Chapter Two: Part Four

The group traveled slowly to Niebieska Brama, arriving a day after they fled Triona. Viktor obviously took position in the active party, bringing the number to six. In the front row he stood with Sigrun and Ferdinand, while Astraea, Denzel, and Musashi fought from the back row. His skills as a swordsman were just as great as Astraea had heard.

David however showed that he did not have combat skills; something that he unashamedly admitted to. "I'm an intellect like everyone else in my family," he said. "Silverbergs tend to lead from command posts and not the vanguard. The only person in my family known to participate in combat was my late cousin Odessa."

"You mentioned her before," Astraea said thoughtfully. "I-I think I heard a story of her fighting her way out of her own wedding…?"

"Oh yeah," Viktor confirmed. "Lady Odessa had a fiancé named Achilles who had been captured and set for execution. They got married under the guise of an escape attempt, but unfortunately Achilles died during the process. Lady Odessa picked up a sword and fought the soldiers off single-handedly. No defense or anything—just stormed out of there in a wedding dress."

"She battled soldiers in a wedding dress and won?!" Sigrun exclaimed, her eyes wide with awe. "That's incredible!"

Viktor smiled, though there was a hint of sadness there. "She was an incredible lady. I feel in part that Master Tir became as great as he did because of her."

"She died long before I was born so I never knew her," David said. "But I know I'm not one for combat like she was. If the need were to arise I would gladly fight, but I fight better with my words and my mind."

"Where did you study?" Astraea asked.

"The Soldedt Academy of Military Science in Crystal Valley."

The Soldedt Academy of Military Science. The place she had been fooled into believing she would be studying. Hearing the name of the Academy made her chest ache.

"You seem young to be a graduate of a military academy," Denzel said suddenly to David.

"Oh—ah—I was expelled," David said quickly.

Expelled? Astraea thought, but Denzel barked out a laugh and threw an arm around David's shoulder. "Now THIS I have to hear! How'd the likes of you get expelled from the largest military academy in the entire world?!"

"I-I would rather not talk about it, Your Highness," David said.

"I'm interested too how Sir Albert's cousin ended up expelled from Soldedt," Musashi said coldly, narrowing his eyes.

As if sensing the danger, Viktor quickly stepped forward with raised hands. "The kid's too embarrassed to admit it, but he broke curfew too many times. It's one of the "Three Strike Rules" Soldedt has. Right, David?"

"…Right," David said after a moment.

"You get into Soldedt and got expelled for breaking curfew," Sigrun said with a raised brow. "Am I understand that correctly?"

"Yes," David said, his gaze lowered. "I—this is why I'm traveling with Viktor. My cousins refused to help me for embarrassing the family like that."

"I'm not the type of guy who leaves people in a lurch," Viktor agreed. "Plus I had nothing else going on, so I decided to take the kid traveling with me. Get him away from his privileged environment and teach him what the real world is like."

David gave him a look, but Sigrun and Ferdinand nodded their heads in understanding. Even Musashi visibly relaxed a little. "That was good of you to do, Vagabond Viktor," Ferdinand commended him.

"Man, to be expelled for breaking curfew of all things?" Denzel sighed, shaking his head. "I thought you did something more interesting, like steal a prized treasure from Harmonia or something."

"I'm an uninteresting guy, Your Highness," David said in a dull tone.

"Don't talk about yourself like that," Astraea said suddenly.

David looked at her in surprise, but Viktor grabbed him in a headlock and gave him a noogie. "Yeah, stop feeling sorry for yourself kid! Learn from your mistakes and move on! You'll grow into a man faster that way!"

"Ow, stop it!"

But traveling with the pair seemed fun, and it took Astraea's mind off a lot of unpleasant things for a little while. But when they reached Niebieska Brama, the realization of their predicament struck her again.

I'm running away. I'm fleeing my homeland. I'm going into exile…and I might never come back.

She hugged her arms and ducked her head. But she wasn't going to let herself be upset. Everyone had been right; if she wanted to clear her name and expose the King, she needed to stay alive. And fleeing was the only way for her to stay alive.

"Not a lot of guards on duty," Viktor observed from a distance.

"They probably expected us to go to Potsfurt or Feldgenz," Denzel said. "They're also probably still sweeping the area around Triona for us."

"We should probably split up into two groups," David said suddenly. The group turned their attention to him. "We've decided that we don't care where our destination is, but we still need to buy tickets. But more than that, it will be safer for us to have people buy the tickets for us. How close are Your Highnesses to Lord Benedict?"

