"So," I said, as I munched on what looked like a fruit cake on a stick but tasted like cornbread with nuts in it, "what do you think?"
"About the lord? What was his name again?" said Kelser as he took a bite of a piece of roasted meat.
"Bain Rusta," answered Princess Kol as she sat on a wooden chair by the wooden window. Glass was too expensive, so windows in the city were made out of pieces of wood propped up against a hole in the wall. The angle of the wood meant that it was easy to look down at the ground, but the windows couldn't let in much light and people from outside wouldn't be able to see inside. It was nighttime anyway, so there wasn't a lot of light to let in and nobody was out and about. Kol's food rested on a clay plate on a table next to her chair, cold and untouched. It was a small piece of meat lathered in what looked like honey. Only children were buying it at the market in the city center, and Kol had given it a long, wistful look before finally buying it. She even bought some for all the kids that had gathered around the stall, which made Bain Rusta also give her a curious look. In the end, the lord bought out the entire stall and gave away all the food to the crowd of children.
"Have you met him before?" I asked.
Kol frowned. "Why are you speaking in the demon tongue? What if somebody hears us?"
"You aren't very good at the human language," I said, "and there's nobody here, I've checked." I used motion detection magic and magic hands to check everywhere around us. We were in a guest room in a building right next to the lord's house up on the hill in the center of the city. Unless we shouted really loudly, nobody would be able to hear what we were saying. Still, I spoke quietly and Kol and Kelser did the same.
"To answer your question, no, I haven't met Bain Rusta before," said Kol, "but I've heard about him and his family. The Rusta have run Tephon for so long, people don't even call them lord or ruler anymore. Their family name, Rusta, is a shorthand for the ruler of Tephon."
"I see," I said, nodding slowly. That was kinda like Caesar or Augustus in the Roman Empire in my previous world. Authority gets tied to the name, and people don't have to use a separate title anymore.
"When I was running away from my enemies, I didn't stop here at Tephon," said Kol. "The only thing I knew about Bain Rusta was that his family was siding with my brother. And I know my brother had something to do with the people who chased me all the way to the mountains. Coming here back then would've been suicide according to my advisers."
"Good thing you have that magic disguise then," said Kelser, "also, this isn't important, but you look much nicer as a human. I think your tail makes you look grouchier than you really are."
Kol gave him a dry look and rolled her eyes. She turned to me, deliberately putting Kelser out of her field of vision. "Bain Rusta is an infamously weak ruler. His family and ministers run the show. All he does is say what they want him to say and do what they want him to do. Even if Bain seemed like a nice enough guy today, we can't rely on his kindness too much. He might have been willing to give us directions and let us go on our way tonight, but somebody might whisper things into his ear before the morning. They might tell him he shouldn't let us go, or that he should try harder to get us to stay. If they can make him do something as stupid as allying with my younger brother, there's no telling what they might make him do tomorrow."
"Why is allying with your brother a stupid thing to do?" asked Kelser. "He's your brother. Surely any help he gets is good for you too?"
Kol raised an eyebrow at the red haired human. "What are you talking about? I'm the heir to the throne! If he's supporting my younger brother, that means he wants me dead!"
"Sorry, I think he still doesn't understand the way politics work in a kingdom like yours," I told the princess. "Kelser, I explained this to you before, but family ties are seen very differently in Kol's homeland. They can confer power and authority, like the way Kol being the daughter of the king gives her power through a claim to the throne. But it also erodes the sort of family ties that you're used to in your homeland. Kol and her siblings don't have to rely on each other for survival. They need to compete against each other for power and influence. They—"
"Yeah, yeah, I get it, I understand," said Kelser finishing up his food. "I just forget sometimes, that's all. It's different, but it's not like everybody has a perfect family in my tribe either."
