“... What do you mean I’m staying here?!” Lilia demands.

“One of us has to stay here.” Reud says, trying to placate her. “We can’t both go, it would leave the city too vulnerable.”

Lilia glares at him, her face thunderous. “Now you listen here Reud Ashmark. I didn’t go through a war, die, and wait centuries to be resurrected just to let you wander off out there,” she punctuates her tirade by jabbing a finger at the window, “and let yourself get stabbed or burnt or captured or… whatever!”

Reud holds out his hands, trying to explain. “If I could stay here you know I would. But we have to secure supplies if we are going to last the winter. You know how hard that can be, with the beasts running rampant as they do. We have all this gold, but nothing to spend it on.”

Her glare slowly fades, replaced by sadness. “But why do you have to go? Why can’t you send someone else?”

“The carriages won’t move without me.” Reud says. “Besides, I want to look for the children. I know the Seekers took them to Avonford. Just imagine, bringing back even one fledgling mage. It would be the start of getting Rudase back on track.”

Lilia leans in and headbutts him softly on the shoulder. “Damn you Reud. Why do you have to make so much sense.”

Reud pulls her into a hug. “I hate to be apart just as much as you do. But I need to do this. I’ll only be gone a few weeks at most.” They just stand there, holding each other, revelling in the closeness.

“You watch yourself.” Reud says, pulling back from her. “I’ll leave Bo and Tel here with you. Through them, you can easily command all the other skeletons in the city.”

Lilia smiles softly at him. “You be careful too. Don’t get in too deep, by the end of the month I expect you back here!”

Reud smiles and leans in, kissing her deeply. For a moment, the feeling of her lips is all that matters.

***

The rain is pouring down when they finally depart, the downpour playing a soothing tune on the roof of the carriage. The small convoy groans into movement, the undead within each turning the wheels on Reud’s command. Then, they are rolling out along the southern road.

Jessabelle sits in the front carriage, alongside Reud. The others are filled with a number of small goods, from polished magic beast fangs, to the best of the wolf-hide cloaks. Items that will hopefully entice the merchants of Avonford to risk travelling further down the river to moor at Srinaber.

Reud looks to over the girl sitting beside him, her eyes fixes firmly ahead. Rachel had recommended her to perform the trading for the growing city, and she had proved herself to be competent when dealing with the surrounding villages. It was a large step up from that to acting as the representative of the city with the mercantile nobles of Avonford, but Rachel assured him that Jessabelle was up to the challenge.

“Nervous?” Reud asks her.

Jessabelle jumps, her face panic in her eyes as she turns to him. “N-No, Lord Reud. Just excited.”

The carriage hits a bump, making the woman jump once again. Her eyes wide she peers out the window, looking to the front of the carriage where there is a distinct lack of horses.

“Wondering how the carriage moves?” Reud asks, seeing the direction of her gaze.

Jessabelle’s face flushes. “I’m sorry, I wouldn’t presume to-”

Reud holds up a halt her apologies. “It’s okay, I’d actually love to tell you, if you are interested to listen.”

Jessabelle nods her head, listening in rapt fascination as Reud explains about the undead turning the wheels.

“That’s… unbelievably useful.” Jessabelle says after he finishes. “A carriage that can travel all day and night, without needing horses. No need to worry about how to structure your journey to always be spending the night somewhere safe. You have no idea what the value of this would be to a merchant group.”

Reud raises his eyebrows, surprised. “Really, it’s that valuable?”

Jessabelle nods. “You know if we sell these, the other items will be worthless in comparison. One of these would be enough to get the merchants to travel to Srinaber.”

Reud sits back, stroking his chin. He hadn’t ever considered that there would be a desire for one of these carriages from a merchant. Of course, to allow it to be sold it would need to be operable by someone with an affinity other than his own. Maybe he could embed some sort of control into the spell so anyone with magic could control it?

An interesting problem to ponder over the journey.

***

“Lord Reud.” Jessabelle’s voice stirs Reud from his thoughts. The woman has her head stuck out of the carriage window, gesturing at something in the distance. “We’re almost there!”

Reud leans over to the other window to look outside. For the past week the only scenery visible from the carriage window was deep forest, interspersed with the odd clearing. Now, however, the carriage is surrounded by rolling fields, stretching far off into the distance on all sides. Ahead, at the end of the road, stands a vast city.

