Three days went by in a flash. Ilo got up early every day to meet Eren at the Palace, where they would prepare for their departure. Clothes were made so that they would blend in with the Carewin commoners, and bags were packed.
After the three days were over, they set off on horses. In order to avoid the scorching sun, they had left at night.
Ilo looked to her right, at Eren. They had both changed into Carewin clothes: loose, grey garments with wood buttons to fasten them. Ilo was sure that they looked like a sack on her, but on Eren, they somehow looked just as regal as her battle armor.
Eren glanced at Ilo, catching her staring. Ilo turned quickly, and urged her horse to walk faster. Eren chuckled quietly.
For the rest of the way, the two rode in silence. Ilo was used to riding on shaded seats on carriages, so she started to get sore from sitting on a bouncing saddle. They arrived at the edge of Carewin just as the sun started to rise.
A forest separated the desert from the town, and you could see the tops of Carewin's fortification walls rising above the treetops. Ilo reached into her bag to fish out her identification chip - a small wooden block engraved with her name, that had a tassel hanging off of it - to prepare for the gate.
"Before we go in," Eren said, catching up to Ilo. After she had went ahead, Eren had kept her distance, "Take me to the spot where you were attacked."
Ilo really didn't want to go back there. In her mind, she remembered the feeling of something slamming into one side of the carriage, then the other. The sound of the Crown Prince pulling his sword out, and the horrifying sight of a corpse throwing itself onto one of her horses, trying to pull it down.
But of course, she couldn't refuse the General, so she took a deep breath and said: "Follow me."
Ilo turned, and went down a different path. The path was more hidden than the main path, meant for those who wanted to leave the town silently. While anyone could use it, few knew about it.
"Wouldn't Carewin have already cleaned it all up? I didn't notify them, but I'm sure that they found out that something had happened," Ilo said.
"I doubt it. This forest isn't within Carewin's walls. If they knew that Miciah was kidnapped, maybe. But since we're not releasing any information until we know where he is, there would be no reason for them to come clean this up."
Ilo nodded, and then stopped her horse.
"It was here."
Eren looked around. At a glance, there was nothing wrong with the surroundings. The path was covered in vines and the trees curled around them. Sunlight was filtered in through leaves above.
But if you looked closer, you could see signs of a fight: several thin trees were snapped, and the carriage marks in the grounds were skewed. Patches of the dirt had been dyed a darker shade from dried blood. Eren got off her horse, and put a hand to one of the carriage marks.
"Do you remember what direction the corpses came in?"
"They came from both directions," Ilo replied, "Left first, then right."
"That doesn't help," Eren murmured. She stared at the ground for a minute more, before standing up and getting back on the horse, "While we're here, let's just go this way."
Ilo nodded, and they continued on their way.
At the gate, a guard stopped them, "Identification?"
Carewin was a trading town, and people came from all over to buy and sell things here. The identification checkpoint wasn't strict.
Ilo and Eren handed the guard their chips. Ilo noticed that Eren's chip didn't have her own name on it, but said nothing.
After verifying that the chips were valid, the guard handed them back, "Reason for entry?"
"Visiting the Mapmaker," Eren said. The guard considered this, and then nodded, standing back to let them through.
Carewin was a bustling town, filled with carts and vendors. Houses made from dark wood and clay lined the streets, stretching several stories high. Some were houses or restaurants, and others were shops. As they rode through the cobblestone streets, people called out to them:
"Fresh flowers! Only three silvers a bouquet!"
"Buy fruit! Freshly picked apples, pears... ten silvers for two apples!"
The smell of food filled the air, and the chattering of the townspeople covered up anything Ilo wanted to say.
"Who's the Mapmaker?" She asked.
"He's a famous cartographer," Eren replied.
"Why do we need to go to someone who makes maps?"
"It's not his maps that made his famous," Eren explained, "His maps themselves are only mediocre - it's his Ability. He can tell you where anyone is."