"We cannot trust the lords or ladies," Sigrun said, shaking her head. "They will call the Royal Army as Sarka did."

"Plus, I don't want to talk to Lord Benedict," Denzel added. "The few times I've talked to him, something weird happens."

"The music," Musashi said.

"'Music'?" Viktor echoed. "Oh—is this Lord Benedict a Narcissist?"

"'Narcissist'?" Ferdinand asked.

"Narcissists are these weird people obsessed with themselves and anything beautiful in the world. Talking to them is exhausting, and…" Viktor shook his head. "When you speak to them, this weird melody fills the air. Like a piece of music on an accordion or something. It's weird because it always plays when you speak to one of these type of people no matter where you talk to them. Whether it be in a town or the middle of a field, it's always there."

"Is that what it is?" Sigrun asked thoughtfully. "I…yes. Lord Benedict is very full of himself. And when I've spoken to him previously I also hear music."

"So if not that guy, then who should we contact?" Denzel asked.

"Wait," Astraea said, stepping forward. "Erment and Gopal. Our brothers do business here. We should speak to them."

"I would advise against reaching out to any more of the King's bastards," Musashi said bluntly.

"I don't agree with Musashi's language, but I agree with the sentiment," Ferdinand said. "Lady Sarka tricked us into trusting her. We shouldn't trust anyone else to act differently."

"But Erment and Gopal don't have the same rank as Sarka," Denzel said thoughtfully. "Gopal's a trader and Erment's an armorer. Plus they didn't lose anyone to the Massacre of Innocents. They may not be as hostile towards us."

"It's a risk we may not be able to take," Sigrun said quietly.

"All right, but is there anyone else in the city who can buy tickets for us?" Viktor asked. Both Denzel and Sigrun visibly floundered but could not respond. "Then we don't really have a choice, do we?"

"Then we should stick with splitting into two groups, with one going to Gopal's stand and the other going to Erment's shop," David said. "Does anyone object?"

Murmurs broke out across the group but no one objected. "Okay, so how will be split up?" Viktor asked.

"I will go with the Prince," Musashi said.

"And I will go with the Princess," Ferdinand said.

"Okay, then you four will be one group and David and I will be in a group with Princess Astraea," Viktor said.

Sigrun and Denzel didn't look pleased by this. Astraea knew she could agree or ask to switch up the groups, but ultimately she nodded. "I agree."

"…Fine," Sigrun said reluctantly. "Then which group will go to Gopal, and which group will go to Erment?"

Astraea thought about it for a moment before deciding. "I'll go see Erment."

"Then we'll go see Gopal," Denzel said with a nod. "It's still early, and boats that depart from Zelantan harbors follow a strict timing regiment. The next boat should be due out in two hours."

"Then we'll convince Erment and Gopal to buy the tickets for the boat in two hours," Viktor said. "We'll aim to meet at the docks in an hour and a half no matter the outcome. Sound good?"

"Good," Sigrun said. "Let's get going."

Astraea was even more nervous entering Niebieska Brama than Triona because she knew the people would most definitely remember her. She pulled her hood down over her face and kept her head ducked as she walked behind Viktor. David walked in stride with her and whispered, "If anyone asks Your Highness, we'll tell them that Viktor is our father and we're brother and sister, okay?"

"Hey, I'm too young to your dad kid!" Viktor threw over his shoulder.

"You're fifty-seven years old, Viktor," David pointed out.

"See? That's too young!"

Astraea choked on a laugh. Despite her apprehension they managed to walk past the guards and didn't receive a second glance. It was different as they walked around the city; a few people looked twice in their direction. But thankfully no one approached them or shouted for the guards. "We'll need to go this way," she murmured, motioning to the western part of the city.

"We'll see you later," Denzel whispered to her before his group hurried off towards Gopal's stall.

Viktor took the lead of Astraea's group, but Astraea quietly directed him of where Erment's shop was. She knew that they were close when she heard a familiar voice shout, "Step right up and marvel at a real dragon's egg!"

Typhon's stall is still there? Erment said it was an illegal shop!

Typhon had known her on sight, so she knew that he would rat her out if he recognized her. She ducked her head forward, her forehead almost touching Viktor's back as they quickly moved past Typhon's tent stall.

Suddenly, David shouted, "Wait!" and he turned towards the stall. Viktor and Astraea stopped and saw David standing in front of the "dragon's egg". Astraea hurried over to him, as did Viktor. "Oi—uh—son," Viktor grunted. "What are you looking at?"

