Chapter 14: Travel

Lei woke up, in his bed, the next morning with a splitting headache. He glanced at the clock and realised that he was three hours late for training. He started climbing out of bed but spotted a note next to the alarm clock. The note informed Lei that his training was cancelled due to his upcoming trip and told him that Chu would arrive at 10am to help him pack. It was only 7am, so Lei did what any sensible person would do, and went back to sleep. 

Lei awoke to Chu opening the door to his room and throwing the curtain open. Chu, realising that Lei was awake, said, "Sorry to disturb your rest, Master Lei but it's time to get ready for your journey. Lei climbed out of his bed as Chu left the room to allow him to change out of his robes from the day before and into clean robes. 

Lei emerged from his room, in new robes that befitted a royal, to find Chu waiting with a full trunk. "Master Lei, I took the liberty of packing a trunk of clothes for you. Would you mind looking it over and checking if it is suitable?" Lei rummaged through the trunk and found everything he would need for a trip. He had one request. He found a piece of paper and a pen on a side table and wrote a list of books on it. "Chu, would you mind packing these books into my trunk? I would like to bring them along to read. They're all in the palace library. " he handed Chu the list who said, "Of course. I'll go and find them now." Chu bowed and left the room." Lei sat down on a small couch and began to read a book he had picked up from the library a few days earlier. It was called: 'An introduction to royal etiquette.' Lei was hoping to improve his etiquette through this book as he noticed they had been severely lacking.

He had been reading for a while when he heard a knock on his door. He stood up and walked to the door, wondering who it could be. He opened the door to find Xiang standing there with a tray of tea and cake. "Can I come in?" She asked. He nodded and said, "Of course." They walked into the living room and sat down on a couch. Side by side. Lei cut two slices of cake, handing one to Xiang, and then sat down. They ate in silence for a while and then Xiang began to speak, "I've never actually visited your quarters before. Before we were betrothed it would be unseemly for me to enter the rooms of a male guest and in the two weeks since we've been so busy." Lei nodded and said, "This suite pales in comparison to yours though." She gave a small chuckle that warmed his heart. "Are you excited to see your parents again? I must admit I am a bit nervous to meet them." Lei smiled and said, "I've really enjoyed my time here but I really have missed my parents. Don't worry about meeting my parents. I'm sure they'll treat you like a daughter." She sighed and said, "Are you sure? I mean you leave for training and come back betrothed to a princess. Are you sure they're not going to be a little shocked?" Lei considered her words and said, "I didn't think of that. The last time we had an esteemed guest at our house they scrubbed the house spotless. That was only for a city lord. I wonder what they'll do when they find out a princess is visiting them. They'll spend the next week cleaning!" Xiang laughed. She grasped Lei's hand and said, "No matter what happens Lei, I know I'll always love you." They smiled as they looked into each other's eyes. The doors swung open and Chu walked in holding a pile of books. He bowed when he saw princess Xiang and greeted her, a twinkle in his eyes. Lei stood up and took the books from his arms and said, "Thank you Chu, would you mind coming to fetch us when it is time to leave?" Chu bowed and said, "Of course Master Lei." He then left the room. Lei sat down next to Xiang and she leaned into him as they held each other's hands. 

Lei was showing Xiang the books he had been reading when Chu entered to to tell them it was time to leave. The couple followed Chu out of the palace to a large carriage, much larger than the one that had brought him to the Ye kingdom weeks earlier. Xiang looked at his face, saw his quizzical expression and said, "Our journey to the Jai kingdom is not like my last journey which was just a holiday with some diplomatic work. This is a fully diplomatic mission. So we need to look important. This is also a sleeper carriage so we'll have a chance to rest. After we visit your parents we will be visiting another part of the Jai kingdom and this part doesn't have any inns my father trusts so we'll sleep in the carriage." Lei nodded and climbed into the carriage. While the luggage was being loaded into the carriage; two carriages of guards emerged from the barracks. One carriage went to the front of the carriage, Xiang and Lei were in and the other went to the back. Lei realised there were a lot more guards than last time and inquired why. "Not to sound too self-important but we are very important. Think about it. I'm a princess and you are one of two arcane cultivators. These guards are even at a higher rank than those from last time. They were all at the manifestation stage and the captain was at the authoritarian stage. All of these guards are at the authoritarian stage. They are still under the command of captain Xue as he is the head of the royal guard. 

Finally all the bags were loaded and the procession of carriages started its journey to the Jai kingdom.