It was at the dead of night, when something stirred in Felicity’s room, and it wasn’t the princess herself. The door might have been covered by the wards Eulisses had placed earlier, but it wasn’t the only way to enter or exit the room. From one moment to the next, a panel next to the door that couldn’t have been perceived before hung ajar, before it soundlessly slid aside to reveal a dark and narrow corridor, as well as a figure standing at its very end on the cusp of the room.

Without a shred of hesitation they entered Felicity’s chamber and into a dim ray of moonlight that thinly shone through the curtains now draping over the large picture window. The dimly lit figure revealed a man with perfectly straight, slicked back black hair, a pair of half glasses sitting on a thin nose, accentuating the pair of sharp eyes scanning the room for anything of magical or mundane nature, that would allow one to view or eavesdrop on the happenings inside the room.

After he ascertained there to be no such measures taken against him, the man straightened his swallowtail, more an ingrained and automatic behaviour than out of necessity, as his clothing did fit perfectly. He then approached the princess with slow, measured steps, stopping only short of the edge of her bed. As he cast a glance at her face, many different emotions rapidly showed in his eyes, each one only present for the briefest moment, before they were replaced by his ostensibly default sharp look, always measuring, always judging. Only the faintest movement of his muscles under the layers of cloth provided an indication of the next action he would take.

--

Eulisses awoke earlier than usual. Although, his ‘usual’ had changed many times over the course of the last two weeks, since he had been summoned to this world. By that logic, it would be more consistent to say he woke earlier than others would have expected him to. Indeed, it was still quite a bit of time till even sunrise and given Felicity and he would only have to board the ship sometime before noon, one wouldn’t expect them to rise with the first rays of light either.

Yet, he did, and by design. The warning Drernoth had told him the day before was still fresh in his mind, and he couldn’t rest easy with just the alarm wards he had placed. I can’t afford to antagonize another kingdom so soon after my slate was wiped clean, literally. Also, I guess, I don’t want Felicity to come to much harm either, not if I can help it.

He arose from his wing chair, an identical piece of furniture to the one he took a seat in yesterday, and quite the comfortable one, he preferred it as a resting place even over the bed’s soft mattress. He closed his eyes - or at the least let his mortal shroud go through the motions - and focused his attention inwards. Let’s see, I have spent enough time with her, so I should be able to loca - aha!

With practiced ease he homed in on the familiar life signature of Felicity, as ‘sight’ was a conscious effort for him at all times, it was a simple matter for him to switch between seeing light and seeing different energies, such as arcane or vital ones. With the latter two in particular getting far less obstructed by ordinary non-living matter, the wall separating his room from hers might as well not have been there. A downside of this ‘lifesight’ as he had taken to call it was that with virtually no point of reference, it was a near impossible task to gauge the position of the life signature relative to his. Was that gently flickering flame over there his companion next room or the baker’s wife two streets further along and was he even looking in the right direction? As such, with no further information, like knowing whom to associate a particular life signature to, by its unique characteristics he recognized, he hadn’t found much tangible use for this ability of his. He knew by now which one belonged to Felicity, and had little trouble locating hers.

By the looks of it, she appeared to be fine, speaking in matters of life force. Eulisses still wanted to make sure, and furthermore discuss their plans regarding the mayor. They had little time to dig up what it was that Orson Lytton tried hiding from them, but he wanted to try and find out nonetheless. If it was unrelated to them, then all the better.

Approaching the door, Eulisses cast a slightly modified version of his alarming ward to check whether there was any movement in his immediate vicinity - including the area outside his room. He hummed in approval when the spell indicated this not being the case and stepped outside. Casting a cursory glance to make sure no one was there further down the hallway, he quickly shuffled towards the next door and knocked on it two times in succession.

After a brief moment, a subdued “Who is it? Eulisses?” groan came from inside, to which he responded with “Yes. May I come in?” with a quiet voice. He could hear Felicity uncover her blanket and pitter-patter to the door, followed by her unlocking it. The open door then greeted him with the sight of a clearly sleep-deprived princess, grumply rubbing her eyes and staring at him annoyedly.

Without another word, Felicity went to open the curtains, revealing the still mostly dark exterior with only the horizon emitting the first shimmers of morning light. She then took a seat in the same chair as the night before and after he closed the door behind him, Eulisses followed suit. With slight concern in his voice, he opened their conversation. “You look like you wouldn’t have caught enough sleep, even had I waited another hour or two. Are you alright?”

“I’m fine, not to worry,” Felicity stopped his probing with a wave of her hand, “that’s not why you have come, is it?” He could sense that she was clearly not in the mood for smalltalk, and so went straight to the point. “Indeed. What are we planning to do about the mayor and his alleged pretense?”

