15. Magdalena

Magda and Odie traced their way back to the Azuremi fortress, sneaking inside to secure her horse, before trotting out of the stables and down the road. She circled away from the fortress, careful to hide her face from the knights, before cutting south and heading toward the coast. Odie followed every step of the way, darting across the fields, grateful to be free from the palace walls and exude his never-ending energy.

The shores along the southern coast line were rocky and gray, lined with square houses in bright colors. In a few days’ time, Magda would find ships, decorated with the pastel flags and the crest of her parents, heading to Flaustra each daybreak. Surely, someone would grant her passage to the south, and she had enough gold to pay her way.

Inside, her heart burned for Aleksy, wishing that he was taking this journey with her. Even the thought that he was dead didn’t seem real in her mind. It was almost as if she was going on a trip, and he would be waiting to greet her back at the Azuremi fortress when she returned. Mere memories of her brother made her throat close and glistening tears threaten to form at her eyes, knowing he was no longer breathing. But those thoughts didn’t manifest as sadness, rather as anger. Why did it happen to them? What had they done to deserve it? Their deaths weren’t fair. Magda’s anger was slowly building into a fierce determination to avenge both Aleksy and her father’s death.

Magda decided then and there that she would solve the mystery of the origin of her powers as quickly as possible, and she would do whatever it took to find the answers. She didn’t have much time, and she needed to get to Dagmara quickly to ensure that the kingdom of Ilusauri didn’t discover their hoax.

Magda continued riding, determined to get to a town by nightfall, where she could buy a proper wagon and food for the rest of the journey. When the sun was setting, she stopped in a small village, but not before pinning her bright, silver hair underneath her cloak.

Magda dropped off her horse at the stables and grabbed her knapsack, before ordering that a wagon be hitched up to him upon her return the next day. Then she turned around and headed toward the town square. “Come on, Odie,” Magda called, and he raced to catch up with her. He was still energetic, as if the sprint to the town had exhilarated him.

As Magda stepped outside of the stable, she looked up at the charcoal sky to see a wisp of falling snowflakes. Magda shivered and pulled her scarf tighter over her mouth and her hood further over her face. Odie jumped up, lapping the snowflakes with his tongue.

To her right, was a group of dogs who looked well taken-care of, darting around the town square. Despite their presence, Odie stayed by Magda’s side as she walked toward the central inn.

Once inside, Magda slipped into a dark booth in the corner of the tavern, hoping to not be recognized, and Odie trotted beside her. There were other customers with dogs, and no one paid Magda any attention when she beckoned Odie under the table.

Luckily, no one in these parts of Azurem had actually met the princess. She hardly even left the area surrounding the fortress. It was clear she was in a small mining town—likely many of the people here spent their days mining salt from the depths of the earth. Most of Azurem’s economy was based on the royal salt mines, which were a significant industrial operation. The mysterious labyrinths beneath the surface of Azurem were known as the underground kingdom. They extended all the way to the fortress, and Magda remembered touring one of the royal mines when she was just eight years old. Nevertheless, the memory stuck with her, for they had walked through chamber upon chamber of decorative salt pieces, including a hand-carved statue of her father.

Magda was promptly served a bowl of soup, slices of meat, and a loaf of bread. The waitress that served Magda coughed into her sleeve. Magda withdrew from the waitress, not wanting to catch any illness herself. She hadn’t realized how many people were affected as everyone in the fortress was safe.

She listened in as she fed Odie scraps of meat under the table. For an instant, Magda forgot the fact that she was a princess, but the villager’s conversations brought her back to reality.

“What do you think of the king and prince’s deaths?” a hoarse voice rang through the room. The man broke off into a fit of coughs, but no one around him seemed to care.

“Shows you that the guardians aren’t gods as they say they are. If a few rogue actors can take them down, how strong are their powers really?”

“They just want you to keep your head down. Keep working in the royal mines, making them richer while making us sicker.”

“Yeah…what do the guardians actually guard?”

“Nothing!”

The room was filled with boisterous laughter and continuous coughing. Magda listened in as the conversation turned to the most deadly illness, zowach, and the fact that nearly no child or teen who got it survived. It seemed to be a bigger grievance than the lack of any form of governance, a dead royal family, or a Mad King that threatened to invade. All that Magda could do was agree with their every word. Her family already knew about the lack of medicine and the illnesses plaguing the kingdom, but was anything being done about it?

