Arad shook his arms, “It was her fault for attacking us. Leave her chained till we get back from the goblin’s nest,” He stood and cracked his neck, “We leave before dawn. Do you know where it could be?”

Isdis nodded, “We only need to follow the direction they came from,” She stood and looked at Aella, “At dawn it is,”

Aella looked at her, “Arad said before dawn. Don’t oversleep,”

“I will go as well,” Lydia stood, and Arad stared at her, “No, you’re too injured to fight. Or if you insist, come but only watch, don’t take the front.”

“Arad is right. You need to slow down.” Jack stood beside Arad, “There aren’t many rooms, so you lots take my room. I will spend the night with Arad,”

This was a small village, and the rooms in the inn were limited. Arad and Jack would sleep together in Arad’s room, while Aella, Lydia, and Isdis would take Jack’s room.

****

Arad sat on the chair in his room, looking at Jack, “So, you wanted to talk about something, is that right?”

“You know me well,” Jack pulled a chair and faced Arad.

“I don’t trust that princess. Keep an eye on her. Or, to be more honest, I think she isn’t honest with us to begin with.” Jack smiled.

“Why do you think that?”

“Nobles usually have motives after everything they do. It’s rare for them to just think from the goodness of their hearts.” He looked at Arad, “Aella also smelled something off, but I think her reaction of killing Isdis would cause more harm than good.”

Arad scratched his chin, “So, what do you suggest?”

Jack looked at the ceiling, thinking, “It’s hard to say right now. I need to observe her for a bit longer.”

“So, are we escorting her back to the capital?” Arad asked.

“We can do that without a problem as long as we refuse any invitation to the royal castle. I don’t think the king will go out of his way to annoy you right now, but I’m sure you will end up called when something big happens,”

“Like a war?” Arad sighed.

“That’s just one example. They can call you about anything from monster hunting, to political meetings and marriages. Which is annoying at best, and devastating most of the time.” Jack looked at Arad.

“I understand the first two, but what about political marriages? I don’t want to travel all the way to the capital for someone’s marriage.” Arad growled.

“You didn’t seem to understand what I said about that so let me explain more.” Jack smiled, “When a noble disobey the king or do something really bad, they get executed. There are two ways for their families at that point.”

Jack lifted two fingers, “One, a whole family execution so the land will be free from their inheritance. So the noble, his parents and siblings, his wife, his parents and siblings. Their children, and their grandchildren all would be executed.” Jack shook his head, “It’s rare, but it was once carried when a noble practiced necromancy and caused an undead break out in the capital,”

“The second option is family adoption, where the king takes the noble’s wife or daughter, marries her to another noble, and gives him ownership of everything. That would make it impossible for them to inherit anything, and would save their lives.” Jack finished explaining, “So he would want you to marry someone’s daughter or wife, taking her as a concubine or less of course.”

“That would be bad, right?” Arad could imagine Aella and Mira not liking the idea.

“True, traditionally, it’s the first wife that makes the decision of taking another wife or concubine. In your case, it’s Aella and Mira, but now the king is using his power to interfere. And that usually doesn’t end well.” Jack sighed, “Going to the capital. And especially meeting the king would be a whole rabbit hole of problems.”

“So we aren’t going to the capital,” Arad looked out the window, “It’s better to avoid the king for now.”

“We can go to the capital. As long as we don’t go see the king, it should be fine.” Jack giggled, “I doubt Isdis would risk a dragon going crazy inside the capital, let alone the royal castle.”

Arad smiled, “You’re right. I can always fight back.”

“I won’t recommend doing that,” Jack shook his head, “The capital is home to the main church, the place where the holy army is stationed.”

“The holy army?” Arad gasped.

“An army full of clerics, paladins, and holy sorcerers and warlocks.” Jack said looking at Arad, “Each of those paladins is stronger than Lydia and should be able to output more power with their smite.”

Arad sighed, “I would die is what you say. I’m a vampire after all.”

“Yeah, I can’t imagine you winning,” Jack stood and pulled a sleeping bag. “We can go, but don’t cause trouble there. They won’t attack unless you harm someone or something,”

“Can’t Lydia talk with them?” Arad sat on the bed.

“I doubt it, she might be strong, but she’s nowhere near the army’s paladins or their authority. It’s like asking a guard to speak with a war general about something. It’s just not happening,” Jack looked at Arad. 𝒷𝒹ℴ𝓿𝓁.𝓬𝓸𝓂

Arad lay on the bed, closing his eyes. “We will think about it after we get rid of the goblins and visit the elves. I want to see what Aella’s country looks like,”

****

The next morning quickly came by, and Arad could hear Aella and the other girls wake up. He stood and looked at the sleeping Jack. “Wake up, it’s time,”

“The sun isn’t out yet,” Jack growled, looking into the bag like a dying worm.

“We’re supposed to start before down, remember? Get up now,” Arad shook Jack and lifted him up.

“What a cruel boss,” Jack grunted and stumbled back to wash his face.

When going downstairs, Arad saw Isdis with Aella in the tavern hallway tinkering with a strange wooden thing.

“What’s that?” Arad asked, approaching them.

DING! Aella pulled the string, and it made a strange sound.

Isdis looked back at Arad, “This? A Biwa,” She replied with a puzzled face.