It was the third Happy Harvest for us after our arrival. I opened my eyes. Milly and Tilly laid both close next to me. Any move would would wake them up so I decided do stay put until at least one of them woke up.

After a while Tilly began to stir. A few moments later I felt an arm sneaking across my tummy while she turned to me. Her head came to rest on my shoulder while she leaned against me.

“Morning.” I whispered and gave Tilly a peck on the cheek.

“Morning.” Tilly whispered back and gave me hug.

Caroline’s head appeared over the rim of her bed.

“Morning.” She smiled while looking down at us.

After a while Milly woke up as well and we got ready for breakfast and went for the refectory. As usual the breakfast on the holiday was way above average.

“I hope you enjoyed the breakfast.” Miss Tessa came up to our table.

“Yes, Miss Tessa!” we jumped to our feet.

“At ease. Meet me in my office when you’re done.” Miss Tessa put her hands on her hips and smiled.

“Yes, Miss Tessa!” we sat down again.

Miss Tessa nodded and went off in the direction of her office.

“What is she up to?” Tessa finished off her bread with cheese.

“Don’t know, but she seemed to be in a good mood.” Milly took a sip from her tea.

“Should I come with you?” Caroline stacked her mug on her plate.

“Well she did address the whole table.” I emptied my tea and smiled at Caroline.

We finished breakfast and went to Miss Tessa’s office. I knocked at the door.

“Come in.”

I opened the door and we went into Miss Tessa’s office. As usual she sat behind her desk.

“Well. There is news for you.” She got up and came around her desk.

She looked solemn now and she seemed concerned. We looked at each other concerned.

“The Empire seems to move. A mage of renown left the capital a few weeks ago without an obvious reason. Maybe it’s because of something we aren’t aware of, but we think that they’re looking for you. We are sure they won’t get here this year, but next year we think the chances that they are able to locate you is high. We will try to keep track on them as far as we can. I will keep you informed, but it would be wise for you to prepare to leave at a moments notice.” Miss Tessa looked at us with a frown.

I nodded.

“We already” Milly crossed her arms below her chest.

“Don’t tell me anything. The less we know the better for you.” Miss Tessa interjected.

“What about supplies?” Milly frowned at Miss Tessa.

“Officially we won’t be amused about missing stuff, but be assured we won’t be too eager to hunt you down.” Miss Tessa grinned.

“What about the ring?” I looked at my slave mark.

“You won’t want your pursuers to get it, right.” Miss Tessa leaned against her desk.

“As it wouldn’t be wise to leave the house for the time being you may make use of the training rooms anytime you want. The doors won’t be locked.” She bit her lower lip with her tooth.

We looked at each other.

“Let’s spent some time in the water today.” I looked at the others.

“That sounds good.” Milly smiled at me.

Tilly nodded.

We left the office and went back to our room.

“You still want to go with us, Caroline?” I let my maid attire vanish.

“I want to!” She gave me a solemn nod.

A few minutes later we were all in the pool.

“As far as I am concerned we are prepared so far.” I jumped into the pool.

“There are some more things to discuss though.” Milly sat down on the side of the pool with her legs in the water.

I nodded.

A few moments later all were comfortable. Caroline sat down beside Milly. Tilly and I were in the water in front of them.

“The ring. We known that they could locate it as well. This means simply hiding it somewhere won’t help. The only option we have is to delay them acquiring it.” I looked up at Milly.

“They couldn’t discern the ring from one of us unless they’re within a few hundred meters.” Tilly floated on her back.

“The chances to evade them completely are low.” Caroline splashed some water at me with her feet.

“First thing we should know is how we can get that ring in the first place. Leaving it here seems to be no valid option.” Milly rubbed her chin.

“We even couldn’t touch this vile thing.” Tilly frowned.

“I do know where Miss Tessa keeps it, and I can touch it without problems.” Caroline gave us a sly smile.

“Taking it with us makes it easier to locate us via spell, as the signal is stronger.” Tilly slowly came back to the rim of the pool.

“Our pursuers will suspect the Graf to be the one who leads this. Sending us to separate places makes is more inconvenient for them, since they have to split themselves. While they don’t necessarily need the ring, they have to check for one signal moving away from the rest. Ignoring it will cause much more problems in the long run as there is a country they’re at war with. Finding one of us there sounds inconvenient at least.” I got hold of Milly’s legs.

“Then Caroline has to take that ring elsewhere?” Milly frowned at me.

“No. Maybe it would be enough to get it on a ship, maybe with some freight that’s going to that southern continent.They have to send a mage after it since water has no tracks. When they have more than one it would be the more competent tracker. This would keep him busy for a while and maybe our chances are better without him present. Even when he retrieves the ring he will be traveling for a while. He is going to be a problem later though” I pulled Milly into the pool.

