The carriage was very smooth. Almost as smooth as Hikari. Which led Kotori to realize how much money the kingdom had. The roads must’ve been very well maintaining and thus there was not much debris to roughen the ride.

Amelie was looking out of the window in wonder

“Kotori look at that!” She said pointing at a particularly fancy fountain.

She was acting like a kid but Kotori understood why. Amelie had never really traveled in her life and despite it being outside the elf village the Faramouth kingdom was still familiar territory for her. This was the first time where she was a fish out of water.

“mhmm,” Kotori said absentmindedly. She was mentally preparing herself for meeting with the current queen, or Fawks mother.

“So what’s your mom like?” Kotori asked Fawks.

He seemed quite nervous, which was making her nervous. The way Fawks was acting gave her the impression that his mother was quite a scary woman.

“She’s uh, a personality I guess?

“Should I be afraid of her then?” Kotori asked probing more.

“No!” Fawks said quite suddenly in response to Kotori’s questions

“Not at all. In fact, I am sure you all would like her. She just tends to be a little odd…” He explained with his voice trailing off.

“How so?” Kotori asked probing further. Fawk’s mother was starting to sound like quite an enigmatic figure in her mind.

“Well, one time when I was being bullied by another company as a new merchant she sent the company head to be executed and financially ruined his company by royal decree.”

“So she’s a helicopter parent”

“What’s a helicopter” Fawks suddenly asked

[Shoot, can’t use that word it hasn’t been invented yet!]

“I mean… Is she over-protective then?” Kotori asked rephrasing her question.

“Gods no, she once threw me in the middle desert with no help and told me to find my way back home.”

“She did? How did you live that” Kotori asked him intrigued by how a soft person like Fawks would survive being thrown into the harsh desert.

“I got found by a passing tribe and managed to convince them to help me back in exchange for being their water boy. It was miserable, the tribe chief tried to marry me off to his daughter!”

[I like this lady] Kotori thought. In her mind, Fawk’s mother seemed like quite a fun person to be around.

They soon approached the palace. The entrance of the palace was an arch that was made of a brilliant clear crystal. It was a dazzling sight that made Kotori look in awe.

She could see how much money the kingdom of Eris had based on the architecture used in the palace. She could also see that that kingdom was not exhorting its citizens to fund it. The people on the street seemed quite lively and poverty was relatively normal. This was proof the kingdom was plain rich.

Several soldiers help escort Fawks and Kotori’s party of the carriage.

“This way Queen’s candidate,” One of them said while respectfully gesturing with his hand.

Kotori noted that it seemed like she was more important than Fawks in this situation.

[So the prince’s really are just a tool to find candidates.] she thought.

Kotori walked through the archway and into the palace. Despite the layers of stained glass petals that composed of the outside palace structure, the inside was quite normal and the light was not dyed in any color.

It was quite open and there were several fountains around. Unlike the buildings of the Faramouth kingdom, the Kingdom of Eris seemed to prefer quite open floorplans with plenty of sunlight.

They were led to the west side of the palace where several rooms were prepare for them.

“The women can stay in this room and the men in the other.” The soldier who was leading them said while pointing to two doors.

[Ah gender-segregated rooms? That won’t do] Kotori didn’t like being separated from Shu. It seemed like they were under the impression that Shu was a normal human.

“Actually this man is my spirit can he stay in my room,” Kotori said

Shu turned into his dog form and barked.

The man seemed shocked and then composed himself for a moment

“I see… then it should be fine,” He said.

The man then turned to Fawks,

“Prince Fawks your living quarters have been maintained as per the order of the queen so you can use them.”

“Sheesh, that old lady kept them for me,” Fawks muttered.

“Okay, I know my way there you don’t have to bother leading me,” He said.

The guard nodded and then walked off.

Kitsura

Today I tried to be productive and applied to 12 internships and also sent in a journal article for review. Give me your energy.