"Your son has a good eye, sir!" Typhon said with a conniving smile. "For 5 million Potch, this bonafide dragon's egg—straight from the Dragon's Den in the Toran Republic!—could be all yours!"

Viktor's eyes narrowed. "How in the hell did you get a dragon's egg from the Dragon's Den?"

His tone had become low and dangerous. Typhon flinched and laughed nervously. "Ah—well—"

"I'll take it," David quickly interrupted.

"Ah, it's 5 million Potch young man," Typhon reminded him. "So unless—"

"Here." David reached into his satchel and Astraea's mouth dropped open in shock when he pulled out a large golden bar. The bar looked to be 30 centimeters long and 5 centimeters tall. He set it on the table beside the "dragon's egg". "This should suffice for payment, yes?"

Typhon's eyes went as wide as dinner plates. He stammered loudly before snatching up the gold bar. He turned around and placed it on a weight scale before fumbling inside a box next to the scale. He pulled out a small bottle and poured a couple of drops onto the gold bar. Whatever he saw from the results, he swiftly turned to face them. "The egg's yours."

"Thank you sir, have a good day," David said, quickly scooping up the egg into his arms. "Do you have a bag for it?"

"Yeah, yeah, sure." Typhon tossed him a larg satchel.

"That bar was worth more than what he was charging, kid," Viktor hissed as they hurried off. Astraea could hear Typhon cheering loudly behind them from his tent.

"I know," David said. "But this is a real dragon's egg."

"I-It is?!" Astraea breathed in shock. "T-Then a dragon will hatch from that?!"

"If we had a Dragon Knight in our party it would be fine," Viktor grumbled. "But once that baby hatches, it'll turn feral because NONE of us know how to rear a dragon!"

"It'll be better with us than with that man," David said.

"How many is that now though, kid?"

"I have two more."

"Two more…?" Astraea looked between them in confusion. "Ah…may I ask why you have three gold bars?"

David smiled. "It's a secret, Your Highness. One I hope you'll keep."

Astraea had many more questions, but then they reached Erment's shop. "Looks like the coast is clear," Viktor said, peering through the storefront window. "I only see the owner behind the counter."

"I'll take the lead," Astraea said softly, though her heart was in her throat. It was risky, but she hoped that Erment wouldn't react the way Sarka had.

If one more sibling of mine betrays me… she swallowed thickly as she pushed open the door and entered the shop.

"Welcome to—" Erment's greeting broke off and his eyes went wide when he saw who had entered. "A-Ah—Your Highness!" The shock lasted only for a moment before he frantically waved a hand to her. "Come to the back! Before someone sees you!" He ran past them, opened the door to flip the "Open" sign to "Closed", and then locked the door to the shop.

The relief that flooded Astraea was immense. She smiled and hurried after Erment to the back of the shop. Erment led them to a storage room and closed and locked the door behind him. "W-What the hell is going on?!" despite their privacy he kept his voice low. "The reports coming out of Blutkrieger are insane! They're saying YOU caused the Masscre! That you attacked the Eisenblütig, a-and that you even tried to attack Lady Sarka in Triona!"

Astraea frantically shook her head and wrung her hands. "Erment—I'm innocent! I swear I am!"

"Of course you are!" Erment said harshly. "Anyone with a working brain would know that this is all a load of garbage! I saw how much you loved our siblings, Your Highness! You wouldn't have done anything to hurt them!"

Astraea covered her mouth with her hands. It took her a moment to regain her composure. "T—Thank you, Erment!"

"Gopal knows you're innocent too," Erment reassured her.

"That's good, since we sent the rest of the royals to him," Viktor said, quickly stepping forward. "We don't have a lot of time. We need to get out of Zelant. If we give you Potch, can you go and buy our boat tickets out of here?"

"Y-You're leaving, Your Highness?" Erment looked surprised again.

"Even if we know the Princess to be innocent, the problem is that people who have authority and power are hunting her," David said. "For her safety she needs to get away."

Erment slowly nodded, his face turning to resignation. "I understand. This—nonsense is infuriating. Whoever did this—"

"F—Father," Astraea whispered. "And Sir Albert. They…They did this."

Erment's expression darkened. He frowned deeply, silent for a long moment. "Then you're truly not safe here," he said softly. "I'm probably not safe here now, since you've told me."

"I-I'm sorry—"

"I'll deny everything if they question me," Erment said defiantly, squaring his shoulders. "I'll help you, Your Highness. I believe in you but more than that…you're my half-sister. I couldn't protect Milo, Barrett, and Ritta…but I'll make sure you can get away."