This piqued Ilo's interest. She had been to Carewin several times before, but she had never heard of the Mapmaker. "Anyone? So why are we only looking for Icarus Kaelen now?"
Eren shook her head, "Looking for Icarus Kaelen is like courting death. Nobody that went looking for him has come back alive. The only reason we're going now is because the situation is dire."
"That's very reassuring."
"You volunteered, didn't you?"
"No," Ilo pointed out, "You just told me to come with you."
"But in the last three days, and even while we were coming here, you didn't say you didn't want to come. If you did, I wouldn't have forced you to be here."
Refusing to come had never passed Ilo's mind. While she was pondering this, her horse stopped suddenly, almost throwing her off.
Eren had reached over and pulled the reigns, stopping her horse.
"Watch where you're going," she said sharply, "The road ended."
The road had indeed ended, at a large, wide house. Eren swung herself off the horse, and Ilo followed suit.
The sign on the door simply read "Hotel" with no other name.
"Are we staying here? Why not go straight to the Mapmaker?"
Eren glanced at her as an attendee came out of the house, "With an Ability like his, he's highly sought-after. There's a waiting list. We'll get settled, put ourselves on the list, and then wait."
"Will you be having two rooms?" The attendee said, holding a small book in her hands.
"Yes," Eren said. She fished out a money pouch from her back, "Both unlisted."
"Two unlisted rooms..." The attendee muttered to herself as she scribbled down two room numbers, putting only "X"'s next to them instead of names. It wasn't uncommon for people to come to Carewin on private business, and not want their names written. This was nothing unusual, "Will you be wanting us to hold your horses, as well?"
"Please. How much will that be?"
"Fifty silvers for one room, plus twenty to take care of the horse. In total, one hundred-forty silvers."
This was a huge amount. Ilo was about to say that they would go to a different hotel, when Eren took the money out of her pouch and handed it to the attendee. The pouch barely looked emptier.
Of course, Ilo realized. She was travelling with the royal family - money wouldn't be a problem. The attendee accepted the money, and then fished two keys out of her clothes.
"Your rooms are on the second floor, next to each other. Rooms 205 and 206."
"Thank you," Eren took the keys. They waited until another attendee came over to take the horses away before entering the hotel. There was nobody inside, as all of the attendees waited by the door for customers.
Ilo continued the conversation from earlier as if there had been no interruption, "But you're the General of Baicia! Wouldn't he see you right now if you asked, on official business. The longer we wait, the more danger Miciah - "
Eren stopped short, and then spun around.
"Don't you think I know?" Her vehement tone silenced Ilo, "Don't you think I want to barge in there right now and demand that he tell me where my brother is? Do you know why I haven't done it?"
Ilo said nothing as Eren answered her own question.
"I haven't done it because there's no point. None! If Icarus Kaelen want's Miciah dead, then he's dead, and there's nothing we'll be able to do about it. Right now, we're here because of hope, on the off chance that he's not dead. He probably is dead! I don't know. So, it's better to wait and not draw attention to ourselves, then to go in right now and tell the whole world that Miciah Yinmar, the Crown Prince of Baicia, has been kidnapped and presumed dead. Do you understand?"
Ilo just stared. Her words had rooted her to the spot: she couldn't move.
In all the time that Ilo had known Eren, she had never been like this. And not just the three days - before, watching Eren train soldiers, even as she yelled at them, it was never with anger. She yelled at them to be heard, to make sure that they knew what their mistake was. This was the first time Ilo had ever seen Eren genuinely angry.
Eren seemed to realize what she had just done. She took a deep breath, and closed her eyes, "I'm sorry. I'm just stressed right now."
She looked back up, "Take your key. I'm going up - we'll see each other again for lunch. For now, eat some of the bread you brought with you, before it goes stale."
Then, she left to go upstairs. Ilo unfroze. Even though she had just been yelled at, her heart felt a little lighter. She took a bun out of her pack, and bit into it, smiling as she went to her room.