reach Queenswall tomorrow if we again travel through the night. From there, two nights march would bring us to the rendezvous. Three hundred passengers will be a tight fit, but doable."
"Splitting up would let the civilians make better time." Asuna said, studying Wales' crude map, "But I'd rather not risk it."
Arguile nodded in agreement, "We don't know the lay of the land and we can't afford to lose the civilians and their escorts. Baku-san, do you think the others can keep up this pace?"
The former army player rubbed at the bridge of his nose, as if adjusting imaginary glasses. "With a goal to work towards, I think so. We've been holding up well over the last few days. Even Nishida-san has been pretty spry."
"Even with all this walking, I haven't felt this good in years." The elderly man agreed, stroking his chin thoughtfully.
Asuna laced her fingers beneath her chin. "What would be best is if we could split off during the day while the main group rests."
"We?" Wales asked with a quirk of his brow.
"Mmm." Asuna nodded as she starred at the map, "The roads are dangerous, you'll need an escort. I'll go along and wait outside of the town for you."
"Asuna-sama!" Arguile protested. "Surely, a less . . . conspicuous person would be better suited to escorting the Prince. Allow me to go in your place."
"Denied." Asuna said immediately. "I don't intend to enter the town, and we'll be taking the back roads, so it will be easy to avoid patrols." She fingered her cloak thoughtfully, in this she looked like nothing more than a beggar and wouldn't draw any suspicion so far from York. "And if something happens, I have the best chance of getting Prince Wales to safety."
Arguile could offer no counter to this. Asuna was by far the fastest member of their troop and anything she couldn't outrun, she could easily outfight. In the open country, away from cities and towns where her appearance would draw suspicion, she was an excellent choice for this sort of work.
"Arguile-san, please see to the safety of everyone in my absence."
The man took a breath and released it. "Very well, Asuna-sama, but I want you to know that I protest this decision."
"I hardly need an escort from you, Lady Asuna." The Prince replied with a hint of mirth which was wiped from his face a moment later as Asuna gave him a half hooded glance. "I mean to say, a Prince of Air is in no danger traveling alone."
"Maybe, but your safety is essential." Asuna said, crossing her arms. "Besides, I don't think the crew of your ship would be too happy if we let you get yourself killed jumping off of cliffs or fighting dragons."
The Prince, displaying a suitably royal sense of diplomacy, realized he was beaten and conceded.
"That only leaves the matter of payment." Asuna said, receiving looks from the others.
"Indeed, there is a price on my offer of safe passage." Wales admitted apologetically. "I must receive something in return for the risk my crew will be taking and for the time that the Eaglewill be absent. Every day she is not on patrol is a day that the rebels may ship supplies unopposed."
"And what is your price?" Arguile asked cautiously.
Wales looked first to Arguile and then to Asuna. "I would like to ask for your services on behalf of the Royalists."
The clearers looked among themselves quickly. Asuna had expected this having heard the request often from Millia. "I'm sorry Prince Wales, but this isn't our war." Asuna said. "And I won't endanger the lives of our people."
"I understand your concern." Wales insisted. "Despite what my dear cousin might think, truly our cause is already lost. With but one ship and a few hundred fighters left. The Royalists will be gone in but a short while. But I've seen how you fight. Lady Asuna, you alone would be a match for a strong triangle or even a square mage. There are ways to make use of fighters with your talents. I do not ask that you fight with us to the end, only that you help us bloody Cromwell's nose one last time, and let the continent know that the Royal House of Tudor did not bow to a usurper to the last."
Asuna looked away. "You make it sound so easy." She said quietly. Participating in Albion's civil war would mean exposing the Knight of Blood and the civilians to danger, and also, more killing. Asuna's hands balled into fists.
Wales closed his eyes and bowed his head. "My apologies, Lady Asuna. I meant no offense. In either case, you must leave this area before your troop is discovered. I can offer you safe passage to Newcastle for now. That will at least give you safe haven for a time, and when the situation becomes too dire, we can slip you back past the Rebel lines. But to reach the continent I will need something to show for it."
The gathered Knights were silent until Asuna spoke again. "I understand, and we accept your offer of passage. We'll just have to make arrangements as we go."
It was hardly what Wales had asked for, nevertheless, the Prince appeared to be satisfied. Asuna stood slowly. "You should all get some rest. We're going to have another long night ahead of us." With that, Asuna departed to find someplace to lay her own head.
A few of their group were still awake, or just beginning to fall asleep as she slipped by, eventually finding herself beside the mammoth bulk of Kimura who was in the process of deflating himself down into a shallow depression in the earth. A position he said he found quite comfortable. The slug noted her presence, one of his many tentacles, reaching up to tip the large, banded hat that the seamstress Maki had made for him after he had complained about his lack of pockets. At least he wouldn't be getting slime all over the items he stored on his person anymore.
"Asuna-sama." Kimura said.
"Kimura-san." Asuna said guardedly. The former researcher trapped in the body of a slug type mob had become much more tolerable as their journey had continued. His ability to live off the land, easily transport large loads, and keep pace with the civilians without tiring, had proven invaluable. While no one in the group particularly cared for him, Asuna least of all, they were at least able to act cordially.
"If you're looking for someplace to lay down, I think there's still room for you two over under the tarp." The slug pointed with one of his tenctacles.
"Two?"
Asuna looked over her shoulder to see that Wales had just begun to follow her. He was still some distance away and she hadn't paid much notice. "May I help you, Prince Wales?" Asuna asked, eyes narrowing suspiciously.
"I merely wished to the take the opportunity to apologize again for earlier." Wales said, standing straight.