Astraea threw her arms around him. "Thank you so much!"

"We really appreciate it, but you should probably get going to buy our tickets," Viktor interjected. "Ideally for tickets to—say—Kanakan or something. And could you swing by the other guy's shop to make sure Their Highnesses are okay?"

"Gopal?" Erment nodded. "Of course. I'll be back shortly. Don't leave this room until I come back." He quickly ran out of the room.

"Hopefully he is buying our tickets and not hailing the guards," David said, sitting on a barrel.

Astraea shook her head. "I believe in Erment."

"You believed in your half-sister as well though, Your Highness," David pointed out.

"Hey kid, if you have any misgivings about that guy then you should have voiced them before he ran out the door," Viktor said in a teasing tone.

"Actually I have faith in Her Highness," David said. "I'm only saying that we should be careful."

Astraea paced the storage room for a few moments. "I don't know why you both decided to help me," she said softly. "But I appreciate it. Thank you."

"Hey, I'm not the type to leave people hanging who need help," Viktor said. "It's how I ended up with the kid—"

"Viktor," David said softly.

Astraea looked between them, her confusion mounting once more. They said they're traveling together to "teach him about the real world" after he was expelled. But…I feel like there's a lot they're not telling me. They have bars of gold in their possession, but are staying with friends and hitched themselves to a group of royals on the run. What are their true motives?

Thankfully Erment returned with their tickets. "To Kanakan," he said proudly, handing them each a boarding pass. "Gopal also got tickets to Kanakan for Princess Sigrun and Prince Denzel as well."

"ALL RIGHT!" Viktor cheered. "We're going to the drinking capital of the world!"

Is that why he suggested Kanakan? Astraea wondered, but David spoke. "We should go and meet with the others at the docks."

"All right," Astraea said. She gave Erment another hug. "Thank you for everything, Erment."

"Stay alive and return when you can, Your Highness," Erment said. "I'll follow you to the docks in case anyone wants to buy armor before you leave."

They hurried down to the docks, where they found everyone waiting behind a large row of boxes. "Over here!" Gopal called out, waving his hand. Astraea looked towards the docks and she saw a foreign boat docking. David looked at the boat and the color swiftly drained from his face. He stopped dead in his tracks but Viktor grabbed his arm and pulled him along. "There's a delay," Gopal told them, his face grim. "A ship showed up and docked without authorization. It'll be awhile before the ship going to Kanakan is able to enter harbor."

"W-We have to go!" David croaked out, his eyes wide with terror. "We have to go right now!"

"We're trying, kid," Viktor sighed, shaking his head. "We'll have to—"

"Viktor, that's a Harmonian ship!" David rasped, tugging on his arm.

Viktor stiffened, his own eyes going wide. "Oh. Really?" He craned his neck to look at the flag flying and cursed violently. "Get down, kid!" He grabbed David's nape and pushed him down to his knees behind the boxes.

"What exactly is going on?" Sigrun asked sharply.

"Uh—not good things," Viktor said uneasily. He looked at Gopal. "Have the passengers disembarked yet?"

"Not yet, they just arrived," Gopal said, looking confused.

"We have to go!" David insisted.

"Just don't anything else stupid kid, and you'll be fine!" Viktor hissed.

Musashi pulled out a kunai. "You're behaving suspiciously," he said in dark tone. "Are you on the run as well?"

"Everyone, just relax!" Viktor exclaimed, waving a hand. "We just have to wait for—"

His voice broke off when trumpets from the ship filled the air. The group ducked down, and Astraea's heart sank when she saw an ever-growing crowd forming. She looked back at everyone. "This may take longer than awhile," she said.

"Are you that much of a coward that you jump at a ship that came from the country you disgraced yourself from?" Ferdinand said harshly. "Or is there something else going on that you're both not telling us?"

"Look, we're just travelers," Viktor said. "There's no need for cause of—"

The trumpets then ceased and a voice announced, "Bishop Sasarai, emissary of the Holy Kingdom of Harmonia, is requesting that you allow him to disembark and be processed!"

"A Harmonian Bishop is here?!" Sigrun exclaimed.

"All right, what did you two do?!" Denzel snapped, his face hardening.

"Nothing!" Viktor shot back. "We're just travelers!"

"Then why is a Bishop here?!" Ferdinand snapped.

"Hell if I know!"

"Erment, Gopal, go back to your shops," Sigrun told them. "You both should distance yourselves from this."

