My router made me lose all the work I had put into the post originally... :D Here it is again....
Chapter 23:
Departure
The border between the Faelfier Kingdom and the Yursear Kingdom had a tense relationship, but the Faelfier borders were open to refugees of all kinds, leaving the Yursear guards with the duty of checking people crossing into the Yursear border only. There were few cases where they were to search people entering the Faelfier Kingdom, such as suspicious people and packages, or criminals attempting to flee the country.
As for elves, they were forced to allow them to pass. The Faelfier knights were strict on this rule in particular. Once they had crossed the border, they were no longer under the jurisdiction of the Yursear Kingdom.
Now that Silas and Meredith had approached the border, they had taken a change of clothes out of their luggage and used their magic stones to alter their appearances to normal, average human beings. Along with their aliases and citizen tokens, they would not be suspected by the Yursinean knights as elves.
"Citizenship tokens."
"Here they are."
Silas had taken the name and appearance of a man named Lloyd Webber, a merchant and trader employed between the two kingdoms. The magic stone made him a tanned, short black-haired man with dull hazel eyes. His hair had been carefully styled before he had left, using the magic stone while Eva fixed his human hair into a popular Yursinean style. Though his height had not changed, he looked no different than a young human in his early twenties. Even his cheeks were bright with a sweet red flush of a young, excited adventurer.
Meredith, however, used one of his other aliases provided by Eva for this border crossing. Sitting tall on his horse, Meredith was dressed in a long, plain green corset dress. In order to aid movement, the underskirt had been flattened somewhat, and the short dark jacket covering his shoulders and arms was loose in the shoulders, allowing some freedom of movement. His originally long hair had been shortened by the magic stone, making him appear to be a plain-looking human woman, around Silas's age, with auburn hair and brown, round eyes. The spray of freckles on his cheeks made him appear more human than elven.
Meredith's secondary alias was called Janette Webber, Lloyd's young wife.
Silas had taken Meredith's token earlier. Carefully, he took the two shiny coins out of the front of his satchel pocket and placed them in the knight's hand. As the knight looked over the tokens, another knight surveyed their luggage, asking Silas and Meredith where they were going, and what business they had in the Yursear Kingdom. Meredith spoke from his horse in a sweet voice, discussing the plans the two had as newlyweds from the kingdom.
"My husband and I are returning home after spending some time on our honeymoon. I'm sure you two young men know how it feels to get married." Meredith used a high, sugary voice that Silas had only heard him use while taunting pursuers of his. Hearing the voice once again, it caused goosebumps to run down Silas's spine as he held his love-struck expression towards Meredith. As he looked at Meredith's disguise, he tried to think of how he looked at Emmeline, and how he would feel if he were traveling with her at his side now. "Nothing quite beats being home!"
"Of course." The knight cracked a small smile at this, "My wife and I got married three years ago. It still feels like we got married yesterday." The knight looked over the tokens one more time before he held them out to give back to the pair.
Meredith giggled, holding his hand out to take the tokens back, "She's a lucky woman. Thank you."
The other knight had quickly moved away from their luggage to the gate, where he then moved the wooden barrier, allowing the pair in. Quickly, Silas nodded his head in thanks. He then looked behind his back at the Faelfier border one more time before he tapped the sides of his horse and trotted through the gates along with Meredith at his side. The line behind the pair moved forward as more people attempted to cross the border, more knights bustling to and from the gates to pass more people through before the sun touched the horizon.
As Silas and Meredith passed out of earshot of the knights, Meredith whispered under his breath, "Next time, you're wearing the dress."
Silas remarked back with a laugh, "Why? The dress looks quite becoming on you, Janette."
"Keep up that talk, Silas. I'll turn you into a woman." Meredith snorted, twisting his mouth into a tight frown, looking as if he had swallowed something bitter. Silas tried to hold back his laughter, but the snickering slipping out of his lips caused a frowning Meredith to crack a smile, which caused Silas to break into laughter. It wasn't long before Meredith was laughing too.
It was not until the sun was dipping into the horizon that Silas and Meredith chose to stop in a moderately-sized town towards the east of the kingdom named Lockeburg. This town had often been used as a traveler's stop or a rest area for those entering the kingdom, and there were many hotels, bars, and restaurants in the main strip of the town, making it a popular destination for those looking to stock up on materials or for those looking for information.
