A picket of horses stood by the outer entrance of the gate, that were mixed of different breeds. To one end there were a few draft horses, and a few appaloosas that had been recently groomed. They looked picturesque, and well fed.  

The outer perimeters of the gate were populated with a small group of people that did menial jobs like carpentry and farming. She could see a few wagons transporting goods from the capital to other parts of the country, and a few nobles in their flashy attire, on horseback making their way out in a gallop to go hunting.  

There was a sense of calm in the area, with nobody that seemed in a hurry to get to their destination. Leticia could never recall such an atmosphere during her mother’s rule. 

“Your grace, we have arrived at the entrance” the coachmen announced, and Leticia had pulled away the curtain to get a closer view of the gate's details. 

“The gate is quite stunning.” Leticia unconsciously stated, and the coachmen who heard this agreed.   

“The granite stone walls, and the etched emblem are quite the works of art.”  

“Yes... yes, they are.” She nodded, before she too observed the granite stone that lined the wall with the etched emblem of the Braxton empire that was about fifteen feet in size on its side. It had a slight golden shimmer to it at an angle, that had been recently done by a painter.  

Leticia for some reason, subconsciously touched the hinges of the door and opened it without a second thought. She allowed herself to take those steps outside of this bubble, and into the large crowds of people that were living their day to day lives. 

An older woman who carried a bunch of laundry had stopped in her tracks just short of where Leticia stood. Her eyes fixated and certain that the person she saw, was who she thought it would be. “Isn’t that the Duke?” She pointed out, and the crowds of people slowly came to a halt.  

“Where??” the voices stammered, and Leticia without a second to spare was now slowly being bombarded by people. They had started to surround the area, and cause congestion in the area. 

“It is nice to meet you all.” Leticia tried to keep herself in character. 

“You have graciously showed us your presence, your grace.” The woman stammered, as the laundry in her hands was put to the floor. She held her hands out for Leticia to take and Leticia granted her request and took it. It seemed Fredrick was quite popular amongst the people, as the crowds of people continued to grow to a point where her own men had to step in on their mounts to push back the crowd. Their horses frolicked, as the crowd became unmanageable.  

“Your grace, this was not planned.” one of the knights stated, while he led his horse towards the crowd to push them away. His horse who didn’t agree, began to pull back with his head turned to the side.  

Leticia felt this might be too dangerous, and ordered her men to pull back. “You might hurt the people. Pull back.”  The knights eased up their reins and slowly adjusted their horses to create a small barricade around her.  

Leticia gave a set of orders to allow the people to greet her, which she would ultimately regret, as the small area became overcrowded with goods that were being gifted to her. She watched as each person doted on her, adored her and loved her.  

“You should go back inside the carriage, your grace.” the knights said in concern, while Leticia held a large bulk of grain, flowers, and fruits in her hands.  

She put everything on the ground, and retired herself back towards the carriage. Her eyes observed the faces of everyone that still had yet to greet her. “I do not need any of this. Have this redistributed to the people.” 

“Understood.” A few of the knights had gotten themselves off their mounts and were picking up and clearing the area of goods by handing them back into the crowd. The people cheered, as the last of the items were handed away.  She watched the knights surround the carriage, and the people slowly going back to their daily lives.  

Is that what it felt like to be a hero? If that were the case, she envied it.  

 “Let’s head to the checkpoint.” Leticia felt they should not waste any more time here. 

 The coachmen who had been enjoying the break above, hastily got himself into position. He gave a small snap of the whip to turn the carriage around to make their way to the front of the gate. 

Leticia felt a sense of exhaustion with her head now leaned up against the window.  

A few loud shouts here and there and another one that demanded paperwork, made her straighten herself out. Her hands pulled away the curtains to see the carriage had come to a full stop in front of a few knights that were standing at the checkpoint heavily geared, with their swords tied to their waist buckle. They had their hands extended outwards to the next set of people, as they were given a handful of documents. They quickly looked through them, and with a quick look over allowed them through. 

  Leticia closed the curtain and dug around a bit through her attire. She had come empty handed.  

Did she need to bring paperwork? She thought for certain they might have to turn around and head back. Her hands reached for the curtain to tell them to turn around before she heard laughter from above and down below. 

“It has been a while.” the voices bickered and one of the voices came from the coachmen. It seemed he had started a conversation with the knights. 

“It has been.” They all snickered amongst one another.  “His grace doing alright?” They all wanted to know.  

“He is on his mends.” The coachmen replied with a hearty voice. 

“That is good to hear. It broke us all, to see him in the state he was in.” The knights expressed a jubilant reply. “How about you? Do you plan to stay a coachman forever?” They prodded. 

“Ha. Ha. I am retired now.” He heartfully mentioned, and the knights continued to pester him. 

“Go on ahead.”  

“I am sure we can catch up with a few drinks in the future.” The coachman promised, as the carriage staggered forward.  

The men seemed to have lined themselves up against the wall and in unison, as the carriage passed through the gate gave Leticia a warm, “Welcome back, Your Grace!”  

Leticia in turn, who heard these words, could not accept them. Thus, she simply remained silent.