Chapter 87 Sit.

  Isaac and Lenna rode patiently inside of the carriage that the King and Queen Altia had sent them. Both seasoned combatants counted each turn and how long each straightaway took. They mentally estimated the speed that they were traveling at as well, almost as if they expected to be kidnapped, in part because they did. Isaac and Lenna hadn’t specifically said anything to each other but after the first half a block in the carriage, the duo both had the same thought that it would be the perfect time to ambush them while they were out of their combat gear and stuck inside of a wooden box. Isaac still had his pendant that prevented him from dying, and Lenna was extremely hard to put down, but that didn’t stop them from being in an incredibly disadvantageous situation. Maybe it was paranoia or maybe it was their instincts flaring up, only time would tell.

  Fifteen minutes after they left the inn, the carriage took a sharp incline and then leveled out again. A few seconds later, the carriage came to a halt and the driver disembarked. They heard the footsteps of someone approaching and then the door opened to reveal one of the Altian Royal Guards. His gleaming armor and stainless fabric helped to drive home that he was not an imitation but the genuine article.

  “Lord Darkness, Lady V’Nova, I am here to greet and escort you to His and Her Royal Highnesses.” The guard’s young but strong voice came clearly through his full-face helmet.

  Isaac and Lenna shared a look that seemed to say: ‘Maybe it really was just paranoia.’ Before Isaac got out of the carriage first. Lenna almost did, out of the habit of being his shield, but stopped herself because they were in a formal setting. That didn’t mean that she wasn’t prepared to launch into action at a moment’s notice however, it just meant that she was not the first one out of the carriage.

  Isaac stepped out of the carriage and floated down to the ground where he turned around and offered Lenna a hand. She took it and walked down the steps that she couldn’t see with full faith that Isaac would ensure that there was always a step under her foot where it needed to be. Once they were both planted firmly on the cobblestone ground, Isaac turned to the guardsman. “Thank you, guardsman, lead the way.”

  The guardsman gave them both a bow and turned on his heel. He checked over his shoulder to ensure that they were following and then led them across the courtyard of the Royal Castle towards the main building. The main building was where all of the important things were like the bedrooms, kitchens, two of the dining rooms, the diplomatic greeting hall and primary throne room, as well as the mage’s tower. The duo walked with purpose but could not shake the feeling of something being off.

  They entered through the main entrance, a pair of magnificent double doors, which led to the foyer with two massive staircases and three more doors leading in different directions on both the first and second floor. They then took a door off to the left on the first floor, went down another hallway and around a corner, until they arrived at another set of double doors where two royal guards were waiting. Upon seeing Isaac, Lenna, and their escort, one of the guards gave them an acknowledging nod and knocked once on the door. He received two knocks in return from a guard on the other side and then the doors were pulled open.

  Unlike what Isaac and Lenna expected, the king and queen were actually there, sitting next to each other at a dining table that could have seated twelve. Instead, there were only the two chairs where the royals were sitting and another close to them instead of opposite, notably on the king’s side. Isaac gave the royals a deep nod of his head, showing deference but not subservience and Lenna gave a shallow curtsy.

  “I hope our brief time apart has been kind to you.” Queen Eris greeted them with a slight dip of her head in acknowledgement.

  “Sit.” King Edwin told them and gestured towards the chairs close to him which each had a servant standing behind, waiting to pull the chairs out for the duo.

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  “Yes.” Isaac agreed to the king’s directive before he turned his attention back to The Queen. “It both has and has not.” Isaac replied with a melancholic smile.

  “Oh?” The Queen asked. “Well, we would love to hear about all of it, the ups and the downs, over this meal.”

  “We thank you for the wondrous meal in advance.” Isaac told her as he and Lenna took their seats.

  The spread of food that arrived was a wonderful mix of dishes from all across Altia. There was fish, steak, boar, and fowl. There were mushrooms, fruits, and all kinds of vegetables. And last but not least, there were a dozen different kinds of wine that were each chosen to go well with at least one of the dishes.