"Its not your fault. Like I said, I overreacted. I should be the one apologizing." Asuna said mechanically. Right now, she simply wanted to sleep. There were still so many difficult decision to make, but they could all come after that, she'd been on her feet for over a day as it was.
"No, I offered offense to you after you saved my life." The Prince replied. "My honor demands that I make it right."
Asuna shrugged. "Then take us to the continent."
Wales smiled, "I confess that is steep price, even for the honor of a Prince. Truly though, I meant no offense. But when I saw you in flight, I believe I saw what my cousin saw in you, and why you gave her so much hope."
"That wasn't flying." Asuna said bitterly, "I just know how to fall." She glanced over her shoulder where her pale wings hung hidden beneath her cloak. During the fight, she had though she had sensed something, a brief rush of energy as she had twisted in the air, but it was likely that it had been nothing more than her imagination.
"They trouble you." Wales observed. "Your wings."
Asuna almost laughed. After realizing that this world was reality, that this body was flesh and blood, Asuna had wanted to tear her skin off to be rid of marks left by Sugou. Even if he hadn't begun his work on her mind, he had already been busy erasing her identity. She didn't feel like herself, more like a doll of Yuuki Asuna. The other survivors had picked up quickly on her discomfort and none had been brave enough to speak of it directly save in the most oblique fashion.
"They're more than just trouble." Asuna said. "In fact, I've thought of trying to tear them off." The Prince's eyes widened in surprise. "But the others won't let met." She shook her head. The worry over her well being had been the only thing that had stopped her from trying to do just that. "I can't even fly with them, so what good are they?"
"I understand." Wales said. "Or rather, I do not, but I wish I did. Is there nothing I can do to make amends?"
Asuna didn't reply immediately, thinking of what little had been exchanged between them. Even now, she knew very little of the Prince as a person, only that Millia had vouched for him and that he had risked his life to save Caramella.
"Prince Wales." Asuna spoke up suddenly, softly.
"Yes?"
Asuna breathed slowly. "In our country, we are taught that war is a terrible thing. Its the very worst thing that people can do to each other, and that civil war is the worst."
The prince grew stiff. "That is true." Wales admitted, looking regretful
"How do you bair it?" Asuna asked. "The killing?"
Wales' eyes widened again and then his face gained a degree of hardness. "Taking a life should never be an enjoyable thing." Wales said. "I don't think of it as killing. I fight to defend myself and uphold my ideals. There should be no pleasure in taking another persons life. But there should also be no regret in protecting others and upholding what you stand for."
"It isn't right." She said softly.
"It isn't." Wales agreed. "But because of it, I am still alive, so again, I thank you. Not for you part in killing those men, but for saving my life."
Asuna mulled over the Prince's words. It was small comfort, but even so, it felt good to hear it. "You're welcome."
Wales smiled again. "I hope my words have helped. Though I confess that I am still curious about you."
Asuna frowned.
"About your people. I wish for you to fight for our cause, but I know nothing about you." Wales clarified. "You claim to be refugees, but from a land I have never heard of. I know that you are not Elves. Certainly you are not human. And you claim that you are not really Faeries, though it is what Emily insisted you must be and I know no other name to describe you. I vow that whatever the truth is it will not change our agreement, so please tell me, who are you really?"
If Wales had asked it any other way, or perhaps at any other time, Asuna would have simply bid him good day and gone on to find a place to sleep. But the Prince remained still, waiting for her to answer one way or the other. He would no doubt accept if she declined, maybe that was why she decided to tell him.
The girl with Faerie wings thought carefully on the matter and then let out a long low sigh. "I don't even know how to begin. We tried to explaining it all to Millia-san, but I don't think she really believed us. You can't really understand." Asuna shook her head, "No, it's not that, you'll think I'm saying one thing when I mean another. It's difficult to explain when that keeps happening. I think I could only really make you understand it very broadly for now."
"It must be quite a story." Wales observed.
Asuna meditated on those words. "I suppose it is. Prince Wales, would you like to hear a bedtime story?"
The Prince quirked his brow, an amused expression crossing his face. "A Faerie's Faerie Tale? That would be a novelty."
Asuna gestured for him to take a seat, noting out of the corner of her eyes that Kimura had lifted his eye stocks in curiosity. The Prince seemed quite unfazed by the researcher. If he could accept the Faeries of myth, then what was a talking slug?
As Wales looked on in anticipation, Asuna composed herself, finding a seat before beginning.
"Once upon a time, in a land very far away, there lived a young noble girl. Her father was a respected senior guildsmen and her brother had followed in their father's footsteps. The girl was raised to be elegant and refined, a credit to her mother and father." Asuna spoke, voice remaining low and calm. As each line ended, the next began without even thinking about it. Like she'd rehearsed it over and over.
"One day, the girl's brother was called away on business, leaving behind an invitation to a grand masquerade to be held by the greatest Magician in all of the lands, to be held in his home, a great flying castle of stone and iron . . ."
The story took a long time to tell, but at the same time, it was shorter than Asuna had expected. She told the Prince of the great floating castle of Aincrad whose floors were each unto a county, stacked one atop another atop another high into the sky, capped by a Ruby Palace. She told him of how the girl, trapped by the cruel Magician, took up the sword and was transformed from a shy child into a peerless swordswoman. She told him about the many guilds of adventurers, heroes who had stepped forward, ordinary people, who had fought to free them all. She told him about the war they had waged against monsters the likes of which the world had never seen, and the battles with powerful Lieutenant Beasts that barred their way to the top of the castle. And she told him about the kind boy that the girl had met and shared many adventures with, the Black Swordsman who had slayn the Magican and saved them all.