“Iiiieh!” she vanished into the water. She got hold of me and pulled me down as well.

As we came to the surface again Caroline was in the water as well.

“I’m going to spent some time in the harbor to get an idea which ships and traders would server our purpose best.” Caroline swam to me.

“Good Idea.” Milly hugged Caroline.

We stood in the pool near the center. The water was shallow enough to stand comfortably. Growing up had it’s perks.

“We should set aside some rations in advance.” Milly gave me furious glare.

“We have a place where no one should find it. Proper clothing for traveling is a point as well.” I smiled at Milly. “It’s manageable. As long as you stop growing like crazy.” Milly splashed some water at me.

“I’m just taking you as an example.” I grinned and raised my eyebrows.

“Hmmpf.” Milly gave a frown.

“When should we leave?” Caroline patted Milly on the head.

“I think we should wait until they are on this side of the claws. When we make our move now, we have no idea from where they will coming. And they may prepare better for traveling in the wilderness. They would have more trouble finding additional people here than in their home country.” I took Tilly’s shoulders and started to maneuver her around the pool.

“They will be hard on our tails if we wait too long.” Caroline started to swim after Tilly and I.

“We do have a non-obvious way out of the castle if push comes to shove, but I’d prefer some days head start as well.” I steered Tilly’s feet in Milly’s direction.

“We should brief Loraline.” Milly tickled Tilly’s feet while evading my assault.

“That’s all we could decide or plan for now.” Tilly came down to her feet.

We played around in the water till lunch.

“What should we do in the afternoon?” Milly dried herself with a towel.

“There isn’t much we can do at the castle.” I willed my maid attire on me again.

“I’ll going on a stroll in the city trying to find out something more about the merchants.” Caroline put on her dress.

“Start with Oren the Carter. He may know people or at least something about them” Tilly finished doing her hair.

“Good idea!” Caroline smiled at Tilly.

“We may try to secure some food for a trip to the lodge.” I looked at Milly.

“It may be more subtle if we don’t take too much at a time.” Tilly smiled wickedly.

“It makes sense to have something already if we have to leave at a moments notice.” She frowned.

“We may not have to time to get enough provision, especially as the storage rooms are locked most of the time.” I patted her on the shoulder.

We helped with lunch and managed to sneak out some smoked sausages. It helped that the pockets of the apron didn’t bulge when they’re full, as Tilly said filching too much would raise suspicions.

“We put them in the magic bag for now. I’m going to read some more. I’ll be back for dinner.” Tilly left and took the sausages with her.

“I’ll check our clothes and see what has to be changed.” Milly went to our room.

I stayed in the refectory for a while. We were going to need some maps sooner or later. There were maps in the library, but I was sure they would be missed sooner or later. Miss Tessa passed by heading for her office.

“Miss Tessa?” I got to my feet.

“Yes, Lilly.” She stopped and turned to me.

“I would be interested in maps.” I smiled at her.

“Can you even read them?” She gave me curious look.

“Try me.” I gave her a challenging smile.

“Follow me.” She headed to her office.

As we entered the offices she took a hand drawn map from a drawer of her desk and put it on the desk. It was a coastal region, and I quickly found Castle Redcliff.

“We are here. The sea is to the north, In this direction is the empire.” I looked at her.

“Impressive.” She looked at me smiling.

“Are there maps of the north, and perhaps the north of Arhithrea? And would it be possible to copy some of them?” I looked back at her.

“I see what I can do. There are maps, but some of them contain information which is classified. You may study this map as you want.” She nodded at the chair and left for her room.

I spent the afternoon prying information from the map about the surrounding country. Luckily remembering maps never was really difficult. A few more sessions with it would be enough for me to remember the most important things.

After dinned we spent another hour in the pool. I let my thoughts wander through the things I had remembered from the map. I borrowed a piece of paper from Tilly and started to draw anything I could remember on the sheet. I didn’t finish it that evening, but since I had access to the map of Miss Tessa I’d improve it in the next days.

Too soon it was time to go to bed again. I hoped I would get my hands on more maps of the area we would have to pass.

“I try to get my hands on some more maps.” I showed my first attempt to the other.

“I will come handy.” Milly smiled at me.

“You should improve how you draw them though.” Tilly furrowed her brow.

“I mostly read and remembered maps quite well. I thought it would be better to look up details if we have a copy though.” I stuck my tongue out at Tilly.

“I’m going to teach you some drawing techniques!” Tilly poked my ribs.

“Yes, Miss Tilly.” I grinned at Tilly.

We went to bed after we spent all of our mana. Tomorrow would be the daily grind again.