“...I don’t understand,” Nana whispered to Tessa. “She isn’t expecting them to grow, right?”

“You should step back, Nana,” Tessa chuckled. “It’s going to get a bit messy around here.”

Naptunie frowned, but carefully took a few steps back along with Tessandra, noticing Cessilia was doing the same now, walking up to them with a little smile.

For a few seconds, nothing happened. In front of them, Krai had begun walking around the area, and sniffing the ground, deeply interested. She was shocked. The dragon could sniff the treats when Cessilia had buried them so deep? Yet, to her surprise, it suddenly began digging into the ground. It was so violent, Nana jumped back a little. With its tail wagging in the air, Krai’s sharp claws violently ripped full wagon loads of soil out of the way. Such a large dragon was digging to get such a tiny snack! Naptunie was in awe. It was a bit funny, and also a bit scary. Quickly, Krai found the first of the snacks, and ate it right away, before sniffing the ground again to find the next one.

That wasn’t all. As the dragon dug out the second and third treats, Naptunie realized Cessilia hadn’t placed them in random spots. In fact, she had calculated how deep she should bury them, how much soil Krai would be able to dig out, and even from which direction the dragon would dig it, making sure they crossed paths. What she had thought to be some random digging game was now turning into a large-scale plan to completely labor the land, and it was unfolding in front of her eyes, in a matter of minutes!

“This is amazing!” exclaimed Naptunie.

“I c-created this t-technique with my b-brothers w-when I was young,” chuckled Cessilia. “Mother wanted to c-create new fields in the n-north, b-but we had to d-dig deep and it was really t-tiring for my older b-brothers and the workers. I noticed th-the d-dragons love to d-dig for treats, so I made several at-attempts to have them d-dig as a game. B-but we c-could only b-bring one d-dragon at a t-time or they ended up f-fighting and making a b-big mess... In th-the end, we hid a b-bunch in the lands, and it worked so well, we p-prepared large fields for farming...”

“So that’s how you came up with that technique?” laughed Tessandra. “No wonder the north became so prolific in just a few years, with dragons to do the work!”

“Th-they had fun d-doing it!” protested Cessilia.

Even without her saying it, it was obvious. Krai was happily digging, making little mountains and deep trenches of soil all around, which meant a large area was already plowed. All the villagers who had been brave enough to come and observe were speechless. Cessilia turned to the older lady when the dragon was looking for its last treat.

“K-Krai d-did a lot, b-but you will still have t-to work to b-bring this place b-back to what it was. It r-rains a lot in the area, so you c-can p-prepare to farm again and organize th-this land as you want. Many villages are p-probably in the same situation as yours, so you c-could try growing many d-different kinds of crops, and later b-become a reference for th-them. P-prepare a lot more food for th-the nearby v-villages who will t-take longer t-to get b-back on t-their feet. You c-can establish this village as a future p-point of trade.”

For a few seconds, the old woman seemed a bit lost, and Cessi wondered if she should explain again. Yet, to her surprise, the older woman took a deep breath and bowed. Behind her, several villagers did the same, or even got on their knees, all showing deep respect and gratitude toward the Princess. The whole area was silent, and Cessilia, shocked, took a step back.

“N-no! P-please, it’s not necessary...”

“Please let us thank you, my lady,” said the old woman. “Without you, we would still be hiding in our houses in fright, instead of thinking of the future. And thank you for using such a noble creature to help us prepare to farm again. I promise we will work hard, and do our best from now on. Thanks to His Majesty and you, it feels like this Kingdom might still face a new dawn after all we have endured! I hope I’ll live long enough to see it!”

Cessilia felt horribly embarrassed, but when she glanced to the side, both Tessandra and Nana were smiling at her, clearly happy with this resolution too.

“Y-you’re welcome...” she muttered.

“Alright,” said Tessa. “Cessi, it’s starting to get late, and I see more of those dark clouds from earlier. We should go back now if we don’t want to get caught in another storm...”

Quickly, they bid goodbye to the old lady and all the villagers they had met. Naptunie once again promised to send them food from the Dorosef Tribe, and the Muram Village thanked her too, as well as Tessa and Sabael, for their help.

Cessilia had an odd feeling when Krai took off from the ground. She was glad they had been able to help this village, but their situation was probably the same as many others... Who would be able to help them all? This was an issue of a Kingdom-wide scale. Some weren’t even freed of the bandits yet. She couldn’t imagine what those people had gone through, but she could see a glimpse of it in their eyes. Hell, surely...

Just like Tessa had predicted, the rain began to fall on their way back. Krai tried to fly quickly, not fond of that weather, either, but the Black Dragon couldn’t spare them from the downpour. They were all a bit relieved when they finally landed on the outskirts of the Outer Capital, as the wind at least wasn’t as terrible down there.

