A Wayward Journey

[Kelvin H. Calderon]

Even from inside the castle, the sounds of celebration could be heard from the city below. The people were ecstatic, and rightly so. The occupation of their oppressors was over and change had finally come to the land of Bern. And yet, Kelvin could not be among those celebrating. Soon, his days would be consumed with leading Bern into its bright future. But before then, he had personal matters to attend to. Even though the war had ended here, there was still conflict elsewhere. Sacae was facing an invasion from Etruria and Kelvin needed to know that Selibas was alright. His dear friend and compatriot had ridden for his homeland after receiving news of the invasion and he had not heard from him since. However, Kelvin had a home of his own to worry about. Though his heart now belonged to Bern, he was still a knight of Caelin and it had been months since he had set foot in Lycia, let alone reported to his liege lord. He knew that there could be serious repercussions to pay now, but he owed it to the Marquess Caelin to inform him of his new allegiance, and to tender his resignation.

It did not take Kelvin long to pack. He intended to ride hard and fast, and return to Bern within a fortnight, should all go according to plan. He sent word down to the stables to have Kashmir prepared to leave within the hour and made for one last stop before his departure. He intended to inform Aidan of his departure, but when he arrived, he was nowhere to be found. Instead, he found his young vassal, Zacharia, hurriedly scribing a letter. “Oh, Zach,” Kelvin stammered, caught off guard by the shaman’s unanticipated presence. He and Zach hadn’t spoken much during the war and when they had, it had been about official business. As such, an air of unacquainted awkwardness still hung between them. “I was looking for Aidan. I needed to inform him of my departure. I’m leaving for a short time to visit Sacae and Lycia. He isn’t around, is he?”

[Zacharia]

"...I know that it would have pleased you greatly had you been present to witness the grandiose celebrations in the castle, but alas, such is our life. However, after the campaign has concluded and you are victorious, you simply must come and try some of the capital's cuisine. Our lingonberry pastries are so divine that even Gaea herself would blush at the very sight..."

---

The past few days had been a whirlwind of activity, for both the Council and the castle. Now that Bern's attentions had shifted inward, letters and papers were rolling in from all over the country far faster than a response could be given. In order to prevent information leaks, the Ilians had fired several of the royal scribes and brought their own, then took them away again when the Occupation surrendered. On top of that, most of the Senate leaders were illiterate or otherwise indisposed. Which meant there were no more writers in Castle Bern. Unfortunately, that meant the all-important task of response had fallen to Zacharia. Not that sending letters and filing papers had been much different from his previous job as the Rebellion's errand boy, but it would've been nice if he had at least a little help.

Although it should've been break time for the mage, he was still hurriedly scribbling away in the castle study. Zach had made decent headway on his day's work, so he had jumped on the opportunity to write his pen pal: Selibas. The Little Wolf was curently campaigning against Etruria on the front lines of Sacae, and the two had corresponded via wyvern messenger ever since Selibas departed from Larguz. The advisor felt a pang of guilt for hogging such a private channel for his back-and-forth, but it gave them much needed information on the affairs of the Sacaen Defense. And it let him know his friend was doing okay.

It was only when the soft stomp of leather boots and a familiar voice echoed throughout the hall that Zacharia shot up from his letter, specks of ink splattering the table. "U-Um!" The two fell silent, one staring at another with an air of thick uncertainty pervading the room. "...Ser Kelvin?" he offered up. Of all the people to barge in during break, what was he doing here? It wasn't like he was intimidated by the knight, but... Well okay, Kelvin was kind of intimidating. They'd never really hit it off to begin with, and at times the man seemed like he didn't care for Zach. Whatever the case, he was here now, speaking. The mage inwardly sighed.

"If you're looking for Danie-- ... H-High Consul Aidan, well... He's currently asleep in his chambers. If you're going to be leaving soon, I could, um, take a message to him from you." The mage scooted his chair out and put a hand to his desk to stabilize him as he stood up, but without thinking, pushed down on the letter instead. The paper was sent flying off the desk as the shaman clumsily fell back into his seat and accidentally settled at the Dragon General's feet. "Oh, goodness! I'm s-so sorry, that was my fault!" A red-faced Zach rushed over, practically grabbing for the parchment. "H-H-Here, let me take that."

