“Me?” Jedian stumbled over his words as he approached the carriage. “But I have my own carriage.” He gestured to one not far in front, where Roman and Kori were waiting for him. They both glared at the Kraidens and climbed into their carriage, slamming the door behind them. Not seeing any other options, Jedian entered Elizabeth’s carriage.

Levisia stood outside, questioning if she truly wanted to ride in this carriage. Having Elizabeth and Merril was bad enough with their constant scrutiny, but Jedian would make the situation a lot worse.

She really did not want to be in that carriage. Frantically looking for a way out, she spotted Siaphyl and saw an opportunity to escape. As much as she didn’t want to be with Siaphyl, he was her best chance of avoiding interrogation from Elizabeth and Merril.

“Oh, sorry, looks like the carriage is too full.” She let out a nervous laugh as she stepped backward. She knew that she was lying, as the carriage was large enough to comfortably fit four people in, but she could not stop the words pouring out her mouth. She bid Elizabeth a safe journey and spun on her heels. She hurried over to Siaphyl’s carriage and slammed the door behind her.

“Oh, Levisia?” Siaphyl said as he looked from his book. “What are you going here? Don’t you have your own carriage?”

“I do, but it’s a little bit full.” Levisia peered out the window. To her immense relief, she could see Marquis Vinhol leave the manor and approach her own carriage. “I have Elizabeth, Merril, and Jedian in my carriage and it is too crowded for my liking. I saw you had an empty carriage, so…” Her sentence trailed off as she gave a half-hearted shrug.

Siaphyl shrugged back and returned to his book.

“Alright, fair enough. I don’t know who this Jedian character is, but if you are willing to go out of your way to sit with me, then it must be bad.” He flicked over the next page of his book. “You can stay, but don’t expect any conversation out of me. I know how to keep my mouth shut, unlike our own dear Merril.”

Levisia gave him a brief smile and looked out the window as the carriages left the estate. She had left her own book in the carriage, and she had no doubt that Merril would be reading it loudly to spite Elizabeth. With nothing else to do, she watched the scenery go by as the convoy rolled towards the port. Though she had seen the ocean many times, it was still a delight to see it appearing beyond the horizon. The port of Vinhol, too, was getting closer. Levisia opened the window and stuck her head out to catch a whiff of the salty sea breeze.

The journey was so much enjoyable when she was not under constant supervision from Elizabeth. She wondered if she should ride with Siaphyl more often.

After a few minutes, the countryside gave way to isolated signs of civilization. Levisia expected to simply roll into the docks with little to no fanfare.

She was wrong.

Lining the streets on Vinhol were the citizens who had all come to see the royal procession. Children sat upon their parents’ shoulders and waved at the carriages. Levisia knew that Elizabeth would be ignoring everyone, Levisia decided that she would do so in her stead. She waved to the crowds, using the wave Elizabeth herself taught her. She continued to wave until the crowds had disappeared as they traveled deeper into the city. The carriages pulled to a halt outside the docks, the calls of seagulls echoing around the empty streets.

“Here we go,” Siaphyl said as he marked the place in his book. “Showtime.”

“Showtime indeed.” Levisia opened the door and climbed down to the ground. She waited for Elizabeth to march over and demand why she avoided riding with her, but to her joy, Marquis Vinhol approached her instead.

“I say you waving back there.” She said with a smile. “How very like a royal of you. The people seemed to enjoy your presence.”

“I did notice that they do not seem to hold any hostility towards us,” Levisia said as she stepped aside to let Siaphyl out. “Are they normally this… Energetic?”

“They are true, yes. They show great pride in their work, and how they support Vinhol.” The Marquis clapped her hands as Elizabeth and the others reached her. “Now, shall we get on with the tour?”

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