The group rode mostly in silence for the next few hours, passing by a few groups of traders and hunters who set up base in the flatlands of the Emerald Sea. They greeted a few of them along the way but continued without stopping until they reached their destination. Posshin was one of the few villages in the Emerald Sea that was known to both the Kingdom and the Empire for being friendly to outsiders. Upon arrival, one could tell that the village was less of a village, and more of a group of around five or six active farm houses that all congregated around a central watering hole. Across from the watering hole was an Inn that housed travelers and traders whom had business at either side of the sea. As the Prince and his company entered the town, only a few people came out to greet them. The Prince’s name did not hold the same significance in the lowlands as it did in the Kingdom. To the farmers here, he would be another customer. A few of the children, however, seemed very pleased by his presence. They ran from their homes, despite a few vocal protest from their parents, and followed alongside the company’s now slowed horses. As a sign of good faith, Zephèl, along with Mathias and Lyrian, passed out copper pennies and candies. The children took to them quickly and followed them all the way in to the center of town.

The group had been fairly quiet since their last break a few hours ago, and it was, to the group’s surprise, Allia who broke that silence. She rode up next to Mathias and lightly tugged at his sleeve. The man jumped at the suddenness of her actions.

“Is something the matter?” He asked, his voice filled with concern for the usually shy captain. The girl’s finger was pointed at the center of town near the watering hole. There was a block of wood with two rusty swords sticking out of it. Understanding the girl’s curiosity, he pointed to the royal mark on Zephèl’s horse, “This is your first time outside of the Kingdom, right? It is pretty common for the friendlier towns in the Emerald Sea to have shrines for the Two Heroes. Of course, theirs usually look old and modest, like that one. But it is something to show their favor towards Balthae,” He explained, his mannerisms very matter-of-fact.

“I see. They show loyalty to Balthae but they are not protected in return?” She whispered, clearly trying her best not to be overheard.

“Not officially, no. But if the king wishes to spare a few extra resources to help these people, he will. That’s the kind of person he is,” He was looking at Zephèl as he spoke.

Allia tried to match his gaze as though not fully understanding the weight and meaning of the words that Mathias was saying. She nodded her head slowly in agreement.

“Mathias, Allia! Hurry up, please, I need you two to take care of the horses as I arrange our lodgings here!” They heard Zephèl calling from a ways in front of them. Neither of them had noticed that they had fallen behind at all.

“Yes, sir!” they called back in unison

The two of them caught up within moments as they approached the inn that Zephèl planned to stay at. Without any order or care for etiquette, the six of them jumped off their horses. It was then that the prince started giving orders,

“Jania, please come in an make arrangements with me and help me bring our stuff inside. Kaoli, you go with Lyrian to see whatever food, water, and other supplies you can get for the rest of our journey. Mathias and Allia—“

“Your highness, if I may,” Lyrian cut in quickly.

“What is it Commander?”

“I’d like Allia to come with me. I have something important to discuss with her,” Lyrian did not look to happy as she said that.

“I see, well then. Kaoli, please accompany Mathias with the horses.”

“Yes, sir!” he responded, quickly and stiffly as always.

Zephèl returned his quick response with a soft smile,

“Alright then, whenever you have finished your task please return here.”

“Yes, sir” They all responded in unison.

As they all started going about their business, Zephèl and Jania started to unload their baggage from the backs of their horses, while Kaoli and Mathias started to take of their tacking. The prince’s pace was definitely slower than Jania’s. However, it was clear by the amount of baggage she took from each of the horses, she was set on carrying more than the prince. They worked in silence for awhile while Zephèl kept shooting frustrated looks at Mathias who kept returning his gaze by rolling his eyes. After getting the hint that Mathias was not going to help him on this matter, Zephèl took matters into his own hands. When they had finished unloading the horses and Mathias and Kaoli had started to lead them away, Zephèl went up beside the taller woman and started to forcefully take things from her hands,

“I was not sure at first if I was just slow at unloading the horses or if you were trying to make sure I did not carry too much. But now that it has become clear, I would like to point out one thing to you. While we are outside the kingdom, you treat me as a friend. Not a superior.” Zephèl was looking Jania straight in the eyes as he spoke in a cool, serious tone that set the amazonian beauty aback.