If it had been a Faerie Tale, that would have been the end. The people were saved and the boy and girl lived happily ever after. But life was not that simple. Asuna went on, telling Wales of how the girl was freed from the castle only to be trapped by an apprentice of the Magician, coveting his former master's achievements and seeking to corrupt them for himself. She explained how the apprentice had used an enchantment to shroud his victims in the form of Faeries in a world of dreams and how quite out of the blue, when all seemed lost, they had been freed and found themselves in the land of Albion after escaping their prison.
The Prince remained silent as Asuna finished. It would certainly be a lot to take in, Asuna thought. She wouldn't blame Wales if he simply ignored her story and stuck with calling them Faeries.
"You're right. It is quite difficult to explain. Even now I'm sure I don't understand. But your words wring with the truth. It does explain a great deal about you, Lady Asuna, to have fought but never need taken a human life, that is a rare blessing. I have but one question."
"Yes?" Asuna asked.
"The Black Swordsman. You're deeply in love with him, aren't you?"
Asuna felt her face flush faintly. "Was it that obvious?"
Wales shook his head. "No, you were careful, but that's what gave it away. He must truly be a unique man to hold your affections."
Unique? Maybe. Kirito was many things, none of them special alone. But like anyone else, he was more than the sum of his parts. No list of words like 'kind', or 'generous', or 'brave', could ever do him justice. Asuna only knew that if Kirito was in this world, he would be searching as desperately for her as she was for him. "You're probably right." Asuna said.
By now, the sun had fully risen and light was slanting down through the trees, falling across the slumbering forms of the other SAO survivors. Asuna felt her weariness, held at bay as she told her story, return with a vengeance and she struggled to hold back a yawn.
"I've kept you from your bed long enough." Wales said. Asuna finally noticed signs of fatigue in the Prince's own face. "Good night, Lady Asuna, or rather good day. As you said, we will have a long day ahead of us. Thank you for your story."
Asuna nodded, "Good day to you, Prince Wales."
Wales Tudor, Prince Wales, the Prince Valiant, Admiral of the Royal Fleet, when there had been a Fleet to command, now disguised as a wandering beggar traveling the roads of Albion, trudged up the hill outside the town of Queenswall with the Lady Asuna in tow. At the top of the hill sat a low shack built into the side of a decrepit stone tower. To the untrained eye, it looked to be nothing but ruins from an era before canon had made the old castles obsolete as fortifications.
In fact, it was a Royal messaging station. One of many commissioned in the days of Wales' grandfather to relay messages across the Isle. This particular station had seen better days, with the aviary tower partially collapsed, the stables in disrepair, and several of the windows boarded up. Still, even in the midst of war, especially in the midst of war, there was a need to send post and military communications at a rate faster than a horse mounted messenger without tying up valuable dragons. Thus, with each captured city and town, the Royal Message Stations had been usurped by the Rebels. Their operators pressed into service sending reports and orders to and from far off Londinium where the traitor Cromwell directed his forces.
What the Rebels did not realize was that they had not been as thorough as they believed when it came to expunging Royalist sympathies. The number of safe stations was few, and they had to be used rarely lest they draw suspicion. But from Queenswall station it would be possible for a messenger bird to travel all the way to Skiesedge, a small town to the south of York, not far from where the Eagle waited hidden away among the many hollows and caves that dotted Albion's cliffs. From there, the message would be received by his crew and they would make best speed for an alternate pick up point further south from York.
Finally reaching the top of the hill overlooking Queenswall, a town of three thousand built at the intersection of two major highways and the River Tans, Wales knocked heavily on the shack door before turning to wait for his companion.
Their journey had been surprisingly uneventful. Though there were patrols along the roadways and in the skies above. As the Lady Asuna had predicted, it had been relatively trivial for the two to evade them. This far from York the garrisons obviously weren't taking the alert as seriously.
With her cloak pulled around her, the Lady Asuna looked innocuous enough. Wales was secretly thankful to have the Faerie girl at his side after the events in York. While he was confident of his ability to defend himself and did not need a girl for protection, he was not so arrogant as to deny her skill with the rapier or her supernatural strength and agility which were akin to the heroes of fable. It reminded him of the tale she had told him the day before, of a great castle of stone and iron and of the endless battles that had raged within. Even now he still didn't know what to make of it. And yet it explained so much about her.
It reminded him once more of what his cousin had said to him in passing. It was said that Albion was the lowest of Medb's domains, and that the Faerie Queen presided over the land of dreams. The very place that Lady Asuna said that the impossible castle did reside. He suspected that the Lady Asuna had been correct and that the story of the Faeries would take time to properly explain.
"This place looks abandoned." The Lady Asuna observed, looking up at the rundown Message Station.
"The Rebels can be thanked for that. In better times the Royal Message Stations carried post for both the army and private citizens. But after the Rebels took control they have monopolized the stations for their own use. Fortunately the postmen chafe as much under their abuses as anyone."
The girl seemed unsure. A moment later there was a creaking, and the door to the Station was cracked open. A pair of dark gray eyes peeked out from beneath thick gray eyebrows. "By order of the Good Lord Cromwell this message station is closed for use by the public!" The man said in a dry old voice.
"And yet the birds still fly free, like all true sons of Albion." Wales said, watching the eyes widen slightly.
"Until they are returned to the bosom of their mother isle?" The query was spoken with a mix of caution and excitement. To Wales' knowledge this station had been rarely used.
"To lay before her white cliffs, home once more, everlasting." Wales answered.
The door swung open to reveal an elderly looking commoner dressed in the carefully maintained uniform of a Postman. The man ushered them quickly inside and shut the door behind them. The interior of the shack was in much better condition. The floor recently scrubbed and not a spec of dust on any of the furniture. They were admitted into a small waiting space fronted by a high table behind which the Postman would sit when receiving customers. Behind the desk was a tall bank of slotted cubbyholes where the letters coming and going from Queenswall by courier would be sorted, and a second smaller set of cubbyholes for pigeon post.
