Chapter 1.26

18th day of the 5th month of the year 50143

Late at night, or rather early in the morning, Anastasia and her three companions were approaching the capital. The sun was not yet coloring the horizon in the east. They were in the air for fifteen hours already. Along the way, they made only one stop for twenty minutes at the border of the empire.

The scaly lizard they flew in was anything but comfortable transportation. Fast, over 300 kilometers per hour, noisy, with howling air currents and the low rumble of its wings. Not even the protective screen was a savior. But most unpleasant was the constant trembling. Even the comfortable passenger seats did not help. After a few hours of flight, the body began to ache with discomfort.

On the reptile's back was a cabin with three seats. There was a handler at the front, and behind him were two passenger seats in turn. On the sides of each seat were doors that also served as windows. They opened upward. In-flight, of course, they were closed. Along each side of the cabin were long, narrow extensions about half a meter wide. The landing was usually done through a long flat lizard tail. Each seat was equipped with seat belts. They held passengers firmly in place and prevented them from falling out in flight.

There were no lights in the cabin. Only on landing did the handler light the lantern. Otherwise, the light interfered with him navigating the area. On the head of the lizard were two small red lights pointing forward and down. There were two more, but green ones, on the back of its tail at its sides.

They flew in two groups, one lizard carrying Anastasia and Kai. The other one carries Batunkhan and Antonio. At times below them, they watched sleeping cities float by. The streets of the cities were brightly lit. From a height of more than a kilometer, one could see everything. Even the smallest details, if it weren't for the constant shaking of the lizard.

"How much longer?" Anastasia asked, turning her head back to where Kai sat.

"What?" Kai didn't hear and leaned his head forward.

"I say how much longer?" She raised her voice.

"How should I know," Kai told her loudly. "There are five major cities on our route between the border and the capital. And five of them we've already passed. So, the next city will be the capital."

"How clever you are, Kai," Anastasia smiled.

Twenty minutes later, somewhere in front of her on the ground, Anastasia noticed a faint, wide glow on the horizon. She turned happily to Kai.

"There, there!" She pointed with her hand. "Look! There!"

Kai turned his head and looked where she was pointing, then looked at her and nodded affirmatively.

A little more time passed, and they could clearly see the capital in front of them. The handler reduced the speed of the lizards to just over 100 kilometers per hour. The air port in the capital was in the northwestern part of it on the outskirts. Anastasia and her group were approaching from the southeast.

The handler decided to fly around the center of the city from the right side and reduced the speed even further.

The noise in the cabin decreased significantly and it was already possible to talk without raising your voice. Anastasia kept actively looking for familiar places in the capital. Finally, she saw what she was looking for and turned back to Kai.

"Look," she pointed her hand somewhere forward and downward.

Kai looked where she was pointing and saw the de Graaf family estate below. From above, it seemed quite small. He distinctly recognized the lake and the lighted garden.

"So?" He asked her. "We're still a quarter of an hour away from the air port."

"Nah, we're taking a shortcut," Anastasia said with a malicious smile.

Kai was surprised at first to hear what she said. But then he realized what Anastasia meant, and his eyes rounded in horror.

"No! You wouldn't dare!" He shouted, but she hadn't listened to him for a long time. Anastasia, turning to the chaser and leaning toward him, was talking about something. Kai couldn't make out what she was saying.

Batunkhan and Antonio followed the second lizard a short distance behind. They noticed that the first lizard was slowing down considerably. Their handler turned to them and asked.

"What are your companions planning out there?" He asked and began to slow down, too.

Batunkhan and Antonio stared out the window. In the sky's background, the first lizard was clearly visible. It had stopped almost completely and hovered in place. The side door opened and Anastasia appeared. She looked at them and then pointed downward with her hand.

"What is she doing?" Antonio asked in amazement.

"I think it's time for us to go out," Batunkhan replied, sighing. He turned to the handler. "Dear sir, let's get closer to them. We'll get out here."

"Go out? Where to?" The handler was surprised.

