David was on the observation deck, at the prow of the ship, looking at the terrain far below, and the rapidly growing silhouette of the Royal capital up ahead. A faint hum filled the air, giving a sense of suppressed power to the sleek airship, its full potential ready to roar to life at a moment's notice.

  And it literally was. The Alchemical Star was fast compared to the other airships David had been on, even if those had mostly been civilian models. Still, given the size and number of turbines on the thing, he had expected... more. A quick chat with Captain Plerigass had confirmed as such; the airship's cruising speed was just about half of its actual top speed, and a victim of the ostentatious design.

  Even with the amount and size of mana-gathering arrays that the ship had, its mana-hearth wasn't able to provide full power to all of its systems, most of it going to the contra-lift enchantments needed to lift the ship into the air. This left the engines with a fraction of the power they could use, resulting in the ship's unrealized potential.

  The solution? Mana pellets, a small fortune of them, that could provide additional power for a short time, allowing the ship to reach its top speed. The numbers that the dogkin captain had rattled off had made David's eyes water, both in terms of the monetary costs and the kind of speed this allowed the ship to reach.

  The Alchemical Star could, when pushed, push past 500 kilometres per hour. It wasn't all that impressive when compared to the fairies' volantes, but against any other airships? It was like pitting a man against a tortoise in a foot race.

  But, they were already flying twice as fast as a regular airship, and didn't really need to burn through a few thousand princes' worth of mana stones, so they stuck to their regular cruising speed.

  It still meant that they reached the capital of Amberose in only three days. From there, a two-bell autocar ride to the north, and they would be in Wardenburg, his original home, and a place where unpleasant memories resided.

  He felt a hand brush up against his, and turned to see Niala walking up to him, putting an arm around his waist, smiling. He put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her in.

  Her presence was, as always, a balm. Wherever he was, no matter the situation, when he had her next to him like this... the big, scary world lost its fangs, because he was reminded it didn't really matter.

  What actually mattered was right here, next to him, in his arms.

  He looked back out at the capital city. It had been a while since he'd been there...

  “Niala?”

  “Hmm?”

  “Do you want to take a day and tour the capital?”

  Her ears perked up as she looked away from the vista and up at him. “I would! I've never actually been there! Oh! I want to visit the Saint Jeremy Gardens! I heard they have all the flowers!”

  “Hmmm, we can do that, but I got something even better, I think.” He said with a smile.

  “What is it?!”

  “I know the owner of the Regal Reagents and Herbs shop.”

  She stared, unblinking. “You mean... the alchemical supply shop that's rumoured to have any and all ingredients you could ask for?” She asked, afraid she had misheard him.

  “That's the one. I helped the own-”

  Niala jumped up and hooked her arms around his neck, clamping her legs around his waist and planting her face up against his. “WE'RE GOING THERE AS SOON AS WE LAND!” She exclaimed, eyes wide and unblinking.

  He tried smiling, but she remained locked onto him. It became clear that she wasn't asking.

  They disembarked at the Royal Amberose Airport, flanked by a dozen-strong guard detail that Cornelius had sent along with them, fearing for a repeat of the ambush once they were back on the ground. The Alchemical Star would also remain in port until David and Niala were ready to return, however long that would take.

  Cornelius had been adamant; his daughter's safety brooked no compromises.

  David, for his part, didn't think anything would happen in Amberose. The Royal family had two rules that they enforced with brutal efficiency when it came to the games of the nobility: don't damage the kingdom's prosperity, and don't mess around in the capital. Breaking the first rule incurred heavy fines and reparations. Breaking the second did the same, but the fines were paid in noble blood instead of coin.

  And it was so that their day of tourism and sightseeing went without any trouble, even if David spotted at least a dozen people spying on them, and those were only the ones he had seen.

  Still, they had a fine day, Niala going into Hyper-mode throughout the day, purchasing a few hundred princes' worth of ingredients at the RRH shop and making fast friends with the owner. The gardens were relaxing and beautiful, and the restaurants and street stalls, while expensive, still served some of the best food David had tasted. Not as good as Niala's home cooking, of course, but a close second.

  They retired to the Alchemical Star's VIP suite for the night, where David helped Niala get rid of all the excitement she had accrued throughout the day, in a very pleasurable manner.

  As David lay in bed, a thoroughly exhausted Niala glued to him and softly snoring, he decided it had been a good day.

  He hoped the following ones wouldn't spoil the memory of it.

  He wasn't ready to bet on it.

  Morning came by too quickly, and they were soon at the town's north gate, in a small convoy of autocars, and departing for Wardenburg.

  Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  If David had wanted to try and kidnap Niala, the short trip through the northern forest would have been the perfect opportunity. The road between the two towns was well-travelled but not that busy, with most traffic leaving in convoys, much like their own.

  There was safety in numbers, as the roads around the capitals had some of the highest rates of bandit activities, but the bandits around the capital were special. They didn't attack merchants. Their prey were nobles.

  Because that's what their employers, other nobles, wanted them to do.

  For that reason, David had their autocar fake an engine breakdown a short distance out from Amberose, letting the rest of the convoy pull ahead and out of sight. He then paid the driver to wait a bell before heading back, and walked off into the woods, Niala in tow.

  “Where are we going?” She asked.

