While the girls had traveled in relative style to meet up with the other group from Juneau, now that they were officially part of the caravan, things were set to change.
Because Kassandra, Rieka, Jane, and Shayla all were part of a pre-established party, they were settled into the same transport. Since the wagons were also transporting supplies, they were far more utilitarian than the specialized transports that they’d been using.
Larger in both draft and bed size, the wagons were drawn by teams of oxen and each of the groups from Juneau basically were expected to find a way to make themselves comfortable on top of the supplies without actually disturbing them if they rode in the wagons or to keep pace alongside.
The wagon-train itself wasn’t moving much faster than a walk anyway, so a fair number of the students walked on their own to stretch their legs or spare their backsides the jarring rattle of the wagons. Though I did notice that most of those traveling on foot were the lower-nobles or common-born students.
I had a feeling that Rieka could have pushed and gotten an exception to use a carriage if she really wanted to. But since no one else from Juneau had that comfort—or more likely the clout to force something like that through—my princess just fell in with the others.
Valda attached herself to our group without hesitation, the older student inquiring after what we’d been up to since the last time she’d seen us. The stories from the end-of-term summoning competition took up most of the first day of travel after we set out, and most of the evening as well since Valda set her tent up next to ours.
“You clearly have practiced this,” Valda murmured in surprise as she watched.
My girls were quickly erecting their large, yurt-style tent with ease while the other students alternated between either ordering someone else to handle it or struggling with the ropes and canvas like it was some kind of eldritch puzzle. I’d already done my part, smoothing out the ground for the tent and modifying the soil to create a softer ‘pad’ underneath it to act as a cushion for us to sleep on while ensuring it didn’t just turn to mud if we got rain.
“We did quite a bit of traveling and camping,” I said with a smile, standing back as my girls did their coordinated dance around the tent to get the canvas spread out. While I watched, Jane grabbed the central pole and dove into the folded canvas with a determined grunt as she burrowed through the material to find the spot she needed to get the center set up.
“You aren’t going to help them?” the scaled woman asked me, quirking one slim eyebrow as she unpacked her own tent, which was a similar style to ours but far smaller and clearly meant to be a single-occupant version.
“He just gets in the way,” Kassandra interjected teasingly as the tent began to rise upwards and the girls got the supporting lines in place and pulled taut.
“I do not!” I protested indignantly, getting a chorus of giggles from my girls as they worked.
“Usually, he’s in charge of building the firepit and getting that going,” Shayla explained while she secured her line, the delicate wings on her back pumping happily.
The moth woman had been rather happy to walk instead of ride for a while, allowing her large wings to flex and stretch properly. I wasn’t going to complain either, since this world didn’t really have underwear beyond a simple breast-band or the heavy corsets like what Kassandra wore. Shayla in her thin dresses was always a treat to watch, and I had a feeling she knew it too, given the sway I kept seeing in her walks when she was in front of me.
Before Valda could ask about the firepit, I pressed outwards with Manipulate Element and the ground between where she was standing and the front of my girls’ tent sank several inches, the grass flowing to either side to leave bare dirt that was rapidly compacted into hard earth.
Valda clicked her tongue, her forehead wrinkling in surprise as she stared at the ground in surprise before looking up at me.
“I had forgotten about that,” she said with a small smile and I shrugged with a wink at her.
“It’s easy to forget with how distracting I can be. I’d say it’s the dashing good looks, but I don’t think I could do that with a straight face,” I laughed, getting a chorus of giggles from the girls behind me as well.
“Note that he’s not denying that he’s handsome, just that he’s not able to brag about it yet,” Jane commented, sticking her head out of the rapidly rising tent with a smirk and her fluffy hair mussed after her brief burrowing trip into the tent before it was fully set up.
“Good. Today has been going so well that I would have to argue with him,” Rieka asserted with a flick of her blonde tail as she finished securing the ties on her end. “Kass, will you get the bedding set up since you have the bag?”
“Of course,” Kassandra chirped with a smile, and I had a feeling that my dwarf lamia was more thinking about what we might get up to in that bedding rather than just making sure it was comfortable for a night’s sleep.
“Well then, if you have the firepit settled, then I will worry about my own tent,” Valda said with a happy laugh before turning her attention to her shelter for the night.