The old man gave them both a thoughtful look, mumbling something under his breath before circling back around and taking a seat at the desk. "Welcome to Royal Courier Messaging Station Number One Hundred and Fifty Seven. God save the King. How may I help you this day?"
Both Wales and the Lady Asuna were left momentarily speechless by the small man's clear delight. It was like he had waited through the whole war for this moment.
"We need to send a message." Wales said politely.
"Right you are sir! Where will it be to?"
"Skiesedge." Wales said.
"Station Eight Nine it is then." The man said. "Not supposing you have the letter with you?"
Wales raised his hands pleadingly. Though the Lady Asuna's knights had come across some stationary supplies, they had been lacking in the thin paper used for letters by messenger birds.
"Well that's quite alright. Stationary is right there, a half pence a sheet, ink and pen are complimentary. I tell you what, those Rebel hoodlums come in and just use the stuff. Haven't got any respect for the establishment I tell you what! It's been hell taking and receiving those letters, never opening, never spy'n on'm in case the crown ever needed my services. They took off all the others, thought that the young lads were more likely to sympathize with the cause, just left me to tend the birds."
Wales gave the man a pained smile and turned to the offered writing desk, taking three sheets of paper and laying them out side by side. He duplicated his message three times with different recipients in Skiesedge. He called it duplication but the content was in fact a little different. Just looking at each letter, they appeared to be nothing but notes home from sons off to war. The gist of each was an apology that the war was dragging on. One asked if a lover was still pining for him at a certain location. Another reminded his mother where to pick the herbs for her bad back. The third promised to build his wife a house overlooking the cliffs. They all referred to the same location. The Rebels might have clamped down on the post but that simply meant it was severely underutilized allowing a black market to be established for use by petty nobles and well to do commoners. Even if the notes were intercepted, they would simply be assumed to be contraband from their own rowdy troops and not Royalist communications.
Looking over the letters one last time, Wales handed them to the Postman. "I'd like you to send them by three different birds. Their arrival at their destination is vital."
"Right you are sir!" The old man said with delight. He worked with shaky hands, quickly rolling each letter up into a roll thinner than the cigarettes smoked by commoner soldiers and then carefully sliding each into a small brass cylinder. Screwing each shut and capping the cylinders in wax. The Postman took the messages in hand and disappeared into a doorway at the back of the shack. His head poked back out, "Well, then, come on. Don't you want to see them off?"
Wales looked to the Lady Asuna who seemed just a perplexed but followed close behind. The door lead into the aviary tower, which like the shack, looked much better kept on the inside with dozens upon dozens of small rectangular cages lining the walls. The birds in their assorted cages cooed softly to one another as if commenting on the new arrivals.
"Station Eight Nine, Station Eight Nine. Here we are!" The Postman opened one of the cages and gently extracted a medium sized, gray feathered bird, carefully affixing the first cylinder to its leg and taking it to a small window for release. This was followed by two more before the man wiped his hands on his trousers smiling happily. "And that'll be all of it. No need to worry. They're the fastest birds in the isle, Royal Messenger Pigeons, your letters will arrive by nightfall."
"Excellent." Wales said. "That will be all then. Thank you for your service to the Crown." Wales was about to turn to depart when something struck him. "Ah, how much was the postage?" Such an absurd question to ask, but something about the old man struck him as incredibly sad.
The Postman shook his head vigorously, "Why you should know sir, official messages are carried free. That was the original job of Royal Message Stations after all. A sight better work than they're doing now."
"I see." Reaching into his pocket, Wales removed a small purse and fished about.
The Postman frowned. "I said the message was sent for free, didn't I?"
Extracting three half pence, Wales took the man's hand and placed them in his palm. "Yes, but you still charge for the stationary." Wales smiled kindly, "We have to show respect to the establishment."
The old man looked down and then back up to Wales. "Right you are sir." He said, swallowing.
The man walked them back to the door before speaking again. "By the way. They've been saying all sorts of slanderous things down in town you see." The Postman said, fidgeting. "Say the Royalists are almost wiped out. Ah, begging your pardons, but does the Prince Valiant still live?"
Wales looked to the man, of course he wouldn't recognize Wales in person. Not dressed in rags and half hooded. "Yes, the Prince Valiant still lives. He still fights for Albion."
"Good, good." The man nodded his head slowly. "We haven't lost as long as that boy lives. That's what you gotta keep telling yourself lad! As long as the Prince's is alive we've got a succession and things can go back one day once all this madness has ended."
Wales looked at the gray man, he was old enough to have fought in the last war, Wales thought, the one that had ended just before he had been born. Standing straight, Wales gave the man a military salute. "God save the King."
"God save the King." The old man said. "And God save the Prince."
Wales looked over to see the Lady Asuna repeating his gesture, though she said nothing, and then they were departing, the shack door closing behind them, leaving no hint of the strange encounter that had occurred within.
"That was easier than I expected." The Lady Asuna observed as they descended toward the roadway to make their return journey.
"You say that as if you were expecting a fight." Wales observed.
"Not exactly, but I'm not used to these things being this simple." The girl said. "It's almost boring really."
Wales quirked an eyebrow. "You've certainly lived in interesting times, Lady Asuna."
It was almost enough to draw a smile from the Lady Asuna's lips. "I'll take that as a compliment."
"To have lived in them and survived, it may well be." Wales agreed, turning back to his recollection of the Lady Asuna's story.