[Kelvin H. Calderon]

Kelvin had to stifle a chuckle as Zach struggled to rise from his chair, sending the letter he was writing gliding softly to land at his feet. He stooped down to retrieve it for him and was about to relinquish it when the name at the top of the letter gave him pause. Selibas. Curiosity grabbed hold of him and he found himself turning his body away to block Zach from reaching for the letter. It was a trick his brother and sister and, on occasion Rayl, had used to playfully tease him. He meant no ill will by it, but he wanted to learn what Zach had been discussing with his good friend. While he had in months past been learning to read, his skills were far from refined and he could only scan the letter before Zach was able to get past his defenses. Still, he was able to gleam the letter’s intent. He missed Selibas and very much wished that he could have been here for the celebrations. That got Kelvin thinking. It would be several days ride between each of his destinations and going alone would be terribly boring. Perhaps this was an opportunity to learn more about his comrade.

A mischievous smile crept onto Kelvin’s face. “You know,” he hinted, sliding closer to desk, “I was planning on making this journey alone, but if you’d like to deliver that letter in person, I could always use the company. Besides, I might need someone with a sly tongue when I get to Lycia.”

[Zacharia]

"Hey, give me that!!" cried a flustered Zacharia, nearly trampling Kelvin as he ripped the letter from the man's riding gloves. Well, about as close to trampling as a man twice the Shaman's breadth could've been. It wasn't like there was anything personal inside, or worse, anything scandalous. And he fancied his calligraphy as some of the best he'd seen from a Bernese. Yet the man just couldn't explain the nervousness he felt as his handiwork was being read live and in person. Somehow, it was like someone was staring into his very soul. Zach sighed, neatly rolling the parchment up and placing it back on top of the desk. Oh, how he wished that he had never learned to write in the first place. "That w-was rather... unbecoming of you, Ser Dragon General, sir. Oh, I-I mean Ser Kelvin! Sir!" For moments afterward the room fell silent, despite the boy's cheeks being hot enough to smoke and sizzle.

As Kelvin nonchalantly followed him to his desk, Zach plucked a quill and piece of scrap from the pile, side-eyeing the general's grabby little fingers next to his pile of finished letters as he did so. It still astounded him just how much space and resources they had to offer. Macendew had a lot more books on magic than the castle did, but the manor might as well have been a single-stall stable in comparison. "Let's see," Zacharia postured, putting quill tip to the parchment. "What would you like me to relay?"

"Wait. You're going to see Selibas in person? And y-y-you want me to come along? And come alone? ...Come again?" The knight, however, seemed like he had taken a change of heart. But what did the Lycian have to gain from bringing someone like Zach along? Was this just altruism on Kelvin's part, or was there a deeper meaning He didn't fully understand what he meant by "sly", either. Something sounded seriously fishy here, but he couldn't quite put two and two together. "Well, I suppose it'd be nice to go on a trip. Yes, I think I'd really like that. I've never seen the world outside of my home country before. And I'd like to see the plains I've been told so much about, if only just once. But... I don't think I can! I mean, that's not to say I wouldn't like to go or anything. It's just, I'm completely swamped with work for only Gaea knows how much longer. R-Really, my hands are tied. I haven't even had the time to go out and practice my magic these past few days." Absentmindedly, Zacharia scratched the back of his head with the quill before setting it down again. 

[Kelvin H. Calderon]

As Zach scrambled to retrieve his letter, nearly tackling Kelvin in the process, he had to stifle a laugh. In many ways, the young shaman was much like his older brother. While he was nowhere near as uptight as Merio had been, he was still quite easy to tease and even easier to fluster. Some might have seen it as mean or ill-mannered, but in his own confusing way, it was how Kelvin liked to get to know people. “I apologize, Zach,” he offered, letting a small chuckle slip, “I’m the youngest of three and even as a Dragon General, there are certain habits you never grow out of. I meant nothing by it.”

He let the mood in the room settle back into a comfortable sense of formality before he addressed Zach’s questions. “Indeed I am. Sacae will be the first of my two stops. One of the messengers gave me his location and I intend to give a full, informed update on the changes to Bern’s government. Besides, it has been some time since he and I had a good chance to talk and, frankly, I miss him. I’m sure you understand,” he proffered with a knowing smile. “After that, I ride to Caelin to tender my official resignation to the Marquess. I’ve been gone for a long time and he deserves an explanation from me. Plus, we can take it as an opportunity to officially reopen communication between Lycia and Bern.”

Just as it seemed that Zach was about to accept his offer, the shaman began to stammer and offer up excuses, sending Kelvin scrambling for a solution. Just when he was preparing to accept defeat, a voice from behind interrupted their discussion. “Pardon me, sirs,” a young stable boy reported, poking his head into the room, “but the general’s horse is ready. The stable-master was beginning to wonder if the general’s departure was as immediate as he said.”

