Chapter 58 - New Place New Idiots
"Are we there yet?"
Lucien"s group traveled for a day when Anne started asking Marie if they were already close. During the way along the wide road in the open plains, the group camped near large rocks and had a good share of moderate fun...
Marie looked at the mountains ahead and then nodded to Anne. "Yes, the Bluewind"s main city is between those mountains."
Lucien looked at the mountains, which seemed not far away and saw high gray walls. They had already pa.s.sed several caravans along the road, and he saw some distant villages, but he had not seen any major cities.
Marie had talked a lot about the Bluewind Kingdom during the journey. It was a vast kingdom, but with few people and only small villages, some cities a little bigger than villages, and the central town in the mountains.
The Olsen family has always ruled Bluewind. The current King was not from the royal family but from a neighboring kingdom. He married Marie"s mom, Angela Olsen, and is now the current King.
The Bluewind Kingdom has always been loyal to Portgreen, as one of many other smaller kingdoms. Ca.s.sidy always sent royal troops to defend the western border of Bluewind as many dangerous mystic beasts and bandits came from there.
But even with Portgreen"s help, Bluewind has always had problems with the western border, making almost half of its territory unusable by the population.
The fact that the kingdom did not have many warriors also made most of the territory dangerous for the villagers. The farms and villages had to be close to the main city and still suffered constant attacks, which made the kingdom not prosper.
While Ca.s.sidy"s administration tried to protect the people, they could live without fearing everything. But after the guild and mercenary groups took over Portgreen, no troops were sent to a.s.sist Bluewind.
Marie, the Second Princess of the kingdom, always had different thoughts about monarchy, but even she knew that they needed help. So she went to join the guild, not only to live far away from her complicated family but also to gain influence through her own efforts, and maybe one day be able to help her people.
She has been away from Bluewind for two months, but she had already seen some differences... The closer she got to home, the more mercenary groups she saw. Those mercenary groups had Portgreen emblems, but they were clearly away from the town for a long time, so they had no way of knowing about Lucien and Rose.
Even so, Mia and Ca.s.sidy were afraid to be discovered. Lucien wanted to kill some groups that looked at them, but as everyone in his group was wearing hoods, no one saw their faces.
So, they continued for a few hours until it was possible to see the great city in the middle of two mountains.
"It"s a beautiful city." Lucien couldn"t help praising Bluewind city; after all, it was the second big city he has seen in his life. It was not as big as Portgreen, but there were many tall towers and beautiful buildings on the part of the mountain surrounded by the gray wall, which was more than five meters high and made of stones.
"It"s not that great, but it"s my home..." Marie missed home, but she didn"t get along with her father and her sister... She had to leave, so as not to freak out... But now she was back and didn"t know how to feel.
The group proceeded to the large gate, where guards checked on people entering the city. The movement of people was not so numerous, but there were some merchants, mercenaries, and many peasants coming and going from the city.
There are about ten guards at the gate, and they wore an armor set, which looked old with the symbol of a white cloud on a light blue background. In Bluewind, there were no ID cards like Portgreen, so all they had to do was say their reason for entering the city, and if the guards saw no problems, they could enter.
The guards saw Lucien"s group approaching and thought they were hooded mercenaries. They did not like to depend on outsiders to help the kingdom, but there were not many warriors, and the King had to hire many travelers in those difficult times.
"Second princess!! I"m sorry, my princess. I got carried away." The guard who went to check on Lucien"s group was surprised when Marie took off her hood, revealing her beautiful blue hair. The two princesses and the queen were the only people in the city with blue hair.
"Is there a problem, guard? Let us through, and please don"t comment about my return." Marie acted in a way that Lucien had not seen. She always seemed very serious, but now she seemed a little sad as she spoke coldly.
Lucien was behind Marie, but somehow he felt Marie"s mood change. He then walked over her side and took her hand without saying anything.
"Ah!?" Marie exclaimed sheepishly, making the guards stare at them, and Lucien smiles. She felt Lucien"s hand holding hers and reacted on impulse... But not trying to pull away as she would have done before, but squeezing his hand.
"Yes, of course, my princess. Your group can pa.s.s." Everyone knew that the Second Princess was a very reclusive person and sharp. n.o.body wanted to have problems with royalty, so the guard controlled his curiosity and acted seriously and respectfully...
But he certainly would gossip about seeing the "ice princess" blush when a stranger touched her hand...
Lucien"s group caught everyone"s attention. Not only did they look like mysterious mercenaries, but Oya and Ko caught everyone"s attention as tamed mystic beasts were uncommon in Bluewind.
The group went through the big gate, and Lucien again saw a lot of people. It was very different from Portgreen, but the Bluewind city also had its charm. The architecture of the buildings was similar, with almost everything made of gray stone. Everything looked very old.
Another difference of Portgreen was that almost everyone there was human, and just a few demi-humans are seen in groups who looked like travelers. Merchants, guards, and citizens are all human.
Maria never liked to draw attention, so she put on her hood again and led the group towards the castle. As the city was built on the mountain, the entire structure was sloped, and the group had to go up the street.
