“Any signs yet?” Deciding to move on from that subject, Hamon asked about the current situation.

“None. Hasn’t been a peep so far.” Charle waved his hand lazily.

“Has the war begun then?” Hamon questioned. It’d spell trouble for them if that was true. The situation was already very dire with Madoshi without power. The only one Hamon could really count on was the constantly smiling Charle. And that was something he didn’t feel happy about.

The other man elected to ignore the question and simply closed his eyes. “We’ll know soon enough. Someone’s coming.”

Hamon peered off in a distance. Was he just blind? Even after concentrating so much, he failed to see what Charle had apparently seen.

But sure enough, a horseback rider soon came stampeding toward them. The rider, drabbed in crimson-red attire, had a fiery-red feathered helmet, a sign that he was a member of the Paladin Order.

The rider continued to travel until he was within a hundred paces away from Charle and Hamon. Held high in his hand was the banner of Karth; this man was presumably a peace envoy.

Hamon rode forward to meet the opposing paladin.

The two paladins dismounted and walked closer to one another to salute and greet one another, much to the relief of both sides. Traditionally, the Paladins and Royal Guards were protectors and bodyguards of the royal family of their respective nations. Once a friendly line of communication was established, one could be sure that they would remain to be friendly. Underhanded tactics and trickery weren’t in the playbooks for either of the two.

So even the princess felt the boulder of burden lift slightly from her shoulders at the enemy paladin’s actions. Smiling at the peace between the two, she quickly urged her horse forward before the two paladins beside her could stop her and made her way over.

A sigh escaped from Charle as he shook his head. He knew this would happen and that there’d be nothing he could to stop her now.

The messenger from the paladins was already heading back to his side when the princess arrived on sight. Hamon had only just turned around when she appeared on her horse. He blinked once before glaring at the two paladins responsible for keeping her in check.

“Your Highness,” He exhaled slowly, “I seem to recall us having an agreement.”

“Yes yes, I admit my wrongs. But pray tell me, what message did that messenger bring?”

“Commander,” Hamon ignored her to address Charle, “Archmagister Kebrilio is just up ahead.”

The news dropped heavily on them like a heavy boulder into water. Waves of anxiety washed over everyone as they ruminated on the implications of this information.

If Charle had a handful of people he didn’t want to fight, then Kebrilio would rank highly among that list. He had no strategy against one who studied the forbidden arts like Kebrilio, only Madoshi could hope to counter the magus, but not in his current state.

For once, Charle looked contemplative. “Let that knight be our guide, we’ll go meet with Kebrilio.”

Hamon went off to make the arrangements at once, giving the princess an opportunity to speak.

“Dearest uncle, does this not seem too dangerous a path?”

“It’s a gamble. We’ll have to deal with these folks anyways if we want to go to Karth. Ye think we’d be able to escape from a concentrated assault from the paladins now? Or if Kebrilio uses his magic on us? Don’t ye forget we’re here on a mission, not a wild goose chase.”

His response caused the princess to immediately grow quiet to reorganize her thoughts. In the meanwhile, Charle could see Hamon giving the signal for them to advance.

It took an hour before the group arrived at the encampment of the paladins. Amongst the emerald-green grass of the land, the crimson uniforms of the paladins were especially prominent.

A welcoming party stood at the forefront of the paladins. Many crimson-garbed paladins stood there, waiting for the Sovereignians to arrive, while a large magus in golden robes stood at their head. This was clearly Archmagister Kebrilio.

The first to dismount were the princess and Charle. Followed by the knights, the two strode with two bodyguards while their horses were led away to pasture.

The magus strode forward to greet them at once. Quite a few things could be said about this magus now that he was closer in sight. The man was rather tall and quite muscular; a trait generally attributed to a warrior rather than a magus.

Standing at attention, the magus gave a polite bow to the princess. “I am the Court Magus of Karth, Kebrilio Senaus. It is my pleasure to welcome Princess Flania of Sovereign.”

There was nothing Charle could do now. Everything was up to the princess now, all he could do was wait by the sidelines and shake his head at his helplessness.

What followed next was a lengthy, but polite, exchange of diplomatic words and greetings. It took a while for the courtesy phase to pass before Kebrilio chose to get to the point.

“If it does not displease you, Your Highness, the Paladin Order shall strive to protect you from all harm.”

A glance was given from the princess to Charle. Knowing it was his time to speak at last, Charle stepped up to the legendary magus in front of him. It was in his judgement that Kebrilio could be trusted.

“Where is it we’re heading to?”

“Our original course was to Fort Melkruth. Seeing that it was chance that brought our paths together, would the princess be interested in taking a detour there?”

Doubt and suspicion immediately roared to life within Charle and the princess.

The magus smiled, seemingly aware of the sudden shift in emotions. “We received information that a band of brigands and a group of dissidents were planning to undermine Fort Melkruth. It pains myself to say, but these people have been a scourge and thorn to our side for long enough. The paladins were tasked with ridding the fatherland of them and also seeing to the safety of the Sovereignian consuls. Seeing that our second mission was a success, it would bring great joy for us to finish our first mission.”

His words were indeed soothing to the ears of the princess and Charle. If Kebrilio’s words were to be trusted, then there was the implication that the factions of Karth were in disagreement about invading Sovereign. Even more importantly, it seemed that Kebrilio belonged to the anti-expansionism faction if he was talking to them like so. It was something to be celebrated over since no one wanted such a legendary magus as an enemy.

With the paladins having accomplished one of their two objectives, the group was in no rush to leave. Everyone slept that night far better than any other night since this trip began. And by the next day, everyone was well-rested and ready to go. Charle and the princess were even traveling with Kebrilio.

For some time, the princess noticed that Kebrilio had furrowed eyebrows. For a while, she didn’t speak about it. But after a moment’s hesitation, she asked.

“Archmagister, sir, what matter do you find yourself preoccupied with?”

“Ah, Your Highness, it is but a small concern of mine, nothing more. I fear that the group that was chasing you may decide to give up on this operation. If that is the case, then I’m afraid my trip here was somewhat wasted.”

Charle and the princess both had to admit, Kebrilio’s concern was not entirely unfounded. What if the bandits weren’t at Chizra Valley either?

It was nearing high noon when the group finally arrived at Melkruth. For the Sovereignians, it was an imposing sight to see what appeared to be a giant double door locked tightly between Valkner’s Mountain.

Several knights were already sent ahead to the doors so the preparations could be made to open them. But the fact that the doors to the fort remained closed made the sight of the fort seem ominous.

Kebrilio pressed his horse forward. It was his turn. The princess and Charle followed behind.

“Sir, we’ve been hailing them for half the day now. One guard spoke word to us before, but we’ve yet to hear anything more.”