“Young Master Morwin,” a voice in the darkness spoke. Morwin let out a groan and turned to the side.

  “Young Master Morwin, I urge you, we must be on our way now. Lord Seldam has agreed to lend us a couple boats to cross the river.”

  Morwin slowly opened his eyes. Outside the window, the sun shone brightly high in the sky.

  “What time is it?” Morwin asked, turning over in his bed to see all seven of his servants there, in uniform, watching him sleep.

  “Past noon. We should have left three hours ago,” Guenevir spoke.

  “But Miss Guenevir insisted you sleep for a couple more hours, citing your exhaustion,” Mr. Axwel interjected. “Now if we don’t get going, we won’t be able to make much progress on our first day of the return trip.”

  Noon? Morwin pushed the blanket off his bed and looked outside the window. Sure enough, the air outside felt of… noon. He didn’t quite know how to describe it. Had he been that tired that he slept for twelve hours? That night was the best sleep he’s ever had in his life, and although his eyelids felt a little heavy, a sense of energy surged through his body.

  Morwin moved to pack his things, but found that they were already packed and neatly in the corner.

  “Already taken care of,” Mr. Axwel said.

  Morwin replied with a frown before picking up his bag an slinging it over his shoulder. As he did so, another servant caught it in motion and took it from him. “You shouldn’t be the one to carry things, how many times do we have to remind you,” he said before putting Morwin’s back on his own back, with his bag.

  “Come on, I insist,” Morwin said.

  Mr. Axwel shook his head. “You are a very important person, and I will not see to you doing more work than you have to. Besides, you were successful on this mission, so you’re going to relax on the way back home.”

  The crew left the inn. On the way out, Mr. Axwel made sure to thank Ishan for his hospitality. Of course, if you paid an igian to stay just a couple nights, you’re going to receive the best service there is to offer.

  Outside, there were a crowd of people flooding in one direction and it was difficult to get any breathing room.

  “What’s going on?” Morwin asked.

  His servants made sure to stand close to him, so close that he could feel three different people’s breaths on the back of his neck.

  Morwin decided to go with the crowd. In the couple of days they stayed in Jovin City, there hasn’t been a gathering this large besides Lord Demarian’s executions. Were more of Justicar caught and about to be killed? No, he and Galvin helped them escape and disperse.

  In the central square, Lord Seldam stood surrounded by a couple of his servants. When barely any more people could fit into the square, he cleared his throat loudly. It took several attempts of this to quiet the crowd.

  “As you all know,” he began, his voice being projected and echoing outwards. “We are an independent city state, neighboring Agnius. I would love for us to remain that way, but some things have got to change. The other day, many of Justicar’s members made their way into our town. They’ve wreaked havoc, caused destruction, and most of all, caught the attention of someone important from the mainland.

  “I would like to not have to deal with that, so I made an offhand decision, one that may offend or anger some of you. I have met with the son of Lord De’Shai, the Minister of Military, and we have come to an agreement. While we remain as a free state, we will allow their soldiers to come into this city and help maintain law and order.”

  At that, many of the people boo’d and gave thumbs down at Lord Seldam. The man seemed to be rather patient with this, waiting for it all to subside, before he began talking again.

  “I understand that some of you live in Jovin City to get away from the laws of Agnius, but unfortunately, this battle that’s erupted has forced us to choose sides. Innocent people died because of Justicar’s reckless actions, and that is something I cannot ignore. I know you feel like I betrayed you as the lord of this town, but everything I do, every decision I make, is to better Jovin City and make sure the citizens of this city are cared for and safe, even if it’s a controversial one.”

  Mr. Axwel gave Morwin a proud fatherly pat on the shoulder. “Well done, Young Master Morwin,” he spoke.

  The crowd responded as negatively as Morwin could expect. Some even cried out chants for the king to die. He didn’t know how Lord Seldam ignored the not so orderly people. He continued on waiting until the square became silent again, his face bearing an expression of incredible patience.

  “There will be changes in the coming days. I will pen to Lord De’Shai my decision to allow him and his men access to the Jovin River. You can expect to see some of his soldiers coming in the following weeks. Do not be alarmed if they come, they are here to protect us.”

  The crowd erupted in chaos again, voicing their complaints. Lord Seldam’s eyes scanned the crowd, and he made eye contact with Morwin and gave him a nod.

  “I would rather the rebels take over us!” someone from the crowd shouted.

  “That bastard De’Shai is going to bring ruin to us!” another yelled.

  “How could you betray your people like this?” another called.

  Morwin turned to glance at Galvin. He bore a stoic expression. Morwin expected to see more, as the citizens of this city practically shouted out they wanted to be a part of Justicar.

  Morwin understood the people here wanted to remain independent, but he didn’t realize they felt this strongly. Even Lord Seldam had the same opinion the short time they talked. What made him change his mind, and so suddenly?

  The rest of the speech was spent with Lord Seldam trying to calm down the crowd, but they increasingly grew angrier.

  “We need to get out of here before this gets ugly,” Mr. Axwel said to Morwin.

  Morwin nodded and they receded. Even now, more and more people were flooding into the square, eager to see what was going on.

