“At least Nealith might make it home tonight.” I said, waving to the lizardkin’s back as he disappeared into the trees.

  “I would’ve preferred sleeping at Kithbog myself.” Bastian sighed, “Drendil isn’t known for its welcome and hospitality.”

  “We’ll be just fine,” I patted him on the arm reassuringly.

  “It’s true,” Lish added. She’d been otherwise silent for a good deal of the trip, and I was happy to see her joining in the conversation. “Drendil has close ties with Sumbria and the elves. We’ll be fine.”

  The point was not lost on anyone that Bastian wasn’t an elf, or Sumbrian.

  Still, that did seem to reassure him. “Alright then. We have two choices - cross over land to the western coast, or find a local port and hope to charter a ship to Peldeep from there.”

  “Back to sailing then?” I asked, knowing my father would not approve and smiling for it. We were a little ways in from the bay where we’d started that morning… just on the opposite side.

  “Better than getting lost in the Dark Enchanted Forest.” Bastian reasoned. “And faster. If your ambassador left Drendil yesterday, then there isn’t a hope in Frisia that we’ll beat him to Peldeep if we leave Drendil today. My vote is we hike to Port Yorth and catch a ride.”

  “Then what are we waiting for!” I said, marching south down the coast.

  Bastian and Lish followed, and it took just shy of an hour to reach the telltale sign of a road. The sandy beach gave way to driftwood and patches of rose bushes along the short rock face. Now there was the clear sign of civilization; a clear path, wooden logs stacked and nailed into a makeshift fence around canola fields. The flowers blossomed over the countryside, broken only by the odd scraggly tree.

  I saw the town before the town saw us. Proper walls with crenellations on the top, and six turrets with a guard stationed on look out. Many were lazily lounging on the ledges, chatting with each other in a lax manner. This far in, anything attacking from the sea would’ve hit their neighboring port at the mouth of the bay.

  “Who wants to do the talking?” Bastian asked when I let them know we were almost there.

  “Let me.” Lish said, moving to the front of the group. “Humans are easier to talk to if you sound important.”

  Bastian shot Lish a worried look, “I’ve found they are easy to talk to because we speak the same language. And being friendly helps.”

  Lish scoffed, “In Drendil, getting them to talk to you at all is what helps.”

  There was a tension between the two of them that I didn’t like. “Either way, if Lish introduces us as nobility that should get us through faster.”

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  “If you say so,” Bastian acquiesced, but he still shot Lish a concerned look as then went.

  …

  “You’ll be wanting Robhee Roderick of Riley’s Peak.” Sheriff Dontrell thrust a thumb over his shoulder, pointing towards the docks. “The H is silent. His ship is heading out first thing tomorrow.”

  I spelled out the name in my mind, wondering where the ‘h’ might be, and promptly giving up. It wasn’t my job to get distracted, I was supposed to be looking regal and unimpressed.

  It was working.

  “Thank you,” Lish nodded. She’d been right, and a bit of pomp and circumstance had helped us smooth over the gate guards. “If it’s alright with you, I’ll escort my lady there now and we can be out of your hair.”

  The Sheriff shook his head, “Hold on, we can’t let you in without paying the gate fee - and an information fee too. That’ll be three silver. And you can’t just walk around here as you please. I’ll have to take you.”

  Lish frowned, but Bastian reached past the both of us and handed over three silver to the man. It was a ridiculous sum, but not worth the fight in my opinion.

  Dontrell was the local sheriff and had been waiting for us by the time we'd reached the city gate. A [Sheriff] was able to handle even higher level arrests as long as someone broke a rule within his domain - and the obvious response to an unknown armoured combat class and two elves showing up at the door unannounced.

  “We will follow you then,” Lish said, differing to the human. We followed after the Sheriff down a slightly curved road that cut through the centre of the city and wound down to the double gates that opened for traffic from the docks.

  The city was unusually quiet; the streets empty. After I caught faint movement in a window further down the street, I realized people had heard about us and gone indoors. Now they peeked from windows and the like to catch a glimpse of the non-humans in their midst.

  At least it meant there was no traffic. The trip took barely a few minutes until we entered the port loading area which was still teeming with life. While everyone coming and going from the docks were human, they didn’t look twice at us.

  “Robhee!” Sheriff Dontrell called out to one thin sailor wearing a blue tunic and black tights. The man was in his forties, and balding, and sitting down on a pile of crates.

  “Sheriff?” Robhee looked up apprehensively from tying a knot in the rope that was securing the crates in question. “Something wrong?”

  “No, no.” Sheriff Dontrell waved at us. “Just bringing you some customers.”

  Lish stepped forward again, “My lady–”

  “Knight Commander?!” Before Lish could get in another word, Robhee was on his feet, his knot tossed aside entirely. “What are you doing here?”

  “Looking for a ride home.” Bastian smiled. “Is Captain Persia here?”

  “She’s on the ship, Sir,” Robhee pointed at a ship flying a black flag with a golden harp moored in the harbour.

  “Excellent,” Bastian waved at me and Lish. “You have room for three?”

  “For you? Of course! I've been meaning to thank you for Suzie's stuffed blue panda last Kale's Gifting - I don't know what we would have done without you.” Robhee saw our confusion and explained, "They locked down travel from Servalt after the attack on the Annual Spell Script Collegium, and when we didn't make it back to Vitol at our scheduled time, the Knight Commander decorated one of our empty storage bays and handed out presents for the children."

  When everyone turned to stare at the large drakin knight, he just shrugged, "I had the toys on hand."

  "Well, that blue panda is my daughter's favourite, and there'll always be room for you on any ship I sail." Robhee turned to the Sheriff, “Thank you, Sheriff Dontrell, I’ll show them aboard now.”

  “Make sure they stay there.” Dontrell tipped his hat to the sailor. He told us, “I haven’t issued you a city pass to sleep over, but as long as you stay on the ship and leave in the morning there won’t be any trouble you understand.”

  We understood just fine.