After essentially being smuggled into Azure Gaze, Quinn was concerned about connecting with the Azural house. The fact that national military assets were being used to enforce a territory based arbitrary tariff against mainland Sengar was concerning. The taxes were something that the Milkmaid’s captain had informed the prince of before the whole runner situation, but as they say ‘seeing is believing.’ The concerns about the Azural’s only increased further after spending time in the city. Between all four of the group members, since Phillippe and Vivette were off on a visit to their birthplaces and Rebecca was not yet entangled politically, they had witnessed discontent towards the royal family and mainland being spoken openly amongst the commoners, territory militia disregarding the kingdom’s symbology, and even public proclamations by town heralds of nonexistent royal decrees.

“How have our internal spies not informed us of all of this?” Quinn practically shouted in sarcastic frustration, gesturing out the shuttered window.

They were operating out of a modest inn that Rebecca had sourced for everyone so as to try and keep a low profile. It worked to an extent, but the presence of four members of high nobility was difficult to conceal and they would eventually be found out.

“They’ve likely been bought off,” Wyen calmly stated, answering despite knowing Quinn’s tone.

Wyen’s straight-faced reply did not ease any of the tension in the room. Fang was the only one who seemed unphased, but that was because he was asleep at the moment. Fang and Wyen had been splitting guard duty while Phillippe and Vivette were away, a duty Fang usually split with them.

“They are in rebellion in all but declaration. And if the Azural’s are like this, the other island lords are not going to stop them. No, they’ll join them!” Quinn continued ranting.

This was going to seriously impact the near future with Quinn’s father slowly decreasing his power as Quinn was to take over in just under a year’s time. If the king did not crush this little rebellion now, then they would likely only take a stronger stance against Quinn when he rose to the throne. Conversely, if the king did crush this rebellion before handing the reins to Quinn, the island lords could take advantage of the transition to reestablish their rebellious ambitions.

Since neither situation was ideal, Quinn was at a loss of what to do. Four people, or six once Phillippe and Vivette returned, were not enough to cause any sort of long term disruption.

“She may not be in the political circle yet, but if things progress as you hope, she will eventually,” Wyen commented, “Perhaps we might at least get Rebecca’s opinion on the situation?”

“She specifically mentioned not being into politics,” Adelade said, “I don’t think it will go well if we let the noble hounds loose on her.”

“I don’t mean exposing her publicly,” Wyen replied.

Quinn was silent, in thought.

“Quinn?”

“Hmm?”

“What are you thinking?” Wyen asked, noting the more relaxed look on his friend’s face.

“I was wondering if I can use the stress of this situation to have Rebecca join me in bed tonight.”

“She told me you agreed on building a friendship first,” Adelade sighed.

“How else can we do that otherwise?”

“You really think that’s how you build a friendship with a woman? I should probably do us all a favor and remove you entirely from the succession line.”

“Adelade? Are you really threatening the crown prince of Sengar?” Wyen asked in a serious tone.

“She’s just being jealous!” Quinn clapped his hands excitedly, “Sorry my friend, but it looks like Adelade does desire me after all!”

“Shut up, Prince Pervert,” Adelade practically growled.

Quinn fell silent, but the thoughts milling within started running even wilder than they just had been.

“Back to the matter at hand,” Wyen forced through Quinn’s fantasies, “We should ask Rebecca for her opinion on these matters. Perhaps she can offer some different insight.”

“Is she still looking into lizardfolk today?” Quinn asked.

Adelade nodded, “That’s what she said. She mentioned tomorrow that she wants to listen about local human ailments too. Then she said something about the local flora and fauna.”

“So we will be here for a while longer,” Wyen concluded.

“Well, let’s do something beneficial for her while she’s doing her learning thing,” Quinn commented.

“What?” both Adelade and Wyen said.

“Look, let’s go to the Adventurer’s Guild tomorrow. We’ll take up a gathering quest for medicinal herbs or monster bits or something, get some extra, and give the extra to her.”

“That’s… actually not a bad idea. Except I do think our composition would be deemed as lacking,” Wyen said.

“A mage and three knights. Ideally, if we could get someone with some healing magic then it would be decent,” Adelade added.

“I’ll get the sexiest healer there to help us!”

“Without revealing who you are? Without saying what you just said?” Adelade shook her head, “Pervert.”

Wyen and Adelade continued to wonder when they might get through to Quinn.

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“Thank you very much, Lady Azural!” said a young nobleman as he bowed deeply and backed out of the room.

The young man’s choice of dress, or rather his current lack of most of it, was certainly interesting given the occupants of the room. He only wore what passed for underwear here, holding his remaining clothes as he departed. Looking at the young man, one could clearly see red marks on his exposed skin in the shape of hand and footprints. Numerous other red welts peppered his back, legs, and arms.

