Teyva had hoped to avoid too much fanfare with her departure but had found herself quite disappointed the following morning. A large crowd of Northern Azar had taken up a position at the gates to their home with Milliard standing out front. After some pressure from Azrael and Paraklytus, she begrudgingly left the carriage to meet with the overbearing first elder of the tribe. She shook the big man’s hand, looking into his weather-worn face as a young woman approached from the right bearing a small chest in her hand. Teyva turned and smiled at the girl only for her eyes to go wide when the girl opened the chest to reveal a ruby the size of a fist.

“It was discovered in the mines, a few days ago,” Milliard said, “Alongside a rich vein of iron. Take it as a gesture of goodwill from the northern tribe.”

The look in his eyes told Teyva that saying no would have been more than a little offensive so she accepted the gift graciously, offering the girl a mildly flirtatious look as her way of thanks. The flushed young woman retreated behind her first elder. “Thank you for your hospitality, First Elder Milliard,” Teyva said, inclining her head, “I wish I could stay longer. I would love to see the mines for myself sometime.”

“Perhaps on your return trip, Highness,” Milliard grunted.

With the short ceremony at an end, Teyva retreated to the Caravan and handed the ruby off to Azrael who gaped at it openly. She had set herself up on one side of Elat who was holding Stella, across from Teyva, and on the opposite side of the carriage from Sari who had joined them that morning. Conrad had settled in to Teyva’s right and Paraklytus had squeezed himself in on Teyva’s left. It was a tight fit but Teyva didn’t mind the close quarters as long as there wasn’t any trouble. She glanced at Paraklytus thoughtfully, she hoped he knew better than to push Sari’s buttons while Elat was present.

A few minutes later and they were off, Batel and Abba’s group forming up around the lead carriage that Teyva’s own moved to pursue. Soon they were back on the winding roads leading past the canyon and up towards the ever-rising hills and mountains north of the Wildlands.

“So when do we know we are in the Northern Wastes and not the Wildlands?” Teyva asked, peering out at the stony landscape through the window. She reached across to take Stella from Elat and pull the baby close to her chest. The little thing gurgled happily in her mother’s arms.

“It’ll be pretty obvious,” Azrael said, “Don’t be surprised if we encounter a few human caravans on the way, they trade often with the Elves. We might even run into one from Katal if we’re unlucky.”

Teyva raised an eyebrow, “Good to know.”

“Not a fan of the Katali?” Sari asked, not taking her eyes off of the notebook in her hand. She sketched something briefly with what looked like a simple ink pen before flipping the page.

“We’ve had a few unpleasant encounters,” Teyva said easily, leaning back in her seat, “I had a run-in with a particularly driven Katali Justicar, he left quite the impression on my mind.”

Conrad cleared his throat and turned to the window, “I have a personal vendetta with the Count who operates the Balthin region, myself,” He said, setting his jaw tightly.

“Bertrand Otel,” Sari said thoughtfully, flipping to yet another page, still not looking up, “Extremely pragmatic and religious man. Patron of the arts and sciences though. I’ve read a few of his papers on the use of molds to produce medicine.”

Teyva turned her head and frowned, “Antibiotics?” She asked.

Sari finally looked up from her notebook, “You’re familiar?”

“I know what penicillin is,” Teyva said, glancing at Perry who’s eyes flashed with amusement. She’d grown used to the different emotions that he projected with the glow of his eyes and could interpret them on the fly.

“Incredible,” Sari said, scratching her nose, “You did not strike me as the sort to be interested in medicine. Penicillin is a recent discovery made by the Katali scholars. The ability to neutralize illnesses with a processed mold is revolutionary. Where did you learn about it, majesty?”

Teyva forced herself not to glance at Paraklytus again, it was her turn to play games, “I’ve read quite a few texts from the library beneath Osan,” Teyva said, “Though I will admit Nephral retained the information far better than I ever could.”

Sari’s expression stilled and she hazarded a glance in Paraklytus’ direction before forcing herself to look Teyva in the eye, “I’ve heard a few things about this library.”

Teyva smiled, “Maybe I’ll show you sometime.”

“I’d like that.”

Elat, who had been looking between the two of them with growing nervousness cleared his throat, “D-did I miss something?”

Teyva turned to Elat, “What makes you ask that, dearie?”

Azrael let out a sigh and put her hand on Elat’s shoulder, “Just walk away from it, darling.”

“Well, if we’re going to have a guest in the library I should prepare a translator for the texts,” Paraklytus chuckled, breaking the tension, “They are all written in labyrinthian after all.”

“Wouldn’t she get a jist just from looking at the text, then?” Teyva said, looking back down at the baby and tilting her head left and right to entertain the child.

“Ah, you’re referring to the subtext-property of our language,” Paraklytus said, “I had been wondering if you were conscious of it, majesty.”

“Intimately,” Teyva said, not sounding amused.

Before they could continue the conversation, the carriage rolled to a stop and the party of six looked up. Teyva frowned and peered out the window to see Batel’s horse approaching. Conrad opened the door and Batel removed his helmet before inclining his head, “Majesty, we have a situation up ahead.”

