This will make more sense if you read the earlier parts. Don't worry, they're fun, action packed, and build the tension. Read them first! Also, all characters in sexual situations are 18 years or older. Enjoy.
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"I am Tes-amen." The dark-skinned man looked over the voyagers. They were easy to spot on the docks with the young duke's height and blond hair. He stuck out like a flaming serpent in the sand. "Our porters will load your things on those elephants over there." He gestured vaguely behind him. He turned his attention to the women. They were short. One of them was too pale to be of Surround blood. The other was armored like a war rhino. "Good day, ladies."
"Those are elephants?" Vel looked over at the monstrous creatures as men fitted them with harnesses for the luggage. Despite the strange animals, the odd smells, and the swirling dust everywhere, the bustling port reminded Vel of home. Maybe all ports in the kingdom carried the same energy. "Are we to ride them?"
"No, Your Grace." Tes-amen bowed humbly. "Elephants are not for riding. We have dragons for that." A thin smile touched his lips.
"Dragons." Vel's eyes widened in alarm.
"He's joking, Brother." Naevia hoisted her quiver and looped it over her shoulder, followed by her bow. She lifted her stola and pinned it up at the knees to keep it out of the dust. "There are no more dragons."
"Careful with those birds." Dellia scolded a porter holding one of their pigeon cages. "The viscount sends a clown to fetch us?" She strode up to Tes-amen, her lorica squamata clinking and glittering in the morning light. "Do not vex the Duke of Ostia Novus." She squinted into the man's face, her hand on her sword hilt.
Tes-amen smiled serenely back at her.
"No, it's okay." Vel walked over and put his hand on his cousin's shoulder, careful to keep his fingers from the bare skin on her neck. He felt very much like he was restraining a guard dog. His mother was wise to send Dellia along. "I like this man's humor. Come, Tes-amen, lead us to our accommodations."
"Very well." Tes-amen turned and a guard of about a dozen men dressed in crimson tunics flanked them as they walked uphill away from the port.
Kart Hadasht brimmed with energy. The lively, organic architecture, joined the snatches of stringed music and omnipresent hum of people. Vel tried his best to not let his mouth hang open as he looked around. They wended their way up cobbled streets that became wider the higher they went. Shops gave way to houses. And then the houses grew larger, with glimpses of fragrant gardens through their arched gates. "Is the guard really necessary? I spy no lone Vulpes ready to swoop down upon us."
"The Vulpes are in the employ of the queens regent, so they are, of course, welcome in Kart Hadasht. As they would be in Ostia Novus, I'm sure." Tes-amen looked up at his guest with that thin smile. "And I would not expect to see a lone Vulpes. Has Your Grace not heard? They travel always in pairs."
Naevia's interest picked up at this. Sweat dripped off her forehead and stained her stola, but she worked hard to keep up. Huffing and puffing, she said, "Speak more of this. We have little contact with that branch of the crown."
"It is said that each pair deployed must be married to each other. A man and a woman." Tes-amen leaned his head toward Naevia and Vel like he relished a bit of gossip. "It is said --"
"Let us not talk of the Vulpes." Dellia cut in. "No good would come of that. Have you heard from the lost cities to the south?"
"No, the south is nothing but ash and fire." Tes-amen shook his head sadly.
"I could stand to hear more of the Vulpes." Vel watched a veiled woman as she looked down at them from a stone veranda. Above them loomed one of the crumbling towers, a ruined building at its feet. Vel swerved ever so slightly away from the tower, knowing that a stone could fall from its heights at any time.
"It is said that the queens regent thought to reorganize the Vulpes, personally." Tes-amen was clearly happy to provide his font of knowledge. "Loyalty was a problem early on, when the order moved from procurement of supplies to procurement of information. In their inexhaustible wisdom, they found that a married man and woman would better maintain loyalty to each other and the crown."
They turned a corner and the seven turrets of the city's fortress came into view.
"Here we are at last." Dellia turned and looked back toward the water. The city was laid out below them, a puzzle of curves and boxes jumbling down to the sea. "Where are our elephants?"
"They are too big to come the short way. They must go around." Tes-amen led them forward, his stern crimson-clad guard still close at hand. "Come, the gate is just over here."
"That ... was ... the easy way?" Naevia huffed and puffed, the strap of her quiver chaffing between her breasts.
"Would you like me to carry you the rest of the way?" Vel smiled down at her. It was nice when he was better than her at something. Apparently, he climbed hills like a champion.
Naevia shot him a mock sour expression.
"Very well. On your own two feet. We will relax in luxury very soon." Vel looked over to his cousin, who was now engaging Tes-amen on the care of elephants. Too bad, Vel was hoping to learn more about the Vulpes. Maybe later.
~~
"Lovely to see you again, Lord Hostus." Cassia smiled at the young man as he bowed.
"And you as well, duchess." Hostus smiled pleasantly at his soon-to-be mother-in-law. "I trust all is well with the Tullius family."
"Very well." Cassia didn't care for the lie, but it was better than the truth.