“See Daddy?” Cindra said as she sat in a chair with a satisfied yet almost sinister smirk.

“I do. Yet your methods are certainly… unorthodox,” replied the elder man seated behind the desk in the room.

The man in question was indeed Cindra’s father, Count Azural. He was a cold and calculating man that was pushing fifty. Given his age, his black hair was streaked with gray in many places and his face was showing quite a few wrinkles, especially with his current scowl. Closing his gray eyes, the count remained silent.

The count and Cindra, his youngest child, were of similar dispositions. Whatever brought the Azural family out on top was acceptable. While certainly none of his children were immune to this philosophy, having had it ingrained in their education, none took it as seriously as Cindra. She had developed some, as her father mentioned, unique traits to express the family motto, and it could only be said that Cindra was a sadist as a result. She enjoyed breaking others mentally, turning them into her masochistic puppets who sought her warped methods as a form of gratification. The young man who had just departed was one such individual.

The count was well aware that Cindra’s activities could be considered cruel, even by noble standards. The fact that she personally partook in such things was even more unusual, as most morally depraved or corrupt nobles operated through proxies and underlings so as to distance themselves in the event their illicit activities were uncovered.

For Cindra, there was a certain liberating feeling for her to crushing the supposed strong will of her victims and imposing her own upon them. It did not matter what race they were, or whether they were man or woman, only that they obeyed when she commanded. Anyone outside of the situation would disagree with the sense of liberation, seeing it as a controlling feeling, but it was not a feeling that she specifically expressed.

It was the ruthless nature of her methods, and her intelligence, that had caused the count to name Cindra the next head of the Azural house, barring any sort of politically advantageous marriage. So while he had sent Cindra to the courtship party several weeks prior, he was not at all disappointed when she returned without the stubborn crown prince under her thumb.

The Sengar Islands were a collection of islands a few days by sea north of the Sengar peninsula. They were just far enough from the mainland that Count Azural was comfortable in unifying them so as to separate from the kingdom, leaving the Azural house as a new royal power here. It was through a series of deals and alliances that he had brought the other three Sengar noble houses who controlled the islands under his influence, but it looked like it would be Cindra who would ensure their future loyalty to she who would be the island’s queen.

The count opened his eyes and calmly placed his hands on the desk. A smirk just as sinister as the one his daughter currently wore crept onto his face.

“Perhaps the sons of our allies need to have a meeting with you.”

“Oh, I’ve already spoken with them. The one I’m most interested in is the hero that has just arrived at our front door.”

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“With that information, what do you think?” Quinn asked.

Rebecca was silent for several minutes. She had returned after spending the day learning from the local physicians, and had joined the rest for the simple meal the inn offered each evening. The conversation was hushed, but Quinn had presented the situation to her. After swallowing a bite of soup-soaked bread, she finally responded.

“Well, how important are these islands to the kingdom?”

Quinn looked to Wyen, who had a better grasp of that specific situation.

“They hold several exclusive natural resources that the kingdom would otherwise have no access to. They are a stop on trade routes further north. And roughly a third of our naval fleet was stationed amongst the four territories.”

“So pretty valuable,” Rebecca concluded.

“There are other reasons of course, but the largest of those three would be the immediate loss of naval power,” continued Wyen.

“I’m not a military girl, so if you say so.”

“What are you thinking?” Quinn asked again.

“Well, my first thought was why try to hold onto them? They clearly are dissatisfied, and both situations you mentioned just come right back to this same point or, as you put it, worse.”

“They’re Sengar territory,” Quinn objected.

“But you’re struggling to hold them as is. To prevent bloodshed and maximize the people’s safety, you’d be better off just letting them do their own thing.”

“The people should be loyal to the throne,” Adelade commented.

“What are the odds that the average commoner here is going to even see the capital? It’s probably very low at best. To those that won’t see the capital, let alone the throne, these are just things that people are told about. They don’t much affect the day-to-day lives of these people so why should they care about a place that’s far away?”

Quinn was shocked.

“You mentioned you want to expand Sengar’s borders in some way. I’m again not an expert, but do you have plans to overcome the mountains in the south for any land expansion? If you want to expand, you’ll weaken any spots internally that you are concerned about if you take an aggressive stance, so working diplomatically through alliances and trade is how you’ll probably succeed.”

“The islands belong to the kingdom already. If we let them go, we would have to let others go if they wished to,” Quinn rebutted.

“Then maybe your system is broken.”

“What?”

“Look. Where I come from, there aren’t really monarchies anymore. They failed to hold up as people learned, things improved, and the people gained a political voice.”

“You gave the people a political voice?” Adelade asked.