  “There should be a hunter's path just ahead. From what I remember, it meanders through the forest, all the way to a small village on Wardenburg's outskirts. If we go that way, we should avoid any potential ambush.”

  “Won't that take a while on foot? If.... oh no.” She said, eyes wide in realization. She looked at him, saw his devilish smile, and pointed an accusatory finger at him. “That's why you had me buy goggles! You want to... horse me around again!”

  He wiggled his eyebrows.

  “No! My legs will cramp up again!” She protested.

  He smiled and walked up to her, petting her on the head. “Don't worry. I can run even faster than last time, and we can take breaks. Or do you mean you don't want to have your legs and arms wrapped around your hunky and bucking boyfriend?”

  She glowered at him, ears tucked back. Wordlessly, she took out her aviator goggles and slapped them over her eyes, never breaking eye contact.

  His smile grew bigger as he turned around, helping her mount her steed.

  He felt her tighten her limbs around him, squeezing him with surprising force. In response, he unleashed his mana, funnelling it into his imbuements, the runes in his body glowing through his skin.

  And then he kicked, and they were off.

  A blue streak of fire racing through the morning woods.

  “FASTER!” Niala shouted, her head up over his shoulder, slapping his flank with a hand.

  “FASTER, STALLION!” She ordered, giggling.

  He focused on the sinuous path, which wasn't meant for high-speed running, calculating each of his steps ahead of time.

  “I preferred when you were cowering against my back.”

  “No way! This is too much fun! We should do it more often! Faster!”

  He snorted and neighed, pushing himself to go that little bit faster, much to the squealing catkin's enjoyment.

  Just over five bells later, they arrived at the outskirts of a village, the hunter's path ending as the forest did.

  David cut the flow of mana, the blue glow surrounding his body fading away, as Niala slumped forward over his back.

  “Aaaah... that was fun.”

  He craned his neck to look at her. “But it's over now. You can get down.”

  “Hmm, no, I'm tired from all the excitement.” She said, rubbing her face into his neck.

  “You're tired? What about me? I ran, you just giggled and slapped me while yelling Faster!”

  She sighed. “Yeah, and that was very tiring. You try laughing for two bells straight, see how exhausting that is.”

  She lightly bit his nape, rubbing her face against him some more. “Besides, your back is comfy, I like it here. Keep being my horse some more.”

  He kept staring at her for a bit before sighing and resuming his march toward the Wardenfel estate. “We'll have to set some rules around horseplay.”

  “Hmm-hmm.” She hummed.

  “We should be there in a bell or two. Try not to fall asleep back there.”

  “I won't...” she murmured.

  A little while later, she started snoring.

  A noble estate, near Amberose

  The man-at-arms knocked on the study's door.

  A deep voice answered from inside. “Come in.”

  The man opened the door and stepped in, closing it behind him. He walked up to his lord, a middle-aged bear of a man, the kind who made doors feel small, and waited for him to finish perusing some reports. The lord put down his paper and looked up.

  “Griff, you have news? Did we succeed this time?”

  The man-at-arms, Griff, shook his head. “No, my Lord. Our men never saw the target.”

  The lord hummed, “Did they lose track of them? What happened?”

  Griss cleared his throat. “The agents following them called in to inform that the targets were leaving through the north gate. They were seen departing with a small convoy, and our... bandits stationed along the north road were given a description of their autocar, but they never saw it. The target's autocar was spotted coming back to the capital a few bells ago, empty.”

  The nobleman tapped a finger on his desk a few times before sighing. “Another opportunity lost.” He retrieved a piece of paper from a drawer and began writing on it. “Unfortunate, but it won't be the last. The Wardenfel patriarch will soon be out of the picture, and his heir is too young. He will be easy to manipulate. David's protection will be gone before long, and we'll be able to finally get our hands on him.”

  He finished scratching words on the paper, blew across the ink, speeding its drying, before folding and sealing it with wax. He held the letter out to Griff, who took it and slid it into an inner pocket.

  “Learning that the boy had found love was a boon. If we can get our hands on the girl, we'll be able to have him listen to us.”

  The noble leaned back, looking up at the ceiling. “And if he listens to us, we'll be able to get a subjugation brand on him. Once we have that, we'll be able to use the girl for something else, and we'll have secured the greatest weapon anyone could want.”

  He returned his gaze to Griff, who had kept his eyes on his lord. “And with that weapon, we'll be able to return our family to prominence.” The lord smiled briefly.

  “Them leaving north means they probably went to the Wardenfel estate. The letter I gave you, bring it to Jacob's cousin, Regis Wardenfel. I know that he has affairs at the main family's estate; his going there won't look suspicious, and he'll have an opportunity to get the girl.”

  The man-at-arms nodded, making to turn, before his lord grabbed his arm.

  “Griff, listen well. Whatever happens, the girl has to stay alive. If she dies, the Wardenfel boy won't be controllable.” The lord said, releasing his grip on the man's arm.

  Griff nodded. “I understand, Lord Torsteel.”

  The noble watched his agent leave, closing the door behind him. He got up and walked to the window, letting his gaze wander over the Torsteel estate outside.

  Getting the boy would be a nice bonus, but what I really need, now that she's resurfaced, is the girl. If she can brew the same potions that her father can...

  A nasty smile cracked across his lips.

  Then maybe she can brew THAT potion.