The voices of two girls could be heard from inside the Dorbel mansion.
“I’ll be back later!” called one.
“Do you have enough money?” said the other. “And swaddling clothes? What about a towel—?”
“I’m fine; I have everything. You’re a big old worrywart, Lynette.”
A third voice said, “I made you lunch to take on the road, madam.”
“Thanks, Biffe. I can’t wait to eat it!”
After finishing this exchange, the first girl opened the door and set out. Well, perhaps “girl” was no longer the appropriate term, as this young lady was now eighteen years old. However, in appearance alone, she hadn’t changed much in the past two years. She was no taller, and her baby face still made her look scarcely sixteen. The biggest change was...
“Isn’t the weather great today, Qurio? You and I are going to see your daddy very soon.”
...the six-month-old baby cradled in her arms.
“Madam,” called a servant, “your carriage is ready for you.”
The woman climbed into the carriage with the baby in her arms. “To Wienne, please,” she said.
“As you command, my lady.”
The carriage began to roll away from the mansion. Fie soothed the baby in her arms and asked, “Do you mind the rocking?”
“Ma!” the baby exclaimed.
Life was peaceful here in the capital city of Orstoll. Thanks to the fall of Duke Zerenade, organized crime was largely a thing of the past, and even when the occasional ne’er-do-well popped up, the knights rounded them up in a trice.
The young woman descended from the carriage and looked up at the stores and houses lining the city streets. “This brings me back,” she murmured. She thanked her driver and then set up off the street, head swiveling to take in all the sights as she walked.
“That store is where your mommy used to shop,” she told the baby. “I once bought a flaming hot candy for your daddy there, tricked him into eating it, and watched him jump about a meter into the air.”
As she traipsed her merry way down memory lane, a man recognized her face and whispered to the woman next to him, “Is that the queen? Oh, well, she isn’t the queen any more, but—you know what I mean.”
“Oh, is that really her?”
The young woman overheard them and quickly pulled a hat over her head.
“Maybe I’m being too loud,” she told the baby.
“Ma-ma.”
“Uh-huh. Let’s get going to the castle.”
She decided to cut her tour of the city short and set off for the castle instead.
✦ ✦ ✦
Gormus was putting in extra practice with his sword outside of lesson time. He split the air with a particularly powerful swing, the wind vibrating audibly.
“Wow,” said a woman’s voice behind him. “You’re just as strong as I remember. Are you still doing muscle training?”
“Hm?” he said. Her voice sounded almost familiar. He turned around, whereupon he received the shock of his life. There stood a young blonde woman in a white dress carrying a baby in her arms.