Both brothers looked reluctant to leave but after a moment relented. "Take care," Erment said.

"Don't travel with them if it's not safe," Gopal said.

They took off running. Astraea looked around at everyone before her eyes fell back onto David. Instead of getting angry like the others, she sank down to her knees so she was eye-level with him. "David?"

David met her gaze. "Why are you hiding from that boat?" Astraea asked him. "What happened to you?"

Something flickered in David's eyes; an unreadable emotion. After a moment his mouth moved and he started to speak. "…I—"

"HEY!"

The group jumped, and dread swelled inside of Astraea when she saw a soldier standing a meter away pointing at them. "IT'S HER! PRINCESS ASTRAEA!"

"Ah hell," Denzel groaned.

"We can't stay," Musashi fumed. "We'll have to go somewhere else."

"We'll need to fight our way out," Viktor said, straightening and drawing his sword.

"This conversation isn't finished," Sigrun said harshly.

"I know, Princess."

Astraea sighed quietly, but readied her knout as soldiers charged towards them. "Get behind us, David."

"Right," David said grimly, moving behind the group.

We were so close…but we couldn't get away.

"They're not letting us disembark?" Sasarai asked. He could hear shouting from the deck.

"They said soldiers caught a band of ruffians trying to rob wares on the western docks, Bishop," Dios said. "It sounds like they will process us, but only after they take care of the disturbance."

"That's fair," Sasarai said, folding his arms over his chest.

"I'll go and see if I can see what's going on," Pilika said. She walked down the deck towards where the disturbance was. She stood at the rail and saw—an embarrassing sight, for certain. Soldiers wearing black Zelantan armor were getting soundly crushed by the ruffians they were trying to arrest. From her vantage point she saw one—possible two?—dozen soldiers sprawled on the ground groaning, and a group of seven fleeing the docks and racing back into the city proper. Six humans and kobold.

Is that a ninja? she wondered. They look young. Except for the older man in the yellow shirt—

The man in question glanced towards the ship, and Pilika gasped loudly in shock. He was far away…but she knew the man's face. She would know that face from anywhere.

Viktor…?

Sarka wasn't reprimanded for trying to kill the fugitives as opposed to capturing them. Given the circumstances, her actions were understandable.

Albert however was uneasy by her demeanor. She was sullen of course, but she also seemed…almost catatonic when she gave her debriefing to His Majesty. It were as though the foundation of her very being was shaken.

Something happened. More than her disobeying an order and trying to kill Princess Astraea. But what is it…?

He decided to push it aside for now. Sarka was steadfastly on their side, and that was all that mattered. Most of the remaining royals had fallen into line, but he had noticed that Vahan was researching with the Intelligence Bureau…and he wasn't doing daily reports about it. Albert was glad that he had the foresight to pair Vahan with Philomena. If he started acting suspiciously, then he knew His Majesty's favorite child would report it.

But he pushed it out of his mind as he knocked on the King's office door. There were more important things to discuss. "Your Majesty?" he called out.

"Come in, Albert," King Franz called.

Albert swept into the office. "We just received a report from Niebieska Brama that a Bishop from Harmonia has arrived."

"Anyone you know, Albert?"

"Yes, Your Majesty," Albert said tersely. "Bishop Sasarai. I am acquainted with him."

"Is he here to cause problems?"

"Harmonia has been aware of my current position in your government since I assumed the position," Albert said. "If they had true issue with me, then they would have acted by now Your Majesty."

King Franz nodded thoughtfully before waving a dismissive hand. "Have Lord Benedict encourage the Bishop to leave. We are at war right now, after all."

Albert nodded before he continued his report. "There was…also a report that Princess Astraea was seen in Niebieska Brama."

King Franz stiffened, and his jaw tightened. "Did she escape on a boat?"

"No, Your Majesty. They were intercepted before they got on a boat."

"Did she make contact with the Bishop?"

"No, Your Majesty."

King Franz's eyes narrowed. "Was she captured?"

Albert shook his head. "Damn," King Franz cursed. "How hard is it to capture an eighteen-year-old girl?!"

"An eighteen-year-old girl with a True Rune and four protectors, Your Majesty," Albert reminded him.

"Right," King Franz fumed, shaking his head. "And I must get that Rune!"

"I would like to make a suggestion, Your Majesty."

King Franz looked at him. "The Princess has eluded us twice," Albert said. "Clearly we need to change our tactics. I think we need to send her an equal foe to take her down?"

"An equal foe?"

Albert nodded. "A foe equal to a True Rune user…who no one can stop."