A cloudless blue sky and white snow-capped mountains wove together into a spectacle of grandeur. The sun calmly, quietly illuminated the world beneath.
Both the sky and the mountains seemed to be within arm’s reach, almost as if he had become a bird soaring through the heavens.
“Amazing,” he muttered.
Altina nodded triumphantly.
“Isn’t it remarkable?”
“—I braved the storm to distant lands and there I found an unspeakable treasure. It would not fit in my pocket, but would never leave my heart. Even now, I close my eyes and remember that sky.”
“What’s that?”
“A quote from Frenson’s autobiography. He was an artist who worked in the capital but, in his youth, his pieces never sold, so he worked as a porter carrying boxes for a caravan. At the end of a job where a heavy storm tormented the crew, his heart was impassioned by the beautiful sky as the clouds cleared. His soul’s hesitation and fatigue disappeared, and he wrote of how he could do naught but shed tears. After that, he would paint nothing but the sky. Eventually, ‘Frenson’s Sky’ would become a highly acclaimed masterpiece.”
“I see. So the moral is, you can’t do good work cooped up in the house!”
“Eh? No, it’s just a story about a guy who was inspired by his scenery...”
When he focused his gaze, he was granted an unbroken view of the fortress’s interior. This was the balcony’s intended purpose; it was an observation platform built to grasp the situation of a battle to allow for accurate command.
Fort Sierck was built halfway up a mountain. A hexagon of stone walls constructed on a gentle north-facing slope, with watch towers on its four cardinal directions.
In the center of the fort was the central tower used by command and staff officers, and this was where Regis stood on the top balcony.
Be it the officers’ facilities in the east or the soldiers’ quarters in the west, they were all crude rectangles of stone. That said, the west area was rather developed for a fort, consisting of twenty longhouses constructed in a line.
The courtyard Regis met Everard in was situated between the central tower and the eastern block. The main gate and plaza were situated on the north side that faced foreign lands. While he could not see it from the balcony, according to Altina, there was also food storage, an armory and a stable on the opposite south side.
Regis’s eyes stopped on the wooden scaffolding surrounding a portion of the outer wall.
“Is that area under repair?”
“Yeah, that’s right. Three months ago, the grand duchy of Varden invaded and knocked it apart with cannon fire. It can usually withstand such attacks, but it seems our opponents prepared quite a powerful cannon, so the walls were somewhat breached.”
“A powerful cannon? Please, tell me more.”
“Err... I had just taken my post and was in the back room when it happened. They told me I couldn’t come out, so I didn’t see.”
“When you’re supposed to be the commander...”
“I mean, I had only risen from my seat when they shouted, ‘Princess, please leave this to us!’ and escorted me back!”
“That’s no surprise. Are we attacked often?”
“Generally once every three months. It’s hard to cross the forest in the winter, so they probably won’t come again anytime soon.”
The grand duchy of Varden was about 30 lieue (133 km) away, but a vast sea of trees rife with hidden barbarian settlements resided in their path—Regis had read this in a book.
“What about the barbarians?”
“I’ve never seen them myself, but I heard they climbed the wall when they attacked in the summer. It was quite an intense battle.”
Despite them being insufficiently equipped, there were no guarantees of a combat advantage against barbarians—indeed, the tides of battle often turned quite ferociously. The empire’s cavalry could overwhelm them on the open plains, only to then receive a sharp counterattack in the forests. There were even reports of savages barehandedly scaling a fort’s outer walls. They were a foe one could never underestimate.
Altina twirled around.
“That’s about all there is here. Let’s move on.”
“Yeah, thanks. It’s a lovely sight.”
“Glad to hear it. Still, I wonder where that man went.”
Jerome was nowhere to be seen in the central tower. After checking the plaza and east offices, Regis turned their search south.
✧ ✧ ✧
The pair reached the stables, a low structure where the horses were kept. Putting together their cart horses and warhorses, the fort cared for close to six hundred.
Regis was struck hard by the stench of the animals.
“This is a surprise...”
