Chapter 272

“Don’t look so shocked,” she said with a smirk. “You’re heading into Imperial capital. Who better to have on your side than a wind mage? You will need one if you want to find someone like Maurien.”

“I can think of several dozen people,” Ludger said flatly.

Kaela pretended not to hear him, brushing imaginary dust from her sleeve. “Besides, I couldn’t let my little sister worry while her

brilliant teacher

runs off into danger.”

Ludger didn’t respond. Mostly because his mother was walking up behind Kaela, twins in her arms, her expression

very

composed but her eyes sharp as knives.

Elaine’s gaze flicked toward Kaela, then down, then up again, her polite smile never fading, though it was the kind of smile that made trained soldiers reconsider their life choices.

Kaela straightened immediately, suddenly finding the wagon’s wheels very interesting. “Mrs. Elaine,” she said carefully. “Lovely morning.”

“Mm,” Elaine replied, still staring at her. “I imagine you’ll

enjoy

the wind currents on this trip.”

Kaela coughed, tugging her cloak a little tighter. “Yes, ma’am.”

Meanwhile, the twins reached out toward Ludger, babbling happily. “Lu-lu!”

He took a step closer, patting their heads gently. “I’ll be back soon. Listen to Mom. Don’t cause trouble. You can pull Dad’s cheeks instead of mine while I am away.”

Elaine arched an eyebrow. “They take after

you,

dear. Trouble is unavoidable.”

Ludger gave a small, tired smile. “I suppose that’s true.”

Then he turned toward the wagon, taking one last look at the group: a northerner chieftain grinning like a madman, a captain of the guard already regretting his life decisions, and a flirtatious wind mage trying very hard not to make eye contact with his mother.

He sighed. “This is going to be a long trip.”

Elaine’s smile softened just a little. “Stay safe, Ludger.”

He nodded once. “Always.”

Then he climbed onto the wagon, the reins snapped, and the Lionsguard delegation rolled out of Lionfang, carrying with it a mixture of pride, tension, and the faint, unshakable feeling that whatever waited in the capital wasn’t going to be simple.

The road stretched out like a ribbon of dust beneath the wheels, and for a long while, the only sounds were the creak of the wagon and the rhythmic clop of hooves on packed earth.

Darnell sat up front, reins in hand, jaw tight and eyes fixed on the road ahead. Every few minutes he muttered something under his breath about “career mistakes” and “why do I agree to these things,” but the horses didn’t seem to mind.

Inside the wagon, the atmosphere couldn’t have been more different.

Kharnek was leaning against a barrel, laughing loud enough to scare away the wildlife, a flask in hand that definitely didn’t contain water. “To the Empire!” he roared. “May they choke on our northern hospitality!”

“Please don’t shout that when we

arrive,

” Darnell called back.

Kharnek waved him off. “You worry too much, Captain! That’s what ale is for!”

Kaela, sitting across from Ludger, rolled her eyes. “He’s going to start singing next.”

“Then I’m jumping off the wagon,” Ludger said dryly.

Kaela smirked faintly but tried to keep a composed front. She’d been oddly quiet since they left Lionfang — no teasing, no flirting, no unnecessary drama. She sat straight-backed, arms crossed, pretending to be perfectly unbothered by the suspicious looks Ludger had been giving her since the trip began.

Eventually, her restraint broke. “Alright,” she said, exhaling. “What is it? You’ve been staring at me for half an hour. Do I have something on my face?”

Ludger didn’t even blink. “Do you have

espionage skills?

”

Kaela’s eyes widened, then she put a hand dramatically over her chest. “Excuse me? Are you accusing me of being a spy? Me? The very image of honesty and charm?”

Kharnek snorted from the back. “You? Honest? I’ve seen wolves with softer smiles.”

Kaela shot him a glare, then turned back to Ludger with a mock-offended huff. “For the record, I am

not

a spy.”

“Uh-huh.”

“I’m serious,” she insisted. “I’m a free mage. I travel, I teach, I… enjoy life’s better things. Nothing suspicious about that.”

Ludger leaned back slightly, his tone calm but skeptical. “You also said being able to manage to ‘find’ Maurien. A man who’s practically a ghost.”

That earned him a quick smirk. “Oh, that. Well, let’s just say I have a

knack

for finding people who don’t want to be found.”

