First Time Outside
Upon walking through the front door of the palace, Howard is hit with the golden rays of the sun shining down on the landscape he resides in. He tilted his head up a little, to properly gaze upon the bright blue sky with his own eyes, to admire the silly little clouds flying by over his head. It had been too long since he had last stepped outside.
A part of him wanted to stick around, to break away from the path and explore the area before departing for good. However, his more powerful rational side knew what a stupid and impulsive desire this was. Any unnecessary interactions and deviations from the plan would lead to more attention, and a higher chance of the plan failing.
Howard, prioritizing his own safety and security continued walking onward, ordering his legs to not stop till they reached his destination; the safe house. The safe house was where Howard had to go. It was the place where a bunch of people were stationed to give him his new set of clothes and identity.
To get to the safehouse, Howard would first have to cross the palace gates before entering the town. From there, they will take a couple of detours, first stopping at a shop to acquire some items for the mages. They would then head to a horse stable, where they would switch their clothes and split it.
This move is to throw off any pursuers spying on the mage group. They would distract any possible spies while Kant would draw as much distance as he could. He would be accompanied by another man, who would be responsible for protecting him from any malicious individuals.
Once Kant and the guard can be certain nobody is following them, they will eat some breakfast at a tavern, before heading straight to the safehouse through whatever means possible. This includes through buildings, alleyways, or just plain old streets and roads.
As his head tilts back down, his eyes spot the thick stone wall surrounding the palace. On the top of the wall, he spots knights clad in iron armor, walking around and looking out for any intruders. This wall took the form of a circle, with the north, south, east, and west sides occupying a heavy, vertically closing gate made out of metal.
While the north acted as a direct entry point to the palace via walking, the others had their different uses. The East and West gates were designed for people on horseback or carriage to enter the complex, while the South gate directed people to an open space, where they could all stand and listen to the king speak.
The group heads to the north gate and requests the guards stationed there to open it. One of them, a tall muscular man, first asks the mages if they managed to cure the prince, a little curious as to what was going on inside.
As expected, the mages refused to answer the knight, stating that they did not have permission to speak about the prince's health to anyone, as they were ordered by the king himself to keep their mouths shut.
"Come on! It feels as if the prince is stuck there for eternity! How long is it going to take to heal him?"
"Like we said, we are not permitted to speak about that. If you really want to know, you might want to wait till tomorrow. I hear the king himself would give an update to the prince's health."
"I thought that you weren't allowed to speak on the matters?" the knight queried, raising an eyebrow.
"This information was deemed safe enough by the king to let it pass through," the mage answered.
"Well, I hope the prince is safe. I would feel terrible if something were to happen to him," the knight replied.
"Why'd you feel terrible? You don't even know the guy!" Howard thought to himself. The knight withdraws from his post and heads inside a small building built into the wall. Suddenly, the metal gate starts slowly sliding open, allowing the group to leave the premises.
Howard's mind starts to imagine what the city looks like. In his head, he imagines a city built mostly out of stone, wood, and hay roofs, something that resembled medieval times. He extrapolated this from the few data he had when reviewing memories of Kant when he was in Alderney.
Although considering that was a poor remote town in some secluded area, he recalibrated his expectations to see some marvelous buildings made of stone, painted in a coat of any color. Kant did not have that many memories spent outside the walls of the palace.
While they wait till the gate opens, Howard's curious mind comes into play again. Given the situation, it was the perfect time to look back and take a glimpse of the palace, to see the large complex he had stayed for all this time. While he may know what it looked like on the inside, he had no clue how it looked outside.
Those flashbacks often emphasized the events that occurred within them and not the little details of the environment it was set in. His curiosity started begging for rationality, just to take a little look. With enough nagging, the mind agreed to take a 5-second peak of the palace, and nothing more.
Howard twisted Kant's head to the right, and stared at the royal palace behind him. It was a large white building 5 whole stories tall, built out of a strange architecture that prioritized extensive ornamentation, tiled hip roofs, and stained glass windows everywhere. Overall, it was a nice piece of architecture that captured and displayed the wealth of the royal family to the people.
Upon turning his head back to face the gate, Howard ends up finding a beautiful, clean city residing on the other side of the gate. His expectations for a dirty, historical medieval city were shattered, as he was left stunned by the more beautiful architecture displayed in front of him.
The buildings that stood beyond the gate were all visibly made out of stone, sticking together thanks to the help of some substance sandwiched between each brick. All of them were covered in a coat of paint, ranging from shades of white, yellow, orange, green, or red.
The roofs of the buildings, the same ones Howard predicted to be made out of hay or straw, were all made out of the same material the royal palace used! Even the damn windows were made out of stained glass!
"How could this be?" Howard thought to himself.
"How could a people, 500 years in the past compared to earth, manage to afford such luxuries? Is magic involved? Do they use some other material or process?" he asked himself. Before he could continue to question and think about it, one of the mages tapped his shoulder, yanking him out of his mind and bringing him back to the real world.
"Is there something bothering you?" one whispered in his ear. He had noticed Kant's strange behavior. He assumed there was something going on in his mind, related to leaving his home and family.
"No. Nothing is bothering me. I just eh… spaced out. Let's go," Howard replied, putting on his facade once more. He internally cursed at himself for spacing out like that.
As the mages start walking through the clean paved streets of the city, Howard starts to ponder whether he should look around. This city he found himself in was unlike anything he had ever seen before. His curious mind wished to run off and look around the place, to observe every nook and corner of everywhere!
Howard would have done so if not for his powerful, rational mind holding his curiosity back. He reasoned that this was the absolute WORST time ANYONE can explore. He is currently under incognito mode, being accompanied by the mages to lead him to safety. If he acts how and runs off, that would throw a wrench in their plan, and diminish the chances of survival!
His rationality convinced Howard that his top priority should be his safety and getting his new identity, to not act like a tourist high on meth. That glance at the royal palace was a brief, one-time thing when it was deemed safe to do so. It was the exception, not the norm.
Besides, once he is under his new identity, Howard would be free to look around the entire town as he pleases. As long as he acts within reason, he will not draw any attention to himself while exploring. With that, his rational side was able to win the favor of Howard's mind, helping him to keep his emotions in check, and proceed onward with the plan.