Chapter 72: Setting Out

An Expedition was not supposed to be a public spectacle.

It had been, once.

A century ago, an Expedition meant hope of reclaiming the West. The entire city would line the streets, celebrate, and pray for the men risking their lives beyond the walls. Back then, House Veyne had been the most prestigious of the Golden Five, and it hadn't even been close.

Now it meant destroying one dungeon. One nest of monsters. And yet, here they all were. Hundreds of voices barraged us. Pressed us in from every side.

“Keep that fastened,” Count Vance said with a quick glance at me. He sat tall on his warhorse, its brown coat armored with runes.

I rode a smaller mare, one that I was going to dismount and hand back to the scouts as soon as we left sight of the walls.

“I will,” I said, the bracer fastened against my arm. It suppressed my mana, or rather, made it not shine quite as brightly.

Count Vance had procured the device rather quickly once he’d heard about the attack on the walls.

“I cannot tell if they are enthusiastic or if they are simply anxious.” The Count said. He looked larger as he sat on his horse, a large silver pelt draped across his front. He certainly fit the image of a man going into untamed wilds.

There were crowds lined up all around us. Hundreds of people had shown up just yesterday, so they’d had to hastily erect stands to not clog the streets themselves. Men and women looked on at us suspiciously. Mothers held up their children in their arms to give them a better look.

I tried very hard not to squirm under their gazes. I was fourteen, in a black riding coat and leather armor, surrounded by fifty soldiers who all looked more intimidating by far. The ten adventurers trailing behind them looked only marginally less intimidating.

I looked like -and was- a little girl. I wondered how many of them were thinking it.

“I believe it's largely curiosity, with perhaps a tinge of hope,” I said.

It wasn’t just the common folk who had shown up to see us off. That part had been planned. All it had taken was for Dorothy to write about my going with the expedition, and the rest had followed naturally.

The other Dukes had shown up to see us off, too.

They sat near the front gates, on an erected dais that seemed rather excessive for a construction that would surely be taken down after we left. Oh well. Appearances in Aelheim mattered quite a bit.

“Can we fucking move already? All these people are starting to make me antsy.”

Violet had stepped in next to my horse. She didn’t have a mount of her own -only I, the commander, and the five scouts had horses.

She was decked in red-tinged plate armor, the kind she had tried and failed to get me to wear. It looked just a little too big for her. Still, Violet moved in it surprisingly easily.

“My Lady, it is important that the people see us. It’s not often they actually want to.” Count Vance explained.

He had been rather perplexed when I had told him about the people I insisted on taking along. Had I been anyone else, I had no doubt he would have refused. Alas.

“They’ve seen us enough,” Violet grumbled. “I’ve felt those damn Scrylens for an hour already.”

That much was true. The prickling along my skin had not ceased for some time. Just how many pictures did they need of us, standing in the same place?

“I am inclined to agree with her, Count Vance,” I said. “Let us be off then. There is such a thing as lingering too long.”

“Very well, My Lady.”

Count Vance looked behind him, gave a signal to some man I didn’t see.

The sound of a roaring horn broke through the chatter of the crowd. Then, our column slowly started to move. I squeezed my legs, urging the horse forward.

Thankfully, it did. I hadn’t had much or any practice riding yet. I couldn’t wait to get off the damn thing.

We slowly made our way down the street, the sound of the watchful and cheering crowd all around us. In front of us was a large, black gate, so dark it looked like it was carved out of onyx. Blue runes glowed on its front, a giant sword and sickle that were almost fifty feet high.

Then, the gate creaked as it started to slide open.

I knew we couldn’t make our way directly through, much as I would have preferred that. We slowed as we approached the three Dukes.

Duke Thalos looked almost bored with the proceedings. He sat a little straighter as we approached. Duke Wardell always looked stoic, but there was an added air of seriousness about him now.

Duke Greenward looked very, very smug. He stood with his hands clasped behind his back, a smile on his face. It grew wider as we drew close, but never quite reached his eyes.