Not really having a reason to complain or argue, I got to work getting the campfire set up. It was a familiar task, one that I cheated on briefly using a cheap plastic lighter that I had stashed in my Dimensional Pocket.
Since the power had expanded finally and increased in volume and weight, I made sure to stock it with some extra necessities beyond just treats for the girls. Fifty pounds wasn’t much in the grand scheme of things, but it was enough for more than a few surprises.
Soon enough, we had our little fire going and the two tents set up. The other students were slowly figuring their things out, which made me wonder what it was that was giving them such a struggle about it.
All of the students that had been included in this trip were people who were part of the combat magics track, just like Rieka and Kassandra had been when we first forged our summoning bond. But apparently, these people hadn’t bothered to go very far from Juneau or Kintos in the mandatory missions they’d been expected to complete for ‘real world’ experience.
I guess this is the price they pay for not practicing those skills, I thought while hauling the large pot back from the river with water for tonight’s dinner. The weight of it was barely noticeable, and honestly something I was only aware of because I had to be careful not to spill the water out on the ground.
All five of the girls—my four and Valda—were sitting comfortably around the crackling fire pit when I returned with the water. Given that my girls had the added benefit of their dimensional bags for transport, they’d all packed an odd sort of backless wooden folding chair that would accommodate their unique anatomy, while Valda sat on a hunk of wood that she’d dragged over from the tree line.
“—glad to camp with you four. It saves me having to chase off the ones trying to curry favor in hopes that it will allow them to avoid getting tough or dangerous duty,” Valda was saying as I approached.
“Let me guess, most of the noble-born ones?” Kassandra asked with a wry smile, getting a nod of agreement from the stern lizard woman.
“I have little enough patience for such attitudes and actions that it is rather annoying to deal with. Something that they will quickly learn to curb, or deal with the consequences,” Valda grumbled, turning to glance in my direction as I approached with the pot. “Isn’t that a bit full?”
“Tea,” I answered, as Kassandra was already producing her kettle and the tin of herbal tea that she liked. A quick bit of juggling poured the extra water off into the kettle and soon both were heating by the fire.
It was Shayla’s turn to cook, and the curvy moth woman was already hard at work tearing up salted beef and tossing it into the pot to rehydrate and create a rich stock while we talked.
“The fact that there are those who took the combat course—knowing full well that they would be expected to do stuff like fight or go to a front like this—and still try to duck responsibilities is ridiculous,” Rieka sighed, scooting her chair about so she was sitting next to me on the little folding stool I had for a chair.
My seat wasn’t as grand as the heavier wooden ones the girls used, but I didn’t need much and it was only a few ounces in weight. It also meant that I was actually at eye level with Rieka when she shifted in her seat to lean into me, allowing her to use my shoulder as a pillow while her tail whipped slowly behind her.
Valda studied the closeness between the princess and me with her intense gray eyes while she clicked the claws that tipped her fingers together thoughtfully.
However, rather than speak about it, Valda just went back to their previous conversation.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
“Indeed. It is something that even happens in my family’s lands. Noble scions thinking that they are above or better than the common warriors and that somehow excuses them from the responsibility of war and fighting. It is less likely to happen, at least. But it still does.”
“What kind of situation are we heading into, anyway? The information we had was pretty sketchy to begin with,” I asked, shifting slightly to let Rieka get more comfortable, and getting a happy hum from the wolfish princess on my shoulder.
“It’s fairly straightforward. The number of raids we’ve been seeing going on is increasing, as well as an increase in movements amongst the barbarian tribes. Either they are massing for a large attack, or they are going to try for a multi-pronged push. The Ironclaw territory holds three passes that are the only real way for large numbers to get through the mountains, and our people keep careful watch of the smaller tracks that would allow scouts through,” Valda explained, shifting her attention fully onto me now.
“That much we heard about,” I said when she paused. “I was more meaning what sort of duties were planned for the girls while we are there, that way we can coordinate how my summoning work will be handled.”
Which was going to be important to ensure that I got my ‘pay’ for each summon as it were. The girls had to pay the mana one way or another to get me to Cortha, so they all agreed that they might as well make sure I got my share converted to SP properly now that we’d all remembered.
“We are headed for the westernmost of the three passes right now,” Valda answered with an understanding nod. “There, we will get everyone settled into the keep that blocks the pass and set a watch rotation. Unless those barbarian tribes decide to assault the pass, it will be a whole lot of boring watch duty, interspersed with me teaching you all as much as I can about the duties of an attached mage to combat troops.”