"Where to?" Batunkhan wondered in turn. "Down, of course," he pointed his hand downward.

"But there's no landing area!"

"There's no need for one," he said, and then nodded at the first lizard. "Have you forgotten how we arrived at the air port? Look over there you'll get it immediately."

Anastasia was standing on the lizard's tail, and a second later four translucent wings formed behind her from the "air wings" spell. She broke away from the lizard and quickly approached Batunkhan.

"What are you doing there," she said. "We've already arrived."

Soon everyone was gathered around Anastasia. All four with active wing spells. The lizards on which they had arrived, were moving away toward the air port, their final destination.

"So, what's next?" Kai asked her.

Far to the east, the horizon began to lighten. Anastasia, seeing this, said cheerfully.

"Whoever goes to visit in the morning is doing a wise thing."

And in the same second, she dropped like a stone to the ground.

"Oh no!" Kai exclaimed.

Catherine de Graf woke up abruptly, feeling a surge of magical energy. A second later, the mansion's siren howled, signaling a magical attack and waking the entire mansion.

Catherine jumped out of bed and ran to the window. Her bedroom was on the second floor in the west wing, and the windows faced north, directly over the lake.

A second later, Catherine saw a glowing figure in the sky, plummeting rapidly downward, not far from the shore of the lake. The figure didn't seem to slow down, even when it was a dozen meters from the ground. Catherine's eyes widened at what she saw.

After a moment the figure hit the ground. A powerful magical surge followed. Then a second later there was a loud "Boom" and the entire mansion's windows shook.

"Asya!" Catherine shouted out angrily. "What are you doing!"

She opened the glazed bedroom door and stepped out onto the second-floor balcony. When the dust cleared, she could see that the figure was unharmed and had four translucent wings behind her. Shaking off the dust, she took off and headed toward Catherine.

"Asya, did you have to show up like that?" Catherine asked Anastasia as she approached.

"I'm hungry," the young woman said angrily. "I had to take a shortcut."

"What?" Catherine didn't understand the answer. "Are you hungry...?"

"Yes, I'm hungry," Anastasia repeated.

Catherine sighed and shook her head.

"Where are your boys?"

"Over there," she turned around and pointed her hand to the sky above. "They're as slow as ever."

Catherine looked in the direction Anastasia was pointing. High in the sky, she felt the presence of three sources of magical energy. And a couple of seconds later she saw them. Especially noticeable was Antonio with his dazzlingly bright Angel Wings.

"Well, you could have come in through the entrance like all normal people," she said and turned back to the bedroom. "Come on downstairs. I'll be down soon, too."

A quarter of an hour later, when all the commotion had subsided, an early breakfast was served in the dining room. Catherine was seated at the long table with the unexpected guests. She sat at the head of the table, next to her, on either side were Anastasia and Kai, and then Batunkhan and Antonio. Next to Catherine at her side was Teo. A maid stood beside each person seated.

Soon hot tea and buns were served. The tea was served in a special tall ceramic teapot. At the bottom of it was a plate for heating or boiling. And beneath it was a magic crystal for control and as a power source for the spell. The water boiled, rather quickly, for about five minutes. Then tea leaves and mint leaves were added to the hot boiling water. Sometimes pieces of fruit or some herbs were added to the flavor. After a couple of minutes of boiling, the teapot was turned over to cool. When the temperature dropped to fifty degrees, it was switched to holding that temperature. The tea was then poured into cups for everyone, when needed.

A jug of fresh milk was also placed on the table. It could be added to the tea for flavor if desired. There was also a small jug of honey, which was also added to the tea for flavor.

Tea was poured into a ceramic cup on a saucer. Another saucer was placed next to it for buns or cookies. Buns and cookies of various shapes and fillings were placed on the table. There were sweet rolls with fruit or berry fillings. There were sweet buns with an egg, and there were buns with a meat filling. There was also a napkin holder next to everyone to wipe their hands after eating.

Everyone had a couple of buns on a saucer. And Anastasia had a whole mountain of buns, which she ate with great appetite. Catherine put down her cup of tea and looked disapprovingly at Anastasia, who was intensely shoving another bun into her mouth, all at once.