Meredith and Silas stopped just outside of town with their horses, paying the stables hands to watch over their horses overnight as they rested in the town. The sun was still on the edge of the sky, leaving almost an hour of sunlight left before the day would end. Still wearing the dress, Meredith held on to Silas's arm affectionately as they walked together with their luggage in their free hands. Their baggage was light, but due to the magic they had used, all the items inside were neatly organized and shrunk down to a smaller, more accessible size.
The inn Meredith and Silas had chosen was a smaller, more private inn near the southern end of town. The wooden sign on the inn swung back and forth in the cold breeze, reading a lazy, "The Broken Broomstick Inn" in tight Yursinean font. The stained-glass windows were neatly styled in small, diagonal diamond shapes, showing the light from the inside of the bar with a warm variety of dark colors. Silas stepped forward and opened the heavy wooden door for Meredith, who quickly adjusted his hood and walked inside, still carrying his light bag of luggage with him.
Silas followed him inside quickly, following Meredith into the noisy bar of the inn.
It was not long before they found an empty table, and they were greeted by one of the servers wandering around the inn. The young man was polite and quick to ask what they wanted, straight to the point in his thick Yursinean accent.
"Janette, honey, what would you like to order?"
"Hm… why don't we have the potato soup and bread meal?"
"Sounds great, can we have two of those, and two beers, please?"
Having been ten years, Silas had almost forgotten how to fake a proper Yursinean accent, but using the stone, he was able to adjust his voice to a more neutral, continental accent that would not raise any suspicion, as did Meredith. Speaking together, they sounded like a young couple on their honeymoon from outside the Yursear Kingdom.
The male server smiled at the pair of tourists and walked off to receive more orders, leaving Meredith and Silas to sit in their seats and talk quietly between themselves, casually listening for gossip as they waited with their luggage. Silas had originally thought Meredith would be against stopping in the human towns, and would rather continue the journey with as few stops as possible. Instead, Meredith planned out their trip ahead of schedule with Eva, which made a variety of stops in different cities and towns. This would allow them to change their appearances and drop off needed supplies from the rebels, assuring they would not be noticed by the guards.
"We should leave early, so we can travel while it's still light out." Meredith suggested, leaning forward with his hands in his palms, looking off in thought.
Silas hummed in response, thinking of the route drawn out by Eva. He had already had it memorized, but he still felt he would forget it.
While the two received their food, a man carefully watched them from the corner of the bar, hidden behind a large wooden pillar. The man sipped at his keg of beer, still wearing his heavy steel armor from earlier in the day. His dark brown hair was pushed out of his eyes as he intently watched the pair with a watchful gaze, curious and intrigued. There was no doubt in his mind. The man he saw in the forest and the man here were the same person.
It was obvious. Having been the best Yursinean tracker in the army, he would have to be a fool not to have noticed that two men had a particular riding style, one taught to only a handful of elves from the Yursinean forests. It had been over ten years since he had last seen it, but having caught it now, Beau wanted to capture and question the man and his "companion". They would have valuable information for him.
Sipping his keg again, Beau smiled to himself. We'll be meeting very soon.
…
The trumpets blared loudly along the castle walls as the entrance doors to the castle opened. Bethellian servants spilled out of the doors in an orderly fashion, all walking down the long, stone bridge to where their carriages waited for them. Next went a large group of Bethellian soldiers, all standing mightily in their regal, steel armor, carrying swords on their hips. Finally, with soldiers behind her, Princess Charlotte stepped out of the entrance, looking up at the sky. Her Bethellian traveling outfit of a dark purple, silk bodice blazer and matching skirt fit her comfortably. The white blouse under her blazer jacket was stiff, and her jabot was properly fluffed, with a beautiful amethyst stone brooch sitting at the top of the jabot. On her head was a small, purple hat with fresh Yursinean flowers pinned on it, a final gift from her hosts.
To her side was Clarence, who was dressed in a formal Yursinean outfit. Clarence's outfit consisted of a navy suit with gold buttons, which closely matched the kingdom's royal emblem. His undershirt was buttoned up to his collarbone, and his collar sat stiffly over his suit. On his lapel was a small emblem of the royal family, a trademark worn by the king and crown prince since the kingdom was created. His hair was swept back off his face.
Charlotte and Clarence walked together across the bridge. Charlotte's knight was close to her side, watching the scenery closely. After Charlotte's harp string had broken the night before, her knight had been even more alert, not leaving Charlotte's side at all after the doctor examined his hand.