Maybe a marriage to Claude wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

Magda stayed at the inn that night. The next day, she picked up her horse and a bright new wagon before continuing on the rest of her journey toward the port. While Magda rode her horse, Odie played in the back of the wagon.

She continued riding for hours and hours, not taking her mind off the task at hand. Throughout the day, she only briefly stopped for lunch and a few more breaks for her horse. Every town she came across had some form of the illness. Soon they arrived near the coastline, where the pungent smell of the ocean breathed life into Magda’s nostrils. The salty air was a reward at the end of a long quest, and the setting sun alerted her that she needed to make it to the docks soon to find a place to stay for the night. The harbor town was known as Frostmere, named for exactly what its title suggested.

Magda urged her horse along the pathway, circling down through the myriad of villages that dotted the rocky coast. The wagon bumped behind her, and Magda turned a few times to look back at Odie—her most precious cargo. As the sky grew orange, Magda must have traveled through approximately one dozen villages, descending with the landscape after passing through each one. Upon reaching the shoreline, she spotted four ships docked in the harbor. Three of the ships hosted glorious pastel flags, fluttering briskly, as if the embroidered elks were about to gallop off in the wind. The last ship’s flags were down.

Magda led her horse and wagon along the road, traversing through numerous villagers either on foot or in carriages. They were heading to trade on the docks, hoping that their money would be worth enough to barter for Flaustran treasures at a discounted price now that they were on Azuremi soil. When she reached the dock, she pulled her horse to a halt and gracefully dropped down into the sand. Instantly, a young boy rushed up to her, grabbing the horse’s reins. “How many nights in the stable miss?”

“Keep him indefinitely until I return,” Magda replied, dropping a coin in his hand, which likely was worth his entire yearly pay.

The boy’s eyes widened, giving her a slight bow before rushing to the wagon. He opened the small door, and Odie jumped down to the ground. Then the boy handed Magda her knapsack and side-bag before leading the horse away.

“Odie,” Magda called her dog, and they both continued into the crowd. Magda headed up a set of wooden, creaky stairs, and shoved herself through the rowdy peddlers. A ship ahead was unloading imports—or as the Azuremi called them, treasures. All around, auctioneers screamed out, attempting to attract those with the deepest pockets, but some of the opening bids were still too high for the Azuremi citizens.

Odie circled next to Magda’s legs, not once leaving her side or getting distracted by the newfound commotion. She noted quite a few Azuremi had dogs with them, but none were the same breed as Odie.

Magda searched the docks for anyone who was selling passage across the sea. Her mind spun, as she got a glimpse of words being shouted in Azuremi, Ilusaurian, and Celesta.

Then—to her surprise—she heard the beautiful language of Flaustran. Magda turned around to view the last ship on the dock. The pounding wind inflated the white sails, and a loud commotion came from the sailors as they darted from one end of the deck to another, pulling on the golden ropes. The sailors began releasing their flags into the sky, and out unfurled the symbol of a raging tiger, marking the ship as Flaustran.

Magda’s eyes lit up. This ship was leaving soon, and if she moved quickly enough, she might be able to gain passage.

She rammed her way through a group of women who were all clamoring around a pile of fabric. As she did so, she pulled her winter scarf higher on her face in order to keep her identity hidden.

Ahead was a female officer, with a handaxe attached to each hip. Her black hair was slicked back into a perfect bun, dressed in turquoise and bright yellow. The colors of Flaustra.

“One passage to Flaustra,” Magda announced when she stepped in front of the girl.

“I’m sorry,” she replied curtly, her accent thick in Magda’s native language. “That’s a cargo ship. You can wait for the next tourist transport.”

“And when will that be?”

“One week’s time.”

“I don’t have one week to spare.” Magda’s eyes flicked to the ship as the clamor increased. It was clear they were almost ready to set sail. “Please, I’ll pay my way,” she begged.

“Even if you had enough money to interest me in that proposal, you’re not getting on that ship. It’s completely full, and I’m short staffed as it is.”

The wheels were turning in Magda’s head. Here, using her title as a princess wouldn’t help her get by. She would have to convince this woman with her words and wit. What would Aleksy do? He would have charmed them no doubt. And Dagmara? She would have had a plan before approaching this woman. Too late for that.

So she said, “I’ll pull my weight, don’t worry.”

“You look like you’ve never worked a day in your life.”