I nodded as I thought that over. Valda had revealed earlier in the day that, much as we had all suspected and hoped, she was to be our point of contact for the Ironclaw forces. Apparently, the instructors at Juneau agreed with Valda’s own family that the students would be more likely to actually listen to a peer or upperclassman on these things.
“What sort of lessons are we going to be having?” Jane asked excitedly.
The mousy scholar had already brought out one of her notebooks and the fountain pen I’d given her to write something down, but she flipped to a fresh page in her notebook and waited expectantly for Valda to explain.
“Not traditional lessons like you might be thinking,” Valda assured her, causing Jane to deflate. “It’ll be more of a hands-on type of instruction along with sparring and combat drills. That way, when fighting does come along you will be ready to react without me having to hold anyone’s hand.”
“That’s not so bad of a fate,” Kassandra quipped with a grin, the firelight reflecting in her mane of red curls and on the glass of her little spectacles as she tended to her kettle, which was steaming now. “Holding hands with a proper lady like you, Valda, would likely be a treat for more than a few boys in our class.”
“Provided they don’t decide to use that held-hand to try and do something stupid,” Valda grumbled sardonically. “Though I think that is more of a ‘when’ and not an ‘if’ in this case. You would think that being the daughter of the chieftain would get more of the idiots to keep their distance.”
I’d known that Valda was connected to the leaders of the Ironclaw tribe, but her outright stating she was the daughter of the clan’s chief put it in a whole new light to me. I had one princess leaning on my shoulder, while another who was basically a princess as well poured out all the annoyances in her heart to me across the fire between us.
Rather than say something stupid, I kept my mouth shut and let the girls talk it out.
“Probably because they hear ‘tribe’ and ‘clan,’ then think that you are nothing more than another of the wild and unruly savages like those we are heading out to fight,” Kassandra said with a snort.
“And you say that like it was an insult to be considered wild,” Valda replied with a very small smile. “No, it is something I’m used to. And part of why I didn’t make it a big thing at Juneau. I didn’t need the labels like Princess Rieka is laboring under, the ‘lady’ title was enough of an annoyance.”
“And again, I ask you to simply call me Rieka,” my wolfish princess protested, not stirring from her spot on my shoulder. “If you are to be our commander and teacher for the next few weeks or months, it doesn’t make sense for you to have to stand on formality.”
“I will consider it,” Valda replied calmly, her gray eyes again studying the princess and where she sat snuggled into me.
Rieka had been wary of being too affectionate in the past, and while what she was doing wasn’t anything salacious, it was more than most would have considered appropriate. But none of the girls were protesting, and it was clear to me that Valda didn’t have a problem with it. If anything, she seemed more surprised that Rieka didn’t have a problem with being that openly affectionate.
Before it could grow awkward at all, Kassandra smartly turned the conversation onto the topic of how annoying boys could be when they thought themselves ‘above’ a woman. It was a conversation that I didn’t have the foggiest idea of how to contribute to, so I just sat quietly and listened as my girls commiserated on bad pickup lines, and idiot feats performed in a vain attempt to get attention.
<><><>
Traveling on foot with the wagons slowed our pace quite a bit, but having the well-maintained road to follow helped to mitigate it. With the oxen plodding along pulling the wagons with a familiar tireless strength, the students would rotate in and out of the wagons to rest, so the only time we really stopped moving was for lunch and to camp at night.
This steady pace allowed us to cover quite a bit of ground, and the lush fields and green forests of the Coldeye queendom began to slowly convert over to the more rocky, hilly terrain studded with stands of coniferous trees.
Several times during the trip, monsters attempted to attack the caravan. But they were neither large enough in number or threat level that the students or either of the two factions' guards struggled to turn them back.
I got to know a few of Valda’s guards, their severe attitudes were only rivaled by their respect for the young woman who was their ostensible commander. It was clear to me that, despite being as good as a princess to these people, Valda had earned every ounce of respect her fighters gave her. And she did it without ignoring the advice of the older and more experienced amongst their numbers.
The last of the queendom way-stations sat right along the border, marked by a collection of large stones carved to mark the land out so that it would not be disputed. It also was a welcome sight as the students were able to take rooms, bathe, and enjoy a hot meal made by someone else. The soldier’s fare that many had been eating was hearty, but not what most were used to.
