Chapter 549: Civilization

Irene's green eyes traveled over lands she was familiar with. Well, familiar wasn't the right word.

These were lands she had ridden through as a child. The lands she had rebelled against her mother's wishes and went to rescue her father when she heard that he was buried under the rubble of a mine that had collapsed.

They had shaped her and put her on this path.

And now she rode alongside the man she married while traveling to what felt like another major step in her life that would shape everything as she knew it.

Even though it was borderline unbearably cold, Irene and Henry didn't bother with facial coverings while they rode through the lands just south of the Northern Mountains. Compared to the Sunstoian region, this felt like nothing.

Henry could sense his wife's pensive mood as they slowed down, seeing the first sign of civilization in a while. It was the inn Irene always stayed at on the trip between her family home and the Duke's Tower.

"Are you looking forward to staying indoors for the first time in a couple of weeks?" he asked. "You don't look like it."

He cracked a smile, and she couldn't help it when one appeared on her face as well.

"That's enough," she gently chided. "I am looking forward to a bed with a proper mattress. My father told me that when I'm old, I will be thankful for all the times I got to sleep somewhere comfortable because it will take away from the overall toll I will feel when I'm older."

"Wise words," Henry responded. "I'll be sure to provide the most comfortable mattresses for as long as we live."

She smirked lightly before stopping Sammy and slipping off of him.

Surprisingly, there were other travelers there. As much was confirmed as they entered the inn's stables and found a few horses there.

"What an odd time for others to travel," she admitted as she began to remove her saddlebags. "There's still plenty of time before the snow even melts."

"A month, I would say," Henry agreed as he began to deal with his own horse's saddle and saddlebags.

Irene scratched Sammy's back after removing the saddle.

"It's been a long time, right, boy?" she asked the horse. "Rest for a while. We won't leave until the morning."

They were able to put the saddles over the center of the divider between the horses. Both steeds shook out their coats before the horse blankets were placed back on their backs and their stalls were filled with more water and sweet oats—sure to cost extra, but a payment Henry was more than willing to cover after all the horses had been through with them.

As Irene passed by Sammy, she considered this, seeing the scar he now possessed from the time she was under the wyrms' spell.

They left the stables with their bags and walked towards the front entrance.

"What are you most looking forward to?" Henry asked.

"I want a glass of ale as deep as my arm," she admitted. "It's early enough that we will sleep well."

"That would be hibernating," Henry joked. "Although I'm looking forward to the same. I'm going to get the largest and most pompous room. They will then know that the Duke has returned."

"Don't draw so much attention," Irene murmured, eyeing the other travelers who were speaking outside of the front doors.

At his words, he got a few eyes on him. He held his head high and ignored it.

They pushed open the door and were met with a warm front hall and the smell of something spiced cooking over a fire.

Irene inhaled deeply, and her stomach growled. Their supplies were dwindling, and it was more evident now that she was somewhere they would eat well.

"I would like your largest room," Henry declared as he leaned into the front counter.

The old innkeeper turned around and raised his eyebrows.

"Your Grace?" he asked in disbelief. "To what do I owe the pleasure of your patronage today? And ah… that room is taken."

Henry and Irene both shared a look of disbelief. There weren't many who could afford such a room, nor would want to during winter, when supplies and funds were low for most.

"By who?" Irene suddenly asked, curiosity getting the better of her.

The innkeeper nodded his head towards the dining hall.

Someone else approached.

"Someone who shares the same funds as the two of you," Felix explained as he stepped forth with a grin.

He already held a mug of ale in his hands.

Irene's eyes widened.

"Felix!" she exclaimed.

She rushed to wrap an arm around her friend. Henry did the same when she had stepped away.

"What brings you out here for this warm welcome?" Henry asked his second in command.

"I was getting nervous waiting around the Duke's Tower," Felix admitted. "The letter I wrote to you about—that I assume you received, considering Blade returned empty-handed—was eating at me. I know that you said to read all communications in your absence, but this wasn't one I felt I had the right to since His Majesty's signature is on it."

"Fair enough," Henry responded. "We ought to take advantage of the large room then and see what it's about."

Irene turned towards the innkeeper.

"Could we have food and beverage sent to the room?" she asked.

She wasn't giving up on drinking ale, and her stomach still growled. Henry must have been feeling the same.

The three of them went up three flights of stairs to get to the room that sat at the highest point of the inn. Its fire was already going, and Irene let out a sigh of relief as soon as they set foot inside.

"Have you been staying here in the meantime?" she asked Felix.

"I have my own room I rented," he admitted. "I'm not going to get in the way of newlyweds."

Irene rolled her eyes at him, offering no further comment.

Their saddlebags were put down for now, and they decided to work on them later.

What was more pressing was the rolled-up letter at the center of the table in the room. All three of them sat down and huddled around it.

Henry was the only one who dared to break the seal and open it since it was his name written on it first, followed, of course, by Irene's.

Henry's finger tapped on the table as he read, and Irene waited anxiously. It felt like it took ages for him to get through it.

A sigh escaped the Duke's lips.

"It seems someone's been speaking, and our absence from the Winter Solstice banquet was noticed," Henry admitted. "We've been… invited to our own wedding."