Clarence listened to Charlotte's small heels clicking loudly on the stone bridge as they walked, trying to think of something to say. Clarence found himself unsure of how to act around Charlotte after she had confessed to him the way she had. He picked his brain, trying to say something.
"Princess Charlotte!" Clarence exclaimed, which caused Charlotte to turn and look at him expectantly, "Uh, I-I hope you enjoyed your stay with us, even though it was so short!"
Charlotte smiled as they continued to walk, "I truly did. I've only ever passed through the Yursear kingdom in my travels. Now that I've stayed here, I truly regret not visiting earlier."
Clarence smiled goofily and laughed, "I'm glad you enjoyed it!"
As they approached the end of the bridge where Princess Charlotte's carriage stood waiting, Charlotte slowed, which caused Clarence to also slow and stop. The knight also stopped and stood stiffly next to Charlotte. Charlotte turned to Clarence with her eyebrows furrowed,
"Prince Clarence, I hope I did not make you uncomfortable with what I said last night."
Clarence was not sure, but he thought he heard the knight groan under his visor.
Clarence laughed uncomfortably and scratched his neck, "No, of course not. I was just taken by surprise, that's all."
Princess Charlotte looked down at her feet, "I'm sorry. I should not have said anything. Please forget last night ever happened." Clarence's heart sunk as he stared at Charlotte's downturned face and sunken posture. He wanted to try to make Charlotte feel better.
Clarence held up his hands and fiercely shook his head, "No, no, no. Please don't misunderstand. I-" He paused, putting his thoughts together, "I greatly appreciated what you said. I swear I was just surprised by it."
Charlotte quickly looked up, "What did you think about what I said though?" Then, as if catching herself, she retracted herself and said, "Excuse me. I don't mean to push you into a decision. I was just curious."
Clarence looked up at the clear sky as he thought, then he looked down at Charlotte with a quizzical expression, "I don't know how I feel. I've never been confessed to."
Charlotte barely held back a smile as she nodded her head, "That���s not a rejection."
Clarence coughed as his face grew slightly red. He was embarrassed by Charlotte's words, and he felt at a loss trying to approach her about himself. He did not want to hurt her feelings, but he also felt like he was not ready to broach that part of his life with her yet.
Charlotte smiled and turned towards Clarence, curtseying, "This is goodbye for now, Prince Clarence."
Clarence bowed back and smiled back awkwardly, the corners of his lips fighting to stay upward, "Safe travels, Princess Charlotte."
"Please, call me Charlotte." She said, "And may I call you Clarence?"
Clarence knew it would be rude to refuse, "Of course."
"Goodbye, Clarence."
Clarence nodded, "Goodbye, Charlotte." Clarence forced out, finding saying Charlotte without her title was awkward. She smiled brightly before walking over to her ornate carriage, which was only feet away. Her knight looked down sharply at Clarence before following his mistress. Clarence waved as Charlotte was loaded into the horse-drawn carriage, and as she sat down, she waved back. With a sharp crack from the whip, the carriage lurched forward, and off the Bethellian visitors went. It would take them weeks to get to their destination, a monastery in the north, which was one of the largest and most well-known monasteries on the continent. The princess would go there to pray, which was common of all princesses and high nobility around marriageable age. These young women would go to pray for the safety and prosperity of their respective kingdoms, as well as praying for fruitful marriage proposals.
With one final wave to the distant carriage, Clarence turned and briskly walked back to the castle entrance. The guards snapped to attention as Clarence passed, but he walked on without acknowledging them, his mind full of thoughts about what was about to happen.
"We're leaving as soon as she leaves. Be ready."
Clarence's mind raced as he thought of what Alywin had said the night before. He anxiously glanced around as he looked for Alywin in the castle halls. Clarence had not seen Alywin since last night, and Clarence had no idea what was going through Alywin's mind at the moment, which made him more anxious. As he passed by a group of maids, they curtseyed deeply, greeting him while he walked up the stairwell to the second floor. Clarence nodded absentmindedly and hurried on, looking around for the elusive Alywin. No matter where Clarence looked though, he could not find Alywin. With an annoyed huff, Clarence turned around and walked back to his room.
I'll change out of these clothes, then go find Alywin.
As Clarence approached his bedroom door, he grasped the neckline of the collar and pulled it down, loosening the tight collar until it was no longer resting against his neck. Once he had loosened it, he reached for the door to his room and slowly pushed it open, sighing to himself as he stepped inside his room, closing the door behind him.