While the girls were cleaning up in the women’s bathing area, I briefly dipped back to Earth to check on things with Gloria, resupply her, and make sure that there were no problems.
Gloria had taken to the Bitsy store business with a will, and applied her business knowledge to even more of it. She had a few pointed questions for me about supply chains, costs, taxes, and everything else, which resulted in me putting her in touch with the accountant that I had managing the books for me. One thing that stuck with me though was the questions about supplies.
“I don’t care where you are getting the materials, but you do need to at least document a believable source of the materials. There is quite a bit of gold and pearls going through your store, and it's already generating enough buzz in the fashion blogs to get people looking your way,” Gloria had told me as I handed off the most recent batch of pieces.
I’d gotten good enough with my abilities that I was able to mold the metal without even touching it now, simply willing the elaborate filigree into place and the metal flowing with the aid of my magic. The pearls I stockpiled easily enough, using my Shape-Shifting to rapidly produce them like the shimmer-nest conch did and just store them in my Dimensional Pocket.
“I’ll see about it,” I said after a moment of thought. “I’ve mostly just been buying up scrap gold and using some ingots that I inherited from my dad. The pearls…”
“Again, I don’t care where you are getting them from. You don’t have to answer to me,” Gloria asserted as she took the box from me with a grunt of surprise at the weight.
The tattooed Latina hefted the parcel up onto her shoulder to balance there and blew a strand of hair from her eyes before she continued.
“Ultimately, you just have to make sure you have all the paperwork ready in case someone from the government comes looking. Most likely, it’ll end up in a box somewhere and never see the light of day. But if you get audited, you’ll definitely want to have that paperwork ready. Also, you should look at getting a membership with one of the national jeweler’s guilds.”
“Seriously?” I sighed and waved a hand before she even responded. “Nevermind, you wouldn’t bring it up if it didn’t make sense to. I’ll see about having the accountant reach out—”
“Naw, I can handle that,” Gloria said, interrupting me. “Same with sourcing the metal. I have an uncle who does that whole ‘tear stuff apart for the metal in it’ as his main gig, and I can have him start keeping an eye out for precious metals in electronics and set it aside for you. He normally only gets a fraction of the melt value, but you can put it as ‘recycled scrap’ on your books and likely get a tax credit for it.”
“Thanks Gloria,” I said, and meant it. “Things have been busy enough that having someone who can manage things while I’m gone is great.”
“You are going to have to show me where you keep vanishing off to one of these days,” teased the Latina. “I’m getting rather curious.”
“One of these days,” I promised. “You and Jameson too, once everything is ready.”
“Oh? What exactly are you getting ‘ready’ out where you don’t get a cell signal?” she asked, but rather than answer I just gave her a mysterious smile and spread my hands in a ‘what can you do’ sort of gesture, which got another laugh.
Finishing up my tasks on Earth, I swung by the confectioners to pick up some more treats for my girls before returning to my apartment. I’d set up and forwarded all my mail to a post office box instead, and gave the apartment one last going over before I took the opportunity to terminate the lease and drop my keys off.
Sure, I didn’t have the official permission to live on the land in my new underground home. But I didn’t see anything really getting in the way of that land purchase, and it wasn’t as if anyone could find me out there anyway.
I guess I understand why the ancient humans on Cortha built underground for those facilities, I thought as I used Manipulate Element to seal the door behind me, leaving only the glow of a battery-powered lamp to illuminate my new home. Secure, hidden, and with magic to help, it’s rather liberating to expand and do as I want to. I just wish I could bring Jameson out here to help with the designs to ensure it was as stable as possible.
That thought crossing my mind made me pause. What, honestly, was stopping me from bringing my friend in on this secret. I could show him magic, even my Shape-Shifting if I wanted to. It wasn’t as if I needed him to believe me on only my word about some hidden world beneath the earth.
Maybe soon, I thought to myself as I walked over to the large fire-pit in the middle of the main room. When I have a day or two more to spare and the girls are settled in at our destination.
The winter chill was setting in and while the earth insulated my little shelter really well, a small fire was necessary to keep that warmth up, at least until I found a magical alternative on Cortha. So I got the fire going before settling in to work on refining my underground shelter some more, while my mind continued to return to the idea of bringing my friends in on this secret finally.
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