“Oh, we love it half-cooked!” said Nana with a wink. “The inside is still fresh, and the exterior is slightly cooked with the hot dough! And those sea salt-seasoned vegetables, and the sea herb white cream that goes perfectly with it… Oh, I’m salivating just thinking about it!”

Although they had just had breakfast, right now, both cousins were inevitably curious about those delicious-sounding dishes. Nana took them outside the castle’s gates, and Cessilia realized they were somehow still high up on the upper half of the mountain they had seen from the outside. In fact, to get out of the castle, it just took three open arches, with two guards at each that sent them curious glances even as cheerful Nana greeted them, and that was it.

“...Wait a minute,” said Tessa, shocked. “That’s it? We are out of the castle? You call this security?!”

“Oh, going into the castle is easy,” chuckled Nana, “but the main security is at the Inner Capital’s entrance, farther down. No one is allowed inside the Capital without an official pass, so make sure to never, ever leave without one. Even if the guard is your brother, they won’t let you in without the papers. And trust me, it has happened to me and my siblings more than once!”

“...I d-don’t understand,” said Cessilia. “Why g-guard the C-Capital and not the c-c-castle?”

“Oh, this is the King’s idea. The Capital is extremely selective, so it has to be the safest place. Actually, where we are now is called the Inner Capital. It is the safest place in all of the Kingdom, after the castle itself. If we go lower down, about three or four levels, we will reach the Inner Gates, and past those, it’s the Greater Capital. The Greater Capital has more habitations, some cheaper shops, but it’s also a bit less safe. Then, there are the four bridges. Once you pass the bridges, you’re still in the Capital, but in the Outer Capital. Technically, it is still part of the Capital, but no more shops, just a few houses and private lands for cultivation, fishing, and so on. It’s where everyone who wants to get in the Capital has to stop once they pass the great walls.”

“Wait, there are more walls?” said Tessa, confused already.

“Yes, the very first step to getting inside the Capital is the Outer Wall... supposedly,” grimaced Nana. “In fact, about a fifth of it was destroyed during the previous war, so a lot of people clandestinely enter every day. That’s why security is more focused on the Inner and Greater Capital than on the outskirts or even the Outer Capital. They are working on rebuilding it, though, and arresting people who enter illegally.”

“I see... So the bridges are actually the main checkpoints?”

“Exactly! Wait, I’ll show you... Ah, there!”

She walked to the wall on their left, which was as tall as two men, but Nana was pointing out of a little window they could see through. Indeed, several levels below, down on the ground level, they could see a portion of a long and large bridge, with dozens of people on it, going one way, into the Capital. From the sky, Cessilia and Tessa hadn’t been given much time to see the details of the Capital’s architecture, nor how it really was conceived. The walls were just lines from up there, and those bridges didn’t seem so big either.

Once again, Cessilia was fascinated.

“It’s imp-pressive.” She nodded.

“Right?” said Nana with a bright smile. “Come on, let’s go get those fish beignets! I’ll show you all around the best streets of the city, and we can go anywhere you want in the Inner Capital! You know, most people in the Kingdom dream of living here, and some work hard their whole lives to get the papers to get in! ...Did you get in because you’re Princesses?”

“I guess we don’t really need papers. We have a... very convincing mount,” chuckled Tessa.

She and Nana bickered for a while, as Tessa already loved teasing the young woman. Cessilia briefly turned around to check, but sure enough, the triplets were still following them from a couple of steps behind, acting like silent shadows. She frowned, a bit bothered by those three. However, before she said anything, something caught her attention.

She raised her eyes higher, trying to find that shine that had blinded her for a second.

She found it, hidden in the shadows of a window much, much higher. His silhouette was drawn by the long lines of his white hair, his eyes riveted on her. Cessilia didn’t shy away from that stare. Instead, she stared back, with a neutral expression, as if she was waiting for something.

“Cessi! Are you coming?”

She smiled and turned around to join the two girls, pushing that stolen moment to the back of her mind.

OceanofPDF.com

Chapter 5

Although it was still very early in the morning, the Eastern Kingdom’s Capital was already bustling.

Following Nana closely, Cessilia and Tessa couldn’t help but feel amazed by how different things were from their own birthplace. This was also a capital, but it was nothing like the ones they knew. First, they were impressed by how much more cramped everything was. In the Dragon Empire, each street was wide enough that several people could walk by without even getting near each other. Here, their little trio had to stick to each other so they wouldn’t run into another group. Moreover, the road wasn’t flat at all; unlike the dry, sand-like soil of the Dragon Empire, everything here was made of irregular cobblestones, mostly in dark colors, so much so that they had to get used to walking a bit differently so they wouldn’t trip. Cessilia was grateful there was less sand, though. This place was much windier, and at each crossway, they could feel the wind blowing from all directions, carrying the salty sea mist along. She could feel that strange, fresh layer of humidity caressing her skin, yet making her lips a bit more dry than usual. Her hair was getting a few more curls than normal too, and she could see the stones, under their feet and on the walls, covered with a thin, shiny layer of that same mist.

“Here!” exclaimed Nana, stopping in front of the small shops. “Let’s start with fresh juice... Auntie, can we have three of the classic ones?”

While she happily chatted with the shop owner, Cessilia glanced over the dozens of fruits exposed in front of the stall. She only knew half of them, while the other half was completely foreign to her. Even Tessa, impressed, couldn’t stop herself from asking Nana over and over the name of various fruits. Eventually, she turned around, offering them a strange, round-shaped fruit with a little bamboo straw in it.