  As they ate, Isaac and Lenna filled in the royals about their most recent adventurers, an abridged version, obviously, one that did not reveal any of their strengths and weaknesses but still maintained the heart and feel of what they had gone through. The royals, who had observed a time of silence when they had learned of the Fatebreaker’s final breath, listened with melancholic but attentive expressions when it came to their time and interactions with the last Fate Weaver. Queen Eris looked to show genuine empathy for Isaac when they spoke of the deaths of two of his closest friends but other than condolences, they royals refrained from commenting further on the topic. It was clear, when the duo got to their time escorting a caravan from Safeharbor, to Ben’s End, to Outpost Charles, and back that the battles were what really caught their attention.

  “That assassin is one that Izen and Sera need to be careful of.” Isaac commented with a frown. “Not just them, honestly, I’m not sure if there is a place that he couldn’t sneak into. He seemed like the kind of person who could have a counter for everything if given enough time to prepare.”

  “Speaking of getting into places, would you be willing to take me up on my offer from last time?” The Queen questioned him.

  “Taking a pen from your desk you mean?” Isaac requested clarification.

  “Indeed.” Queen Eris confirmed.

  “That could be arranged.” He told her. “When would be a good time to try?”

  “This evening?” Queen Eris offered.

  Isaac frowned in thought for a moment. He did have a change of clothes in his Inventory that he could use, just in case he did somehow set off a trap or alarm, and they had nothing going on the following day. The main thing would be keeping a healer on standby near Lenna without making it too obvious that he couldn’t die as long as she was alive but him being dead would kill her eventually. “I assume there is a cleric of light or the sun on standby somewhere within the castle for your protection?”

  “Of course.” Queen Eris replied.

  Isaac nodded. “Then this evening would be fine.”

  “Why do you ask?” Queen Eris wondered.

  “I would like to talk to them about fighting one such as I from their perspective.” Isaac told a truth but not the truth. “I missed my chance to talk to the Fatebreaker about it.”

  Queen Eris nodded. “I can summon them after dinner. I take it you will want to wait until midnight to make your attempt?”

  “I do, yes, and thank you.” Isaac replied.

  “But back to your story, what happened after the assassin fled?” Queen Eris asked for her husband who looked like he wanted to but still would not ask for anything.

  “We regrouped at the caravan and focused on cleansing the poison from everyone’s systems.” Isaac seamlessly transitioned back into storytelling. From there, he finished that adventure and then moved on to their most recent one. He informed them of everything that the dragons had done but left out some specifics of certain conversations that he had with people like Klein, Jane, and Gilgamesh. “And that about sums everything up.” Isaac finished.

  “What about your dinner last night?” Queen Eris pressed. “We were prepared to meet you last evening.”

  “I apologize, but your gifts were too valuable to bring with us into what was bound to be a combat encounter to rival all others that we had partaken in. We left them at home, where they would be safe, and had to have them retrieved.” Isaac gave a logical reason for why the gifts had to be fetched, which was notably not what had happened as he had just forgotten, in order to save his own image on the back end. Eventually the royals would have figured out where Professor Gnosis had gone and by then it would have looked as bad as it actually was. With his current explanation, even once they had finished tracking everywhere that the professor had gone, they would already have a logical explanation of why his trip was necessary. The secrecy and aversion to using the couriers would also make sense as soon as the royals bore witness to their gifts.

  “You forgot to bring them.” Queen Eris hit the nail on the head from a thousand yards with a ballista bolt.

  “They were not necessary combat items and thus were left at a safe location.” Isaac corrected her but they both knew that she was right. They could have left the gifts for the royals with Gilgamesh where they would be far safer than Isaac’s vault at home or the Silverstrands workshop.

  “Well, do not keep us waiting in suspense for too long.” The Queen told him and servants moved in to remove all evidence of their now finished meal.