He smiled and continued moving past her, purposefully ignoring her surprised expression, “I wonder what your father has told you about me,” he continued, “Must be some pretty frightening things if you feel the need to constantly watch your step with me,” Zephèl was laughing at the thought as he continued to walk into the inn.

Jania quickly ran up beside him, shaking her head, looking down at him, trying to return his gaze.

“Nothing like that all, my prince—“ She started but he quickly cut her off,

“Zephèl.”

“Zephèl. Nothing like that all, Zephèl,” She stopped as though saying his name was like a foreign substance in his mouth, “It is just the training we receive requires us to respect hierarchy,” her voice was strong and decisive as she chose her words around him.

“Is that so? Well, I guess they should make it clear that should only apply while we are in the palace,” he was laughing again as she looked just as confused as she did before.

Before she could say anything else, he quickly made his way to the Inn keeper, knocking a few times on the counter to get his attention. The Inn keeper was a rather young man, younger than he expected. He could only assume that the former Inn keeper had died recently and passed on the business to this young fellow, his son or nephew, perhaps? The prince had only been to this Inn once or twice, and he definitely did not remember the Inn keeper to be this young. He was still older than Zephèl though, maybe by ten years or so. Passing over the thought, he put on his ever-charming, courtly smile, and greeted the Inn keeper with a firm handshake as though they were old friends,

“Evening, my good man,” Zephèl spoke as though they were equals which set a look of horror on young Jania’s face.

“Likewise to you, sir,” The innkeeper’s voice had a strange, warm, richness to it that was unbecoming of someone in his line of work. He spoke more like a man of the theatre rather than an Innkeeper.

“I’d like four of your rooms for the night, three singles and one that can fit three men,” He said, placing a bag of a random amount of gold on the table.

The Innkeeper’s eyes opened wide as he heard the heavy thunk of gold coins on the bar. It did not matter which country’s currency it belonged to, gold was gold. Zephèl noticed the man’s hesitation in front of him as well as Jania realizing what the Prince had just paid for. The man slowly picked up the bag of coins from off the table, delicately handling it as he checked the contents just to make sure his ears didn’t deceive him. His eyes widened significantly after double checking the contents and he was quickly nodding his head and bowing his head to his esteemed patron.

“Yes, sir. Of course, sir,” The man was scrambling to gather the keys off the stand and deposit them into the prince’s hand, “Right this way, sir.”

The man handed him three smaller keys and one larger one. As the man started to lead them upstairs, Zephèl turned around and deposited one of the smaller keys into Jania’s hand. She opened her mouth to voice her protest but Zephèl just gave her a scolding look and continued on after the inn keeper.

All the keys were numbered so it was not difficult to find which room was which. Zephèl and Jania had deposited everyone’s luggage accordingly and waited in the lobby for the rest of their company to return. Mathias and Kaoli were the first to return from their duties about an hour after the two had left them to deal with the horses. They both smelled like the pens they had been cleaning their horses in and the Prince quickly ushered both of them to go take a bath as soon as he smelled their arrival. Allia and Lyrian were obviously the last to arrive. They returned to the inn with their arms full of water skins and sacks of grain and salted meats. Zephèl and Jania promptly helped them with their things as Lyrian was still lecturing the girl about proper etiquette. After they had all returned and washed up, they all decided to meet in the room Zephèl had reserved for himself and the two other men. The six started to discuss their plans for the rest of the journey, such as how far they would travel into the sea, what they would do if they encountered any sort of aggression along the way, whether it be bandits or enemy soldiers, their attack plans had to be different. They had not really gotten all too far discussing their plans when the innkeeper decidedly knocked on their door well into the night carrying trays of hot food, water, and warm cider that seemed to be carefully prepared in their honor.

“I thought you may be hungry, and you will need your strength for traversing the rest of the sea,” He said in that strangely warm voice with a fatherly look on his face.

Zephèl agreed, giving the man a slight smirk and took the trays from him and handed him a few extra silvers, “No, sir. I can’t accept this.”

“Ah, but you must. Please see that this town is well taken care of once we leave in the morning,” He wasn’t demanding about the way he spoke to the man. He had the grace of a kind leader in his actions and tone that made the man bow his head almost as if it was the natural reaction to do so. Zephèl set the trays down and loudly clapped his hands with a hungry look on his face. The Innkeeper made his leave and the prince looked through the faces of his company as he presented their meal to them, “What are you waiting for? Help yourselves.”

Following their leader’s request, they all partook in the plentiful meal.