In the gate where the lower part of the mountain was, there a street that pa.s.sed through the middle of the two mountains, and the other streets were sloped to the two peaks. Walls surrounded half of each mountain. The end and beginning of the lowest street were the entrances and exits of the city.
Lucien did not stop holding Marie"s hand as his group continued up the sloping street. She was flushed, but no one noticed because of the hood.
The guard who saw Marie at the gate warned the others and called a messenger near the city"s entrance. "Let the King know that the Second Princess has returned!"
The man did not think twice and ran to the castle. His job was to report to the King about anyone important who pa.s.sed through the gates, so he was swift and knew shortcuts to the castle. He could quickly get there before Lucien"s group, who was walking.
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"Do you like it?"
"..."
"Do you feel so good that you can"t talk?"
"..."
Inside a large luxurious room, a fat man with gray hair was lying on top of a woman who did not look very young but was not ugly.
The man continued to rub his old body against the woman who was clearly not enjoying it but was trying to keep a fake smile on her face.
"Say you like it... Or I"ll have you hit..." The man wanted the woman to m.o.a.n under his body, but she was silent all the time, and the man could not continue for a few more seconds.
"I..." The woman was not happy to be with that man, even though he was the highest authority in the city, he was just disgusting, and she couldn"t pretend to be enjoying it.
"b.i.t.c.h!" The man lost his temper. He just wanted her to m.o.a.n, and he saw no problem with that. To disobey such a simple order was to ask for a beating. He raised his hand to hit the woman in the face.
*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*
The woman was startled. She didn"t expect the man to hit her for something so stupid, but before she was abused, they heard a knock on the door, and an anxious voice came from outside the room.
"My King, the Second Princess has returned. I"m sorry to interrupt, but you ordered us to report anything about her immediately."
"What?!" Julius Olsen, the King of Bluewind, left the bed when he heard his guard"s voice and ran towards the door eagerly.
"My King..." The guard saw the King open the door n.a.k.e.d and was disgusted, but made his best smile while reporting on the arrival of Marie.
Julius dressed quickly, took his crown, and left the room after giving the woman in bed a stern look and closing the door. "Don"t let her leave the room. I have to punish her today."
The guard could only feel sorry for the poor woman because it was not known to everyone, but the King could be very cruel to women... While he was watching the bedroom door, Julius prepared to receive his not-so-loved daughter...
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"Who are you?!" One of the royal guards, securing the entrance to the great gray castle, asked Lucien"s group, who had just arrived.
Lucien paid no attention to the guard as he was still looking at the castle. It was very high with more than a hundred meters, also made of the old gray stones like the walls.
It was on an upper part of the mountain, so on one side, he could see the whole city, and on the other, it was a cliff where had an unlimited view of the distant horizon.
The guard saw the group still approaching the castle"s doors and was upset. He called them because he saw the white tigresses and found the group suspicious. He prepared to aim the spear at them...
"It"s me." Marie took off her hood, and the guards were relieved. They acted arrogantly because they were royal guards, but they would not show disrespect to the royalty.
"Second Princess, I"m happy with your safe return. Please come in. Everyone missed you very much." The guard bowed, and so did his companions. Everyone acted very politely, but Marie knew they were just pretending. She was not a very popular person like her sister...
"Let"s go," Marie called the group as she entered the castle.
"Wait! You have to remove the hood." The guard who had spoken to Marie saw Ca.s.sidy entering behind her and reached out to remove Ca.s.sidy"s hood.
*Woosh*
The guard acted quickly, but before anyone understood what was going on, they heard the sound of something sharp cutting the wind.
"AAAAAHHHRR!!!" No one noticed when the red katana appeared in Lucien"s hands. He cut the guard close to his shoulder, severing his entire arm still in heavy armor.
The other three guards tried to aim their spears at Lucien, but even if they were very fast, they were still slower than Lucien"s women, who drank a lot of "boost milk."
Astrid held a guard by the neck. Mia pointed her dagger at another guard"s neck. Rose made a stone spear in the air, which also aimed at the third guard"s neck.
"d.a.m.n it! s.h.i.+t! s.h.i.+t! AAAHHH!!" The guard continued to cry on the floor as he lost his blood quickly by the severe wound. Lucien was swinging his sword in the air to get the blood off of it.
"Did you try to order my wife?" Marie held Lucien"s hand to prevent him from going too far, but it didn"t help because he ignored her, and approached the guard on the floor to stomp on his belly, kneading his armor into the chest.
*Plhurr*
"No!!! Stop!! Please!!!" The guard spits out a large amount of blood when Lucien stomped on his belly and started to beg while crying.
The other guards wanted to do something, but a move and Lucien"s women would kill them. Marie didn"t know whether to stop Lucien. She did not want to see unnecessary deaths, but she would not go against Lucien... Not after accepting to be with him even though she knew his cruel personality.
Ca.s.sidy wanted to say it was enough, but like the other girls, she would not side with other people and against her man. She was actually happy that he called her his wife...
"Stop? I"m not sure... What do you think, girls?"
Lucien knew he was overreacting, but why would he let anyone get away with trying to touch his sweet Ca.s.sidy? What kind of man would he be if he did not punish such an offense...