"What are you doing?"

Carter turned around. It was the next morning, and the royal delegation had checked out of the inn and was gathering back on the road. "I'm sitting down," Carter said.

"In the front seat of Seph's car?" Jacob asked in a hollow voice. "Where I always sit? That's basically a throne at this point, Noelle. I've tracked more dirt under that seat than you probably have dirt in your hair right now, and that's saying something. I can't let you sit there." 

"Y—"

"Yeah, I don't actually care. Go on if it makes you so happy." Jacob gave a wave of his hand and slid into the back seat next to Astrid, leaving Carter standing outside, speechless. 

Sephia rolled down the window to speak to her. "Get in, Noelle." Carter obeyed and took the shotgun seat, still thinking as the four of them resumed their journey. 

Throwing insults and immediately backing out… Jacob's method of annoyance would surely drive her mad. Not only that, but she'd expected his seating preference to be something he actually wanted to uphold. A point of pride worthy of contending, unlike having to pay for stuff, which she assumed princes already did, albeit indirectly. 

Astrid spoke. "Now we're really going to be in the North in a few hours! No more stops in any cities."

"Next time we're in Mavar Town, it'll be with the Zitaflora in our possession," Jacob replied. "Are you two feeling confident?"

"Of course," Carter said.

"Yes, Your Highness," Astrid said.

"Really? No doubts at all?" Jacob looked at Astrid. His prodding didn't have the usual enthusiasm to it. It was like he was just bored. "Aren't you concerned about your future?"

Astrid side-eyed him, waiting for him to continue.

Jacob sat up straight and dug around in his bag. "That's right, Faizah. Want me to tell your fortune?"

Carter's eyes widened. "You can tell the future without magic?"

"Certainly. I can use cards, fires, palms, crystals, whatever. Some may say it's less effective without actual clairvoyance, but I object. So how about it, Faizah?"

"If Your Highness wants me to, then I will."

"How boring, how frail. If you need orders, then I order you to be more interested." 

Astrid frowned and paused. "I'm interested."

"Lies." Jacob turned to Carter. "What about you, Noelle? If I tell your fortune, then I'll spare Faizah to her monotony."

"Well…" Carter looked off to the side and furrowed her brow, trying to mask her curiosity. "Alright. Just… to spare Astrid."

"Alright," Jacob said. With a smile, he took out a deck of cards and set his bag across his lap like a table. Carter and Astrid watched as he began to deftly shuffle the deck. Then Sephia drove them over a rut and a card slipped out. 

Carter picked it up. It had a picture of a frog on it. "Hey! These are the cards my mom used to teach me different animals!"

Jacob plucked it out of her hand and pouted. "Seriously? These kinds of cards aren't for children."

"No way." Now it was Carter's turn to smirk. "I think you're just using baby toys for your fortune-telling."

Jacob scowled but placed the deck face-down on the bag for Carter. "Here, divide it into three parts however you want."

Carter did so, setting the three smaller decks she'd made side-by-side. Then Jacob prompted her to select two of them, so she pointed them out.

Jacob drew a card from each of the decks she'd chosen. "This card will describe your present condition. And this other one will describe your future." He flipped over the first card and revealed that it was a dolphin, something Hathorshans never saw in person. He flipped over the second and revealed that it was a turtle.

"So what do they mean?" Carter asked.

"Well, the dolphin means…" Jacob trailed off. He frowned at the cards for some time. Astrid bit her lip. "It means…"

"Come on, what does it mean?"

"Just give me a minute!" Jacob snapped. Chin jutting out, he huffed and looked away. "It means that you've strayed too far from the natural order of things, but now you're getting back into it. It'll be good if you continue what you're doing. And this one..." Jacob picked up the turtle card and slapped it back down. "Well obviously a turtle can't be a good sign. But more than that it means you won't be able to form interpersonal relationships. Friends, lovers, things like that. I mean, nothing's set in stone, but that's what's most likely. And you'll die young or whatever." Jacob turned the cards over and shoved them all into his bag.

Carter laughed, but for a split second Astrid looked like she'd been slapped. Probably something to do with her aversion to fortune-telling. 

"Die young?" Carter asked. "How am I going to do that? I'm immortal."

Jacob waved his hand dismissively. "Okay, scratch that. Maybe it means you'll die but come back to life again, while you're still young."

Carter's face fell. "Oh."

There was a long silence, broken by Astrid. "Is it alright if we discuss what happened yesterday now?"

"Sure," said Jacob. "So it's a given that these guys are from the Northern Stronghold, right?" 

"I agree," said Astrid.

"It's not unlikely," Sephia pitched in.

"What?" Carter said. "What's the Northern Stronghold?"

"Our destination," Astrid said. "When Queen Mawara's forces inhabited the North, we set up a stronghold there. But recently, we've lost communication with them. It's part of the reason for this mission, although of course the main reason is to attain the Zitaflora."

"So you think your own soldiers betrayed you?" Carter asked.

"Maybe, but…"

Jacob broke in. "Remember what those two Mavar Town guards said? There was a pale brown-haired guy, who you and Astrid confirmed seeing at our door. There was the dark-skinned guy who wore his tunic's neck open for some reason. And there was the woman with long braids."

"The immortal one," Carter said.

"Right, and we recognize none of their descriptions," said Astrid. "It's not as though we'd definitely recognize anyone from the stronghold, but I don't think any immortals were ever sent there."

