A storm was rolling in over the Ben Sea when they finally made it to the first bride to Chithoobra. Kyosti’s stomach churned as they came down the narrow track from the north to the broad road coming from the farmlands in the west. The road was crowded with people, horses, and wagons, all looking nervously at the looming clouds. Kyosti’s skin prickled with the growing iciness in the air, the smell of freezing rain and snow. It would be a cold storm.
John pulled them to a stop when they finally made their way to the entrance of the bridge. He signed at Anglorae for a few minutes, who hmmed in response.
“John thinks we should send someone ahead, let the Queen know we’re coming,” she told Kyosti.
He could have sighed in relief. He was starting to wonder if John had forgotten and if he would have to suggest it himself. “That’s a good idea...Hear what, I have a friend from the House of Wizards who we can send word to. She can send out guards to make sure Anglorae gets in safely, and warn the Queen of our approach. Sanji, I think it would be best if you went.”
Sanji tensed. “No, I can’t leave you---”
He squeezed her hand comfortingly. “It’ll be alright. We’ll stay right here, by the entrance to the bridge. My friend’s name is Kayla. If you go to the House of Wizards and ask for her, just tell her I sent you and where she’s to meet us.”
After much persuading, Sanji agreed. Kyosti gave her detailed instructions on how to find the House of Wizards, and she left them with one last lingering touch on his arm.
For several moments, none of them said anything. Thunder rumbled, the frigid wind blew louder, and the crowd groaned and hunkered down.
“Kayla, hmm?” Anglorae wondered out loud, her voice dark. “An Innis name in the House of Wizards? You have some explaining to do.”
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Sanji entered the Capital Island by way of a bridge longer than any she had seen in her life. It bustled with people, a wide thoroughfare over the raging Ben Sea. It was almost an hour of walking before she came under the shadows of the walls, and finally she came into the city, a vast metropolis, the last bastion against the cold, hard ice that advanced in the south.
Sanji hated it. Of course, she had never loved being around large groups of people, and the Capital Island had large groups of people everywhere. She also stood out like a sore thumb, and many of the Chith looked disgusted at her northern appearance. But she was used to people looking at her in disdain.
To her surprise, finding the House of Wizards was just as easy as Kyosti had suggested it would be. She simply had to go up to a guard and ask politely, and they pointed her in the right direction.
For all its eminence, the Chith Empire was foolish. Trusting.
The House of Wizards stood at the pinnacle of the city, right below the palace. On her way to the front doors, Sanji saw soldiers training despite the growing storm. She stopped and watched them for a while, eyeing their skills and form, wondering if one of them was the Rodriguez that Kyosti was always talking about.
Eventually, she moved on. It hardly mattered.
As the first flakes of snow whipped around her, she marched right up the guards at the door of the House of Wizards. “Tell Galeon Sanji Heimerdinger is here to see him,” she commanded. “He’s expecting me.”
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Photo by Zac Durant on Unsplash
Wait, Sanji knows a wizard??? Why does that not surprise me ...
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