“Which sounds a lot like espionage,” Ludger said flatly.

Kaela gave an exaggerated shrug. “Semantics. Some people call it espionage; I call it professional curiosity.”

“Uh-huh,” Ludger repeated, his expression unreadable.

For a moment, the two of them locked eyes, her grin mischievous, his stare calculating. Kharnek watched from the corner with an amused grin, muttering, “You two are going to kill each other before we reach the capital.”

“Unlikely,” Ludger said. “I need her alive until we find Maurien.”

Kaela blinked. “Wait—

what?

You’re actually looking for him?”

“That’s right,” Ludger said. “And since you claim you can find him…”

Her smirk returned. “Well, I suppose that makes me useful again.”

Darnell groaned from the driver’s seat. “Saints help us all.”

The wagon rattled onward under the morning sun, tension and humor blending in equal measure, their mismatched group rolling toward the capital with too many secrets, too many motives, and far too little patience.

“So,” Ludger said, his voice even but carrying just enough edge to make Kaela’s smirk falter, “wind magic can help the user find a person through their presence or something like that, right? You can track their movement by how they disturb the air?”

Kaela raised an eyebrow, though the faint twitch at the corner of her mouth betrayed her discomfort. “That’s… one way to put it.”

“And you can also hear whispers through the wind,” Ludger continued, tone flat. “Isn’t that how you knew what my father and I were talking about the day before?”

Kaela froze.

Kharnek nearly spat his drink, grinning like a man watching a brawl about to break out. “Ha! Caught you.”

Darnell, still holding the reins up front, turned just enough to glance over his shoulder, suspicion written plain on his face. “You

eavesdrop

on command conversations?”

Kaela put up both hands, her expression turning from cool composure to nervous charm in seconds. “Okay, okay,

technically

I didn’t

try

to overhear anything. The wind just… carries voices, and sometimes I happen to be listening when interesting things blow my way.”

“That’s called eavesdropping,” Darnell muttered.

Kaela gave him a strained smile. “Oh, lighten up, Captain Rules. I didn’t sell your secrets to anyone.”

Ludger didn’t say anything at first. He just studied her, calm, unreadable, but with that same intensity that made Kaela’s posture stiffen slightly. His eyes were sharp, analytical; he wasn’t looking at her like a soldier would, but like someone dissecting a puzzle piece that didn’t quite fit.

“You’re a terrible liar,” he said finally.

Kaela huffed, tossing her hair over one shoulder. “And you’re

terrible

at conversation.”

Kharnek chuckled, tapping the rim of his flask. “She’s got you there, boy.”

But Ludger didn’t react. He just turned his gaze back to the passing horizon, the faint wind tugging at his scarf. “You might not be a spy,” he said quietly, “but you’re hiding something.”

Kaela leaned back, crossing her arms. “Everyone’s hiding something, Vice Guildmaster. Some of us are just better at pretending otherwise.”

Darnell frowned but said nothing, the reins creaking in his grip. He’d seen spies before, smooth, disciplined, cold. Kaela wasn’t that. She was too impulsive, too emotional. But there was no denying she had…

unusual

skills.

The wagon rolled on through the open plains, the air shifting around them, carrying the faint sound of Kaela’s soft humming, though Ludger couldn’t help but notice that her humming matched the wind’s rhythm just a little too well.

He didn’t comment, but the thought stayed with him. Wind mages, after all, were never just about speed or flight. They were about

listening.

And sometimes, listening was more dangerous than any spell.

Ludger exhaled quietly, deciding the conversation was veering too close to things he’d rather not unpack — like Kaela’s questionable use of wind magic. So he shifted gears with his usual dry tone.

“So,” he said, glancing at her cloak, “you decided to dress properly today because my mother was around? Or are you just not trying to lure

Kharnek

or

Darnell

this time?”

Kaela arched an eyebrow. “Please. I’m not interested in children.”

That earned her a sidelong glance from Ludger, who said flatly, “I’m eleven.”

She ignored him. “Or married men,” she added with mock innocence, gesturing at Darnell. Then she smirked. “Although I

would

consider marrying someone like Kharnek. A man who can drink more than I can? That’s husband material.”

