Cricket might not hate mornings quite so much if they happened a little later in the day. An opinion of which he had been told on numerous occasions was ridiculous by Uncle Sunil, Ignacia, many of the royal guards, and even Father. Anstice, however, seemed to agree with him. And yet, there she was, looking well put together in a pair of trousers and a crisp waistcoat, her eyes lined in kohl, and her hair in a neat bun. Where she'd found the time to get dressed-up and do her makeup before the sun had even properly risen, Cricket would never know. Perhaps she simply hadn't gone to bed.

"You'll need this," she said, holding out a hand mirror.

"Why? So Uncle can keep tabs on me?" Cricket didn't care if he sounded whiny, not in the least. It wasn't even 6am yet, and already he'd been bossed around by Ignacia, the stable master, and now Anstice too.

"No. You dolt." Anstice smacked him on the head with her fan for good measure. "It's so I can keep tabs on you."

"Oh." Cricket pulled the satchel around to his front, stuffing the mirror into a pocket. "Well, that's all right then."

Anstice nodded. "You're going to do just fine, Cricket."

"I know." And he did. Well...sort of. In the back of his mind, he could hear Uncle Sunil. Heard all the times Uncle Sunil had berated him, told him that he was a failure as a prince, that he'd never be good enough to be king. Maybe he was right. Maybe Cricket was just...

"Hey." Anstice took hold of his shoulders, giving them a firm squeeze. "Where ever your head is at, you don't have time for that right now. You can't disappear into that brain of yours like you do. Your people need you."

Cricket wanted to ask if they did really. If Anstice thought he could do this. But the truth was, she wouldn't have agreed to it if she didn't think he could. So instead of putting sound to those uncertainties, making them that much more concrete for it, he swallowed them down. "Right. Where are we headed first?"

"Tochtli," Anstice said, looping her arm through his and leading him towards the main entrance. The tall double doors stretched up to the ceiling, and a servant stood in front of each, holding it open to let a warm summer breeze glide through into the main hall. Cricket could see Ignacia standing outside with the horses, a brow raised in their direction.

"And what's going on there?"

"The town keeps disappearing and reappearing. No one has heard anything from those who live there in a fortnight." Anstice pulled out the map she had made up for him, tapping the blinking dot that was Tochtli.

"How do we know its disappearing and reappearing if no one has heard from them?" Ignacia asked, her fingers brushing down over her horse's muzzle.

"A band of traders was out that way. Tochtli is their stop in between Ilkay and the capital. The leader said that he saw the town disappear just as they approached it, and it didn't reappear again until morning. He's the one who reported it." Anstice's darkly painted nail scraped against the paper, her red lips tugged down into a frown. Something was bothering her, but she seemed to want to keep it to herself.

"What did the people in town say?" Cricket looked over her shoulder at the map, trying to better understand what could be upsetting her. But all that he saw on it was the glowing dots of affected areas, Tochtli blinking like a firefly amongst them.

"The traders didn't stop in there; they were too spooked." Anstice sighed, rolling up the map, and holding it out to Cricket.

"So, we have no idea what we're dealing with. It could be a curse. It could be a goblin having a laugh. It could be...anything." Ignacia's lips twitched into a frown, a wrinkle appearing between her eyebrows. She was worried. And she had every right to be. Cricket didn't like the idea of going in blind either, but they didn't have much choice.

"It could." Anstice nodded. "That's why you two need to be careful. Go in during the day, ask around, see if anyone can tell you anything. Then get out before it disappears."

Cricket tapped his chin thoughtfully.

"Right then. Let's saddle up and get out of here. We're wasting daylight, Cricket." Ignacia swung herself up onto her horse, blowing Anstice a kiss from her perch. "We'll let you know when we get to Tochtli."

"Please do," Anstice said. Then she turned to Cricket and pulled him into a too-tight hug, squeezing hard enough to trap the air in his lungs. "Take care. Be safe. Try not to make anyone angry with you."

Ignacia snorted, muttering something under her breath.

"I heard that!" Cricket glared at her over Anstice's shoulder.

"Then what did I say?"

"That's not the point!"

Anstice laughed, shaking her head. "Try not to strangle him in his sleep Iggy. We need him back in one piece to run the kingdom."

"Aye, aye Advisor Dresden." Ignacia saluted, and winked.

Anstice stood at the gate, waving her fan to them until they were out of sight.