Dear Selena,

We just moved yet again. Wizard Mulberry hasn’t said anything but I can tell she is getting nervous. We have been moving between safe houses more frequently this season, sometimes only staying a couple of days before moving on. It’s making me worried. Please don’t tell Chad or Quartz, I don’t want them to be worrying too.

-Jet

Chad had been under the impression that there would be twenty-one people going on the expedition: sixteen apprentices and the five leaders. While those twenty-one were present, it appeared that there would be an additional two people joining the group. The first was the Baron of Past, which wasn’t too surprising considering he seemed to go everywhere with the prince. The other was an odd man who was sitting on a rock talking with The Wizard. He had a wide brimmed hat and a heavy travelling cloak that hid everything except for his face. His face was hidden behind a massive black beard and shaggy hair. There was a large pack leaning against the rock he was sitting on.

Chad knew some of the other apprentices in the group beside Mallory. Courtney was here, as were Wesley and Salise. He was a little disappointed to see that Susan Frost would also be joining them. He was not looking forward to her constant nagging. He was trying to decide if he should introduce himself to any of the other apprentices when The Wizard turned to the group and cleared his throat.

“It looks like we’re all here so let me make some introductions. Hopefully you all know the leaders of the expedition you applied for, but just to clarify: I am Wizard Ferdinandson; over here we have Abecedarians Selena Yellowborn and Caldren Ferdinandson; Master Leah Thatcher; and Master Lance Landrea.”

There were some murmurs from some of the apprentices about the lack of title given to Prince Lance. The Wizard ignored them and continued.

“In addition to the leaders from the Academy we have two additional people joining us to provide support: The Baron of Past and Jimothy.” He indicated the two men. Jimothy was the man he had been talking to on the rock. “Master Landrea will explain their roles as he is the de facto leader of this expedition.”

“Thank you, Wizard Ferdinandson,” said the Prince. “First off, I want to affirm Wizard Ferdinandson in his use of my Academy title. I am here as an Academy teacher and should be addressed as such. Please refrain from using my royal title during this expedition.

“All of that being said, the purpose of this expedition is to visit the local Viscounts and the Barons under them on behalf of the Prince Regent. We are to observe the status of their farms and make sure they are properly preparing for the winter. Curt...or rather, the Baron of Past, will be the official representative of the crown. The Academy has given both him and Jimothy abecedarian status until the expedition is over. So please follow their lead as you would one of the other abecedarians.

“Jimothy is a well known bard in and around the royal capital. He has been hired to travel to the same towns as the Baron of Past but as part of a separate group. He will be performing at local inns and taverns and investigating the status of the towns from the commoners’ perspective. Jimothy’s group will consist of himself and two apprentices whom he chooses. We will all be travelling to the first town together and Jimothy will select the two apprentices before we arrive.

“Let me know if you have any questions. We will be leaving in five minutes.”

“A moment, good sir,” Jimothy said with a low, gruff voice.

All eyes turned towards him. Before continuing he reached behind his rock and pulled a crutch off the ground. He used the crutch to stand himself up and Chad saw that he was missing his right leg.

“In case anyone is hoping to join me, I wanted to let you know what I am looking for. Those travelling with me will be acting as my apprentices. I will need you to be able to act the part. You will need to be able to be unassuming and appear to be a commoner. For example: you,” he pointed at Susan Frost, “are obviously from some well-to-do family and no matter what you do, you will not be able to change that enough to travel with me. That farm boy,” turning his attention to Chad, “is exactly what I’m looking for. I guess one of the spots is already taken.” He ended with a wink at Chad.

Chad was flabbergasted. Was he now part of Jimothy’s group? While he was pondering, Jimothy walked over to him, seemingly unhampered by having to use a crutch.

“Hope you don’t mind being volun-told to be part of my group. What’s your name, friend?”

“Chad Laweranceson.”

“Good to meet you Chad. All my friends call me baby-face; feel free to do the same.”

“Good to meet you, too.”

Chad now had a better view of the man’s face and it definitely looked nothing like a baby. His beard was massive, but Chad could see scars on his exposed skin and in some places they caused gaps in the base of the beard. When his shaggy hair moved on his forehead the exposed skin was wrinkled and weather-worn despite him not being much older than thirty.

“So, Chad, how are you on the fiddle? I’ve also got a couple of tin whistles if you would feel more comfortable with one of those.”

“Ummm.”

“I’ve also got a mandolin, but that is what I use when I sing so we’ll only try you out on that if we get desperate. By the way, do you know if any of these other apprentices might be able to pass off as one of us common folk?”

“I don’t really—”

Jimothy turned to Mallory, who had been standing next to Chad since they arrived.

“I can see you want to be part of my group with your friend here. However, I don’t think you would be able to pull it off. You’re doing a fine good job with your posture and clothing but you look too soft. I would guess you're the younger child of some remote baron or viscount.”

Mallory’s face lost most of its color as she stared at Jimothy in shock. Chad was also surprised. He hadn’t really thought about what Mallory’s background might be and he wouldn’t have thought she was noble. However, everything that Jimothy said made sense.

Jimothy returned his attention to Chad. “Well, let me know if you come across anybody who you think fits the bill. We have a day or two before we need to finalize our little group. I’m also going to go introduce myself to some of the more promising looking folks.”

As Jimothy was walking away, he turned back to add: “I probably should have started with this, but let me know if you would rather not be part of my group. Just let me know by the end of the day.”

Chad stared at Jimothy’s retreating back. That was not how he had expected the beginning of this expedition to go. He was interested in being part of Jimothy’s group, so he probably would go along with being told to join. He would think it over and talk with Mallory and Selena first. It sounded like he wouldn’t see them very much if he went with Jimothy. On the bright side, he was pretty confident that Susan Frost would neither want to be part of the group nor be eligible to join, so he would probably be able to avoid her.

“What do you think about—” He started to ask Mallory before he realized that she was still a little white with shock.

“Chad,” she said in a quiet voice while looking at the ground. “Please don’t tell anyone about what that man said. I don’t want the others to see me differently.”

“Yeah, okay.”

“And Chad, please can you and I pretend like this never happened?”

“Sure.”

A silence grew between them and Chad decided now probably wasn’t the best time to ask her about being part of Jimothy’s group. He had never seen her like this and was a little worried.

The five minutes given by the prince were almost up, so Chad finally broke the silence.

“Hey, let’s grab our stuff and go find Selena. Hopefully, we can travel with her.”

By the end of the first day of travel, Chad had decided to go with Jimothy. Both Selena and Mallory thought it would be fun and wished they could go but didn’t begrudge him going without them. They would still be travelling together and were sure to still enjoy themselves with the main expedition.

Mallory had cheered back up to her normal self pretty quickly while talking with Selena, and Chad hoped that her earlier gloom was more due to the shock of being seen through than anything else.

Chad found Jimothy talking to a few other apprentices.

“Jimothy, I’ve—” Chad started before Jimothy interrupted him.

“Chad, what did I tell you? Please call me ‘Baby Face.’”

“Um...Baby Face, I’ve decided I will join your group. I don’t really play any instrument though.”

“We can fix that. Now help me pick our second apprentice.”