Having the whole day ahead of us meant we could extend our stay in the capital by a few hours. Despite this, we did not want to waste any more time in Elysia. We already had everything we needed for the journey and so we were keen to get away from the Ministry of Mana as soon as we descended its thirty spotlessly white steps.

"Let's get out of the city before the aristocratic vultures jump on us," Seika said, and immediately summoned her mare.

We all followed her example and together we galloped toward the closest city gate, my sister in the lead. Krysha slowed almost to a stop several times when she saw something particularly interesting being sold in one of the magical shops, but she always managed to pull herself away.

I knew there were probably a million things she would like to buy to make our tower a safer and more pleasant place to live, but this was not the time. Most of those items and artifacts could be found in, or at least delivered to, the safety of our home in Leka An. Especially thanks to Man and our growing relations with Zakara's merchants.

It took us less than ten minutes to leave the capital through one of the north-east gates.

"Why did we leave through this gate?" Kard asked, as soon as we were some hundred stretches away from the city’s entrance. "I thought we were supposed to go south."

"We will," Seika replied, and slowed down for everyone to catch up with her. "We will circle the city down to its south exit and move on from there."

"Then why didn't we just go south in the first place?" Kard followed up.

"You've obviously never had to deal with power-hungry aristocrats who deal in gossip, Kard," Man said in his usual cheerful tone. "You don't want to get caught in their webs. I bet they are already trying to locate us, so they can find out why a paragon escorted us into the Ministry."

"More importantly," Seika added, "they will want to know what we talked about and why we were let go."

"I've barely had time to digest the facts myself," Kard replied. "I definitely wouldn't want to answer any questions."

"What is there to digest?" Krysha interjected, as she jotted some notes on one of the small books she was always carrying with her. "Adel will flush Kai out of hiding and Archon Simeon will cast a ritual to extract The Divine Essence and put it into himself. And they want Haad back."

"If only everyone was as smart as Krysha," Kard said, rolling his eyes.

Krysha only waved one hand dismissively as she continued taking notes.

***

Riding southward was completely uneventful, but I kept a keen eye on our surroundings, just in case I noticed anything out of the ordinary. Seika and Man had a particularly heated discussion, which resulted in Man riding forward with the excuse of scouting. I rode alongside Seika and tried to calm her down, but she was still looking rather perturbed.

"Trouble in the heavens?" I said, as I pulled my steed up next to hers, matching her riding speed.

"What?" she said, seemingly startled by the question. "Oh, it's nothing really."

"Do you want me to catch him, tie him up, and bring him back to you?" I said jokingly.

She didn't reply but she smiled as she stared forward.

"Come on," I said, and nudged her. "You can tell me what's wrong. I might be able to help."

"Man still has some objections about the plan," she replied, turning to look at me. "He doesn't think you should be used by the Order."

"But it's the only way to bring Kai out," I said, surprised this was still an issue after we had agreed with the archons.

"Is it though?" she asked. "It's not like we've tried anything else. He really made me doubt the whole plan."

"Just because we agreed to it with the archons," I started. "It doesn't mean we have to go through it. We are entitled to change our minds."

Seika simply nodded.

"Besides, I won't be alone," I continued. "You will all be with me, right? If something goes wrong and I die, we all die together."

"You sure know how to paint things with bright colors," she said, her smile returning. "Promise me that you won't do anything by yourself. Whatever we try, we do it together."

"I promise," I said honestly, and at last her shoulders relaxed a bit. "Why don't you go scout with him now?"

"You think you're so wise now?" she said jokingly, nonetheless pressing her heels into the sides of her magic horse to make it gallop faster.

As my sister rode forward to meet Man, I pulled my own horse next to Kard and Krysha who were, as usual, having their own heated discussion.

"It's not difficult to understand, Kard," Krysha was saying, visibly frustrated. "The city is called Leskia, but most people just call it Port. It also happens to be a port for the nation of Elysia."

"But what if I am near a different port of Elysia," Kard asked, "and I want to go to that one. Won't people be confused if I just say ‘I want to go to the port’?"

"What are you talking about?" I asked confused.

"Kard asked me about the name of the city we are traveling to, and I told him it is called Port, instead of its official name which is Leskia," Krysha replied and then turned to answer Kard's question. "Nobody will be confused because there is no other Elysian port on the Endless Sea."

"Wait, the city we visited when we crossed the Endless Sea with the tower was called Port?" I asked, having understood Kard's game against poor innocent Krysha.

"Yes!" she almost shouted. "It's a port city called Port. Its official name is Leskia but it's the only port on this side of the Endless Sea. Is it really that hard to understand?"

"Well, I do see how one might get confused," I continued, playing his game. "A port city named Port can make for great misunderstandings."

"Right?" Kard said, and pointed at me as if to thank me for understanding his point. "Frankly, Elysia has some real problems with naming cities. I mean, the whole nation is named Elysia…"

"And the capital is also named Elysia," I finished his sentence. "What sort of a dumb choice is that?"

"Nobody is going to confuse the city called Port," Krysha replied, visibly frustrated, "because it's the only port Elysia has, and it is a name given by the people, not the state. And the nation of Elysia took its name from the city of Elysia, as the city slowly grew its influence around neighboring villages and towns."

"If only we had paid as much attention to history classes as Krysha did," Kard said, addressing me but loudly enough for Krysha to hear.

"All this time you were messing with me?" she said angrily, as realization hit her.

Krysha moved to hit Kard's shoulder with a backhanded slap, and I noticed something in the sky behind her. Something I had seen not too long ago.

"Quick! Cover your heads with hoods and run to Man and Seika!" I told them as I pulled my own hood up, trying to cover as much as I could of my face.