"Took you long enough."
Clarence���s eyes widened as his eyes moved to a figure sitting on his bed, leaning back on his hands lazily. Clarence's attention then turned to another figure standing near the fireplace in Clarence's room, the stranger's arm resting against the mantel. The young man turned towards Clarence and smiled, nodding his head lightly. Clarence blinked rapidly as he stared at the young man, who looked eerily similar to Clarence, almost like the stranger was Clarence's twin. Everything from the young man's head of blue hair down to his freshly-polished shoes matched Clarence's appearance.
"Relax." Alywin said as he got up and walked over to the stranger, laying a hand on the shoulder of Clarence's body double, "I asked him to come. He's our way out of the castle."
Clarence tried to hide the surprise and discomfort he felt, but he found it difficult to conceal as he approached his body double, who turned and smiled at Clarence. Clarence felt like he was looking at his reflection in a mirror.
"What did you do?" Clarence asked as he circled his twin and Alywin, "And where did you find him?"
Alywin laughed and rolled his eyes, "Would you relax? He's a friend of mine. And he doesn't actually look that much like you, he's just using a little something to match your appearance." Alywin said as he reached in his shirt to pull out a small gemstone shining dully behind a thin glass jar. The jar was tied around the bottle neck to a string around Alywin's neck. Alywin nodded his head over to the stranger, "He's got one too." Clarence's eyes bulged as he looked at the magic gemstone, and he lowered his voice as he heatedly whispered,
"Are you insane?! You do realize that's incredibly illegal to possess, and that is not even discussing you using it! If you were lucky, they'd make your death quick! How'd you even get your hands on something like this?! I thought only elves could possess things like that?!"
Alywin kept his face neutral as he listened to Clarence, then lazily replied, "Are you done?"
Clarence took a deep breath, "You can't possibly think using magic would work-"
Alywin sighed before walking up to Clarence and grabbing Clarence's lips with one hand, "Hush. You talk too much." Alywin then slowly let go of Clarence's face, watching him closely in case he tried to say anything. When Alywin was satisfied Clarence would remain quiet, he continued, "It doesn't matter where we got it, all that matters is that my friend uses magic for a living. He's a professional with these things. He is going to pretend to be you while we're gone."
"Don't worry, Prince Clarence," Clarence's body double said, mimicking the prince's voice perfectly, "I've done this my whole life. You can leave without worry."
Clarence looked again at his body double before looking over at Alywin, "We need to talk. Now." Clarence grabbed Alywin's arm and dragged him over to the sitting room attached to his room. He dropped Alywin��s arm and leaned in towards him, whispering, "Are you insane? There's so much that could go wrong with this! What if he messes something up or betrays us? What if he gets caught?"
"First off, nothing is going to go wrong. Like I said, he does this for a living. He won't mess up, and he won't betray me." Alywin glanced over at the disguised figure, before looking back at Clarence, "He owes me too much to betray me. Just trust me." Alywin sighed and shook his head, "Listen, we need to leave soon. If you're thinking of changing your mind, now's the time to back out."
Clarence bit his lip, glancing over at his unlikely twin, then back at Alywin, "Are you sure this will work?"
"I've done this a few times already for my own personal use, so it does. It's just going to be a little harder. That's why we need to leave soon."
Clarence sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. Then he shook his head in frustration before looking up at Alywin, "Please don't make me regret this."
"Hey, you were the one that wanted to do this." Alywin leaned in close to Clarence and whispered in his ear, "But I'll make sure you don't regret it." A mischievous smile grew on Alywin's lips as Clarence's ears turned red. Alywin then walked back over to Clarence's bed and dragged out two bags. He stood up and threw one over to Clarence before slinging the other one on his back. Clarence went to sling the pack on his back, but looked down at his formal, Yursinean suit.
"Shoot, I forgot to change my clothes. Give me a second." Clarence said before walking over to his closet and opening the bottom panel, grabbing out a basic tunic and pants. He slipped into his sitting room to change, and as the door to the sitting room clicked shut, Clarence's body double looked over at Alywin.
"I knew you were quite the flirt, but the crown prince?"
Alywin shrugged and smiled mischievously, "I like to keep things interesting."
"I just hope you haven't blurred the line between keeping things interesting and becoming overinvolved."
Alywin's eyebrows raised as he looked at Clarence's body double, "What are you trying to say, Theo?"
