30: Holland

It's been two days and a man who had introduced himself as 'Tariq' was true to his words. We're now on our way to Holland while riding his caravan, the goods he'll be trading are inside the caravan.

"We've now passed the border, this is now Holland kingdom's territory." He said all of a sudden

"We'll have to pass by the gate to enter the Holland Kingdom, I'll tell the knights you're my cousin who's mute." He said and I nodded

"Thank you for your assistance." I said as a sign of gratitude

"You're welcome, I'm willing to help anyway." He said

It would be unfair but I still don't fully trust him. I can't lower my guard especially at a time like this. My life's in danger and if I were to be caught off-guard, I will not just hand myself to my death sentence but will also put my knights and Zairo's sacrifices in vain.

"We'll arrive in Holland at sundown tomorrow." He informed me and I nodded

"Vielle," I looked at Tariq when he spoke

"I haven't asked why you want to go to Holland." He said

"I have personal matters I must discuss to someone there." I answered

"I see…" he nodded and I looked outside

"It must be really important for you to go through Astrae from another kingdom secretly." He muttered taking my attention

"I was born and raised in Astrae." I said seriously and he looked at me in surprise

"I thought…" he seem embarrassed because of his mistake

"However, I don't have any family in Astrae anymore." I said and he looked away

"How about you, what were you doing in Astrae?" I asked

"I lived in Astrae for half of my life before I became a merchant." He answered with his eyes on the road ahead of us

"Then, you're one of Astrae's people." I concluded and he nodded

Then, the risks of him knowing who I am and the bounty on my head is high, I really can't give my trust to him. He can betray me any second for Ezra, who had taken my throne and assumed my position as Queen of Astrae.

That night, he had kept on guard, I told him I am capable of driving a horse but he reminded me to wake him up if there were problems.

The cold silence of night embraced me, I looked up and I saw that the moon had been covered by the clouds. I touched my collar and I felt the pin that had served as my necklace so I took it out, it had changed color.

Zairo had designed it to change color according to the surrounding's temperature, it's currently dark blue, I almost couldn't see it clearly if it weren't for the lamp.

When we arrived in Holland at dusk the next day, he repeated the lie he had told the knight in Astrae. He claimed to be my cousin who took me in because I am orphaned and mute so the whole time we're on our way to the inn where we'll be staying, I stayed silent keeping up the act of being mute.

When he was about to book two rooms, I pulled the hem of his shirt and shook my head. He shouldn't bother booking me a room because I'll be leaving tonight anyway. He seem confused so I took out a pen and paper from my bag and wrote; |I'll be having that discussion tonight.|

He nodded his head and booked only one room.

"You'll be leaving already?" he asked

"I mustn't waste my time." I said seriously

"You haven't told me your real name." He said taking my attention

"My real name, you wish to know my real name?" I asked him and he nodded

"Yes, Vielle is not your real name is it?" he asked and I nodded

"Indeed, it isn't, however, you may call me Vielle." I said

"Will I see you again?" he asked

"Maybe, maybe not," I shook my head while replying

"Only the fates know." I said and he smiled

"It was nice meeting you, Vielle." He said and I smiled

"Likewise, Tariq," I replied and left the room

I wore my cloak and went out of the inn, mist is slowly forming on the ground so I went to a secluded part and started drifting through the mist. I have learned how to drift through mist, however, I am yet to master being one with the mist.

I don't know how to reach the palace but I continued drifting and stopping from time to time to regain my stamina. The further I reach through drifting, the more stamina and energy it consumes.

I leaned on a wall when I felt my stamina depleting, I don't know where I am in Holland but I can't just approach someone and ask directions towards the palace. That would be stupidity.

I started walking towards the direction where I noticed the nights are going, I almost face palmed when I realized that it's the army's barracks, not the palace. I sighed and went to a dark corner, hiding from everyone's sights and sat down.

I don't know where to go and what to do now. I had a plan alright, however, I forgot to take into account the variables that may affect my plan greatly, the fact that I do not have any information about the Holland Kingdom apart from its traditions and current monarch.

It's as if I charged into a goddamn battle with nothing but stick as weapon, it's so stupid of me to be so immersed with the ideal plan I made. It was too ideal, too unrealistic.

I looked up and sighed. What should I do now?

Going back is clearly out of the possible actions, I saw how meticulous the knights were in checking everyone and everything that goes in and out of the kingdom, there's no way I'll be able to go pass those guards without getting caught, doing such thing would be suicide.