Kharnek threw his head back and roared with laughter, his massive frame shaking the wagon. “Ha! You? You drink well enough, girl, but you’re too

young

to challenge someone like me. I’d have to carry you home halfway through the first barrel.”

Kaela grinned. “You underestimate my stamina.”

“That so?” Kharnek’s grin widened. “Then when we get to the capital, we’ll see who falls first.”

Ludger gave a quiet sigh and turned to Darnell, who was gripping the reins like he wanted to be anywhere else. “You’re married, right?”

Darnell blinked, caught off guard. “...Yes,” he said slowly. “Though my wife claims I’m more married to my work than to her.”

Ludger gave a small nod. “Understandable.”

Kaela snorted. “Wow, what a romantic bunch we are.”

Ludger ignored her again and looked at Kharnek. “What about you? Didn’t you say your wife lives far from your camp?”

Kharnek grunted, wiping foam from his beard with the back of his hand. “Aye. She stays with her kin in the high valley.”

“So… you’re not exactly living together,” Ludger said, expression neutral. “Doesn’t that defeat the purpose of being married?”

The northerner barked another laugh. “Ha! Not at all! She’s just

bashful.

That’s all.”

Kaela blinked. “A bashful

northerner woman?

”

Even Ludger’s lips twitched faintly. “That’s… difficult to imagine.”

Kharnek chuckled proudly. “You southerners don’t know how to court properly. The trick is to find a woman who can break your ribs

and

cook afterward.”

Kaela smirked. “So love really does hurt.”

“Exactly!” Kharnek said, raising his flask in toast. “Pain builds respect!”

Darnell muttered something about barbaric customs under his breath, while Ludger just leaned back against the wagon wall, silently questioning every life choice that led him to this particular traveling party. At least, he thought, if they didn’t make it to the capital, it wouldn’t be

boring.

Kaela leaned back in her seat, tugging lightly at the collar of her cloak with a sigh. “If we’re heading through the Torvares state,” she said, “I figured I should at least look

presentable.

You know—less scandal, more diplomacy.”

She fanned herself a little. “Though honestly, I feel like I’m wearing

full plate armor

with all these layers. How do you southerners not melt in this heat?”

Ludger raised an eyebrow. “You’re exaggerating. It’s barely twenty degrees.”

Kaela gave him a dramatic look. “Spoken like someone who’s never lived off the coast. The wind there does

everything

for you. This? This is punishment.”

Kharnek chuckled from the back. “You sound like one of my warriors after their first trip south. ‘Too hot, too bright, too many rules.’”

She smirked. “He sounds like a wise man.”

Ludger let out a quiet breath, leaning against the wagon’s edge. “So, other than complaining about the weather, why the sudden change in fashion sense?”

Kaela’s grin softened into mild curiosity. “Well, aside from not wanting your mother to

murder

me on sight… I’m actually curious about your half-sister. Viola, right?”

Ludger’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Why?”

“Because my little sister’s a fan of hers,” Kaela said, smiling a bit more genuinely now. “She talks about her all the time. ‘Lady Viola the Sahuagin-Slayer,’ ‘Lady Viola who fights alongside the Lionsguard,’ ‘Lady Viola, the jewel of Torvares’, I hear that kind of thing until my ears bleed.”

Kharnek grinned. “Aye, she’s got spirit, that one.”

“Mm.” Kaela nodded. “It’s rare to find women who earn a name for themselves through combat these days. Most of the noble daughters I’ve met would faint if someone handed them a sword the wrong way.”

Ludger’s tone was dry as sandpaper. “I’d prefer the word

infamous.

”

Kaela laughed, shrugging lightly. “Oh, come on. Fame, infamy, same coin, different sides. What matters is that people

remember

you.”

Ludger gave her a look that said he wasn’t convinced. “That’s not the compliment you think it is.”

“Maybe not,” she said, her tone still playful but her eyes sharper. “But people who leave an impression change things. Your sister’s done that. You have too, whether you realize it or not.”

For once, Ludger didn’t reply immediately. He just looked out toward the horizon, where the first outline of the Torvares banners could faintly be seen fluttering in the wind.

Behind him, Kaela smiled faintly and muttered, “Looks like the famous family reunion’s coming up.”

“Infamous,” Ludger corrected automatically.

Kaela just smirked. “We’ll see.”

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