Ambassador to the Freaks

(7) Farewell to Joten

The day went so fast that Lewin was not sure his feet ever touched the ground.

Auren dragged him out of the garden by the wrist, a stream of questions pouring out of her mouth. She did not even wait for an answer to all of them; she was largely just thinking out loud, trying to get her mind around the situation. Today? Today!? He was only fifteen, and untrained! Did he have any swordsmanship? Horsemanship? Any magic? Diplomacy? How much money would they have? The original contract included five years of work. This would be a bad mark on Mellius’s record with the Mercenary’s Guild!

Lewin barely heard a word. He was leaving, leaving the only home he knew to live with strangers. He had held the day of his departure as an exciting dream, but he had always held it at arm’s length. It was in some distant future, a time past tomorrow that would never truly arrive. Well, it was here, and his stomach turned somersaults.

He was in the castle now. Auren split off from him and went searching for the king. Lewin was taken by his tailor, who was clearly in a foul mood. They had discussed before now about how, when he left, he would be wearing a suit worthy of his position. It would be a masterpiece, carrying with it the honor of Joten’s craftsmanship. Now the Ambassador found himself being shoved in and out of Prince Derrian’s old clothes just to find something that fit.

Next, the librarian caught him in the hallway. Lewin was going to ask if he could take some helpful text on his journey, but the bookkeeper’s gaze stayed his tongue. Apparently, Lewin’s poor treatment of the books had been found out, and he would be taking nothing with him.

Did he have a chance to eat lunch? Lewin couldn’t remember.

He was in the armory now, his cobbler and a knight captain both vying for his attention. What shoes did he have? What shoes did he need? Should he carry a sword? His current boots were falling apart. The sword that the king had commissioned for him was too heavy for a boy his age. Would he need cold weather shoes? There was no armor for someone his size.

Lewin heard something else in the distance. “Quiet!” He had not meant to shout, but the stress of the day was starting to get to him. “What is that?”

It sounded like an army: voices shouting, footfalls, hooffalls, and the clatter of metal and wood. The captain said, “That’s your escort, Ambassador.”

For a few seconds, Lewin sat there, dumbfounded. The next moment he was tripping over a crate as he dashed out of the room. The sounds grew louder and louder as he drew closer to the parade grounds just inside the north gate. He saw the grounds from down a long hall, and they were sparkling with light reflecting on metal. Knights, fully armored, filled the space in well-ordered formations. It looked like more soldiers than lived in the castle; some of these must have been Prince Bredan’s men. Wagons were gathered between the lines of cavalry. Lewin came to a stop at the open doors and leaned against a statue to recover his breath. He felt like throwing up.

Down the hall in the direction from which he had come, Auren’s voice could be heard shouting at someone about something. Was this small army here to replace her as his escort?

An order was shouted and every soldier responded at once. The ground seemed to shake as their feet moved in perfect rhythm; the vibrations nearly made Lewin vomit again.

In the middle of the parade grounds there was a man on horseback dressed like a prince, but it wasn’t Bredan or the king. This man saw Lewin and began riding toward him. Lewin wanted to run, to flee the castle, or maybe go into hiding. Monsta hid pretty well, so maybe she could hide him, too.

The man on the horse arrived at the steps and dismounted, handing the reins to a nearby soldier. He hurried up the stairs and finally Lewin saw his face under the fancy hat he wore. This was a noble, a boy not much older than he was. Lewin had seen him in the castle many times, but had never learned his name.

“Ambassador. Are you all right?”

“Yeah. Just…” Lewin pushed himself up and took a few heavy breaths. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

“They hired me to play you.”

“What?” Then Lewin noticed his eyes, which had been drained of their color by some trick of alchemy. They were nearly as grey as the real Ambassador’s, though they retained a bit of their natural blue.

“It’s an honor. I hope my efforts allow you to do your job well.” The noble bowed and returned to his place in the army.

Lewin stumbled around to the back of the statue, which was of a dryad against its tree. He slumped to the ground where none of the soldiers would see him and closed his eyes. Maybe a moment of quiet would help.

It didn’t. No matter how far he retreated into his mind, worries followed him. Maybe it would be fine. Maybe he could return to the castle after his first ceremony…

The ceremony. He had read and reread the details of it, but now he could not remember anything. Would he even be able to perform his duties?

The dwarves were first. They were close to Joten and always on good terms with humans. Well, not good, but not hostile either. It would be good practice.

Someone grabbed his arm. “Where is the dispensary!?”