"They're probably all immortal. But we know that the woman with braids wasn't the one to curse me. It's one of the other two… or three, if those soldiers were right in thinking there was a sniper hidden on the scene as well," Jacob said. He was extremely focused on apprehending the person who cursed him. Although they all— excluding Astrid— had gone down to the scene yesterday, they'd spent most of their time searching the entire floor and questioning the cooks. It was unexpected that the Mavar Town guard would lose a fight.

"I think it was the brown-haired dude," Carter said. He was the only one they'd spotted in the inn, after all.

"I hope so. He's wounded, and if his buddies couldn't kill him to heal him, he'd be easy pickings."

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Carter had almost dozed off as the hours passed by, but she jolted up when Sephia stopped the car. “We’re here,” Sephia said, opening her door. They all started getting out.

It was afternoon. They were surrounded by trees and bushes, and Carter could hear a faint rushing of water nearby. “Where is here, exactly?” she asked.

Astrid studied the view outside. “Near the Northern Strait. Have you heard of it? It’s a large tree that bridges the gap between the North and the rest of Hathorsha. You can see a few waterfalls on the cliff, and below the Strait is an abyss."

“Whoa,” said Carter, stretching. “So we’re going to have to walk across a tree? Why couldn’t anyone build a bridge?”

“They tried, of course,” replied Astrid. “The Queen, bless her soul, really wanted to make the newly-inhabited North accessible to the rest of the country. But every time they tried to construct a metal bridge, the Great Python Dragonfish would eat it.” Astrid shrugged. “That's the creature living in the abyss, by the way.”

“It’s a dragon, a python, and a fish?”

“That’s just how it is in the North.”

“That sounds… kind of appetizing,” Carter said, licking her lips.

“I’m sure it feels the same way about you,” replied Astrid with a laugh.

Just then Jacob and Sephia approached them, the latter carrying three bags again.

“You can get your things,” she said.

“We’re just going to leave the car here?” asked Carter, gaping.

“It won't fit on the Strait. So yes, the rest of our journey is on foot.”

“Hey… since we're leaving the car behind, how about I secure it?" asked Jacob.

It was apparently a rhetorical question, because he was already unzipping his bag. Astrid took a step forward. "What are you doing?"

Jacob pulled out a stick of chalk and a handful of red candles. "A protection ritual. It's an abomination that I can hardly use my magic energy now, but luckily, ritual magic allows one to use energy from other sources, like the earth. Stand back, all of you."

Astrid obeyed along with the others, but said, "Have you ever done this before?"

Jacob didn't reply. He bent down and, using the chalk, drew a wide circle in the grass, enveloping the car. After craning his neck here and there to observe his handiwork, he shook his head and rounded the car once more, blurring the lines, and then tried to draw the circle again.

I guess that answers her question, Carter thought.

After approving the second circle, Jacob considered the candles in his hand. "Was it a triangular formation? Pentagonal? No..." he mumbled to himself. After several minutes of this, he began lodging candles in the dirt in a rough triangle, lighting them casually by sending small electric shocks from his wand.

This done, Jacob crouched at the halfway point between two of the candles and placed his gloved hands on the earth. He closed his eyes. He seemed to be concentrating and trying to draw that energy from the earth that he was talking about, and using it to ensure the car would stay intact.

Several long minutes went by in silence.

"What's going on?" Carter asked. "The earth got tired of you?"

There was no response from Jacob.

Sephia also spoke up hesitantly. “Your Grace, we need to cross the strait now, so that we have time to set up camp before it gets dark.”

Still he said nothing.

Carter scoffed. “Let’s just leave him. He’s easily the least important member of this group.” She was only half-joking.

As usual, Sephia ignored her outbursts. “I guess we’re spending the night here.”

“Wow, seriously?” Carter demanded. “You’re letting the prince take you off schedule? Are you okay with that, Astrid?” Carter wasn’t expecting much from this line of inquiry. She was pretty sure that Astrid was a weenie, and it didn’t help that she had been silent all this time. But now Carter could see that she was trembling, her stare fixed on Jacob.

Astrid spoke slowly. “We are not staying. No more delays.” She stepped forward. Jacob's eyes were open now but he seemed miles away, his face creased like he was trying to see something far off in the distance. “Your Highness. I’m sorry, but we need to leave now. This farcical ritual must come to an end.”

Predictably, Jacob didn't react at all. 

Astrid’s eyes narrowed, her expression changing from vague fear to determination. She shot her hand out, grabbing Jacob under the shoulder and yanking him to his feet.

Carter gasped, in spite of herself. Jacob stumbled forward and gaped at Astrid. He'd been caught completely off-guard. He was apparently so surprised by Astrid’s reaction that he forgot to be angry, only a small noise like creaking metal escaping from his lips.

Astrid took advantage of his bewilderment and immediately directed the group. “Alright, everyone ready? Let’s go!” she said cheerily.

Sephia had followed the events with an impartial eye. “Okay." She turned around and entered the gateway of trees and bushes.

Jacob blinked and violently jerked out of Astrid's grip. Then he flicked his cape and walked after Sephia.

Astrid followed, and then Carter.

"Dang, Astrid,” she said. “I didn’t know you could be so tough.”

"What do you mean?" Astrid replied quietly.

"You know what I mean. You just pushed around the prince of Hathorsha!" Carter said, some admiration slipping into her voice.

Astrid closed her eyes and shook her head slightly, smiling as if to say You've got it all wrong.