“Bye-bye, Sir Dragon!” Nana tried to wave her hand.

Krai left them quickly, and Sabael suggested they rent horses to get back faster, which they agreed to. With Naptunie riding behind Cessilia, they all departed quickly, hoping to reach the bridge soon. However, to their surprise, they were stopped by the Royal Guards, who refused to let them in.

“Are you kidding?” roared Sabael. “These passes are perfectly fine! Which division do you belong to?!”

“They are not,” retorted the guard calmly, his eyes going to Cessilia.

Cessilia and Tessandra exchanged a look. There was no problem with their papers. Those guards were only set on not letting them through. While Sabael was bent on arguing with them, Tessa sighed and pulled his horse’s bridle.

“Stop it, Sab. Let’s just try one of the other entries.”

“We shouldn’t have to! Our papers are fine!”

“I know they are, love, but that guy barely looked at them. He looked at us. Either he has something against foreigners, or he was paid off. In any case, we aren’t going back this way without causing a commotion. There are three other doors, right? Let’s just try the closest one...”

The Royal Guard grunted, but the girls had already decided to let this go. In fact, they were all drenched already, and that only added to Sabael’s frustration. They should have been getting back as soon as they could, but now they had to spend extra time under this downpour, in this unsecured area, and make an unnecessary detour. He was ashamed they had run into corrupt Royal Guards and internally swore he’d remember their faces for later...

Luckily, the girls were calmer, and once they were on the way to the next bridge, no one mentioned what had happened. Or perhaps the rain and wind blew their frustrations away too. However, it was still a long way there. They kept riding next to the first wall that protected the city, the rain pouring down on them.

Except for Nana, they all quickly realized they were being followed. At first, it was an uneasy feeling. Sabael had been nervous since they were refused entrance into the Capital, but now, it was clear someone was chasing after them. They could hear horses, and see their pursuers coming from adjacent streets. It made no sense that more horses would be riding under this downpour to gather behind them unless they also couldn’t get in at the previous door, which was unlikely. People who could afford horses shouldn’t have to ride from one gate to another.

“Cessi, keep going with Nana!” Tessandra shouted, taking out her sword.

Cessilia’s horse accelerated, Nana holding on tightly behind her. Meanwhile, Tessandra slowed her horse until she and Sabael were riding next to each other.

“There are a dozen of them... at least,” she shouted to be heard. “Will you be alright?”

“I should ask you that!”

“You’re cute!”

Sabael rolled his eyes and took out his own weapon. Of course, she would be fine... He was more worried for his little sister. Naptunie had no fighting abilities, and he was pretty sure he had never seen the Princess use a weapon, either, which explained why they weren’t staying behind to fight as well. Tessandra was the fighter of the two.

The first attack came from the corner of a street, taking them by surprise. A man stepped out at the last second, with a long sword. His target was Tessandra’s horse, and the young woman moved quickly to save her leg from being cut too, knowing it was too late to save her mount. The horse was brutally stopped in its run by a large blade slicing its flank, and Tessa jumped. Her body made a perfect arc in the air, and she fell down brutally on top of the man, her blade going right for his heart.

“Cessi, don’t stop!” she shouted.

Cessilia nodded and had her horse speed up. While her cousin’s horse rode farther away, she already had two more men going right for her. Bandits, by their looks. However, their weapons were new, and she was clearly their target. Those men had been paid off. Tessandra frowned and raised her sword, attacking first. She was strong, and those men were not a problem for her. What was more annoying was the slippery ground, the fact they were still outside of the Capital, and she had no idea how many more enemies were targeting them. She couldn’t stay here.

“Tessa!”

She raised her head, and to her surprise, Sabael, whom she thought to have been gone already, was coming back to her, riding his horse and holding his hand out to get her. Tessandra smiled and got ready to grab his hand. He rode past her, and in a perfect movement, she used his strength to swing and land behind him. As soon as she was seated behind him, she put a quick kiss on his cheek.

“You came back for me?” she asked with a smile.

“Not now, Tessa!”

“You so came back for me,” she smiled, hugging him from behind with a satisfied expression.

Sabael rolled his eyes, but as he was seated in front, Tessa couldn’t see that he was smiling as well... He pulled the reins and had his horse turn around to try and catch up to the others. Who knew how many more attackers were waiting for them between there and the next gate? They had to find a way back into the Capital, and quickly.

OceanofPDF.com

Chapter 11

Cessilia trusted Tessandra’s fighting skills enough to leave her and Sabael behind, but she was more worried about Nana. The young girl had realized what was going on and was helplessly hanging on to her, maybe even crying.

“What do they want? Why are they pursuing us?!”