Mary frowned. She had been riding in a carriage for several days now, perhaps even a week or two had passed. It was hard for her to keep track of the days. The scenery outside barely changed. The clip-clopping of the horses were steady and rhythmic, always luring her to sleep. Unfortunately, the road wasnt smooth at all, and the carriage bumped up and down at random intervals. If it werent for the fact she got so easily lost, she wouldve walked to the place with the wall-punching witch. Wouldnt it be unfortunate if she found a clue to one of her companions and lost it because she didnt know which way to go?
And the twelve n who insisted on following her. They were more annoying than an itch underneath the parts of her armor that she couldnt remove. Theyd co into her carriage every day and preach. If it were any other ti, she wouldve beaten them and forced them to shut up, but what if they held a grudge and brought her away from her destination? When she threatened to beat one of them and abandon them on the roadside, they insisted she do so with pleading expressions, saying sothing along the lines of hardship breeds faith and other strange things she couldnt understand. However, she did know one thing: never reward soone who wronged you. It wouldnt feel right to abandon them since they wanted to be abandoned. Instead, Mary chose to take her hand off her sword whenever they ca into the carriage. That way, she wouldnt understand anything they were saying. In fact, she couldnt really understand what they were saying even with the swords translation, but this way, at least she wouldnt get a headache from trying to interpret their words.
Mary watched the scenery pass by and sighed. She placed her hand on her sword.
thus, the lord
Mary cleared her throat and glanced at the man sitting beside her. I forgot to ask before we started, she said. How long is this journey going to take?
Around three months.
Marys expression froze. Three months? she asked. Isnt there a faster mode of transportation?
The man raised an eyebrow. Well, if we rode the horses and abandoned the carriage, we could shorten the ti to around forty days. However, the Kingdom of Hungary doesnt have the tools we need, so we have to bring them with us via carriages.
Mary frowned. Shouldnt your group be hurrying as fast as possible to apprehend this witch? Wont the kingdom fall if the witch goes around punching down everything in a day?
Oh, the kingdom will lose, alright, the man said and nodded. That is, if we didnt intervene. However, would the Kingdom of Hungary be thankful to us if we rushed over, riding hard and wearing out our bodies? They wouldnt, not without a little bit of pressure. Though its easy for the witch to break down fortress walls, its not as easy to conquer a kingdom. The ruler of the Ottomans has to take his ti, staying in cities to pacify them, fully incorporating them under his rule. I reckon by the ti the kingdom is about to fall, well arrive just in ti to save it. The man gave Mary a small smile. The Kingdom of Hungary used to be under the influence of our Holy Roman Empire, however, in recent years, theyve cut themselves away from us. Wanting our help in tis of crisis, but rejecting us in tis of peace, why should we work so hard for allies such as these? Let their king sweat for a bit.
Mary rubbed her temples and sighed. She was never any good at politics, or anything other than the sword, really. Well, she recently found out she was excellent at woodworking, but that didnt help much in comprehending politics either. In other words, theres a reasonable explanation for why were traveling so slowly, yes?
The mans expression froze for a second. Yes, Your Holiness, he said and nodded. Thats precisely the case.
***
Alice threw Burc up and down despite the white cat yowling protests. She was bored, and Burcs attempts at escape amused her. It wasnt that she enjoyed watching him struggleokay, maybe she enjoyed it just a littlebut there was simply nothing else to do other than study, and she had been studying every single day for such a long ti, learning a language that was going to be completely useless once she returned ho. Upon realizing that, she had lost all motivation to learn anything beyond a laymans words. A sigh escaped from her lips as she caught Burc and extended her arms, preventing him from scratching her face. Wheres Nate? I wonder how hes doing.
Nate? Burc asked and clung to Alices arm, desperate to find any way to stop her from tossing him again. Whos Nate?
Nate, Alice said and furrowed her brow. Hes a really cool guy, a leader. Unfortunately, hes also a skeleton, but Ill find him a real body one day, one where he can touch and feel and sleep.
Burc squird, but he couldnt escape from Alices grip despite her small hands. Well, that sounds like a lot of work. He had no clue what Alice was saying. A skeleton? How could a skeleton be a cool guy? Ill leave you to it then.
Alice tossed Burc back into the air. There was a knock on the door, and Alice nearly missed her catch when Burc fell back down. The doors open, she said and placed Burc down onto the bed. He fell onto his side and collapsed, glaring at Alice.
The door opened, and a Janissary ca in. He lowered his head and spoke at Alices feet. The Padishah told to inform you that the army will begin its march again soon. Everything has been taken care of on the administrative side.
Alices expression lit up, and the Janissary took a glance at her face. His expression paled when he realized she was happy. War wasnt enjoyable, yet this little girl loved it. He took a few steps back and closed the door, promising himself not to get on the witchs bad side.
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