“I’ll have the beef gimbab with egg and pickled radish.” Bastian ordered from the mess hall.

  Today was egg drop soup, gimbab rolls, quail fried rice, cucumber salad, pork ramen, and raw monsoon minnow cuts on the menu.

  The rest of Valaria didn’t use pickling as much as Peldeep, and since Bastian would be accompanying Their Royal Highness Rowen on the trip across the continent, he wanted to have a taste of home before they left.

  “Commander.” Carsen waved him over to the table he was sharing with Sir Rebecca Bramble and the Priest Nelson Candant.

  “Have you all finished packing?” He asked, sliding in beside his second-in-command.

  The group was hand picked to guard their ruler on the journey.

  “Yes, and we’ve triple checked the luggage and the carriage– not that Their Royal Highness will use it.” Carsen quipped, making a happy face as he slurped down his ramen.

  Rowen was just as likely to make one of them ride the carriage and pretend to be a guard in their place - and as long as it wasn’t Bastian squished into the royal carriage, he didn’t care what the royal did.

  Bastian was on the larger side, his frame muscular. Coupled with his cold demeanor, he’d managed to keep most unwanted attention at bay. The one time he had been forced to ride in the royal carriage, he’d broken the door handle in his hurry to exit it when the caravan came under attack.

  Nelson laced his fingers together and asked, “Do we know the route, or has our illustrious leader decided to keep it confidential until departure?”

  With the number of assassination attempts on Rowen’s life, they’d taken to a variety of countermeasures, including but not limited to altering their route and inn and company on the fly. Or not making a plan at all and keeping everyone on their toes.

  Fortunately, travelling to the Spring Ball was one of the few trips that wasn’t subject to much change. Grand Duchess Callisto had afforded Rowen the rare privilege to use portals into North Sumbria from across international borders.

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  It was too far for their royal mage to send them in one trip, so they would portal to the Baldorin capital tomorrow, and then North Sumbria on the aftermorrow.

  “So far as I’m aware,” Bastian told the table, “Jasper is sending us to the Dwelling under the mountain. Rowen will spend a day with the dwarven consulate and give Jasper time to recover so we can head out again first thing the next day. If we can avoid trouble, we’ll arrive with plenty of time to make the Spring Ball.”

  “With our ruler, there’s always trouble.” Sir Rebecca grumbled.

  Even if something happened, it should be fine. Portalling to Millie’s dwarven trading post in North Sumbria would save them the four to five days travel through the Dark Enchanted Forest, and still leave them time to reach the Coral Palace before the Spring Ball.

  “Wait,” Carsen’s fox ear twitched and a sly smile crept across his face. “If we’re going to the Dwelling, that means visiting Golden City?”

  “Yes?” Bastian didn’t see why that mattered. The Dwelling was the hub connecting the seven cities and three dungeons in Baldorin. Golden City was the capital city, and home to the dwarven council.

  It was also the closest city to two dungeons under the mountain.

  “Their Royal Highness received no less than fifteen invitations from Golden City last night.” Carsen informed him.

  Bastian cursed.

  “Our poor Knight Commander,” Carsen reached out and slapped Bastian on the shoulder. “Trapped in the ballrooms while we get to go shopping.”

  “Shopping?” He raised an eyebrow at the fox. Usually the royal guard enjoyed the opportunity to spar with the Baldorin warriors during their visit.

  “Don’t you remember Madame Potts' Cast?” Carsen asked. “The Emerald Caves Dungeon had a monster surge last week and the dwarven market’s been flooded with gem-cutter ant material.”

  Being the Knight Commander, Bastian had enough fancy armour to fill his walk-in-closet back home - but that didn’t stop him from wanting to see the artisanal creations of the dwarven crafters. Unfortunately, he was going to be on duty from the moment they woke up tomorrow until the moment they portalled back home after the ball.

  “Should we bring you back something?” Nelson asked. The human priest was the usual healer assigned to Rowen on their travels. Nelson followed Life, and had years of experience as a retired adventurer. He was leagues better on the road than most of the royal court mages.

  Their Royal Highness paid the man plenty to remain on contract with the palace during his retirement, and Bastian enjoyed the older man’s pragmatic approach to battle and bloodshed.

  “That’s alright Nelson,” Bastian shook his head, then added, “I’m sure I’ll see the market one way or the other…”

  There were a few knowing nods amongst his companions… Rowen was just as likely to sneak out and go shopping in the slums as they were to enjoy high tea with the dwarven consulate.

  Potentially all in the same night.

  And Bastian would be there, guarding the royal every step of the way.