He still didn't know what to make of it, or what to make of her or the other Faeries and their strange mannerisms. And the story she had told was too incredible to believe. Magicians shaping dreams and imprisoning thousands. Impossible battles of swordcraft against all manner of monsters and powerful Lieutenant Beasts. Just what had this girl experienced? Just what had she witnessed to make her the person she was now? He could not say.
Any further comment was cut off as a shrill scream echoed across the countryside. Both the Prince Valiant and the Lady Asuna were suddenly alert. Wales reaching beneath his traveling cloak for the wand cane he had taken from one of the slain Dragon Knights and the the girl at his side taking hold of her rapier.
"It came from outside the town gates." Wales said, already turning to follow the road away from Queenswall. A scream like that couldn't mean anything but trouble.
"We should go see." The Lady Asuna said without a moment of hesitation.
Wales grimaced. "We can't risk drawing attention to ourselves."
The cry came again, and the girl glared at him. "These are your people, aren't they?"
"Believe me, I am aware of their plight." Wales clenched his jaw. "Discretion has been a hard won virtue these past months."
"Well then, haven't you ever heard of Prince's helping their people while in disguise?" The Lady Asuna asked, starting out towards the noise.
"Lady Asuna." Wales sucked in a breath through clenched teeth.
"We'll just see what's happening. It might be nothing, or maybe something is happening and we can help without being seen."
"Yes, because that worked well the other day in York." Wales rolled his eyes, but found himself following behind the girl. At times she showed the discretion of a proper commander, but then at others she was so clearly reckless. He doubted Sir Arguile would think too kindly of him if he allowed her to come to harm.
The noise was coming from an open market at the gates of the town. Queenswall's location along the major highways and a river route meant that a great deal of the local commerce passed through the town on its way to York or the other port cities. The Market was likely a seasonal affair as farmers bought and traded in preparation for the planting season and the local townspeople sold tools and services.
A crowd had gathered in the middle of the roadway. "Order! Order you rabble!" A voice was shouting.
The crowd was too thick to see past, but the foot of the hill formed a shoulder along the roadway, allowing Wales and the Lady Asuna to see above the gathered townspeople. With a small spell, cast from beneath his cloak, Wales was able to make the sound carry from the scene unfolding below. A mage in the uniform of a Rebel officer was busily dragging a woman about by her hair, shouting at the crowd as he jerked her back and forth. At his side, a second mage and about a dozen foot soldiers looked on.
Wales' eyes narrowed. They were sloppy, not front line troops. A weak mage should never allow a crowd to surround them like that, and a powerful mage would have known to not let it happen in the first place. The risk of a hidden assailant or of the mob surging in was simply too great.
"I, SAID, ORDER!" The man screamed, yanking hard on the woman's hair. She let out another pained cry and Wales winced sympathetically. "We have reports of Royalists sympathizers in Queenswall. By order of the Good Lord Cromwell you are commanded to submit for inspection! All contraband will be confiscated! Any information leading to the arrest of a Royalist will be rewarded! Any attempt to conceal a Royalist will be punished!"
From somewhere in the crowd, a stone was throne, not very well, and not very hard. The mage holding the woman barely noticed as it struck his leg. Glaring he cast his eyes to the townspeople, catching sight of his assailant.
"Let go of my mother!" A little commoner girl shouted, she couldn't have been more than nine or ten years old, Wales thought.
"Attacking your betters?" The mage asked, looking to her companions. "I can see this town has been without supervision for too long, the rabble hasn't been properly disciplined." The man leveled his wand on the girl and suddenly she was falling upwards into the sky, shrieking in terror.
A commoner, better dressed than the others, most likely a craftsmen from the town, stepped forward as spokesman. "Please sir, she's just a girl, and her mother was widowed by the war. She meant no disrespect!"
Wales looked across the crowd. There were bound to be a handful of petty mages among them, but non seemed willing to expose themselves in defense of the girl or her mother. Even as he watched, he saw several faces turning away.
The Rebel mage smirked as he waved his wand up and down, causing the girl to bounce thirty or forty males in the air above the hard packed roadway. Each bounce bringing with it another scream. "You're right of course." The Mage said, yanking again at the woman's hair. It's a mother's duty to keep her children in line." His gaze trailed across the onlookers. "Though, as they say, it takes a village to raise a child. So I suppose you're all equally responsible."
The spokesman swallowed slowly, understanding dawning. "N-name your price. I'll accept punishment on behalf of the girl and her mother."
"I think a fine should do." The mage said, glancing to his fellows who all nodded in agreement. "Yes, a fine. Of course, it will have to levied on your whole lot, interfering in an investigation is inexcusable."
There were shouts of protest from the crowd at which the mage twitched his wand, sending the girl higher into the air. At Wales's side, the Lady Asuna trembled, in any other girl he would think it fear, but from the look in her eyes, and the stance she had taken, he could describe it only as rage. His second eldest brother had been like that, an affectionate man who was quick to anger when others were harmed. "Still yourself." Wales advised softly.
"A fine? More like theft!" A voice shouted from the crowd. The two mages and their subordinates seemed suddenly on edge. The shouting redoubled for a moment before another voice continued.
"That's right, I've heard of this! They're using Reconquista's name to line their own pockets!"
"They probably aren't even soldiers!"
The crowd was growing restless now, and Wales grimaced. The words were too well coordinated and much too close to the mark. Some fool in the crowd was trying to whip them up into a frenzy.
"Order I say, in the name of the Good Lord Cromwell!" The mage spluttered, lifting the girl higher into the sky. The man seemed suddenly aware of the danger he was in. Fear more than the actual power of the mages had kept the crowd back, but a crowd could be fickle and irrational, easily led by anyone who knew what levers to pull.
"Please, everyone remain calm!" The spokesman said, but nobody was listening to him. "Sir, just put the girl down and walk away. I'll pay your fine from my own pocket!"