“What is?”
“The fact that you’re fine with this... even though you’re a princess...”
“I prefer fencing and riding over song and dance. I’m fully capable of taking care of a horse.”
“That’s pretty neat.”
Altina raced over to one of the horses.
“Hello, good afternoon! How are you holding up? I’m so sorry about yesterday.”
The skinny horse brayed in response. Regis was having a hard time telling the others apart, but he could recognize the horse that had been pulling the wagon. There was a bandage wrapped around its right rear leg.
Altina stroked the horse’s neck as she fed it some vegetables. The assorted vegetables were considerably larger than any he ever remembered seeing at the capital, making the scene of them being pulverized between the horse’s teeth unnecessarily intimidating.
“Cute, isn’t he? Want to give him one?”
“No, I feel my hand will go along with it, so I’d rather not...”
“Ahahah, he won’t do that—not this kid. Horses are smarter than you give them credit for.”
“In that case, I must be fated to be hated by horses. I would always fall off during riding training.”
“Really? You can’t ride?”
“I don’t mean to brag, but I’ve never so much as gotten a horse to walk before.”
“You really aren’t bragging.” Altina smiled cheerfully.
Regis had a bad feeling about this.
“In that case, I’ll teach you!”
“I respectfully decline.”
“Which horse would do? You’d prefer a small, docile one, wouldn’t you?”
“H-Hey... Do I have no say in the matter? I have the right to oppose unreasonable orders, you know. In the first place, it’s said that a linear hierarchy exists to curb violations of orders, and...”
Altina continued walking down the stable as if she couldn’t hear Regis’s voice. She came to where the mounds of hay-fodder were kept.
All of a sudden, a woman appeared from the shadows.
An individual just a little out of place in the stables. She wasn’t wearing a military uniform, nor was she dressed like a servant. She wore clothes that closely resembled those of a lower class townswoman, gripping a basket of apples in her hand.
Once she noticed them, the woman’s eyes opened wide in surprise.
“Ah, Princess!?”
“That’s me. Who are you?”
“I’m... Umm... E-Excuse me!”
She had started running before she could even finish the sentence. Altina watched her back gradually disappear, dumbfounded.
“...Who was that woman? She looked like a civilian to me.”
“A peddler, perhaps?”
“Maybe you’re right. She was carrying apples.”
“Yeah. But it’s still bright out... so I doubt she’s a courtesan.” Regis’s tongue slipped as he casually replied.
“What’s that?” the girl beside him asked back.
“Pardon?”
“What sort of person is a ‘courtesan’?”
It was clear from a look at Altina’s expression she was neither joking or attempting to play off her embarrassment. This princess apparently did not know what a courtesan was.
He had been careless. She was a minor.
No, she could be legally married at fifteen, so it wouldn’t be strange for her to possess such knowledge at fourteen.
But, on the other hand, she was royalty, and was likely not allowed to keep any crass friends or adults around.
How could this be—Regis’s spine trembled—at this rate, I’ll be one of those bad adults imparting an innocent young girl with unnecessary knowledge.
Altina closed in. “Why are you keeping quiet, Regis? Hurry and teach me.”
“Yes... Well... that’s... In short... the term refers to a female peddler who works the night...”
“Hmm? Come to think of it, shops do only open their doors during the day. Is it a special service?”
“You could say that.”
As the two of them were speaking, a man walked out from where the peddler girl had come from, following an apparent rendezvous.
He wore the uniform of a commissioned officer. Sturdy muscles showed through the gap in his unbuttoned collar. He was tall in stature, with wide shoulders.
His black hair, which was on the long side, was swept back, and he sported unshaven stubble across his chin. Age-wise, he seemed to be in his early twenties.
Tanned skin; sharp eyes.
While his rustic charm might have split opinions, even a fellow man like Regis had to admit he was quite attractive.
But he was drunk.
He held an apple in his left hand, a bottle of wine in his right. Each breath that escaped his lips carried the strong smell of liquor.
✦ ✦ ✦