“Well, that depended a bit on who you asked, but generally speaking yes.”

“That’s stupid. Only the nobility should rule,” Quinn said.

“Um, isn’t your own prime minister candidate not a noble?”

“She’s right,” Wyen said.

“Wyen is different. He’s been to the Academy.”

“So going to a school somehow makes one a noble or noble equivalent? Guess what? Everyone went to a school where I come when they were children.”

“Everyone? That’s insane,” Quinn said.

“Everyone. I’m not nobility either.”

Everyone was silent for several minutes as each continued to eat.

“So you think we should let the islands go to do their own thing, establishing some sort of alliance with them instead of ruling over them,” Wyen summarized.

“That’s what I think, yes,” Rebecca replied.

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“What was the place you came from like?” Adelade asked once she and Rebecca were alone.

Rebecca paused, and seemed to contemplate the question.

“I’m not sure I can say. There are too many things you wouldn’t understand.”

“But you mentioned that countries didn’t exist.”

“Kingdoms don’t really exist. There are a few. Countries exist; in a large number even.”

“Oh. I guess there is a difference between the two concepts.”

Rebecca nodded at Adelade’s understanding. She felt embarrassed that she had mistaken such a simple concept as different governing structures to a lack of national organization. Before Adelade could continue though, there was a knock on the door to their room.

Rebecca looked to her roommate, who shrugged in response. Rebecca moved to and opened the door.

“Good evening miss, I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you to come with us,” a man wearing a guard uniform stated.

There were two of them outside the room, and Adelade could tell they were veterans at their job simply by the way they carried themselves. What immediately caught Adelade’s attention though was the lack of royal insignia. Of course, she had not seen any such insignia on any other guard around town for the last few days.

“What is this about?” Rebecca asked.

“There was a disturbance at a local physician’s today. Witnesses at the scene reported someone matching your description fleeing the scene.”

Adelade knew in an instant that whatever had happened had been staged. There was no way that Rebecca would have fled from a scene where people were injured,

“I wasn’t involved in any such thing and I certainly would never have fled a scene without talking to either you or your compatriots,” Rebecca replied.

Adelade shifted slowly towards her staff, which was resting nearby. While it was not necessary, it had an enchantment which helped more efficiently channel arcanum.

“Look miss. This isn’t up for discussion. You are coming with us.”

Adelade was hoping that they were going to have more time before being discovered in Azure Gaze, but that time was shorter than anyone had predicted.

“I believe you are incorrect on this matter. This woman is under royal protection,” Adelade called out as she tossed something towards the guards.

One caught the small item and glanced at it, paleing slightly. He was staring at Adelade’s royal badge, which she had been given due to her future position and her father’s current one.

“So what?” the guard in question stammered, “The royal family holds no power here anymore.”

“Then why are you fretting?” asked someone Adelade could not see in the hallway outside.

The guard turned towards the speaker, seeing a well known member of said royal family. Fang and Wyen stood just in front of and behind the prince respectively.

“What you just said was treasonous. Fangor,” Quinn said.

With no other words, Fang rushed forward and ran both guards through before either could react. Rebecca screamed in shock and horror, falling to her knees as she attempted to save both. Unfortunately, they had died almost instantly from the wounds.

“Why? Why would you do that? They were just doing their job!” Rebecca shouted through tears.

“They were going to take you to the Azural’s. You said yourself you weren’t involved in any incident. They didn’t care,” Adelade said, resting a hand on Rebecca’s shoulder.

“We have to leave. Immediately,” Quinn said sternly as he shook his head in disappointment, “Get her ready and meet us downstairs.”

Adelade nodded and took her badge back from the fallen guard. Fang was dragging the two corpses into the room the trio had been using before arriving to help the women. After shutting the door, Adelade helped the still shook Rebecca to change into something more suited for travel. The pair heard more shouting below and the clash of metal. Adelade rushed to change herself before guiding the stunned hero downstairs. Three more guards had fallen in whatever fight had occurred, which also had claimed one of the dining area’s tables. Wyen was placing a small sack of coins down at the empty innkeeper’s stand. Likely he had either been strong-armed away for the next few hours or bribed.

As the group spilled out of the inn, they were met with a small contingent of guards. However, Adelade made short work of them by envisioning an explosive ball of fire.

“Fireball.”

The guards unfortunate enough to not be instantly killed were left suffering with a loss of hearing and severe burns. Their screams of pain broke what little formation they had, allowing the five to slip away and get out of the city.

A short while later, a female figure arrived on the scene. She surveyed the light damage done to the city itself and the victims. She silently expressed her disgust at their failure, yet allowed a sinister grin to emerge.

“The hunt begins, and you are in the hunter’s territory,” Cindra laughed.