“Explain,” Teyva clipped.

“Human Caravan bearing a flag Abba recognized as from Katal, they have been forced to stop and are being held at knife-point by men in dark robes. Abba does not know their origin though they all appear to be elves of some kind,” Batel said, “Your orders?”

Teyva pursed her lips and glanced between those in the caravan, “So they’re being threatened?”

“As it stands we do not see any corpses but it does look fairly tense,” Batel said.

“Conrad,” Teyva said cooly, turning to the fallen knight. Conrad stiffened and glanced her way. “Deal with it. I would prefer you to avoid any permanent harm to either side if you can.”

Conrad swallowed but nodded, pulling himself forward and stepping out of the carriage. Teyva spotted Paraklytus give Sari a look out of the corner of her eye. She pretended not to notice it and instead leaned back as if the matter was settled. Sari pushed herself forward and began to follow Conrad out, the orcish healer putting away her notebook. She turned to Teyva, “Since you’re allowing me to travel with you, I may as well pull my weight. Is it alright if I assist, majesty?”

“I don’t think Conrad will need it, but do as you please,” Teyva said.

“Sari?” Elat blurted, “What are you doing? You’re not a fighter.”

Sari rolled her eyes and slipped onto the ground before forming up with Conrad and following Batel’s horse toward the disturbance. Elat quickly hurried out of the carriage himself, clearly worried about his sister. Teyva glanced at Azrael and shrugged, “Want to go watch?”

“I am pretty curious, she’s obviously not telling us everything she’s capable of,” Azrael said, slipping out of the carriage.

Teyva turned to Paraklytus who held up a bony hand, “I shall remain here for now,” He said, “Would you like me to keep an eye on little Stella?”

“Please,” Teyva said, handing him the baby before stepping out of the carriage herself. She took in her surroundings as she fell into step with Azrael. They had passed into the mountains proper by this point, numerous peaks stretching out as far as they could see. A literal wall of stone that enveloped them in a way that made one feel small. The road that wound its way through the mountains was wide enough for two such caravans to pass side-by-side though for safety Teyva’s caravan had positioned itself in the middle of the road. She followed Azrael around the lead carriage and spotted the stopped caravan about fifty meters up ahead. It looked like there was a crowd of people sitting on the ground next to the carriages and wagons. Near that crowd was a group of figures in dark clothing.

Teyva scratched her chin as she came up to where Batel had stopped. He held out a hand to stop Elat from pursuing further, “You are a non-combatant, Lord Elat. Please remain here.”

“But my sister!” Elat protested.

“Will be fine,” Teyva said, “Conrads there with her.”

Elat rounded on Teyva, “She’s been acting weird, what is going on?”

“Elat, when was the last time you spent time with your sister. I mean, more than a few minutes before she’s off traveling again?” Teyva asked pointedly, crossing her arms behind her back as she watched Sari and Conrad make their way over to the dark figures.

“I mean… it’s been a while, yeah,” Elat admitted, “But what does that have to do with anything?”

“I think there’s more to her than she’s letting on,” Azrael said, “Let’s see what she’s got in mind, okay love?”

‘More than what?” He blurted, turning back and going very, very still. Sari was brandishing a knife. Conrad had his mace slung over his shoulder. They appeared to be talking to the dark-robed men. The conversation lasted barely a minute before Conrad’s body rippled with power and the robed figures let out screams of terror, holding their heads as whatever Conrad had done crippled them. Sari stepped back from the display, crossing her arms and just observing while Conrad applied more pressure. Before long, most of the men in robes had collapsed. Sari went around checking on each of them before turning to nod at Conrad.

Conrad turned to the captive humans and barked something before pointing back at Teyva and the group. Sari knelt down and grabbed two limp forms before dragging them behind her. Soon Conrad had joined her with a trembling human in tow.

“Well I’ll be,” Teyva said thoughtfully, “Conrad’s already getting used to his new aspect.”

“No kidding, Sari didn’t even flinch,” Azrael breathed.

“What the hell is going on?” Elat babbled, holding his head.

When Conrad and Sari had closed the distance, Teyva could hear the whimpering of the two men that Sari was dragging along. She glanced over at Azrael who nodded, an impressed look on her face. Conrad inclined his head to Teyva when he came to a stop, “Mission complete, Majesty,” He said, gesturing to the human male who had stopped next to him. The man was wearing clean, partially silken clothes and shoes made of fine materials. A noble, possibly.

Teyva looked between Sari and Conrad and nodded, “Well done, both of you.”

“You honor me,” Conrad said with a bow, stepping away and leaving the human to fend for himself in Teyva’s presence.

Sari dragged the two blubbering robed elves to Teyva’s feet and left them there, “Highness,” Sari grunted and made her way to the rear as well, uninterested in what happened to the men now that they were within Teyva’s reach. Elat pulled away and went to pursue and question his sister while Teyva stepped forward. Azrael moved around her and positioned herself behind the two prisoners, drawing her sword and leveling it at their shoulders. Teyva stepped toward the sole human and offered him a magnanimous smile.

“I am Princess Teyva Akura of the Azar,” She said, “Would you mind telling me what’s happened here?”