“I wish you safe travels.” Duke Thalos said. “It has been a great many years since the people have been this excited.”

I faintly nodded my head. “Thank you. I hope my absence does not make your role any more difficult. My maid, Anias, should fill the gap I am leaving behind well enough for a few days.”

Not just my gap, but also the one Violet was leaving behind. Though in Violet’s case, it was her head maid, Mari, who was handling most of the affairs. Anias was simply there to make sure nothing suspicious happened while we were gone. I did owe the woman a great deal, and if it wasn’t apparent, it was now glaringly obvious that Anias was no ordinary maid.

“Aye, though Count Gideon keeps the streets running well enough.” It was Duke Wardell who spoke up next. “Your father would be proud of you. Even he has only had the chance to venture outside the walls a handful of times, and never to an audience such as this.”

I smiled. The expression was largely fake. “Thank you. I am relieved to leave, knowing that the city will be in your capable hands.”

With me gone, the walls would solely be under the jurisdiction of Count Sterling. Duke Wardell would doubtless be spending some time with the man himself. It wasn’t strictly his duty, but I did appreciate him for taking it up anyway.

"She does make her father proud." Duke Greenward's voice was warm. His eyes were not. "All Adrian ever cared about was what lay beyond the walls. It did lead him to neglect other aspects of his rule."

He smiled. "I am a little surprised to see the daughter follow so surely in his footsteps.”

I turned to Duke Greenward with no change in expression at all.

“A Veyne’s duty is a grim one, Lord Julian. I believe I am of better use outside protecting the people than I would be here. Not when I have such capable retainers, and even more capable peers.”

Duke Julian’s smile never left him. “Then I wish you the best of luck in fulfilling your duties. You are taking the heir to House Indri with you.” He pointed. “The heirs to two houses leaving Aelheim at the same time. We will try to make sure all is well when you return.”

It was probably a good thing Violet was standing a dozen feet back. She might have punched the man. The image was bloody satisfying, but it would have been inconvenient.

I suppose it was a good thing that nobody was making too much of a fuss about me taking Violet with me. They would doubtless use the chance to try to encroach upon House Indri’s District. Luckily, they couldn’t do anything too drastic.

They had halted official Council meetings, after all.

“Thank you. I do hope this one expedition helps mark the start of a new era.” I said, smiling.

Duke Greenward looked like he wanted to laugh right in my face, but he buried the expression quickly enough.

I turned away from him and to Cordelia. She stood just off to the side of the three Dukes, in a position of some honor. She had been watching the proceedings with a distant expression. Her eyes sharpened as I drew close.

"My Lady." I looked down at her from atop my horse. "I did enjoy your tea party. I do hope we can share such an occasion again, when I return."

Cordelia must have realized the right thing to say instantly. She curtsied politely, her expression morphing into the expected smile.

"You are so terribly bold, Lady Veyne," she said, her voice low but level. "I am far too timid to travel with such... unrefined company. I always find that when you invite strangers to pour the tea, it becomes terribly easy for something foul to slip into the cup unnoticed."

I almost let my eyes roll. An obvious jab about our last tea party, then. Not unexpected, but still rather petty.

“I hope you come back soon, so we may share a cup again,” Cordelia added, her tone more strained this time.

Pathetic. Mask.

Liar.

Vaelin grumbled in the back of my mind. I agreed.

I thought of a hallway. A closed door. A broken cup. A torn book.

"I will keep that in mind," I said softly.

Something in my tone must have shone, because she looked faintly confused before I moved on.

Everyone had to stop for my conversation.

Only here did I turn my horse around. It was a practiced gesture, though even then I half expected the beast not to listen to me. It slowly turned, letting me look at the procession in full.

Damian and Violet, I spotted almost immediately. They hadn’t been trailing that far off behind me.

Damian’s armor was a match for Violet’s, save for its lack of red accents. His was more of a darker blue -Veyne colors. Estovan stood there too, not wearing any armor. You didn’t need to at his level.

