The revolutionaries were obviously rotten, but would they really capture and sell what was essentially a symbol of the Elven Forest Republic? Fenrirs were enormous lupine monsters believed to be keepers of the forest. They were said to be big as bulls, highly intelligent, and capable of using wind magic. According to legends, they lived deep in elven forests and manifested when elves required protection from danger. The flag of the Elven Forest Republic had one on it too.
Barkus had apparently relaxed enough to fall asleep in my arms. He was pleasantly warm.
“Adela, are we moving out again?” I asked.
“Yes. Elves can comfortably traverse forests, so to them this place is within a stone’s throw of the Town of Yggdrasil. Let’s keep going until midnight, then make camp.”
“Don’t push yourself, Adela.”
“I’m tough, milady, so don’t you worry.”
Adela puffed out her chest. Rain kept beating against her oilskin raincoat.
“You and His Highness should sleep. The road will get bumpier, so the coach might shake. Here—this will help with motion sickness.”
Adela took out a bottle of medicine from her pocket. She really did have just about anything in there.
“Elves move through forests so quickly...”
“Yes, Your Highness. They say forests love elves: trees make way for them, allowing direct passage. In fact, because elves traverse forests so often, they can move like monkeys,” replied Adela.
That’s elves for you. Pretty faces weren’t their only special characteristic. They generally fought better in forests, and could use the trees to attack from above. One should not be deceived by their frail and elegant appearance. They traveled straight through forests—it was much faster than using highways for them. The highway we were currently on was meant for the transportation of goods, as well as for use by species other than elves. Near the capital, the Town of Yggdrasil, the roads were well maintained. However, the farther you went out into the countryside, the worse they got.
Adela got out of the body of the coach and climbed into the driver’s seat. We heard her shout, “Come on!” and the coach started moving.
“Good thing we have her,” uttered the prince.
“Agreed. It helps to have someone with so much worldly wisdom.”
I worried about General Maurilio and his rikishi, whom we’d had to leave behind in the Town of Yggdrasil. Hopefully they were all alive. I needed to hurry back to Aryaka, prepare an army, and rescue them. There was no avoiding a war. As I held Barkus tight, the warmth of life that I felt from him pained my heart.
The coach raced along the shadowy highway, rattling all the while. The rain didn’t appear to be stopping any time soon. As the shaking grew worse, and the prince and I were nodding off, we came to a stop. The sound of raindrops hitting the coach roof had ceased. Looking outside, I saw we were parked under a large tree. Adela stepped inside and took off her dripping-wet raincoat.
“We’ll rest until morning.”
She took a mattress out from under a seat, laid it on the floor, lay down, and wrapped herself in a blanket.
“Thank you. Let’s sleep, then, Your Highness.”
I lay down on my seat and wrapped myself in a blanket too, holding the warm Barkus against my chest.
“Good night, Floortje.”
“Good night, Your Highness.”
How romantic it was to sleep in the same coach with my beloved prince! Dosukoi dosukoi! Well, Adela was between us and I had Barkus in my arms, so the prince and I couldn’t engage in any misconduct.
Our surroundings had grown nearly silent, with the only sound reaching my ears being that of raindrops falling from enormous trees.
What a terrible day it had been. I hoped tomorrow would at least bring something good. Unfortunately, we weren’t exactly keeping a low profile by driving on a highway, so it was safe to say the elves knew where we were. And while I worried about the elven revolutionaries, those Dark Sumo rikishi from the Demon Lord’s army were a concern too. As I pictured in my mind the mighty wrestlers I had yet to encounter, sleep finally took hold. A small part of me was looking forward to facing them in the ring...
I woke up to the cracking of tree branches. Adela, who had slept on the floor, was nowhere in sight. Looking outside, I saw it was morning, and last night’s rain was over. Barkus jumped out of my arms and ran around a little. Cute. Going outside with him, I noticed a lot of twigs on the ground near the coach. What was this about?
“It’s an early warning system, milady. Good morning.”
“Ah, so we can hear any rascal that tries to creep up on us. Morning, Adela.”
Adela had made a fire with some twigs and was boiling water in a kettle. Though little more than a generic maid in our sumo stable, when we were outdoors, she brimmed with life. Perhaps she was the sort of maid meant for this kind of environment.
As Barkus started playing with her, she took a piece of sausage out of her pocket and threw it to the pup. She even had sausage in there... Was it some sort of a magical pocket?
“Morning, Floortje, Adela, Barkus.”
“Good morning, Your Highness.”
“Good morning.”
“Bark, bark!”
Once the prince stepped out of the coach, we did our morning greetings. In Aryaka he spent almost all his time in the palace, so it was rare for the two of us to say “good morning” to each other. But it would probably happen every morning after we got married. Ah, what a sweet future awaits...
“♪ Aah... Go, my only daughter, go to your husband... ♪ Aah... Take the chest, the dresser, the cabinet... I’ll give you all I can... So go, and never come back... ♪”
“And milady is singing again.”
“I like her voice.”
“Bark, bark!”
Oh my, I ended up singing another jinku. Perhaps I was just that excited about finally going on a trip with the prince (the presence of the maid and pup didn’t count). Naughty Floortje. This isn’t that kind of trip—we’re making an escape here. Dosukoi dosukoi!
We ate the breakfast Adela had prepared for us and did some morning sumo training. Skipping a day of training meant you had to train for a whole week just to get back to your previous level. Prince Richie and I did some battering practice while Barkus tried to play with us. The prince had grown into a splendid wrestler over the course of two years since he’d started learning sumo. Unable to gain weight, he instead had to be the kind of wrestler that relied on speed and technique. His rivalry with Phalaris was somewhat famous: Phalaris relied on his strength, while the prince gambled on technique.