We chartered a boat from Knigwick as planned. Captain Sunni argued that we should seek lodgings for the night and continue in the morning, but the Princess was adamant that she didn’t want to have to stay the night in Lord Fishcake’s estate. Nothing against the lord, but the longer the Princess had to maintain the ruse that she was still organic, the harder it was for her. She could only decline or hide food and drink for so long, after all.

Reluctantly, Sunni agreed and we found a ship large enough for the company and willing to travel down river through the night. I can only imagine what the negotiated price ended up being. Somehow, I doubted that Lena had any clue what the price was either.

I let Cyclone wander freely on the ship since we were already separated and I couldn’t find a good opportunity to hide myself away back inside of the proxy shell. IronHide also was curious about hanging out on the ship, but he was honestly too big. It was already cramped with the company of soldiers along with their mounts and equipment. Bringing ‘Hide out, might have sunk the ship.

I’m not THAT heavy...

Don’t pout. It’s not a good look on you. You just want to hang out with Marshoo anyway, and she’s sleeping.

“Copper for your thoughts,” Lena said, as she leaned back against the railing of the deck.

I had left the soldiers to do their own thing, along with Cyclone, who was playing the role of Lena’s knight, and come to the upper deck so I could lean over the railing at the bow of the ship and just exist for a bit.

“I’ll have you know my thoughts are worth at least a silver,” I said without turning her way.

“Oh, is that so Mister Prime? Then I shall have to be certain that I get my money’s worth.”

I chuckled at the joke. “You know, it’s funny. In my old world we had an idiom. I assume you have one similar. A penny for your thoughts when you are seeking the opinion or ideas of another person. A penny being the lowest form of currency. But then there’s also putting my two cents in for when you’re offering your own opinions or ideas. It shows that people value their own thoughts and ideas at twice that of other people.”

“I think you’ve devoted entirely too much time to that line of thinking,” she said, giving me a side glance and a nudge as she de[Cloak]ed.

“At least turn around and face the water,” I warned. “Your eyes are glowing. Might be bad if a crew member comes out on deck or spots you.”

She rolled her glowing eyes, but turned around anyway and smashed her shoulder up against mine as she leaned on the railing next to me.

“I can’t wait to get to the Capital,” she gushed.

“It’s been a while since you were home. You’re probably eager to get back to some form of your old life,” I nodded.

“Sure, I guess so. But what I’m really excited about is having YOU there. I can’t wait to show you all my favorite shops, the library, the cute little boutique that makes my boots. Oh, and of course you HAVE to see this darling little bakery and cafe. They make the most delicious little pastries you’ve ever tasted.”

I nearly bit my metaphorical tongue right off. She was so excited about sharing the things she loved with me... but now that she was an Automata she wouldn’t have access to them any more. Pastries aside, I highly doubted that she’d have the freedom to go traipsing around the city with someone that looked like me.

“Yeah, that sounds pretty great,” I replied, trying to keep the dark clouds swirling around in my head from reaching my voice modulator.

“Oh, it’s going to be wonderful, you’ll see. I’ve decided that I’m going to make it my mission to show you all of the wonderful things that this world has to offer you so that you won’t feel lonely or homesick for your old world.”

I turned away from the lapping river to see her staring directly at me. I could almost feel my faceplate heating up until my mind started wandering off again to wonder if my own eyes were changing color or dilating.

“Thank you... your highness,” I said, trying to impart gratitude into my voice.

Lena’s eyes turned pink and nearly filled her optics but she didn’t turn away or run off this time. After a long minute, she turned to look back out on the water and rested her head on my shoulder. I returned the favor and gently rested my head on hers.

“The moons are quite beautiful, reflected on the water,” I offered.

“Mmm,” she agreed.

“Tell me about them?”

For the rest of the night, Lena told me about various myths and legends regarding the three moons of Arpigea as well as scientific theories about them. By dawn, we had arrived in the Capital City.

By the time we docked and disembarked, a crowd of royal guardsmen were waiting for us; neatly arranged in rows and columns. A royal coach was ready and waiting, and at the head of the formation stood an incredibly stoic looking Crown Prince Milliardo. I wondered how he knew the time of our arrival. Presumably the ship was equipped with some sort of magic based telecommunications system, right? Or maybe Sunni had some means of keeping the garrison informed of our progress.

I returned Cyclone to [Inventory]. I was sure that things would be safe, surrounded by this many royal guardsmen, but it wouldn’t hurt to have him at the ready. I was content to allow the Princess to lead the exodus from the ship, followed by her officers, but she insisted that I stay next to her.

We approached the Prince and as we got closer, I could see his lower lip quivering. I felt like it was taking everything this siscon had, to keep it together.

“Your royal highness, this humble Princess has returned to the capital,” the Princess said with a well practiced curtsy.

Captain Sunni and the company we’d traveled with all saluted and dropped to a knee as a single unit. I, somehow, missed the signal as well as the practice sessions and was left standing like an idiot. The Prince glanced my way and I hit the ground like a stone, punching the wooden dock a bit harder than intended. Crap, did it break? No, no, it’s not broken. I’m safe there.

The Prince turned on his heel, facing away from us and pausing for a moment.

“It’s good to see you back safely, little sister,” he said evenly, before walking to the coach and climbing into it.

Once the Prince was inside the coach, Lena recovered from her deep curtsy and looked down at me lifting her eyebrows twice. Sunni and the rest stood up as a single unit again and I was, of course, a couple beats behind. I was now certain that they held regular synchronised kneeling practice.