"And there's more," continued Kol, "it doesn't make sense for somebody this far South to ally with my brother whose power lies in the borderlands in the far North. The reason I'm in this mess in the first place is because that crazy brother of mine went to lead an army against the Lux Republic and ended up winning a great victory. He has the support of a lot of powerful generals, while everybody in the capital is waiting by the sidelines instead of coming to my side. I could've figured something out if my father wasn't sick and my younger sister hadn't run off to the East for some reason." She sighed. "And I have no idea what's happened over the past two years. All I know is what we learned from the general public over the past few days. The king is still alive, and I'm considered missing but not dead. I have no idea what's going on behind the scenes, though."
"If your brother or his supporters find out you're alive, they'll try to take you out before you can reach the capital," I said, "but what if the king declares you dead and makes your brother the heir while we're making our way to the royal court? We could start some rumors or show your face somewhere for a little bit, just so your father knows you're alive."
"That isn't a terrible idea," said the princess. "I don't think rumors are going to be good enough. I have to show my face somewhere."
"But how do we do that without making them chase after us," asked Kelser.
I put a hand on my chin. "I have an idea."
---
"Are you sure you won't stay?" asked Bain Rusta. "The path to the next town is closed. Some sort of natural disaster. There's debris everywhere."
"We'll manage just fine," I said.
"And I'm sorry I couldn't tell you the whole path to the capital. For security reasons, of course. I trust you and your people, but you haven't met the king yet. Giving foreigners so much information about our lands might make the king dislike me, please do understand," he said, again with a blank expression.
"We understand, we understand, we'll take it one step at a time. Thank you for giving us directions to the next town over, though. We appreciate it," I said. I picked up my pack, waved to the ministers and Rusta family members that were surrounding Bain Rusta, and signaled for Kelser and Kol to follow. The next town over was on the banks of another river, since the River Tephon would keep going away from the capital and we couldn't follow it any longer. Bain Rusta's directions were annoyingly vague, but I'd secretly paid for some information from a merchant early in the morning, and he'd given me much better directions. I'd snuck out of the building with invisibility magic, and disguised myself as a young demon merchant while going around town. I'd gathered some other information about the politics of the kingdom, as well as about Bain Rusta and his actual beliefs. Surprisingly, it seemed like the old demon used to be a fiery administrator back in the day. His old age must have made him more passive.
"Thank you once again, travelers. May we meet again!" said Bain Rusta as he bid us goodbye.
We walked away from the city on a well trodden path. There weren't any other merchants or travelers, but I had to use magic hands and motion detection magic to make sure we weren't being followed. After confirming that we weren't being followed, and walking well out of view, we stopped behind some trees and huddled together. Kelser took over surveillance of the area, making sure there was nobody around, and I cast invisibility on both Kol and myself. Then the princess and I dashed back to the city and snuck into the market. Bain Rusta and his entourage were still mulling about, discussing our departure. They were annoyed they couldn't keep us around, and were thinking about what to do after we realized they'd given us the wrong directions. Of course, this didn't come as a shock to me, since I'd already gathered the real directions from the merchant in the morning, but it was nice to have some confirmation of treachery. Bain Rusta stayed silent. In fact, he was staring in the direction we had left, as if the bickering happening by his side had nothing to do with him.
Kol slipped behind a building, wore a set of local clothes I'd purchased in the morning, and stepped into the light after I dispelled my invisibility magic. She dashed through the market, deliberately drawing attention to herself by kicking a clay pot and trying to hide her face through exaggerated motion. One of Bain Rusta's ministers saw her in the corner of his eye, and pointed and yelled. Soon, everybody had seen her, and Kol froze in the middle of the square. She narrowed her eyes, turned around, and dashed away to the other side of the city like her life depended on it. I made her faster with some air and motion magic, so nobody could catch her, even as they chased her right out of the city and back towards the previous towns and villages.
Once she was out of sight, I dropped next to her and turned her invisible again. Then, we walked right back through Tephon, which was bustling with soldiers and guards, and rejoined Kelser on the path to the capital.