I don't know where to go either. I'm stuck.

What should I do? Come on, Patrice Avery Mae, think, use your mind. Think of what you should do in this kind of situation. You're on your own now.

I'm somewhere in Holland kingdom, if I continue to look for the palace blindly, I might end up stumbling upon the guards or worse, nobles who could report to Astrae of what I am doing.

I heard some footsteps heading to my direction and out of instinct, I used my gift to materialize the mist and make it my stairway up the roof of where I am hiding. I placed my hand over the cloth covering my nose down to my chin to stop myself from making any noise.

My heart started pounding, I had vaporized the stairs I used so there's no where they would be able to see it but I'm casting a shadow, it's unlikely that they won't notice my shadow.

My heart continued pounding so hard, it feels as if it's going to jump out of my chest. I heard their chatters and laughter but it's not making any sense, I can't understand their language and it's making me more anxious because they might be talking about seeing my shadow or noticing that it's odd for all I know and I'm unable to understand it and it would be too late for me to escape.

I laid flat on the cold tile of the roof and continued breathing heavily with my hand on the cloth, I could feel my warm breath.

With my heart pounding, I looked around, hoping to find somewhere I could hide to and that's when I saw what I've been looking for since earlier.

The Holland Kingdom's Palace!

It's there, standing high in the middle of the gigantic palace walls surrounding it. I mentally calculated my distance from the palace and waited for the voices to disappear before I climbed back down to ground and I felt the cold mist on my ankles. I need fog, I need something that could cover me but fog wouldn't come until the break of dawn, I'll have to wait for hours before I become invisible to their naked eyes.

I drifted to the direction of where I saw the palace, I stopped when I felt a hard wall on my way, there's still mist on the ground, I leaned my back on the wall to rest but to my surprise, I saw the Palace on the other side.

What? I don't understand. I thought I saw the Holland Palace in this direction.

I looked around and to my disbelief, there are two more Holland Palace in the remaining two direction.

Are these illusions? Then where's the real one?

I sat on the cold ground while panting hard. I haven't completely recovered my stamina yet but I chose to use it again to drift through the mist to get here thinking it's where I intend to go, only to be puzzled by the existence of other three Holland Palaces in other direction that could either be mere illusions or the place I'm actually looking for.

Why does it feel like fate's blocking me from succeeding? It's as if it's tormenting me by intentionally placing hard walls before me.

How do I know which is true now? It's not like I could actually shot them with ice spikes, I can't do that, it might impose threat to them and might destroy the plan I am following.

What should I do? They all look the same, it's hard to decipher the difference of the real one from the illusion.

I held my hand and I noticed that ice particles are now forming in my palm, acting like a glove only that it's merely covering my fingertips to my palm, not the back of my hand.

Oh well, not everything really goes exactly as planned anyway, I just need to know how to solve this sudden obstacle.

I looked around, there are guards roaming around the place, I'm lucky they still haven't felt my presence because of the mist. If only I know where is where exactly, everything would have been easier but I can't always take the easy way.

In our kingdom, the palace is located in the northern part, in Arcadia, the Palace is located at the southern part, almost facing our palace. Flashier Kingdom's palace is in the western part of their kingdom while the Orpheus Kingdom's palace is located in the middle of their kingdom. If I were to use that pattern, North, south, west, middle, the only direction left would be the east.

The problem now if I were to rely on that pattern is that I don't know where is north in this kingdom.

Wait… I remember Zai teaching me a technique to determine where the north is. I made a glass from ice and placed it on the ground before vaporizing the mist into water filling the glass.

I stopped with what I am doing when I heard several footsteps going to my direction, I stood up and leaned flat on the wall, I looked at the glass on the floor, moved it near the wall as well, and waited for the knight roaming around to pass. After making sure that the knights have passed, I placed a small ice spike on the water and that's when it turned and pointed at the wall behind me.

I'm standing turning my back from the north so I turned around and faced the wall, I recalled where east is before I evaporated the water on the glass to revert it back to being mist then sublimated the glass and small ice spike to turn it into mist.

I held on my bag tightly before drifting to where I recall the east is, I just hope that where I am going is correct, I don't want to tour around the kingdom just to find it.

I encountered another wall so I turned my back again and that's when I saw that the other three Holland Palaces are merely illusions. I did it.