"You don't have the money, Samson." Another of the townspeople, a man dressed in the working clothes of a blacksmith said. "I've seen your purse these last few months. They're stealing bread from the mouths of our children!"
"And now they'll steal the life of Anna's child!" The spokesman pleaded.
"Back, back all of you!" The mage was shouting. He had released the woman and was now retreating behind the safety of the soldiers and his fellow mage.
"Horace! Catch the girl!" The blacksmith shouted as he drew his own wand. A mage, naturally most master blacksmiths were mages with a fire or earth affinity. With spells to control the heat and purity of the metals, and skill with the hammer and quench to provide the precision that magic lacked. The situation was rapidly growing out of hand.
"Lady Asuna, we need to leave now." Wales whispered. But the girl at his side barely budged, her whole body as immobile as if she were cast from bronze. The crowd was closing in on the mages. It was clear that they had gravely miscalculated.
Suddenly, another stone was thrown from the crowd, faster, and much harder than the first. The mage holding the girl swept his wand down reflexively and deflected it with a burst of wind. The girl's screams redoubled as she plummeted from the sky. One of the townspeople, a petty mage raised his wand to catch the girl as the crowd, now in a frenzy, charged in.
The second mage finally took action and Wales looked on in horror. The man wasn't a wind mage. From the tip of his wand lashed a tongue of flame, sweeping across the mob and sending them writhing back. It was merely a cantrip, something meant to be summoned quickly, more to dazzle and frighten than to do harm. Still, it was effective. With the commoners briefly cowed, the mage quickly turned to neutralize the greatest threat in his sight, attacking the petty mage who was occupied safely lowering the girl to the ground. Still too high up, the petty mage flung the girl back into the air to give himself time to guard, throwing up a wall of wind to keep the flame tongue at bay. No sooner were the flames scattered than the unlucky petty mage, no real fighter, was hit by a blindly cast wind hammer from the first mage.
"Wales!" The Lady Asuna shouted.
With barely a thought, Wales reached out with his own focus casting levitation to break the girl's fall. Wild eyed, the fire mage below caught sight of his next target, a cloaked figure standing on the shoulder of the roadway, a mage desperately trying to prevent a little girl from falling to her death. Wales saw the man's arm extend, he saw the chant passing his lips, and the tongue of flame that erupted forward. And then there was not time to do anything but guard as the flames rushed in.
Asuna saw Wales lower his wand,desperately attempting to guard himself from the flames, the Prince couldn't hold onto the girl and protect himself at the same time. At the last moment he launched her once more into the air, buying the child another few seconds. In the chaos, the girl was almost an afterthought. Those who were paying attention could do nothing to save her, and the few mages in the crowd were either cowering back from the power displayed by the battle mages or else occupied in protecting themselves and others from their flailing attacks. Asuna began to move instantly. The girl was too high up to simply catch, Asuna would have to intercept her at the apex of her own jump and hope she could break their fall enough that the girl wouldn't be too badly hurt. But it was too high, it was too far, and the girls upward flight was slowing too fast.
Asuna willed her body forward, ignoring its protests. She knew could go faster! She was past Wales and halfway to the road in the blink of an eye, then she was vaulting the low stone wall that sided the shoulder of the roadway, sweeping around the crowd. The girl had reached the apex of her arc and was just beginning to fall downward once more. Asuna felt her sense of self expanding, stretching down her back, tracing out bone and muscle that didn't really exist. Asuna wasn't fast enough, she wasn't going to make it. But she had to try.
And so Asuna jumped, and so the girl fell, and so Asuna flew.
Thinking back later, Asuna realized that it hadn't really been flight. Rather, there had been a surge of energy, and for an instant the wings on her back hadn't been lifeless things placed their by Sugou to torment her. They'd been a part of her, as natural as her arms and legs, and though she didn't fully understand how to use them it didn't matter, she only needed to travel straight forward as fast as she could. Asuna caught the girl in mid fall and clutched her closely to her chest, fifteen meters in the air. She felt her wings stretching out, catching the air, and slowing her descent, but it wasn't going to be enough on its own. Asuna hit the ground, legs folding up and body hunching forward to absorb the impact and convert it into a forward roll, shielding the girl in her arms. They came tumbling to a halt in a cloud of dust.
For a brief moment their was silence. Asuna struggled to sit upright, the girl in her arms clinging to her in terror, tears running down her face, hands clutching white knuckled to Asuna's blouse. Slowly the girl looked up wide eyed at Asuna, her grip loosening and her mouth falling open.
"Are you okay?" Asuna asked.
The girl nodded her head slowly. "A-are you a Faerie?" She whispered, looking at Asuna with big dark brown eyes filled with wonder. Although her cloak was still wrapped around her, nobody could have missed the wings that glowed faintly as they stretched from her back, folded like those of a dragonfly at rest. The crowd was silent, stunned by what they were witnessing. Even the fire mage and Wales stood starring, waiting to see what she would do. Asuna was taken aback, but looking at the wander in those eyes, she simply smiled.
"Un." Asuna nodded, letting go of the girl and standing slowly. "Now wait here."
They had come to a stop just a few paces from the mage who had started this all. The man stood slack jawed as Asuna approached, unable to reconcile what he was seeing. Asuna's face became a mask, cold and emotionless. That finally seemed to make the man remember himself. He leveled his wand on Asuna and let loose with an air blast. Too slow. Asuna sidestepped the attack and then was on him.