Lewin jumped up and hit his head against the statue. Auren was hovering over him, her hair having returned to its natural state of mess. “Auren, what’s going on?”

“I can’t get anyone to help me!” She turned to leave, but Lewin grabbed the hem of her skirt, bringing her to a sudden halt and toppling her to the floor.

“Wait!” Auren turned back to look at him. Both of them were short on breath. “Tell me what is happening out there.” He pointed to the parade grounds. “I was never told about a royal escort.”

“That’s your decoy.”

“My what?”

Auren kicked her skirt loose from his grip. Lewin had not even realized that he was still holding her. “Come with me.”

“It’s all politics, Lewin. Your king is good at making friends with human kingdoms, but he’s even better at making enemies with non-human nations. He’s got the felians mad at him, and he thinks you’re his solution.”

“What? I can’t stop a war.”

“Well…” Auren stopped walking to examine the boy. “Historically, Ambassadors have stopped wars before.”

“I know that, but the first Ob-Enon had angels with him. Syrsisec, the ophidian Ob-Enon, had been doing her job for decades.”

“What about Urhul? He was pretty new at the job, and he…”

“He was a cyclops! I can’t crush siege weapons like he could! I’m not ready for this!”

Lewin’s voice echoed down the corridors, but there was no one to hear him. Everyone in the castle was busy somewhere.

Auren knelt down and held his face next to hers. “No, you’re not. But you will be. We’ll have at least a week and a half of travel before we get there, and I’ll get you ready.”

He calmed down a little. “But the dwarves are only five days away, at least by the mountain road.”

“That’s where your decoy is going. You’re not going to the dwarves. You’re going to the dryads.” She continued before he could ask any more questions. “From what I can gather, it was Bredan’s idea to send out this fake group. They’re designed to draw any felians that might be trying to kill you.”

“What!?”

“They’re making some aggressive movements, and some of the prince’s spies think they might attack you. So, you’ll be headed south while they head west.”

“But why do they want to kill me?”

Auren took his hand and they continued moving. “Because their chieftains are just as pig-headed as your king, that’s why. And you’re only going to the dryads first because they’re on the way.”

Lewin had to think about what she meant. To the south of Joten were the great forests, and beyond that was the Di-Joten river. The south side of the river was hemmed by the high mountains where…

He stopped. “The cyclopes?” The words barely had the strength to escape his mouth.

“Yeah. Mellius wants you to negotiate with them.”

All Lewin’s other worries became insignificant. “I can’t.”

“You have to.”

“I won’t.”

“You’re gonna, and I’ll be with you. But in case you don’t make it, you’d better say goodbye now to anyone you care about.”

Their wandering had brought them to the door leading to the baths. One look at the statues and Lewin was running for the gardens. Auren also saw them and ran off, but in a different direction.

“Monsta! Monsta!” Lewin had never moved so clumsily through the gardens before. He tripped over bushes and roots. His vision was playing tricks, making the trees spin and bend around him. He could not get his balance. One bad step sent him stumbling, and his stumbling feet stepped right into the water. He hit the surface and went under, sucking in a mouthful of water from the jolt. He had been swimming for nearly a decade, but today all his experience dissolved in the water, and he flailed about hopelessly.

Then a pair of arms took him and carried him to the surface. Monsta lifted him out of the water and dropped him on the shore. While he recovered his breath, she slithered up over the stone lip and put her arms around him. She made the soft chirping sound that he had heard before, when she had been abused or hurt. Lewin put his arm around her.

The mermaid pulled herself up to look him in the eyes. “Are you going?”

“Yes. I have to.” Her face dropped and she let out another soft chirp. “I’m the Ob-Enon, Monsta. I have to go.”

“Tell king you won’t. He can’t make you go.”

“But he can exile me from the castle.” Lewin sat up. “Besides, he needs my help to stop a war, or something like that. I have to help if I can.”

The little nereid stared at him, at his familiar face and his familiar eyes. “Wait here.” She pulled herself back into the water. He called out for her to stop, but she was gone in a moment.

Monsta’s head was in a similar state to Lewin’s. Her ability to navigate the already complex castle had never been worse. Even with her ability to see shapes in the dark, she had to double back twice after having taken the wrong path. She splashed into her cistern and rushed into her chamber. The bones she had hung up whipped around from the force of her entry. She grabbed the dagger from behind her bed and, seeing the tiny bottle containing the earring, took that as well.

The trip back up was slower, though only because she knew that she would have to say goodbye when she got there. But if she waited too long, he might have left the gardens, and she might not see him at all. She turned a different direction in the castle’s plumbing so that she would emerge closer to the entrance to the gardens, just in case. This exit was smaller; she had to squeeze through. The water entering the garden’s waterways stopped for a moment as the mermaid made her way through the opening, holding the dagger ahead of her.