She paused a bit, whether in contemplation or lapse of focus, he couldn’t say. Felicity then shook her head in resignation. “We will do nothing, there is no time. If he wanted to somehow act against us, he would have done so last night. When we check in with Trevis later and he has nothing to add to it, we will leave it with just keeping an eye on him in the future. I wanted to leave the Royal Guard behind anyways to reinforce the local garrison, instead of sending them home, so they can take care of that as well at the same turn.”

Eulisses was a bit taken aback at first, the whole matter felt slightly anti-climatic to him, but her reasoning made sense. And it looked like she would end up being right, when the butler, Sebastian, later came to inform them that breakfast was about to be served - Eulisses had gone back to his own room well enough in advance. They met up with Trevis downstairs, at the same location as the day before. Felicity pretended to just greet her guard, but discreetly whispered to him so that neither Sebastian, nor the other personnel coming from the servant quarters to take up their duties, would notice. “Anything out of the ordinary last night?”

The Second Lieutenant gave a half-bow, coincidentally so his mouth would be placed next to her ear. “Nothing, milady,” he answered under his breath. Eulisses wondered momentarily, the exchange somehow looked practised to him, but shrugged it off as the Royal Guard being versed in many different skills, some more covert ones included.

The mayor greeted them with unchanged enthusiasm at his dining table, which was in the process of being laden with plates presenting a variance of sliced sausages and cheeses, a basket with still steaming bread a servant might have just acquired freshly from the town’s bakery or a bowl with fruits - or vegetables - unknown to Eulisses. “Ah, good morning your Highness, and Sir Malinor! Please, come, a sumptuous breakfast awaits. It will provide you with energy for the day and you do have quite the journey in front of I fear!”

The table wasn’t small, like it may have seemed under all the dishes, but could hold a dozen people. Felicity took the seat of honor, and Eulisses the one to her right, while Mayor Lytton remained on his one, to her left. “Is the voyage to Narlême that full of excitement? I was under the impression it was a major trading route?” the undead wizard probed the mayor. Unexpectedly, it was the princess who answered him. “I have heard news of a monster disrupting the seaways and that you have already sent men to take care of it, Mayor Lytton?”

The addressed nodded his head and put down the bread roll he held in his hands, before replying. “Yes, though to be more exact, I sent men to help Khiphamid take care of it. The disturbance isn’t so close to any port or shore that it could be said to be any one state’s clear responsibility. Traders from Bessi first reported it and made to send the merchant fleet to put it down or drive it away. I offered my assistance with some of our own vessels and I believe Rochette did as well. After it sank a few trading ships, even a Bessitan baris, we are taking it quite seriously.” The mayor nervously played with a gilded button of his doublet. “My men haven’t come back yet, so you might pass them and their fight with the sea creature, it was last sighted around the Strait of Eastnola”

Felicity slightly bowed her head, “Thank you for the advance warning, we will be sure to tell our shipmaster, should he not already be aware of it. This also brings me to a matter I wanted to discuss with you” The mayor’s ears perked up on hearing her words. “Oh, pray tell your Highness!”

“We cannot bring the Royal Guard with us to the summit, save for two or three men. I would like you to let the rest of them stay here and reinforce your town’s guards, while most of them are still away on sea to deal with the sea creature. The bandits that had terrorized the roads might be gone, but that doesn’t mean you should leave them, or the town, scarcely defended.”

The mayor agreed fervently to her proposal. “You are absolutely correct, your Highness! The bandits had brought me many sleepless nights, doubly so when I sent a majority of Baycall’s guards away. Your aid has been welcome once, I would certainly not reject it a second time!”

Felicity and Orson continued to specify the nature of their cooperation a bit more, like accommodations or provisions for the Royal Guard while they stayed, before finally concentrating on the food before them. Eulisses pretended to participate in the eating as well, but disintegrated the food each time he closed his mouth, leaving not even a small heap of ash behind. Frankly, it’s a waste of arcane energy. But also the most thorough method I can think of, requiring the least amount of effort on my part. Well, aside from unobtrusively casting a spell that normally requires a somatic component, and forgoing an incantation! If only my old teachers could see me now…

After they finished breakfast, they bid the mayor goodbye. He stood at the entrance to his manor and waved at them, Sebastian next to him poised an unmoving deep bow, while the escort of Royal Guards and the duo of princess and wizard (undead) made for the harbour, where their ship was waiting for them. They went by foot, one of the guards staying behind would take the carriage and horses to the town’s stables later. With regards to the guards staying behind, Trevis still disapproved of the princess’ decision, but had no choice but to comply with it in the end. He insisted however, to her letting at least himself come along and even managed to negotiate for two more men of his choosing. The Second Lieutenant secretly celebrated this perceived little victory of his, not knowing the princess had planned to take two to three guards with her to Narlême all along. Eulisses had to stifle quite a chuckle when he observed all this.