The Rapier's first thrust was cleanly along the inside of the forearm on the wand hand side. The man let out a shriek of pain as his hand fell uselessly open. The next strike was along his opposite flank, then again along the opposite shoulder, left upper arm, right forearm, right upper arm. It was like a dance, each thrust eating away at the man as he screamed in pain and terror. He collapsed, a twitching heap before Asuna who regarded her work clinically. She hadn't really done that much damage. Her aim had been to hurt and humiliate, not kill, and in that she had succeeded magnificently.
"P-please, don't killy me! I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" The man shouted in terror as he struggled to get away. Asuna thrust out one more time with the Rapier, just grazing the man's cheek and watched with some distaste as a stain spread across the front of his trousers. Asuna stamped down on the man's wand, cracking it in two, and took a half step back, eyes flicking to the commoner soldiers who were now leveling their weapons on her. The first six found the courage to charge in.
Sighing, Asuna went to to work. This wasn't like the battle the day before, she could neutralize these men without taking their lives. She wouldn't kill needlessly. She rushed forward to meet them, rapier in hand, the men stumbled back, not knowing how to respond to a bare waif of a girl meeting their charge. The rapier licked out, catching the first man in the hand and causing him to lose his grip on his halberd. The next man received a merciless strike to the inside of his upper arm, each attack was aimed to cripple without killing. From what Millia had told her about water mages, the wounds would be easily treatable, later, after Wales and Asuna were gone.
She danced in and out. Threading between the fighters. No sooner had she disabled one attacker than she was behind him and on to the next. It didn't seem fair, her speed was a good approximation of what she had achieved in SAO, while these men moved like bottom floor players. The forth man managed to swing his halberd, aiming a bone shattering blow for Asuna's shoulder. Rather than twist away, the swordswoman brought her rapier up, sliding it along the halberds shaft and diverting the swing as she moved to the side, before countering with a thrust under the arm.
The last two men fell quickly, having had time to see Asuna's handiwork and grow horrified. They weren't fighting a little girl. They were fighting a monster. The two men stumbled back to cower behind the six remaining soldiers. Two of the men had taken the time to ready crossbows and were taking aim when a gust of wind struck the whole group, laying them out flat. Asuna glanced to the side, where wales had disposed of the fire mage and come to her aid. And then it was over, only the calls of pain from the defeated men left to indicate that anything had taken place, and the eyes of the crowd on them.
Asuna felt small arms wrapping around her, and looked down to see the girl clinging to her side.
"Sophie!" The woman from before cried and ran out to snatch up her daughter, hugging the little girl fiercely to her chest. She looked up to Asuna and the approaching Wales, her eyes resting for a moment on Asuna's ears and then her wings. The woman shook her head, "Thank you. Thank you for saving my daughter."
Murmurs were already spreading through the crowd, Asuna bit her lip. They'd have to break through and make it back into the forest. She was still looking for an opening when the cheering began. Applause and whistles of admiration rising from the crowd. Asuna blinked, startled. "W-what?"
The large blacksmith from earlier approached the woman and her daughter. Helping them back to their feet. He gave a nod of thanks to Asuna and Wales. "I don't know who you are, but thank you. Sophie here was the daughter of one of my men. I promised I'd look after her and her mother." The man chuckled, "She's always been a lucky girl, but I never thought I'd see a Faerie come to her aid."
"We need to leave now." Wales said, voice soft but carrying a hint of urgency. The crowd seemed too distracted by Asuna and her wings to have payed much mind to the Prince, and of course, none of the people would ever have seen him in person. Even so, there was a strange gleam in the blacksmith's eye as if he suspected.
"If you want to be going, then take flight now. It'll be a few minutes before any of the rest of the garrison respond." The Blacksmith said. "Which way would you like us to tell'm you went?"
Wales paused. "Say that we went North." The Prince said.
"They'll believe that, sure enough." The blacksmith agreed, glancing back to get another look at Asuna. "Though I doubt they'll believe Medb has returned to her Isle."
Asuna wasn't pleased by the words, but somehow, they stung less at that moment, she noticed from the corner of her eye, the crowd closing in on the defeated Rebel soldier. "What will you do with them?" She asked.
The man looked down to the girl and the woman in his arms and then chuckled evilly. "Aye, they threatened a townswoman and her daughter without bringing it before the town hall. Not even Reconquista will want to trouble with that. We've ways of making examples of men like that. Mark my words."
Asuna swallowed softly as an evil look crossed the man's face.
Sir Terrance Dunwell, former Knight in service of the Royal House of Albion, and now serving at the Good Lord Cromwell's pleasure in the army of Reconquista, listened as his aide, Sir Wells, offered his report.
"Two mages seriously injured, their supporting foot soldiers found hung upside down, bound and gagged and beaten to a pulp. There are no reported casualties. Quite peculiar if I do say so myself."
"The injuries?" Sir Dunwell asked his subordinate.
"Multiple minor lacerations across the arms and face for one man. Burns and blunt force trauma to the other." Sir Wells looked confused. "Both men were also tarred and feathered."
"Tarred and feathered? They still do that here?" Sir Dunwell snorted.
"Its a minor miracle they weren't lynched given the reports." Sir Wells observed. "The mage officer in charge wants punitive measures to be leveled against the townspeople."
"On what grounds?" Sir Dunwell asked.
Sir Wells scanned the report in his hands. "Apparently interfering with the lawful duties of his men."
"What he means is extortion and highway robbery." Sir Dunwell sighed, truly he had no time for these matters. Reconquista had far too many greedy idiots in its ranks for his taste. "Tell the good Garrison Captain that Lord Cromwell will not look favorably on him harassing the people of Queenswall. Or need I remind him this is one of the only productive towns left in this region." It was like the den of vipers back in Londinium didn't understand that there needed to be a working country for them to rule over.
"As you wish, Sir Dunwell." Sir Wells bowed his head in affirmation.
