The gates of Sepsel closed behind the quartet with a light thud, barely stirring the cold air around them. In the sky, the dead sun had already set, giving way to an equally dark starlit night.
Sylace rode at the front, quietly guiding the three behind him down the White Road. He scanned the surrounding darkness attentively, ensuring no unexpected horrors would jump out to greet them.
Behind him, Hadrian rode beside Edmur, the young knight Kota had chosen for the mission. Hadrian's voice, though altered by his monstrous form, was still warm and level.
"You're from Jebali? I've always wanted to visit. The books say the market smells like citrus and fish oil.
"Is that true?"
"Sometimes," Edmur said nervously, gripping his reins tighter. "But I grew up near the edge. Not much fish. More wolves than anything."
Kota trailed slightly behind the group. His curved blade tapped softly against his leg, rhythmically. He didn't speak much, only eyed the dark horizon with a calculating stillness like a doctor studying a dying man and wondering which part to cut first.
While they walked the White Road, Sylace began speaking.
"We'll be riding to Bloodhaven, there a special escort will be waiting for us. From there we'll enter Kantorov Akay and rest a few days before finally arriving in Seris. The total journey shouldn't take more than a week if we don't delay."
Kantorov Akay was one of the seven nations. Though they weren't hostile, they weren't especially welcoming to outsiders. Especially in recent times.
"B-Bloodhaven? But isn't that a-"
"Yes, Edmur. It's a Sanguinis Town. If you don't do anything to offend them then you'll be fine."
Kota answered, cutting the young knight mid sentence. Despite his best efforts to hide it, it was clear how much Lady Kioshin's situation was effecting him.
[I can't blame him, it took me all the strength I had not to curl up into a ball start crying when he told me.]
Sylace gestured for Hadrian to overtake him.
"Are you okay?" He asked once Hadrian and Edmur were ahead of them, unsure where to start.
Kota's gaze was unusually cold, unlike his usual cheerful self.
"I'm fine." He said, but his tone, his eyes, everything about him said otherwise.
Sylace's lips parted as if he wanted to say something before closing, he didn't know what to say. He could slay men, outsmart monsters, but when it came to comforting people, he was clueless.
He could only nod and ride by Kota's side, unable of breaking the deafening silence between them.
...
[I smell war...] Sylace thought as his horse came to an abrupt stop. He had stopped in Kerin, a small village less than a three day's ride away from the border.
Hadrian had stopped long before the lieutenant, his eyes closed and brow furrowed as if he was concentrating on something. Not far from the village, a supply caravan full of straw began to hum gently.
"It's steel, no doubt about it." He looked back at his friend, whose expression had tensed.
[I guessed as much, but why?]
Kerin was a village in the middle of nowhere, why would they need to be supplied with steel? Had it been one of the capitals or a big city, Sylace would've written it off as some Lord wanting to add more swords to their collection. But this? This was worrying.
Edmur, who had been sent into to village to investigate, came back with a complex expression on his face.
"What is it?" Sylace asked.
"The caravan isn't here to drop off supplies, it's picking them up. Food, swords, even some basic armor."
Kota, who has been lagging behind, finally joined them. Sylace briefed him on the situation before asking.
"What do you recommend?"
Kota thought for a second before saying:
"Sudden rebellions, one of the King's mistresses falling ill, and now this. You know what's next, right?"
Sylace nodded.
"But why? And who? My guess is Kantorov Akay judging by were these weapons are going but that doesn't explain the poisoning or the rebellions. Kantorovians are a proud people, they'd rather die than rely on something like poison. And their king isn't cunning enough to plan the rebellions."
"You're not wrong." Kota fell into thought once more.
"I-Isn't the best way to find the culprit to cure Lady Kioshin? She might have heard something."
"I second that, I doubt someone trying to go to war with Zegrow would send someone low ranking for a mission like that." Hadrian added, agreeing with Edmur.
"Curing her isn't possible." Kota's voice trembled slightly as he rebutted.
A piece of string on Hadrian's arm wiggled like a worm.
"Neither is this."