She turned to the gate, frowning a bit.
“Seems like we really got the easy way in,” she sighed. “Judging from here, people at the end of that line probably wait for at least an hour before they can get in... That’s quite impressive security, considering there are four guards. I wondered why we didn’t see many inside, but this is different from our Capital.”
“Everything is d-different,” nodded Cessilia, “b-but it’s nice. I think Auntie Shareen would b-be curious t-to see how they d-do things here...”
“I wonder. She was never fond of the Eastern Kingdom since they attacked us two decades ago. I’m even surprised she agreed to this at all. Now, well, it’s nice to be far from home. I’ve always been curious as to what was past our border... Damn, Kiera will be dead jealous once she finds out you were actually allowed to come here.”
Cessilia chuckled at the mention of her little sister. Indeed, Kiera’s unwavering passion for adventures had already taken her pretty much anywhere she could go in the Dragon Empire, despite its considerable size. However, the Eastern Kingdom had always been the limit. They definitely couldn’t get past the guarded border, and none of the dragons would fly past it either, not without an order from the Empress or the War God himself. In fact, Cessilia realized she was the first one in her family to come so far in the Eastern Kingdom since... probably a few generations ago. She knew from her deep love of books, including the history ones, that the Kingdom and the Empire had once been united as one, but that was eons ago, a time no one but old, dusty books could keep a memory of.
“I need to mention, though, how come everyone in her family looks that similar? I mean, you have seven siblings and there aren’t two of you that look alike as much as Nana looks like her uncle or her cousin. It’s crazy! If it wasn’t for their hairstyle and clothes, I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.”
While listening to her cousin, Cessilia glanced behind them. Sure enough, the triplets were still there. They had been following them all day, a few steps behind and as silent as shadows, but always on their trail. Because those three were rather petite too, no one really seemed to notice them either. Unlike in the Dragon Empire, the servants of the castle didn’t have any particular outfit it seemed, so she figured they could pass for anyone in the streets of the Capital...
“I swear,” chuckled Tessa, still going on. “Nana is as cute as those beignets, but if her brother is another male copy of her, I’m going to laugh and ask how they do this... Do you think they can marry within their family here? I mean, I know no one does that anymore in our Empire, but we know it used to be a thing, right?”
“T-Tessa, don’t b-be rude, p-please...” sighed Cessilia.
“I’m not! It’s the truth! Wait and see. I bet her brother is going to be her physical twin. I’m buying Krai’s next ten meals if he is... if he is... uh...”
The words just wouldn’t come out as Tessa’s eyes were riveted on the door Nana and her older brother had just come out of. In one glance, Cessilia could see why. Nana’s older brother was defying all of her cousin’s expectations, and in a surprisingly good way, at that. He was one head taller than his sister, very muscular under his armor, with long black hair that was tied low, a serious look on his face. His chiseled chin was covered by a short layer of beard, and his strong eyebrows were enhancing his beautiful eyes, one brown and the other one hazel. When he turned his gaze to them, as Nana showed him the duo of cousins, Cessilia very clearly heard Tessa’s gasp.
“...I th-think you’re p-paying for all the next meals, T-Tessa,” she chuckled.
It looked like her cousin didn’t even hear her at all. In fact, Tessa left her mouth open and her eyes wide open right until Nana and her brother were just two steps away, and Cessilia gave her a little nudge with her elbow, keeping her from totally embarrassing herself.
“This is my older brother, Sabael!” proudly announced Nana, totally unaware of Tessa’s reaction. “He is a guard of the Capital; as I mentioned, he will accompany us outside!”
“You’re lucky I’m not on duty,” retorted her brother, with an unexpectedly low voice. “Are you the Princesses she talked about?”
His eyes kept going back and forth between Cessilia and Tessa, visibly a bit unsure about the situation there. Just like everyone else, he seemed surprised by their appearance but still tried to remain somehow polite instead of too obvious.
“Yes,” nodded Cessilia, realizing her cousin was still mute. “Th-Thank you for acomp-p-... t-taking us out th-there.”
“Yeah, I’m not too sure about that. Is this seriously related to that... to a real dragon? We’ve been getting reports from the south since earlier. We weren’t too sure, but no one could make that up... I’ll be glad if it’s nothing too serious, and you girls can really do something about it...”
