Chapter 3: The Inn

The caravan had left the city of Shuxun behind and was travelling to their destination for the night. A small inn in the village of Asi. They were expecting to reach their destination by midnight. Lei and Xiang had hit it off immediately and had been speaking the whole time. Lei and Xiang had been talking for hours when they realised that they were entering Asi. Lei looked at a clock located behind Xiang and saw that it was almost midnight. 

The carriages clattered down a quiet street. The only illumination coming from oil lamps located at the front street. The carriages turned down a side street and into a courtyard where they came to a stop. Lei heard the sounds of soldiers climbing out of the carriages. Soon the door to their carriage was opened by one of the soldiers. Lei climbed down the stairs and waited as the soldier helped Xiang down. Captain Xue walked up to them and said, "Princess Xiang, Lei please follow me to your accommodation for the night." Xiang and Lei followed him into a small building. As they entered a tired looking woman greeted them before saying, "Princess Xiang and Mr?" Lei stepped forward and said, "I am Lei Kun but please call me Lei and not Mr Kun." The woman nodded and said, "Princess Xiang and Lei, please follow me to your quarters." The woman led them up a flight of stairs to two rooms located next to each other. She showed Lei to his room first. Lei entered his room and looked around. It was more opulent than any room he had seen before. As soon as he saw the bed he fell into it and fell asleep.

Lei woke to the sound of Captain Xue's voice at his door, "Lei we will be having breakfast in half an hour. Please be ready as we hope to leave half an hour after that. I have left one of your bags outside this door. Lei stumbled out of bed to his bedroom door. He opened the door and 

grabbed his bag. He left his bag on his bed and walked into the bathroom. He was shocked to see a bath with running water. In his house the water had to be heated and carried to the bath one pot at a time. He quickly ran hot water. He saw that the water was heated by glowing scripts incorporated into the tap. The only place that he had seen scripts like these was in the arena he had destroyed. They were too expensive to be placed anywhere and only the rich could afford them. How did an inn in a poor town come to possess such expensive scripts? Pushing these thoughts to the back of his mind he quickly disrobed and climbed into the bath. 

Once he climbed out of the bath he grabbed a new set of robes from his bag and packed his dirty ones away. He then made his way downstairs to the breakfast table where Xiang and Captain Xue were already sitting. He pulled up a seat next to Xiang. Captain Xue frowned at that but didn't say anything. "Captain Xue," said Lei, "How does this small inn have water heating scripts? Surely they are too expensive for such a small inn to afford." Captain Xue smiled and said, "This isn't a simple inn. It is owned by the Ye kingdom. Princess Xiang fell in love with the forests of your kingdom and after she started visiting so often the king ordered for a network of inns to be built along her travel route so that she may always be safe. These inns can also be used by any diplomat from the Ye kingdom and as for the scripts; the King wants his daughter to live comfortably so he spared no expense." Lei nodded, shocked at the cost it must have taken to build just this inn, let alone a whole network. Captain Xue laughed at his facial expressions. "We will be staying at an inn like this every night. So enjoy those scripts." 

After breakfast Xiang and Lei climbed back into the carriages. "Xiang, why did Captain Xue frown when I sat next to you at breakfast this morning?" Xiang sighed and looked miserable, "It's because he thinks that you are a lower station than me, a peasant, and according to royal protocol I am supposed to sit next to someone of my standing and if there are none present the chairs on the left and right of me must be left empty." "Does that mean I shouldn't sit next to you?" asked Lei. "I would like it if you did. I don't have many friends at home because I disregard royal protocol and that makes them uncomfortable and even though I've only known you for a day I already consider you a friend." All this came out in a rush. Lei suddenly remembered what captain Xue had said to him about Xiang being eccentric and realised this is what he had probably been referring to. "If I had done this at the royal court what would happen to me?" Xiang hesitated and answered, "My mother wouldn't mind but my father most definitely would." Lei nodded and said, "Well then we won't let him catch us sitting together will we?" Xiang smiled and nodded. 

After that conversation they had sat in silence for a while, staring at the landscape as it rolled past, when Xiang suddenly asked,, "Lei, Captain Xue told me not to ask why you are travelling with us but I'm curious. Lei, why are you travelling with us? There must be a very important reason for you travelling with us. They wouldn't let anyone just travel with the princess after all." Lei sighed as he realised he probably should have realised that this question was eventually going to come up. He hesitated before answering, "I know this is going to be hard to believe and the only reason I trust you with this information is because your father will be training me so you will probably eventually find out. I am an arcane cultivator and I am being sent to the Ye kingdom to be trained by your father." Xiang stared at him shocked before shouting, "WHAT!!" loud enough to startle the horses and their driver. The driver shouted from the front, "Princess is everything okay?" Xiang composed herself before shouting back, "Yes, sorry Lin. Lei just told me a story with a very shocking plot twist." Xiang turned back to Lei and said, "Are you sure? Tell me exactly how you came to this conclusion." So Lei recounted the story of what had happened at the arena two days prior. When he was finished Xiang slumped back in her chair before saying, "Your life is about to get very difficult."