I followed Lena to the coach and helped her climb inside when she held out her hand to me. It was times like these that forcefully reminded me that she was royalty. Once she was inside, I tried to pull back but she frowned at me and refused to let go of my hand.

Thanks to her Automata strength, she easily lifted me up by the arm and pulled me into the coach like I was a big teddy bear or something. I was horrified. Being pulled up like a toy notwithstanding, did this dainty looking Princess just demonstrate gorilla strength in front of the royal guards as well as the dock workers and ship crew? Being made entirely of metal, I'm not exactly light.

Princess Kong didn’t give me time to think about it, as I was yanked into the coach and the door was closed. As soon as the door shut, Milliardo threw himself onto Lena in a flood of tears and sobbing.

“Milli, Milli, it’s okay, I’m home now,” she said gently, stroking his hair.

He said something completely unintelligible as the coach lurched into motion.

“Yes, you were very brave,” she consoled.

More blubbering.

“I know, but that’s because I have a metal body now. This is just an illusion, see?” she argued, as she turned off her [Cloak].

Anguished sobbing.

“Milliardo Zechs Peacecraft DuFangwell,” she scolded, peeling him off of her. “Would you prefer I, a corpse? Because that was the other choice!”

The Crown Prince was sniffling and hiccuping, but shook his head “no”. I tried to look very interested in whatever was going on outside of the coach, though it was still that post-dawn murkiness and all the curtains were drawn so I couldn’t see much. The Prince looked up and studied Lena’s face, gently touching it and turning it back and forth, then studying her hands in a similar manner. He pushed her sleeve up to get a better look at her forearm and was about to pull the front of her gown down to get a better look at her shoulders and torso when he was met with a foot to the chest that shoved him back to the other side of the coach. The foot was not mine.

“Milli!” she warned, her face turning angry and her arms gathering up as much fabric to cover herself as she could.

The Prince’s face was a picture of stoic calm, if you ignored all the slobbering tears and snot all over it. A braid had come undone, and some of his long, golden hair was bunched up on one side.

“You’ve done remarkably well, Master Artificer. You will be well rewarded,” he said, turning his snot face in my direction.

“You’ve... um... got a little something on your face there... your highness,” I offered, trying not to look directly at the man.

“[Refresh],” he said, snapping his fingers.

All of the tears and snot vanished in a sparkle of twinkling white lights that washed over his whole body. Even his hair looked perfect. I really shouldn’t have been surprised that there was a spell to instantly clean a person up, though for the next time, I hoped that he’d let me [Inspect] him while he ran it. I was curious as to what mechanisms were in play. I wondered if Shea knew the spell or if it was something Milliardo could do because he was royalty and, presumably, better at magic.

“Ahem,” I said, mock clearing my throat, “your highness, my agent infiltrated the mansion of Baron Karza last night, after squads of his personal soldiers raided freed Automata safe houses with the intent to slaughter them all.”

“Go on,” he encouraged, folding his fingers together and giving me his full attention.

“We found the former Guild Master, Ryoma Nagare, at the Baron’s residence. Apparently both of them had been operating under the orders of this Lord Jhaix. They mentioned a large-scale operation that was set in motion and the Baron believed he would be financially rewarded upon its completion.”

“Tell me more of this operation.”

“We’ve captured Nagare and have him bound in a basement store room, your highness. Thus far, we only know about the Titans and we suspect that Jhaix is constructing an Automata dragon, though we don’t know the particulars.”

“Interrogate Nagare immediately and inform me of the results. I authorise you to use whatever means you deem necessary.”

“Understood, your highness,” I said, giving a slight bow.

The Prince tsked and glanced past the window curtain. “If only you’d arrived two days prior.”

“Milli, you asked the impossible to begin with. You know that under normal conditions the trip would have taken at least a fortnight,” the Princess chastised.

“Ugh, I know,” he groaned. “It’s General Greevus, you see. He arrived back from the campaign in the southern reaches three days ago. He, too, has grown quite suspicious of the empire’s actions and I feel could be an ally for us.”

“Oh, that sounds great,” Lena remarked.

“Yes, well, unfortunately, he’s been redeployed with barely a day’s rest. He and his army are exhausted, though father insists that troops from the Holy Empire of Jamnasia have invaded our western border, destroying settlements in the region and also attacking our western neighbor Kauiapia.”

“Jamnasia?” I asked. “Isn’t that the country that kidnaps people from other worlds in order to fight you?”

The Prince glanced at Lena, who withered a bit, then back to me. “You are well informed, that’s quite correct. Jamnasia is a country of human supremacists with an idiology that encourages genocide. It is not a threat we will take lightly. Father has presented no evidence of this invasion though, nor has he provided any source for his information.”

“But why would father wish to keep his own army exhausted and the greatest battle mage we possess on the brink of collapse?”

“Indeed. I will be meeting with father and the noble council this afternoon. I hope to get more answers.”

The coach stopped and as we got out, I could see that we had entered into the castle compound. We were inside a massive garage type of structure, protected from the elements, and leaving me to only speculate as to the scale of the castle. I could only imagine the army that would be required to clean and service such a thing.

Of course, if you needed an army to clean such a massive castle, then the natural choice was Automata slaves, right? Not to be dissapointed, I saw Automata maids all over the place as we passed through the halls to the Princess’s quarters. Most of them seemed to be hiding away at the edges of being noticed. Chances were high that this place was riddled with secret service passages.