“I told you, it’s their dragon!” said Nana, enthusiastically. “Uncle Yobah agreed to it too, so we’re just going out to feed their dragon, ask it to be uh... nice, and then we will be back here, I promise.”
Her brother sighed, glancing toward Cessilia and Tessa with a doubtful look. Unlike his sister, Sabael looked a lot more distrustful.
“...Fine,” he grumbled. “Since our uncle agreed to this, I won’t argue. At least you asked me to come along, I wouldn’t trust it if it was just you... Is it just the three of you?”
Cessilia glanced back, and Nupia stepped forward, bowing quickly.
“We are accompanying the Princess as well, by order of the King.”
“By order of the King?” repeated Sabael, visibly stunned once again. “Alright... Fine.”
He let out a little sigh, grumpily glancing at his little sister again before turning to Cessilia and Tessa. However, he seemed resolute now, and the presence of three Royal Servants appeared to convince him.
“I’m Sabael, guard of the southeast Inner Gate. I hope I wasn’t disrespectful to the... Princess,” he mentioned, glancing toward Tessa.
“Oh, she’s the Princess!” immediately said Tessa, who seemed to have found her voice again, and a bright, charming smile with it. “This is Cessilia and I’m Tessandra, her cousin. But everyone calls me Tessa. You can call me whatever you want, handsome.”
She held out her hand proudly, and Cessilia pinched her lips, as she was having a hard time not laughing. She knew her cousin enough to know when she was overdoing it and trying to be as attractive as possible... Tessa had always been very pretty, but she could be a real temptress when she had set her eyes on someone. Cessilia couldn’t really blame her, though. Sabael was definitely a very attractive young man. Next to them, a little group of young women who had just walked past the gates kept stealing glances toward the very handsome guard. Only Naptunie seemed totally oblivious to the reactions her brother caused among females, or perhaps she was used to it.
“We should be able to go soon,” she said. “Uncle should have that cart here anytime now... Oh, there he is!”
Indeed, a younger boy was running in their direction, pulling a large cart with, as promised, three enormous fish lined up. He was surprisingly fast considering the load behind him, but Cessilia noticed his cart only had two large wheels instead of four large ones, and he was simply pushing a large sort of handle in front of him, the weight being balanced effortlessly behind him.
“Delivery for Nana!” he announced proudly, smiling at their little group with a missing tooth.
Nana quickly thanked him with a little coin, and turned to her brother, visibly expecting something. Sabael frowned.
“You’re expecting me to push this?” he exclaimed. “I’m a Royal Guard, not your errand boy!”
“I won’t push it,” said Nana, crossing her arms with a pout. “This is too big for me. And the Princesses won’t push it either!”
“We can do it,” immediately offered Nupia, stepping forward with her siblings already running to grab the cart.
Those three were clearly desperate to make themselves useful, perhaps to win Cessilia’s trust. Seeing that neither Cessilia nor her cousin reacted to this, Nana nodded.
“Fine, then! I got the papers too. Shall we go now?”
Her brother sighed, now that the cart situation was solved, with two of the triplets taking charge of it, it was indeed time to go.
Just like that, their little group began moving. Sabael and the passes they had gotten from Nana’s uncle easily got them through the Inner Gate, as promised. Once they stepped outside, Cessilia realized how things were indeed already a bit different there. As Nana had said, there were already fewer shops and more habitations, so even the main alleys weren’t as busy. Moreover, the streets were a bit more narrow, as if people had tried to use all the space for their houses, while others tried to walk in between. This was so different from the Dragon Empire, where each house was far from its neighbors, or at least separated by its courtyard or a garden, and a fence...
The main difference, however, was the atmosphere around them. As soon as they had passed the gates, everything looked a bit gloomier than before. First, the numerous eyes on them, as they walked past the long line of people waiting to go in, felt a bit uncomfortable. Not only that, but people were clearly gawking at her jewelry, her skin tone, and the large cart behind them. Naptunie was also walking closer to her brother, and Sabael was glancing all around as if he was ready for something. However, nothing really looked more dangerous than a few curious glances. Everything was just a bit less busy than before, and people weren’t as cheerful, either.