Magda was taken aback by the girl’s brisk responses, and she frantically tried to come up with an argument to get her on the ship. Did she have any skills? Would she be able to cook food for the sailors? Would she be able to help them navigate?

When the woman realized that Magda wasn’t going anywhere, she rolled her eyes and said, “Do you have money or not?”

Magda nodded. She dug deep into her pockets to find the last remaining pouch of gold stamped with an elk. There were approximately twenty-five pieces inside. She wouldn’t need them where she was going, for she had stolen other currency from her parents’ study, so Magda plopped the pouch in the woman’s hands.

The woman’s expression changed after she peered into the pouch. She switched to her native tongue before asking, “Do you even speak Flaustran?”

The words were spoken so quickly that Magda almost didn’t have time to register what the woman had said. Magda dug deep to remember her Flaustran classes with her private tutor all throughout grade school. She switched to the language before replying. “I do.”

The woman scrunched her eyebrows and looked down at Magda over the brim of her nose. “You’ll have to work on your accent. And this one?” She looked down at Odie.

Odie wagged his tail in response.

“He’s coming too,” Magda answered.

“Are you sure?” the woman asked, her eyebrows raising in surprise.

“Of course.”

“Suit yourself. Let’s go.”

The woman in the turquoise coat walked down the dock, beckoning Magda and her pet to follow her. As she turned to board the ship, a golden cufflink flashed in the setting sun, drawing Magda’s attention. It was a symbol Magda had only seen in her lessons—a peacock feather—the mark of the Fowler’s Guild.

This ship belonged to one of Flaustra’s infamous guilds that informally controlled all of Flaustra’s economy, as well as all trade in and out of Flaustra. The kingdom was famous for its luxuries and markets above all else, and some of these treasures nobles would kill for.

The Fowler’s Guild was known for traveling to the Mystic South, a no man’s land filled with precious gems and metals, as well as large beasts that they hunted for their thick fur. Because of Flaustra’s location as the closest kingdom to the mysterious south, Flaustra was a marketplace of priceless artifacts, and traders would bargain at all hours of the day for the best deals. This had boosted the guilds to the status of unofficial royals that controlled the entire Flaustran economy. They were well-funded, well-organized, and impressive fighters. They even had so much influence that the royals often had to include them in official decision-making.

The woman broke Magda’s thoughts:

“I’m Ishani. Captain of the Starway.”

Magda hesitated. Obviously, it wouldn’t be appropriate to reply with her real name. It would possibly reveal the fact that she was a guardian, or a royal. But she hadn’t had too much time to consider a new identity. Quickly, she replied:

“Dagmara.”

“Nice to meet you. It’s a long way to Flaustra. You better make yourself comfortable, and I hope you don’t get seasick.”

They all stepped onto the plank leading up to the ship, and boarded the magnificent vessel. When they jumped down onto the wooden deck, Ishani began shouting orders to the sailors that were preparing to set off. She was speaking Flaustran too rapidly for Magda to understand. When she was done screaming at those nearest to them, she switched back to Azuremi and said, “This is Dagmara. You better treat her well…or else.” Ishani’s hands shifted to her waist, and Magda’s attention was drawn to the two hand-held axes hanging from either side of her belt.

The sailors around Magda all nodded their heads in obedience, but they were more drawn to Odie, giving suspicious glares and whispering in Flaustran under their breaths. Had they never seen a dog before?

“Get back to work!” Ishani yelled, ordering them back to their tasks.

Magda thanked Ishani before crossing the deck and leaning out over the side of the ship below to watch the dark blue water crash onto the rocky shore. Odie trotted beside her, his paws clicking against the wood. The gray beach below blended into the cliffside beyond, and the villages were like speckled rocks nestled on the snowy hills, marking the pathway back to the castle.

“We made it, Odie,” Magda sighed, leaning further over the railing.

It had been years since Magda had traveled to Flaustra as a little girl. She guessed that the capital city of Flaustra had also greatly changed. She knew the city was heavily guarded, with checkpoints and guild leaders acting in dual roles controlling the economy and the royal officers. Eyes were everywhere, and she had to be careful not to be spotted and her identity revealed. Surely, the well-traveled people of Flaustra had seen a portrait of her before.

A loud horn blasted through the air, causing everyone on the docks and throughout Frostmere to watch the incredible ship push off into the open sea. Magda stumbled to catch her footing as the ship departed, gliding off into the glittering waters, heading for the horizon.

In a matter of time, Magda would be in Flaustra and discover the truth about her magic.