Sere was the closest to me. I occasionally felt her tug on my riding coat. Never to get my attention, simply because the crowd was making her nervous. I had asked her not to use her Gift, and so far, she had listened.

The men of the expedition were a hard, weathered lot. Most bore at least one scar. Even those without, their gazes were enough; not all scars are physical.

The adventurers were the most 'cheerful,' though even their faces looked serious. All were B-rank and C-rank. No S-rank or A-rank would go into the Ashen Wastes. Not when a Farstep Circle could take them somewhere more pleasant.

“My Lady, do you still intend to….”

“Yes.” I cut Count Vance off.

I took a deep breath and projected mana. Enough that my voice would carry far and wide. It wouldn’t normally be wise to use so much mana just to make oneself heard. I happened to have mana to spare.

“I am deeply grateful to see the enthusiasm all of you have to see us off,” I said simply.

Those words alone made many in the crowd pause.

“To venture out into the wilds is the Duty of House Veyne, and yet, we have let that duty wane over time. No more.” I paused for a fraction of a second. “I will not make grand speeches or grander promises. Simply wait for our return, and see for yourself. It is my sole wish that I make it worthwhile.”

I felt the weight of hundreds of eyes, deciding. It was a simple speech. Deliberately so. The common folk of Aelheim had been given enough grand promises by people on horseback or raised platforms.

Then, there was clapping. It was not the roaring applause of a crowd, but the enthusiastic clapping of just one person. Dorothy. She was near the back of our contingent, next to an adventurer hired solely to carry her Scrylens.

One person clapping alone is a particular kind of awkward. I appreciated it nonetheless.

Then more hands joined, hesitantly. Not many, but some.

It wasn’t the roaring applause I hadn’t yet earned, but it was something.

“Let us be off then.”

The towering walls of Aelheim loomed behind us, casting a shadow over our little procession. The city gates had closed with a loud thud. The sounds of the crowd died in an instant, leaving behind a silence.

As soon as I heard that sound, I slipped off my horse, handing the reins to a scout with a sigh of relief. My boots hit the ground.

Three men on horseback had raced on ahead, leaving us to follow behind at a more leisurely pace. I had moved from the front of our column to a few feet back.

Count Vance consulted two men at the front -his lieutenants. I had no intention of stealing the man’s command, not when I didn’t know the first thing about surviving out here, save for what I had read.

This close to the city, it was almost normal. The grass, at least, was still yet green. I could see the boundary where that changed.

An invisible line in front of me where green distinctly turned to purple. Where trees turned into dark, leafless fingers. Where you couldn’t look at anything not covered in ash.

That was where the Western Frontier truly began, starting with the Ashen Wastes.

“Feels a little surreal to be out here,” Damian murmured. “All my life I’ve read the stories but….”

“You’ve got that right,” Violet answered. “Don’t forget to reinforce.”

We slowly moved forward, crossing that invisible line.

The air stung, like a thousand poisoned needles digging into my lungs. It lasted only for a moment before I reinforced my chest with mana, doing the same to my watering eyes. You couldn’t even set one foot into the Ashen Wastes; otherwise, the air itself was toxic. It would have been smart to reinforce myself before I’d crossed that invisible boundary. I had simply wanted to feel the difference.

A silly thing to do, in hindsight.

There was a growl from somewhere in the back of my mind. Distant and faint.

The Godblade.

Corrupted. Intent.

Vaelin murmured distantly.

I didn’t know what it meant, and I couldn’t ask it in a crowd like this. All I could do was file the words away.I needed to start listening to the Godblade more, especially now that I was increasingly sure it wasn’t just an impression of intelligence.

“Don’t forget what we’re here to do,” I whispered, the morning sun glaring down on us.

It wasn’t just the air being poison, it also felt warmer.

“Yeah." Violet grinned. "Can't fucking wait."

No wonder she was excited.

We were on our way to kill a Dragon.

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