The Journey Home

"You did it! You finally did it!" Morgan squeezed her sister's arm.

Astraea squeezed back. "I know! Once they officially announce his death in the morning, we can travel back to Focaveh and start enacting the plans Father laid out. Honestly, the design with the hole for the knight was brilliant, Morgan. I am not sure I could have carried out any of the plans tonight without that knife."

Morgan's cheeks, still red from dancing, flushed that much more. "I am glad all the time on the training field and in the blacksmith's forge paid off for both of us tonight."

They both looked back to the busy camp center where people were still leaving to go back to their tents so back to the market row for one last snack. There were no Perwasian colors in sight as everyone with the Crown Prince's entourage had left with the stretcher they carried him to his tent on. There had been a shocking amount of blood left on the floor and Astraea was lucky to leave with minimal stains. She would still probably have to throw the dress away but it was better than staining it with her blood. It was a pity but that was the price to be paid for liberating herself from a constant threat of death from a single person.

Ducking inside their tent, Morgan lit a candle behind the changing screen while Astraea lit one on a bedside table. The light was faint and barely enough to see what they were doing but they didn't want to risk waking Teresa and Daphne.

They washed their faces after laying the party dresses on chairs for their ladies-in-waiting the next morning. Astraea wasn't sure why she bothered since Leah would take one look at it and throw it away. She and Morgan helped each other undo their elaborate hairdos before they crawled into bed, smiles on both their faces.

*****

Astraea woke the next morning when Leah came. She sat up in bed and stretched as Leah gathered up her dress to wash and pack it.

"Any news?" Astraea asked softly.

Leah shook her head as she backed out of the tent.

Astraea told herself there was still time for Drystann to pass on but she knew after he survived the night the chances of him dying now were slim.

She stood and gently woke each of her sisters up. They grumbled and Teresa even threw a pillow at her before rolling out to bed to help Daphne get some water.

After they put on day dresses and helped Leah, Mara, and Claudia pack up the little stuff in the tent, Astraea and her sisters ventured outside while the guards and ladies packed the tent and its contents onto a trailer.

As they walked through the field where the market stalls had been the night before, remnants of people were packing up their tents. Most of the nobility had left the previous night when Drystann had retired to his tent. They hadn't wanted to be in the camp when the new ruling power was announced. There were lots of disappointed people this morning when both she and he had left their tents unscathed.

There was a whistle and Morgan turned her head to find the source. She nudged Astraea who turned her head to see Philip, the head of their guard waving them to the horses. Having made a full circle around the festival grounds, they walked to where Philip was standing.

The carriage had been loaded and the door was held open as Astraea, Morgan, Teresa, and Daphne boarded. Their luggage was on the back and a small trailer had the tent and everything else loaded onto it. The ladies in waiting saddled their horses and the small traveling party was ready to set off.

Teresa pounced first with the question bothering her since the beginning festival. "Why do you try to kill each other? They are our biggest allies and our largest trade partner."

Astraea had heard this question many times phrased in many different ways before. "Our parents made a bet: the last one standing would get both kingdoms, they were originally going to try and marry us but this way the kingdoms still get combined, and neither of us is stuck in a hateful marriage."

"I don't see what is wrong with an arranged marriage." Daphne sighed. "They seem romantic. No stress or worry about finding a good partner because you are already destined for one."

Morgan scoffed. "Sure, until he has seven million mistresses or uses you as a punching bag."

"Why must you ruin my fantasy?" Daphne stuck her tongue out and Morgan returned the gesture.

"I agree the situation is terrible but at least he has helped our efforts to join the kingdoms before the combination." Astraea looked out the window. "You will have to always be prepared in case I lose."

Morgan hit Astraea's knee. "Don't say that. You know you will win and make us the proudest sisters ever."

Teresa scratched her head. "What happens if neither of you wins?"

"We don't know."

The carriage returned to silence as Astraea continued to stare out the window. Daphne fidgeted with her skirts and Morgan sharpened a blade. The forest outside was brightly lit by the sun streaking through the red and orange leaves. The autumn carpet on the forest floor was disturbed by tiny creatures running under it, mice and small rabbits likely trying to find one last big meal before the winter freezes set in.

The silence amongst them was comfortable for the three eldest sisters, each preoccupied with their own thoughts and worries. Daphne always cracked first, the six-year-old always fidgeting and the silence her older sisters settled into always made her fidgety. She pulled her traveling bag out from under the skirts and dug through it for the thick book Teresa had put it in the night before. She passed it to Astraea with a pleading smile on her face.

Astraea looked down at Daphne and laughed softly to herself before she began to read. "The Western forests were always covered in snow…"