Wow, I thought. Ziegel was a city on the edge of the Fluss Duchy. It was the pride of the Anlage western defenses. It marked the western door of the central Anlage. Unlike Traube, which was wedged between two mountain ranges. Ziegel had an impressive wall running north for miles, farther than I could see. The southern side of the side was built against a mountain.

  Anlage had lots of mountains, but the central Anlage was built around a nearly circular range of them, with only a handful of routes that would allow one to avoid climbing through the difficult terrain. The wall that Alyssa had been referring to was the corner, actually, the southwest corner, or the beginning of the wall, and the start of Autumn was time to celebrate.

  Sir Beladone seemed quite bothered by our stopping at such a frivolous detour. I was enraptured by everything. People dancing, singing, and doing various tricks from juggling to breathing fire. Wow. I wonder what kind of spell that was. Yet even with all this, many children seem more interested in the circle around me that my guards weren’t letting people enter.

  “This is a guard's nightmare,” Beladone said. I largely ignored him, though. I knew well enough Lady Evelyn would address concerns.

  “Come now, the captain of the knight command shouldn’t be so frightened of regular citizens,” Lady Evelyn added.

  Beladone sneered but remained silent. Marie and the other maids brought over food. As much as I would have wanted to walk and look at the stalls directly, it wasn’t in the cards. The thing she handed me looked like a bowl, but it was flaky at the bottom and the top had a black, hard shell, making it look like a ball more than a bowl.

  “Giftig Anzeigen,” Lady Evelyn said. The bowl shimmered with a white light that turned blue. “Go ahead.”

  “What was that?” I asked.

  “Poison detection,” she said.

  I gulped. “That was a concern?”

  “No,” she said. “But it will be one day, and there was no reason not to.”

  Alyssa, while technically on duty, was allowed to be less formal as my guide since she was the only one familiar with this festival. She held up her own bowl and clicked it against mine. Smiling and telling me to bite right into it. It was like a rush of flavors all at once. The first layer was sweet and savory, then there was a warm, honey-like flavor, and immediately after, it turned as cold as snow.

  “Told you it's great, right?” Alyssa asked. She was already on her third bite.

  “How is it cold in the center?” I asked as I took another bite. I realized every layer was sweet in its own way. It was almost an overload in that way.

  “I dunno, maybe magic!” Alyssa said, pointing to another stand. “Oh, and the best part! You can eat the bowl! It tastes great too!”

  She took a bite to demonstrate, and it shocked me, but I decided to try it and realized it was like very thin, very crispy bread. Almost like a cracker. It helped balance out all the sweetness, and I smiled at the taste.

  Marie and the maids fetched some items from it; this time, Lady Evelyn got one too. It looked like bread on a stick, but taking a bite released the meat and melted cheese inside. Wow, it was so good! The only real issue was that my stomach could only handle so much. But this food was a real treat. Not as savory as the food in the king’s castle, but unique and delicious in a way that resonated a bit more with me.

  As the sun began to set, we eventually headed to the guild for the night. The male knights and attendants went to fetch the items Lady Evelyn had drafted, while the girls would be the first to use the bath. Like before, the entire bath was reserved for us, but this was the first time with more than just two people seeing me nude. I still wasn’t used to, or happy about it.

  Lady Evelyn was keeping a keen eye on the female knight; it seemed like she’d be the most leery person to worry about from Beladone, since she was the only person he picked that could accompany me in these moments. Alyssa was with her while the three maids washed me. It was faster and gentler than it had been on the road.

  This meant I was the first to get into the warm bath water. Marie, as the head maid, went to consult with Lady Evelyn, while the other two joined me. One had red hair, Delila, and the other had blonde hair, one hue off from sun-kissed cherry, Linda. They didn’t say much, but just sat nearby, clearly ready to assist me if needed.

  The priestess Kelly was the next to enter the bath, followed by Tessa. Ugh, I really didn’t want to look at… her. Not that I wanted to see anyone nude, but a goblin felt a bit worse. Given her short height, she actually had to swim over to the edge where I was sitting just to stand.

  Everyone else got in last, and with that, we had nine people in the bath. I was fairly confident this was not a situation that would lead to any relaxation.

  “So, may I ask about your plan concerning your pilgrimage?” Tessa asked.

  “I really don’t know much about all this,” I said. I glanced at Lady Evelyn, but she didn’t seem worried. Beladone knew my status as a poor, uninformed commoner. “I guess I have to get married first, right?”

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  Tessa nodded. “Do you miss home?”

  “She cannot talk about that,” Lady Evelyn said. “At the moment, do not pry into her life before the royal capital.”

  “Apologies, I didn’t realize it was a sensitive topic. Hmm, then what about your husband? Have any idea what he would look like?”

  Yeah, obviously, Kevin back in Hatula. “I’m not sure.”

  The female knight spoke up. “Surely you must have some idea, tall, short, or maybe brooding?”

  Looking to Lady Evelyn, she nodded. I guess this was fine to talk about. I remember her explaining on the way to the royal capital that sometimes hiding everything is a bad idea. You have to know what you can share. You’d think the boy I liked might have been a secret, oh, I get it, it is because Luft is ultimately going to be the one who picks. So what could they do with the information?