"Now, let us return to our real mission here." The Senior Knight said, gesturing to the site of the incident that had occurred earlier that same day.
There had been no dead this time, somehow. But the disturbance had drawn his attention nevertheless when one of his men had returned with reports that the town of Queenswall was abuzz with sightings of a 'Faerie'. Such rumors would normally have meant little if they had not been accompanied by the grievous injury of two mages before hundreds of witnesses. Knowing his superior, the Knight had returned immediately to Dunwell's side to give his report.
Accounts said that it had been a startlingly beautiful young woman wielding a silver white sword and born aloft by gossamer wings. Possessed of incredible grace, she had defeated the mages at the side of a gold haired youth in only a few heartbeats. Rumors were already spreading among the townspeople that it was a daughter of Medb, arrived to fight beside Albion's rightful masters. Some even claimed that the Prince Valiant himself had been the one at her side. Silly rumors spoken by soft headed commoners, but a nuisance nonetheless. Already it had made the local people less than cooperative with his investigations.
Sir Dunwell paused, or perhaps they weren't so soft headed. Prior to the spotting of the Elf woman in York, the sabotage at the docks, and the woman's subsequent escape, Dunwell's mission in York had been to investigate rumors of Royalist sympathies in the port. Someone was feeding information to the Royalists, allowing them to strike ships arriving from the continent with disturbing reliability and accuracy. Lord Cromwell refused to let up the blockade around Newcastle, his advisers having convinced him that the attacks were being staged by a handful of ships still loyal to the Crown and staging from hidden ports along the cliffs of the white Isle.
Personally, Dunwell suspected there was only one ship. Most of the rest of the Royal Fleet had been accounted for, captured, destroyed, or their flotsam found riding the waves beneath Albion. And if it was one ship, it would be a particular ship. The commerce raider HMS Eagle, captained by the Prince Valiant himself. And at York, a Youth of the Prince's build had been seen aiding the Elf woman in her escape. The man had certainly been no commoner mercenary to have survived the drop from the cliffs of York into the river Fosse.
Dunwell frowned, it was a pleasing narrative of course, Prince Wales was known to travel often in disguise, but the Knight could not fathom what the heir to Albion's throne would be doing traveling so far inland. Had he been separated from his ship? A possibility if he had been in York, in which case he might have intended to enlist aid to return to Newcastle. It would be some time yet before every Royalist sympathizer was stamped out.
"The prevailing report is that the two assailants departed North in the direction of the front lines. If they are Royalists, they may plan to break through and make for Newcastle." Sir Wells said.
"Indeed." Dunwell said, still distracted. That didn't make any sense. The front lines closed in on Newcastle everyday. By now, it would be all but impossible to cross them on foot. You would need a mount, or a ship, to overfly the patrols.
The logical conclusion was that the people of Queenswall were lying. No doubt the townspeople were attempting to protect their benefactors, some misguided show of gratitude. The prevailing opinion was that they were heading north, but dissenters claimed that they were traveling East. But to where?
"We should send a message to the front line commanders, in any case." Dunwell decided, and then paused as he eyes fell upon the tower at the top of the hill outside of Queenswall. "Sir Wells . . . come with me."
"Ah, yes sir Dunwell." The Knight followed closely behind as his commander hiked up the hill. A pair of the escorting dragon knights were keeping watch from atop their mounts, using the hill as a vantage point as their dragons rested.
"Sir Dunwell!" Both men saluted as the Senior Knight passed them by. He hammered solidly on the door to the Royal Message Station. A few moments later, a gray haired commoner peaked his head out.
"Good day to your sir." The man said. "God save the Good Lord Cromwell, how mayhaps I be of service?"
Dunwell spared the man barely a glance as he pushed the door open and swept inside the confines of the Message Station. The birds in the aviary grew anxious as he entered, hooting among themselves in fright. The Knight's movements were much too predatory for their tastes. Dunwell's eyes swept the cages, well tended, he thought. Half were empty and thoroughly scrubbed down, awaiting birds that might never arrive. His came to rest on three cages, all listed as eighty nine. The feathers, feed, and water all present in the coop were evidence that the birds had just been released not too long ago.
"Sir Dunwell?" Sir Wells asked.
"A message drop." Dunwell replied. "Our query sent a message from here to station eighty nine."
"I'll send a dragon to collect the messages immediately." Sir Wells said.
"No. These are royal messenger birds. Almost as fast as a wind dragon. They'll have been received by now. But I suspect I know the contents."
Sweeping back into the post room Dunwell continued past the spluttering postman and to stand before a map of Albion that had been nailed to one of the walls of the post office. The isle was covered in small red dots containing numbers in white. The dot numbered eighty nine was some ways to the south of York, a small town along the edge of the Isle, south east of Queenswall. Examining the map carefully, Dunwall grabbed a pencil off of the counter and began drawing a series of short concentric arcs centered on Queenswall and expanding eastward.
"Hey, what you are you . . . ?!" Sir Wells clamped a hand down on the shoulder of the elderly postman.
Finally, Dunwell's markings reached the coast. They would follow the roadways to make good time. From memory, there were only a handful of places that would make for good rendezvous points along the curve of the Isle. A ship would either have to risk overflying the Isle, or stay near one of several pockets where the turbulent air streams abated. Satisfied with his conclusion. Dunwell strode over to a small writing desk by the door and took two sheets of paper. Duplicating and signing his instructions on each. His eyes wondered to a small placard on the table, and with barely a thought, placed two half pence pieces in a small collection tray.
"I have a priority message to be delivered to York. I would like you to use two birds. The message contents are essential. I will of course see them off myself." Dunwell said, offering the two thin sheets to the Postman. The old man looked down at the letters and that up to Dunwell, eyes filling with tears.