Alioth City

The sun was finally setting and the magic carriages stopped for a short break and a change of driver. The powerful amplified light crystals on the carriages meant that there was no need to stop for the night to make camp. Kye woke up as the carriages stopped to change driver and found that the two younger sisters had used him as a pillow for most of the journey, laying their heads on his shoulders. Not wanting to wake them, Kye stayed still and wondered about what he would do in the intervening time. He pulled his notebook out from his jacket pocket and unwound the leather string holding his pen in place. He sketched some drawings in his notebook and did some maths equations that he had written down but hadn't completed yet as the nighttime scenery rolled past the windows.

'It's good to have moments like these.'

He mused as he continued to waste time.

After several hours, the sun rose, and his sisters woke up. The carriages were currently approaching the main gatehouse for Alioth City, slowing down as to not disturb those that came with horse-drawn carts and those on foot. They moved past the line and straight for the gate, a privilege of nobility. The guards stopped the first carriage where Frey handed over their identification and detailed who they'd brought. The guard captain moved to the second carriage and looked inside. She was a tall woman with scarlet hair that only just reached her shoulders. There was a scar over her left eye though it seemed that she could still use it. She opened the door and put her foot in the doorway as if to block the exit.

"You the Runewalker kids?"

Kye's sisters looked at him as if expecting him to be the one that would answer. Kye locked gazes with the knight captain and nodded.

"Yes, we are."

She looked at all the girls before locking eyes with Kye again.

"I heard about the Runewalker boys, pervert, paranoid and paralyzed. Which one are you?"

Elena looked ready to throttle the guard captain and his other sisters clenched their fists in rage but Kye gave a small laugh.

"Paralyzed, ma'am."

She looked Kye up and down before showing a small smile.

"Don't look that paralyzed to me."

"I got better."

She gave a short breath of laughter and stepped down from the carriage door.

"If you're anything like your father, you'll turn out alright."

"I can only hope."

She smirked and closed the door, waving at her guards to let them pass, heading back to the gatehouse tower office. Elena crossed her arms and huffed.

"You need to stick up for yourself Kye! You don't deserve to be treated like that!"

"She was doing it to gauge my character. She was probably ordered to provoke me with rude words and then write a report on how I responded."

"I know that, I'm saying you should have acted more arrogant! While it's not a personality trait I like, we have a reputation to uphold. You can't let people walk over you like that."

Kye smiled and sat back in his chair.

"Yes, of course. My apologies."

Elena nodded to herself in satisfaction but Kye's mind was elsewhere.

'I wonder what you'll tell the man who asked you to do that miss guard captain? Am I a pushover? Or are you smarter than that?'

Those were questions that would be answered at a later date. For now, Kye watched the city move past the windows with interest. The outer city wasn't as dirty as he remembered, with some very respectable storefronts being set up and maintained along with regular patrols that Kye observed. Most of the populace lived out in the outer city ring but the buildings were well-maintained and constructed well from the outside. Many of the buildings were five or six stories tall with a residence on each different floor.

It was a modern city where things had progressed for everyone, not just those at the top. Kye noted that the streets were a little dirty but he spotted people with water packs washing down the street, letting the filth run off with the water into drains embedded in the curbs of the street. Kye smiled as he compared the current capital to the one in his memory, a place where the outer city was left forgotten while the inner city thrived, almost like a parasite. He hated it and it was one of the big reasons he chose to work at The Tower of Magos instead of the Royal Magic Academy.

They continued through the streets until they were stopped at the inner gatehouse to the inner city. Frey showed his family house crest and they were allowed to move freely through without further inspection. Guards didn't typically stop and inspect an Archduke's carriage nor his companions, it was this contrast that made the guard captain's actions at the outer gate all that more conspicuous.

They had barely even entered the city and yet the political machinations were afoot. More interesting to the nobles than the fifteenth birthday of the first princess was the appearance of the new Runewalker heir. As the guard captain had said, the Runewlaker males could be summed up in three words, pervert, paranoid and paralyzed. For the paralyzed one to be showing himself and also being declared the heir meant that the noble houses had to quickly ascertain if Kye was worth showing any face for or if he would be like his two brothers.

The nobility would be shocked once the day for the princess's birthday celebrations rolled around, as Kye would be at the forefront alongside the princess herself. Some were simply curious, others believed that they would have to work Kye into their plans and some couldn't care less. One thing Layla taught him, however, is where there is a party, there is also murder. It might not be apparent, but one loose word, one wayward remark and it could spell the entire end of a house. These parties were not a social affair, they were a battle.