Kelvin was about to grumble under his breath about the stable-master’s comments when an idea popped into his head. “Thank you,” he addressed the boy, “Before you go, though, do you happen to know your letters?”

The stable boy squinted at Kelvin, caught off guard by the question. “I- well... that is... I can write, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“Perfect!” Kelvin exclaimed, ushering the boy into the room. “Zacharia will be joining me on my journey and while he is gone, we need a scribe to take his place. It won’t be hard, just sending letters and taking messages.” He wheeled from the boy back to Zach, not stopping for the boy's response. “Well, now that your duties here are taken care of, what do you say? Are you up for a little excursion?”

[Zacharia]

Despite the shaman's excuses iron-clad argument, it still felt the Dragon General had him on the ropes. It was true. He wanted to see Lycia. He wanted to see Sacae too. He wanted to see Selibas too. And Kelvin knew that. But he couldn't just give in! Then again, maybe that was just the chip on his shoulder from someone being unable to keep their mitts off of official documents. The youngest of three, huh? More like younger than three. Keeping the snide remark to himself, the man bit his tongue and smoothed his ruffled feathers, simply responding with a neutral "Ser."

"If you could find me a scribe in the next hour, I suppose then... I might be able to come along. But I've already sent letters to all the writers in the city, and it could be days, maybe even weeks before a reply comes back! And it's not like we can just send the capital watchmen on a manhunt for a handful of writers. I don't suppose you happen to have a miracle ready to come waltzing through that door?" Zacharia peered over the man's broad green pauldrons with an air of nervousness. "...Do you?"

Kelvin appeared tense at the remark, but as fate would have it, a stablehand peeked his way into the study. Locking eyes with Zacharia. The man's blood turned to ice. Kelvin seemed like he hadn't noticed, his face dark, letting the mage's hope swell only to deflate again as the knight perked up and dragged the boy inside the hall. It didn't take a betting man to wager what Kelvin was thinking.

...Maybe he couldn't write?

Damn it, he could write!!

...Maybe he'd say no?

DAMN IT HE DIDN'T SAY NO


"B-But, you can't just-- you can't just...!!!" Zacharia could only stand by helpless in the face of Kelvin's flight of fancy. The worst part of it all wasn't even his helplessness; Zach couldn't decide whether or not this forced vacation was a good thing. He pinched his brow in resignation. The day wasn't even half over but after one conversation it already felt like he'd been put through a marathon. "Look, I-I mean... Please. Just run back to your master and explain the situation to him. All you'll have to do is keep the letters organized for a few days until the other scribes return. No writing. Just. Please. No writing. I'll clear things up once we return. Alright?" The boy awkwardly shrugged in agreement. He started to trot off, but before he could round the Verdant Knight, Zacharia called out "And be sure to tell him 'Prepare a second horse!'"

He just prayed he wasn't making some huge mistake by indulging himself like this.

[Kelvin H. Calderon]

With one last command from Zacharia, the stable boy scrambled from the room. Kelvin felt a small stab of guilt for throwing so much at the poor boy, but he was in a hurry and didn’t have the time to spend to make complex arrangements for what would only amount to a month’s absence. Besides, Zach had cut the boys responsibilities even further than what Kelvin had assigned to him. The boy would be able to handle it. “Small miracles, eh?” he posited with a mischievous grin. “I’m sorry all of this is a little last minute, but I suppose that’s the theme of things in Bern these days. You should pack light. We’ll be riding fast and hard and we won’t stop often. I’ll meet you down in the stable.” With that, Kelvin retreated from the room and grabbed his pack from where he had stashed it in the hallway.


The stablemaster wasn’t happy to see him, but from the vibe he gave off, he was never happy to see anyone. As Kelvin arrived, the man had sized him up head to toe and snorted. “You’re the general? Didn’t realize they were putting children in charge these days.”


Kelvin fought the rising urge to cut the man down with a biting quip about the man’s position. A younger Kelvin wouldn’t have been above a round of verbal sparring, but he was an example to those around him now. It wouldn’t behoove him to get into arguments with every last person who threw a jab his way. Instead, he ignored the bait and offered a simple apology. “Sorry about all the confusion. Still a lot of chaos going around since Ilia’s surrender. My companion will be joining us soon and we can be out of your hair.” The stablemaster huffed and rolled his eyes, but offered no further comment and returned to his work. Several awkward minutes passed as the stablemaster prepared Zach’s horse, and Kelvin tended to Kashmir, brushing out the horse’s unruly black mane. Finally, the young scribe arrived in the stables, looking just as flustered as always. After another series of tense exchanges with the stablemaster, the pair was off, headed north to the verdant plains of Sacae.