Reud looks it over in interest. Centuries ago, when he last came this far south, Avonford was a small town at most. Built in a meander of the Seine river, it served as the stopping point for boats travelling from Calista to Srinaber. The natural defence of being surrounded on three sides by the river allowed the town to flourish without fear of the magical beasts, and as such was a popular destination for travellers.

That small town is gone. In its place stands a city, as majestic as any Reud had visited in his time. A tall stone wall runs from the river in a wide arc, on both sides of the river. Surrounding the wall is a sprawling mass of ramshackle houses, protected by another, smaller, wooden wall. A constant stream of people move in and out of the city, carrying all manner of goods.

Reud turns to Jessabelle. “So, where do you suggest we head towards? Any inns you would suggest staying in?”

Jessabelle turns to him, a wide smile on her face. “We want to go into the inner city, so through the gates. The outer city has many smaller markets, but none of the merchants that we need to entice. I have a few contacts with the inner city merchants too.”

Reud nods, and they continue on, rolling uncontested through the outer city gates and into the outer city itself. Tall buildings crowd the road on each side, leaning over from both sides as if they are trying to touch in the middle. People bustle in all directions, passing in and out of the myriad of buildings. The sounds of people talking fills the air, sometimes joined by shouts as pedestrians and carts fight for control over the limited road space. No one, however, obstructs Reud’s way. Instead, they give the horseless carriages strange looks, then proceed to give them a wide berth.

“The outer city seems so busy, are there really no contacts we can make here?” Reud asks.

Jessabelle shrugs. “There may be some smaller ones, but I have no idea how we’d find them. Anyone who is anyone lives in the inner city anyway. The outer city is really for those without the money or connections to live anywhere else.”

Reud nods, continuing to look out at the throngs of people. “There’s just, so many people.” He muses to himself.

Jessabelle looks at him strangely. “I’m surprised, you must not have visited many cities, my lord. This isn’t that large. I visited Calista once, when I was a girl. It puts Avonford to shame.”

Reud nods again, saying nothing. Back in his time, there was nothing like this concentration of people, in any city. He’d been so focused on the past, on regaining a lost majesty, that he forgot that the world continued to progress in his absence. A truly humbling thought.

***

Soon the city gates come into sight. Guards stand before it, stopping each group that approach.

Jessabelle, spotting the direction of his gaze, speaks up. “The inner city is restricted to only those with passes to enter, or who can pay the toll.”

“You wouldn’t happen to have a pass, would you?” Reud asks her.

Jessabelle shakes her head. “I’m sorry, I don’t. My father had one, but my brothers took it when they took everything else.” Anger flashes across her face. “The toll is small though, only a quarter-crown.”

Reud nods, digging around in a small chest of assorted coins they brought with them. Pulling out a half-crown, passing the silver-alloy disk stamped with a crown and the sunburst of Lightire over to Jessabelle.

It takes almost half an hour of waiting in the queue for them to reach the gate. The guards stride over, eyeing the carriage apprehensively. “Present your passes or state your business!”

Jessabelle opens the carriage door and leans out, giving the guard a smile. “No passes, but we are here to visit a good friend of mine.” She holds out the coin. “Here, we will pay the toll.”

The guard takes the coin, putting it into a small pouch at his waist, and waves for them to continue. With a thought, Reud commands the carriages to begin moving forward again, and together they roll on into the inner city.

The city within the walls is completely different that outside. Where outside the buildings were ramshackle, crammed together into every available space, here they were pristine, elegant. Each a small estate, surrounded by a wall of its own. Here and there gates stand open, revealing immaculately kept gardens within. Rising above the walls are majestic buildings, each striving to outdo the other. Outside the walls the most common building material was wood and brick, giving the place a dirty, dark look. In here the buildings are made of bright stone, from shimmering marble to polished granite.

The sheer contrast between the outer and inner city lights a dull, burning anger within Reud. Just when he was starting to admire the advances made in his absence, this stark reminder of injustice rears its ugly head. He’d never liked the nobles that flaunted their position, using it to oppress and subjugate those of lesser birth. Here was proof that the attitude hadn’t faded one bit over the centuries. In fact, it may have even become worse than ever before.

Reud vows to himself. Under his rule, that attitude would be stamped out.