  He barely did any sightseeing as he was ushered away from the population. As they walked, servants stood around him, shielding him from everything around.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Down at one of the ports, a couple of servants Morwin recognized stood. They were some people who accompanied Lord Seldam on the day of the talks, and now, they were waiting for Morwin and his crew.

  “Took you guys long enough,” one of the servants said. Behind him, eight individual boats lay bobbing. “Now if you will get on so we can go back to our jobs, that would just be splendid.”

  Mr. Axwel greeted the servant, exchanged some pleasantries, and soon, everyone in the caravan sat in their boats. Mr. Axwel declined the eighth boat and rode in with Morwin. He alone operated the oars while Morwin sat there.

  As they rowed along the river back to the mainland, Morwin couldn’t help but notice to the side, people rowing along the floating rocks as well. He recognized some of those faces. They’d been some of the people in Justicar, the ones he saved by warning Galvin.

  Sailing the Jovin River took about two hours, and they were on the other side in no time. After the times they sailed, he’d decided he hated it. The bobbing of the boat, the nothing but water for miles, it made him nauseous. He hoped he wouldn’t have to sail anymore.

  When they made landfall, the crew traveled as a group to where the horse rested. Thankfully, the people working in the stables took good care of Morwin’s horse, and he seemed to be in better shape than when Morwin left.

  Mr. Axwel thanked the workers for taking care of the horse and their journey back to Rathalin truly began.

  Jovin City was situated in the southernmost region of Agnius, so they’d have to travel north. Rathalin, being the capital, was built in the very center of the country. Seven days and seven nights they’d have to travel to get back. Already, the heat of the sun was already starting to make Morwin sweat rivers. He threw on his shawl to provide him some shade.

  Morwin asked the other servants if they wanted to take turns riding the horse, but as usual, they all declined and Mr. Axwel told Morwin he needed to be the one to ride it.

  In reality, Morwin dreaded going back home. So much has happened on this journey that he was unsure if everything would appear as normal. One thing was for certain: he’d never be able to look his father in the eyes the same way again. If he’s anything like Lord Demarian, then Morwin would have no choice but to fight him.

  He shook his head. No. No harm would come to his family.

  The day dragged on and on, and eventually, the moon made its ascent. Morwin wondered why they didn’t travel at night instead of day, as the desert cooled much more, and they wouldn’t be a sweaty mess.

  He was answered with darkness. Depending on how bright a moon shone on a particular night would be the answer to whether they could travel or not. And Mr. Axwel was not the type of person to put something like that up to chance.

  When it became too dark to see three feet in front, Mr. Axwel brought the caravan to a halt. He fed the horse some bundles of hay they carried along and let it down one of their water skins. Then he instructed all the servants to set up shelter for the night, which took up the majority of the things they carried.

  As Morwin expected, Mr. Axwel did not let him go near the campsite until it was finished. He always frowned at that. Just because he was the son of one of the members of the government, it didn’t mean he couldn’t get his hands dirty. But every time he protested, his arguments would be shut down.

  It seemed like Mr. Axwel would rather die of exhaustion than let Morwin return with slightly bruised hands. He didn’t even think exhaustion existed when it comes to his head servant.

  Could he be a Dragikiri?

  Morwin closed his eyes and reached out with his mind to detect any gems nearby. He found that with just a little practice, he could tell where gemstones were kept without actually seeing it. He couldn’t tell from very far though, so he had to get close.

  The only gemstones he could sense were on Galvin. Could Mr. Axwel somehow draw power from it while Galvin held them? That could be a possibility. Mr. Axwel was an old man, seemingly in his sixties, and with that much time and experience, he’s sure to learn things about the art of Gemming.

  That would be a thought worth investigating.

  Wait. If that were true, then he’d be able to detect the gems Galvin held. And with the gem mines being liberated while they were passing through, Justicar being in Jovin City, and news of a Dragikiri fighting Lord Demarian, all evidence would point to him being one of the rebels. Morwin dismissed the thought. He concluded that Mr. Axwel didn’t have Gemming abilities.

  Unless… he was secretly a part of Justicar!

  Just thinking about that made him burst out laughing. Heads from the other servants turned towards him and he blushed before quieting himself. He’d never been happier for a moonless night until then.

  He didn’t know where these silly thoughts were popping up all of a sudden. Could it be stress? No, he didn’t feel any stress at all. But just in case, he gripped his sapphire necklace and Absorbed some of the essence, focusing on Serenity, and allowing his mind to calm down.

  He watched from atop the horse, as the caravan put together five separate tents for them to sleep in for the night. It was arranged in a circular fashion with a campfire smack in the middle. It still burned hot and bright.

  Since their numbers were unfortunately reduced to eight from the expedition to Jovin City, two of them would be able to have a whole tent to themselves. Before, all servants shared a tent with someone else, and Morwin was the only one sleeping by himself, but now someone could claim the single-person tent.

  Morwin suggested Mr. Axwel claim it, but he protested and gave it to Galvin instead. He was about to give it to Guenevir but remembered how he had to discipline her for not being there for Morwin at the talks.

  Morwin took his tent, laid out his mat and blankets, then closed his eyes, waiting for sleep to overtake him.