The trip to Norton took us about 13 hours total with a few breaks as we traveled. I pulled the cart while my two ladies rode. Willow offered to walk but I was able to talk her into riding. Charlee with her small frame would have slowed us down. It didn’t bother me, I drew on my well and never tired. I even started to create a bit of a path. Whenever there was an area that was hard to walk past I would use my magic and flatten the ground or clear a path. Some day if I have time I want to make a proper road.

I estimate that the distance from Els Lake to Norton which was to the east was about 30 miles. The people here did measure distance but everyone thought in terms of travel time and not distance. If you would ask someone how far is it to so and so, they would say something like half a day’s walk.

It was still the early haft of the afternoon when we arrived at the outskirts of Norton Town. To me it looked like a small European town. The buildings were a mixture of stone and wooden structures. The town didn’t have a true wall but there was a palisade on the opposite side covering the east. I saw no guards and Willow gestured me to proceed forward.

As we got closer I could make out the sounds of music and what must have been celebrating. I turned to ask Willow “Is there a festival or something going on?” She shook her head. “There’s nothing at this time of year. Let’s go check it out.” Charlee who has been sleeping most of the trip now had wide eyes and looked excited.

I continued my way into town and we reached what must have been the town square. There was indeed a festival in full swing. There were stalls selling to people as they passed by and many of the towns folk looked drunk. Drinking in the middle of the day. So that’s the kind of world this is. People were eating, there was a band playing some kind of folk song and a crowd was dancing in the middle of the square. I wonder what they are celebrating. Then I looked over to where there was a group of men seated at a long table and were being served. They all had on mix match sets of armors but you could tell that it was all quality items.

I saw a man stand up at the head of the table and he raised his cup. I couldn’t make out what he said but everybody cheered and downed their drinks. Behind me I heard Willow and Charlee shifting. I turned back to look and Willow had already ducted under the shaft and was running towards the man who had made the speech. Charlee was slower but was also running towards the man. I watch as he noticed her coming and opened his arms as she leapt into him. They spanned a few times until the momentum she had unleashed had been used up and then Charlee was there. They all hugged as I and everyone else watched.

I made my way through the crowd and stayed back a bit so as to not disturb the moment the 3 were sharing. I failed however and the man noticed me. Their group hug was broken apart and all 3 of them turned to look at me. I wasn’t exactly sure on what I had to do but I lowered the kickstand on the cart and walked over to the group and offered my hand. “It’s good to finally meet you sir. I’m Willows husband Luke.”

“Are you now?” the man said as he examined me from the feet up. His stare was intimidating but I held firm. This man must be my father in law. There’s no way Willow and Charlee would hug any random man. He reached out his hand and went past mines to grab my forearm. I returned the gesture. Watching so much Stargate prepared me for the whole forearm grabbing thing instead of a hand shake.

His hands were large and his grip was tight. I then felt a bit of magic from him but as it was about to enter my arm Willow tugged on his other sleeve and he stopped. I wasn’t sure what he was trying to do but Willow must have and that was why she did what she did.

“How goes the war?” Willow hurriedly asked. Her father gave her a knowing look. “Well.” He said. “We were able to drive back those Ironford mongrels and earned ourselves some leave.” I suspect that he raised his voice for the crowd to hear. The crowd responded with a cheer.

My father in law placed his meaty arm around my shoulders and grabbed my shoulder hard as to prevent me from escaping his clutches. We all walked over to the table and there were chairs brought over so that we could be seated. As soon as my butt hit my seat, my father in law gestured to Willow and Charlee and said loudly “Men. These two are my daughters make them feel welcome.” All of the rough looking men at the table raised their mugs and cheered “Hear, Hear!”

I was promptly ignored. I can’t blame the guy, while he was off fighting a war I had moved in without his knowledge or permission and I even claimed one of his lovely daughters. As the girls sat, a group of young women came around with extra plates and mugs and set them in front of Willow and Charlee but as one of the ladies was about to set the table for me, I noticed my father in law wave from under the table and like the shifting of railroad tracks she maneuvered away smoothly as if she had never intended to walk in my direction in the first place. Willow noticed this and stared at her father frowning.

Was I supposed to be embarrassed to be shunned in public? Yes, but I really wasn’t. This was actually starting to get fun. I wonder how far he is going to go. Food had already been laid on the table and everyone was full into eating. Willow filled her plate and tried to shift it to me but with a small shake of my head she stopped. I gave her a chin up to relay that she should go ahead and eat and she reluctantly did so. She was now eating for two after all.

Charlee didn’t seem to notice any of the byplay and if she did it was ignored completely. With relish she had dug into her food with gusto, mainly aiming at the different meats. As I sat I listened to the conversations around me. It seems that Ironford had tried to push across the border with a surge of over 1000 men on top of the army of 1500 that had already been scrimmaging on the border for the past 3 years. Blasmar had been getting slowly pushed back but when the disgraced prince arrived 2 years ago, they started to reclaim territory.

With his leadership, they were able to hold out against the surge with only 1000 men and even pushed the invaders back. It was this victory that earned them a 6 months leave. As travel took 2 months, the men gathered here will only have 2 months’ time with their families before they will need to start the march back to the border. I have some thoughts on vehicles I could possibly build to decrease travel time but that will need to come later.

As the men drink their fill and the town’s people started to clear the square, the men suddenly seem to all at once stop what they were doing and stood up. With right fist to left breast the men thumped their chest right over their hearts in what could only be a salute. “Long live Prince Brian.” One of the rough men said. Every man standing echoed “Long live Prince Brian.”

My father in law, the prince apparently, stood up and returned the salute. “I am a prince no more, just a Baron. I was deemed unworthy of that title and was given one more worthy of one such as I by our queen, her Highness Bridget of the House of Dawn. Speak no more of my former title, I do not wish for any of my brothers in arms to be punished.” All of the men thumped their chest twice in acceptance of the words of the prince. After doing so the all seem to disperse. Each going their own way.

Shit, I thought to myself. I went the princess route after all. Politics is going to be a headache. The girls seem happy that they now had their father all to themselves and they chatted happily. Charlee had somehow made her way up Brians shoulders and was now riding him. Willow walked beside him holding his arm. I walked a little ways back to give them the space they needed. It had been a long time for the girls since they had their father in their lives. There’s no need for me to ruin this moment for them.

We walked roughly in the direction of our cart and so I dragged it along when we got close. Following Brian, we made it to an inn. Inside, Brian went up and chatted with the man behind the counter. I could see him pointing at the girls and then at me. I had a bad feeling about this. He then set down a coin purse and the man behind the counter handed him 2 keys. I figured that he had only paid for a room for himself and a room for the girls to share.

I walked up to the man behind the counter and asked him for a room but as expected he replied that the inn was full. Extending my awareness to cover the inn completely I confirmed my suspicions. There were other patrons staying at the inn but most of the rooms were empty. Brian had bought out the inn to bard me from staying near the girls. He had made things inconvenient for me but I wasn’t angry, annoyed? Yes, but not angry.

I shrugged my shoulders and headed out to my cart. I hauled my cart over to the side of the inn and with the use of some energy, I molded my cart into something resembling a cover wagon, only much smaller. I then molded some of the clothes we had stored inside of the now mini cover cart and turned those into blankets and a pillow. It’s ok to give Brian a few victories, he is my father in law after all.