“Little fry!” Monsta instinctively dived under at the sound of a voice, but quickly realized that it was Auren. She came back up to see the mercenary, whose hair had degraded from mess to tangled mess. “Where is Lewin? We need to hurry.”

Monsta led her through the garden. She was tempted to lead her wrong.

Lewin was sitting by the stream where she had left him. Monsta approached with the dagger hidden, planning to present it as a gift to help him remember her. But that mercenary woman got in the way and pulled him to his feet. “Hurry, help me find a cart.”

“Why?”

She pointed at Monsta. “Because she can’t walk on her own. We’re taking her with us.”

The mermaid dropped her treasures in surprise. A moment later she was out on land, hugging the mercenary’s legs while Lewin embraced her top half. He smiled wider than he normally would have; it had been a hard day. “Auren, how did you…?”

“Turns out the king was happy to see her go. Bet he’ll miss her next time he drops his crown in the moat.”

Lewin and Auren descended the steps where they had met that morning, though this time they were carrying a mermaid. Monsta had never seen this part of the castle before. It had always been so close, yet unreachable. She eyed every part of it like it were a place out of a fairytale. They dropped her in the back of an old cart on a bag of cornmeal. She sat there with the few other things Lewin was taking out of the castle. She had a few objects with her, wrapped up in lily pads. Lewin had never seen her with possessions before, and hadn’t imagined her owning anything. No one had found a horse to draw the cart, so Auren hefted the poles and started tugging.

The sound of the decoy group leaving was loud enough that they heard it here, on the west side of the castle. Only the three of them were leaving by this bridge, though one other would be joining them later.

The guards at the door eyed the cart as it exited. As strange as it was for the Ob-Enon’s exit to be so… lackluster, and as odd as it was to see a fray-haired woman dragging the cart, they were also getting their first (and probably last) good look at the mermaid. She stared back at them with her green eyes. Had these two been some of the ones that had called her a monster? It didn’t matter now. She was leaving the castle forever. By land, strange as it seemed to her. Even being up on this bridge made her afraid from the height.

“Let me through!”

“Princess…”

“Let me through!” Lewin heard a shove and turned just in time to see the guard tumble into the moat. The other backed away from the red-faced Princess Elocyne. She held up her skirts to run, and she ran like a charging animal toward the departing group. Terra followed her, but even she had trouble keeping up. The princess skidded to a halt next to the cart and threw out an accusing finger toward Lewin. “How dare you!”

Auren put down the cart and took a moment to rest. “Princess, how nice to meet you…”

“You will speak when spoken to! Lewin!” He took a step backward. “How could you not say goodbye to me?”

“Princess… everything moved so quickly…”

“You were cruel to think you just sneak away! Cruel!” She stopped to catch her breath. Her face changed a few shades, approaching her normal color again.

“Elocyne… did you run here from the north gate? Did you think that was me?”

She ignored the question. “I would expect you to seek me out. At least Secundus had the decency to wait for me!”

Terra leaned forward and whispered, “Highness, image.”

Elocyne looked up and saw that that, from across the moat, a small crowd had gathered. It seems that her knocking a guard into the moat and screaming at the top of her lungs had attracted some attention. She straightened her posture, adjusted her crown, and spoke slowly. “Ob-Enon, our friendship is… valuable to me. It would be worth a farewell kiss, I think. However, that would be inappropriate for someone of my station. I hope you understand.”

Lewin blushed a little. He could not tell if she was blushing; her face was still red from other reasons. “I do understand, Highness. Our friendship is very valuable to me as well.”

She nodded. “Good.”

“Yeah.”

She was not supposed to be this far out of the castle without more escorts, and Terra would get in trouble if the princess did not go back inside. But Lewin was leaving, just like that. “…if you find yourself near Kuwan province this winter, take shelter at the estate. They will receive you warmly.”

“Yes, Princess Elocyne.”

The princess turned her head of golden hair and walked back across the bridge, looking every bit like a proper royal. Terra turned to follow, but Monsta called her over. The nereid handed something to the handmaiden and whispered in her ear.

Once they were gone, Auren bent down to pick up the cart’s poles. “Looks like someone inherited a little more from her father than her mother. Shame.”

“That’s my friend, Auren.”

“She’s royalty, Lewin. Friendship is currency to nobles. That’s my first lesson for you, and the better you learn it, the longer you’ll survive.”