"I'm saying you seem to have broken your commitment."
Alywin laughed, "I do not have feelings for him, Theo. Don't be an idiot." Theo raised his eyebrow, still in Clarence's appearance, which aggravated Alywin immensely, "Listen, I'm not asking you to get into my personal affairs, I'm asking you to do a job."
Theo shrugged his shoulders before saying, "Just be careful. Catching feelings for him won't end well for you."
A deep frown marred Alywin's handsome face, "When I want to hire you as my advisor, I'll let you know. Until then, keep your thoughts to yourself."
Theo smiled widely before laughing, "I'm sorry I offended you, Duke Alywin." Theo said, emphasizing the last part of the sentence. This caused Alywin to smile with a dark glint in his eye,
"Not quite yet."
Immediately after they had exchanged their heated phrases, the sitting room door opened and out emerged Clarence, now dressed down in a basic tunic and pants, looking like a fallen noble who still kept their formal air and mannerism, but had lost all of their money. Alywin walked over to Clarence and grabbed his hand, roughly dragging him over to the door to the hallway. Reaching into his pocket, Alywin retrieved the same small gemstone Alywin had shown him before, and placed it around his neck with the thin rope. His fingers brushed past Clarence's collarbone with a light twist of the hand, like a dragonfly.
After it rested around Clarence's neck, Alywin touched his own gem and said to Clarence, "In order to change your appearance, you have to imagine someone in your mind and hold the gemstone in your hand tightly. It might get hot, but keep holding on to it." He said, wrapping his right palm around the stone.
Clarence mimicked Alywin and asked, "Just anyone?"
"We're going to have to make ourselves invisible in order to escape through the escape route in the basement." Alywin said, still holding the heated stone. "Clear your head. Try to think of yourself as invisible. Keep that thought and hold on to the gem." Alywin closed his eyes and his expression stilled while Clarence watched him carefully with wide eyes. After only a moment, the air around Alywin changed, and suddenly his body began to fade, starting at the tips of his curly blonde hair until his feet had completely disappeared under the influence of the stone.
"Amazing!" Clarence stared at the spot Alywin disappeared from and then clutched the gem tighter in his palm. The tighter he clasped it, the warmer it became, making Clarence feel as if the gemstone would burn off the callouses on his hand from the temperate.
"Keep doing it," Alywin called out, standing in his original position.
Clarence looked down at the stone in his hands, sparkling with a bright warm light, and then he closed his eyes, following Alywin's example as he emptied his thoughts and stood still with a tense expression on his face. Though he trusted Alywin, he was worried he would somehow be rejected by the magic, or that he would be harmed by the stone if he were to use it for too long.
These worries, however, were pushed down as the magic began to course through his body, warming his blood as it traveled through his veins and swirled around him with the same warm gleam as before. It was not until the magic stopped that he opened his eyes, and he felt nothing was different, until he had lifted his hands to his face, where they were only faintly visible to him and transparent with a strange mist around them.
"Alywin, did it work?" He asked, lifting his arms and wiggling his fingers to see if they were all still alive and attached.
"Perfectly. We should be able to leave the castle now." Clarence heard a faint rustling to his left, and then he heard Alywin adjust his travel bag. "Your travel pack should turn invisible with you, just make sure it's touching you, otherwise it won't work." The prince had left his bag at his feet, which made it still visible, laying limply on the ground like a forgotten stuffed animal. Seeing this, Clarence grabbed the bag and strapped it onto his back, allowing it to disappear with him as he moved to touch the doorknob. "Are we ready to go?"
Alywin replied, "We can't keep waiting, after all. Let's go, Theo will handle the rest here." Though Clarence could not see Alywin's face, he could feel Alywin and Theo looking at each other with a stare of understanding. Theo had a saucy smile on his face, which Clarence found strange and unlike him, but seeing as Alywin trusted him, he could only put his faith in the man to keep him out of trouble while he left the palace.
As the door to the hallway opened, and Alywin and Clarence stepped out, Theo smiled to the pair as he stated a small goodbye. "Au revoir." The fake prince exposed his straight white teeth as he said this, his eyes flashing a dark light before they flashed back to their original rich color.
As Clarence looked forward towards the end of the hall, Alywin rolled his eyes and quietly closed the door behind them, leaving Theo in the room alone with the fireplace still crackling embers in the still, silent room. All that could be heard was the steps of the two escapees making their way down to the basement to escape the castle.