"wfhaat?" she asked with her mouth full.

Catherine sighed and spoke. "Where are your manners, weren't you taught to chew first and then speak."

"One thing doesn't meddle with the other."

"It does!" Catherine couldn't stand it. "It's not decent."

Anastasia quickly chewed the bun and began to lick her sweet fingers.

"I'm an ever-growing organism," she declared. "I need to eat a lot."

"A wildly growing organism, no one's going to take them away from you. Eat as much as you want."

"I do," Anastasia declared, shoving another bun into her mouth.

It took her another quarter of an hour to eat the rest of the buns she put in front of her. Finally, when she had finished everything, Kai asked Catherine.

"Madam, why did you summon us back, and so urgently."

"Urgent?" Catherine was surprised. "I did not say urgently."

"You did," Anastasia interjected. She pulled out the amulet hanging around her neck, activated it, and showed it to Catherine. The amulet bore the inscription "Return to the capital immediately."

"I see," Catherine sighed. "Still, I didn't expect you to be back so soon, and to bring a severed head with you."

Anastasia brought the head in a sack with her. And before eating, she handed it to the nearest maid. The woman had the misfortune of opening the sack and looking inside.

"Ripped off," the word escaped Kai.

"Kai!"

"Sorry, Madam," he apologized.

"Kai," Anastasia said, chewing on another bun. "Do you have the tickets?"

"What tickets?" He didn't understand.

"For the cute lizards, we flew on."

"Oh, those," he finally understood what she was talking about. "Yes, I have them."

"Give them to her," she pointed her hand at Catherine.

"Why?"

"Give it to her," she said.

Kai shrugged, but got the tickets and handed them to Catherine. She looked at the four tickets and the luggage bill in front of her. She stared questioningly at Anastasia and Kai followed, too.

"That'll be 490 in gold for you, dear Granny," Anastasia smiled.

Hearing this, the woman darkened.

"How much?" She asked again.

"There's 49...," Kai began to say when Anastasia interrupted him by shushing him loudly.

Catherine first looked at Anastasia, then at Kai, took one ticket, and looked at it carefully.

"I see a price of twelve gold here," she said, looking at Anastasia. "And there are only four here. Baggage is one gold coin."

"Tch," tsked her tongue, not the least bit embarrassed by her attempt. "Pay anyway. If you say it's urgent, you have to pay for the urgency."

"All right, I'll give you 49 gold."

"Hooray," Anastasia shouted cheerfully. "Then I can have a good rest."

"No way," Catherine disappointed her. "You'll have to do work for them."

"Boo," Anastasia pouted immediately.

"Since you're already here, I'm going to need you today," Catherine told Kai. "I'll go to the ministry in the morning. I need to have a word with Tirel. And then when I get back, we'll visit Mike."

"Oh! Did the boy get into something again?" Anastasia perked up.

"He's sitting in a cell in the southeastern section of the capital's guards."

"Ha ha! Great!" Anastasia laughed. "And can he stay there for a few more years?"

"How did he get there?" Kai asked. "Is he the reason you called us off?"

Instead of answering, Catherine turned to Teo, who was standing next to her.

"Give him the case folder. Let him read it."

"Yes, Madam," he said with a bow.

Soon Teo returned with the folder in his hands. By this time the table had been cleared, only Anastasia was left with a saucer and a couple of buns. Teo placed the folder in front of Kai. When he opened it, he immediately looked at Catherine in surprise.

"Where did you get this?"

"Good people brought it over tonight," she replied.

After carefully reading the documents in the folder, he looked at Catherine again in surprise.

"I don't understand," he said. "There's enough evidence here for him to be released under house arrest at least. Why is he still in a cell?"

"Good question," smiled Catherine. "I think we'll get an answer to it today."

"And how is Tirel involved?"

"It's not just him involved," Catherine sighed.

"Tir has finally become a bad boy?" Anastasia asked. "Is he the one who put little Mike in jail?"