  “Well, I had a love once, he was tall, with broad shoulders and blonde hair. But what I think I liked most about him was his ability to talk. For hours, or days, about every little thing, from the way the stars drifted in the sky to the grass beneath us,” I said.

  “Couldn’t be me,” Alyssa said as she looked up. “A guy like that, me and him would be yapping over each other all day.”

  “Really?” Lady Evelyn said with a slightly raised eyebrow. “One can hardly believe.”

  “Right?” Alyssa replied.

  We all chuckled a bit, but she didn’t seem to realize why. I looked at my hand and the ring. Even the skin around my hand was so different from what it had once been. Would this new version of me still want someone like Kevin? Is that why Luft had denied us? Even if that was true, it still hurt. Why me? I was barely an adult. Even Alyssa was clearly more qualified for this role than me.

  “What about you all?” I asked.

  Everyone immediately looked to Lady Evelyn. She sighed. “Yes, yes. I got married. It was a long time ago.”

  “Is it true you got a platinum hair clip for your wedding gift?” Alyssa asked.

  She shook her head. “It is not. At least not from the gods. I did receive a platinum hair clip, but it was not meant to unite our marriage; it was a gift from my husband. Though I suppose I can’t fault the rumor. He gave it to me so I could avoid telling what I actually got.”

  “So what did you actually get?” Alyssa asked. “You could have just lied if you weren’t gonna share!”

  She just shook her head. “I have tolerated your charm, but if you want to remain with the Wind Maiden, then you will learn your manners!”

  Alyssa looked at me. Honestly, my heart ached hearing that term again. Wind Maiden. “I am more curious about the kind of man he is.”

  “Was. He died about seven years ago,” Lady Evelyn said as she stretched her back out. “Hold your tears. I need none of them. We were happy enough, even if it wasn't the kind of passionate love found in storybooks. He was a kind man, strong as well. He understood that I would push him over if he stood in front of me. So he supported me, and I him in return.”

  “Did you have any children?” I asked.

  She looked down, and everyone got quiet. It was Marie to tap my shoulder. “Lady Evelyn was deemed medically unable to handle children. It is a topic to handle with more care.”

  “Enough of an old woman’s past. Surely the lot of you have romances to share.”

  “None, my only goal is to serve my country,” the female knight said.

  “Similar for me, at least at the moment,” Kelly said. “My faith is the most important thing to me.”

  “I have a few boys interested in me,” Marie said, blushing.

  “I always figured I would marry Haden back in Trent after I got a bit older,” Alyssa said. “That is, if one of us can learn to quiet down occasionally.” She laughed at the thought.

  “Well, that assumes he is still available, right?” Tessa asked.

  Alyssa tilted her head but then gasped. “Right! Wait. Haden? No way! But… I… aaaa why are we going to Trent! Lady Julia-”

  Lady Evelyn bonked Alyssa on the head with her knuckle. “First, we are only going to Trent because you made the Wind Maiden curious. Second, the die has already been cast. Third, apologize for referring to her in such an impolite manner, and then shut up.”

  Alyssa rubbed her head and then bowed before me. “I apologize for my outburst.”

  “The die has already been cast? Sometimes I think you are simply teasing me by using words improperly.”

  Lady Evelyn rubbed her brow, and the other girls giggled a bit. “It is a children’s toy. Cast simply means it is too late to take back. The water is nice on my aching bones. Let us just relax now.”

  I gave a slight nod. Bone, that was a secret message Lady Evelyn gave me. It meant that I needed to punish someone, and obviously, Alyssa was the one. I hated to do it, but if I didn’t, then it would imply that Alyssa was being given special privileges or that I didn’t care about the rules. It was a dangerous example to set so early into pilgrimage. I had to give Alyssa a scolding, regardless of how I felt about it.

  “Be mindful in the future, Alyssa. I can sympathize with your position, given that you guarded me before my status was known. Lady Evelyn, be sure to issue her an appropriate fine.”

  “As you wish, Maiden of the Wind,” she said.

  That ruined any sense of conversation for the rest of the bath. Even Tessa didn’t have enough burning to ask me while I was in a bad mood. I sighed. It was fun for a while, at least.

  Trent. We would be reaching there soon, and then, marriage. My stomach dropped at the thought. Made much worse by the realization that I might not just be marrying a man I don’t like, or a man who doesn’t like me. But I could be ruining another woman’s life by taking a man meant for her. As good as the Gods were. This didn’t feel good.

  The guild rooms weren’t large enough to fit even half of us. So we split into four rooms, with Marie joining me, along with Lady Evelyn and Alyssa.

  “Marie, the Maiden of Wind, is thirsty. Please get some cold water.”

  She bowed. “Right away.”

  “But I didn’t-”

  “Shh,” Lady Evelyn said as she brushed my hair out of my face. “You did well to punish Alyssa. So I wanted to keep my earlier promise. Goodnight, Julia.”

  My heart felt a bit warmer. “Thank you ever so much.”