“Here! This is one of my favorites! The coconuts are imported from one of the islands farther south, so they have to transport them overnight. In a few hours, they won’t be good! That’s why a lot of people wake up early to get the freshest fruits!”

Cessilia was impressed. She knew the whole geography of the Dragon Empire enough to know wherever she went, she’d find pretty much the same fruits and vegetables in the shops. Only in the north were things rarer, but overall still the same. However, here, because the Kingdom included a lot of islands scattered around, they could also enjoy some foreign delicacies like this... As they continued their little morning stroll, it was clear only a handful of shops were selling those first-hand exotic fruits. In fact, most shops were still closed, or only just opening, while the ones already in business were those who had to sell out their fresh fruits or fish.

Nana’s chattiness made her an excellent guide. Her uncle hadn’t exaggerated her knowledge; she knew most people they crossed paths with and had an answer for absolutely everything. She could describe the process for woven baskets in front of a shop, the reasons for the various water canals they had to cross, how they used seaweed as dry or humid wraps for some dishes, and even the strange miniature houses stuck mid-height between the buildings.

“Those are cat houses! A few decades back, we had serious rodent issues... So, a lot of people adopted cats, and let them roam the city to get rid of the rodents. Now, they know that if they bring dead mice or rats to the fishermen, they get free fish! Those houses are for them when they need to have kittens, or just if they don’t like to live with humans. The fishermen even leave them the unsold fish at times, otherwise, they just steal it...”

“Th-that is impressive,” nodded Cessilia.

“Right? Our family has two cats, but they aren’t very good hunters anymore, they are too old. But at least they keep the mice away, and they love cuddles too!”

Nana’s positivity was contagious, and Cessilia smiled while trying to sip her juice. It was good, sweet, and refreshing. Not only that but wandering in a new city, completely foreign to her own world, had something vibrant about it. The sky was colored with bright pink and orange streaks, the sky getting bluer and bluer every minute. It was a bit colder than what she was used to. The Capital of the Dragon Empire would have been much hotter already at this time of the day, while her father’s Onyx Castle would still be hot from all the chimney fires, as opposed to the frost outside. She slightly regretted having left their coats back in the castle, but it was bearable.

The large rock they were walking on was a new kind of climate she wasn’t quite used to; not too cold, yet humid from the sea winds stroking her hair. Her dress was sticking to her body a bit, and she could feel the drops on her neck, although she couldn’t tell if it was her own sweat or just dripping from all the humidity. It really was a strange place...

“Thank you for the drinks, Nana,” said Tessa, “but we’re probably going to need our own money. Do you use the same as ours here?”

“Oh, we have different kinds of coins, but they will take any kind of silver! It’s too precious, so even if it hasn’t been changed to our currency, you can definitely use it, with the weight.”

Cessilia doubted they would have any money issues here. When Nana bought their juices earlier, she did notice how cheap it was compared to a drink in the Dragon Empire... In fact, the little silver coins she had handed over wouldn’t have been enough to buy a single drink in the Capital. No wonder the few people they had seen were helplessly gawking at her golden jewelry... Although it was a nice change for these people not to be as shocked by her skin color, it was definitely intriguing. Back in the Dragon Empire, her mother’s milk-white skin had long been a sign of slavery, while now, there wasn’t one person in the Dragon Empire who ignored that the Imperial Princes and Princesses’ skin color was lighter than most. Of course, she and her brothers and sisters came in all shades, but they definitely stood out wherever they went. Yet here, no one seemed as shocked by her skin or eyes as they were by her jewelry.

“N-Nana? Are mixed p-people c-common here?” she asked as they were queuing for another shop.

“Well, it’s definitely rare, but... not unseen,” said Nana, frowning a bit. “The Hashat Family is known to have mixed people with lighter skin than most, at least, so even if most people haven’t seen it, we know they do exist... Are all the Dragon Empire people light-skinned too?”

“No,” replied Tessa. “Our moms are white-skinned, but aside from them, there are only a few people like that in all of the Empire. That’s why we were shocked to hear about that tribe.”

“Oh... Well, we will probably see some in the castle! The Hashat Family lives outside of the Capital, but I know their leader comes to the King’s meetings, so...”

“Are th-there many p-people outside the C-Capital? F-from what we saw f-from ab-... above, there weren’t m-many villages...”

“Not that many,” said Nana with a sigh. “A lot of the Kingdom has been destroyed by the wars, and many villages are completely abandoned... Wait, what do you mean from above?”

“We will show you later,” said Tessa with a smile, gently pushing her forward in the line.

However, Nana wasn’t satisfied with that explanation. She kept suspiciously staring at the two of them even as she ordered more food, this time letting Tessa pay for it.

“You are Princesses, my uncle said,” she insisted, “so, you’re related to the Empress? For real? Do you live in the Imperial Palace? ...Do you really have dragons in the Imperial Family?”

“You’ve never seen a dragon?” smirked Tessa.

“Of course not! I heard they are terrifying...”

“Oh, they are, and they love to eat chatty, little ladies...”

Nana pouted a bit, well aware Tessa was teasing her. The three girls were getting along as well as the Royal Counselors had predicted, and Cessilia too couldn’t help but chuckle at her cousin trying to scare the young lady. Thankfully, the food they had ordered this time was hot, little, caramelized fruit skewers that melted on her tongue and warmed her up from the inside.