The rope was almost enough to carefully hog-tie up every mercenary I’d felled. Except for the boss, she was knocked out mid-animorph and took up as much rope as three of her companions.

I gave up trying to make her fit within what little rope I had, and instead punched a hole through one of the larger crates. It was quick work to shove her through the opening and have Keith reshape and reinforce the wood. She could still use her legs, so I threw her in the wagon first and dumped the rest of the mercenaries on top of her.

It was harder to manage the horses. I just couldn’t abandon them… as much as I so desperately wanted to.

“Aaaaachooooooo.”

“Gods save me.”

“Why am I doing this! ARGH.”

*sniffle*

My plan was simple. Load up all the stuff (including the people) into one wagon, and then cover the eyes of the four horses and guide them into the now empty armoured wagon. I had a bit more experience pulling horse-laden wagons than most, I assumed. This wasn’t my first rodeo. The armoured wagon was likely meant for the mercenaries to fall back to in case of a fight. Not that it had helped much against me.

“Keith,” I sniffled and blew my nose into my kerchief. My eyes were watering something fierce, and I had to rub them a few times before I could focus on Hubert. "Will you be available if I arrive around midnight?"

There was a long pause and no response. “Keith?”

"...No." Keith's voice was strained. “...Sorry.”

"Is everything alright?" My heart skipped as I waited longer and longer for his answer. What if an assassin had attacked while he was connected to Hubert? Or the invasion had started early? I could abandon the mercenaries but even then it would take a few hours-

"...just… need rest." He finally answered. "Disconnecting… Hubert."

Magic took a lot out of mages, even Arch Mages. I could only imagine how many spells Keith had going at any given moment- let alone on top of crafting new automatons for the army and joining me for part of my mission.

Hubert shook himself after his master left, going back to being a construct raven. He didn’t seem fazed, and shuffled softly on my shoulder as I walked to the wagons. It might be a bit of a bumpy ride for the mercenaries, but the horses were more important. Of course, a bit of disassembling was in order first.

*Plop plop plop plop* I popped off the wheels on the mercenary wagon, and stowed them in the front seating area.Then I punched a hole through the bottom and hefted the wagon over my head with my free hand. The subdued and tied up mercenaries tottled around abit above me, but they couldn’t really do anything about it.

I dug my fingers in for a firm hold and then carefully stepped into the harness of the horse filled carriage, draping it over both shoulders and carefully tightening the straps. The rest dangled behind me. I wasn’t a horse after all - no matter what Mother always said - but that was fine. I was just happy that I’d had Keith clean everything before I touched it. His Cantrips were so useful!

With two hands hefting the mercenaries and the strap pulling the horses carriage, I ran the wagons up The Great Road.

…

“Princesss!” Sithli came forward to meet me at the crossroads. I didn’t have the best night-vision so I may have wrecked a bit of the road coming to a quick stop. The horses were not happy.

The lizardman guard was part of the team patrolling from the castle to the front line further south. He met me with ten other lizardkin guards; I only recognized Yulith, a short grey-green lizardkin with a fu-manchu and a love for butternut rum balls - another castle favourite from Out of This World.

“Sithli!” I smiled at the lizardman, and set down the wagon of mercenaries in the road beside us. He stared a bit wide-eyed at the whole affair and scrambled to catch my reins as I tossed them at him. I needed the entire affair lifted up slightly to better unavail myself of the straps.

“Special delivery for you.” I quipped, waving a hand at the two wagons. “I just need to grab the griffin eggs and then I’ll be on my way.”

“Right away, Your Highnesss,” He watched over my shoulder as I unearthed the crate that held the eggs from the front of the horse wagon. I had tied them down and decided to simply snap the ropes instead of take the time to undo all the bindings. I hugged them to my stomach and said, “Sorry I can’t stay and chat, but I need to head out if I’m going to have enough time to get everything done. Though… Do you have any snacks?”

"Right here." Sithli handed over a muffin. I freed a hand to take it and unceremoniously shoved it in my face. The lizardman saluted. “Fair Weather travelsss, Princesss.”

“Send my regards to your wife!” I finished the baking, nodded at everyone, then kicked off again. My Quick Step was on cooldown, but I could go pretty fast with my stats alone.

I would keep an eye open for a quick rest stop along the way.

Eventually I found a clearing with a fallen tree and settled in for the night. The nights in spring were crisp, above freezing, but with a refreshing cold that I kept at bay with a sturdy wool cloak. Hubert hopped around the area, and disappeared into the bushes for a while,

I checked on everything before I fell asleep.

The three eggs were grey with beautiful blue swirls and I gently ran my hands over each. My Aura Mastery and Perception 19 were enough to find the heartbeat in each. I worried they would get cold overnight, so I tucked them back in the crate and gathered kindling for a fire. It took a while, but luckily it hadn’t rained in a few days and I was able to find enough wood to get a small campfire burning.

I kept the crate of eggs close, leaning forward and wrapping the cloak overtop, and then I gently nodded off.

…

Something brushed my ear gently, and I came awake. Keith was nuzzling my neck. "Keith?"

Pardon me, I meant Keith's automaton was nuzzling my neck. Hubert didn't reply, simply hopping off my shoulder so I could stretch. Clearly, Keith hadn’t possessed the automaton again yet, and I blushed at my misunderstanding. And at the absolutely lurid thoughts that followed it. What would it be like to have the real Keith nuzzling my neck? I slaked my thirst with a swig of my waterskin, ate from a small pouch of dried strawberries, bananas and roasted nuts, then got ready to head out. The eggs were secure, so I lifted the crate gently and hugged it to my chest.

Hubert flew overhead.

The forest was lush with spring, and flowers bloomed all along the Great Road that stretched east to west through the Dark Enchanted Forest. I had passed the exit to Keith’s castle an hour back down to the road, and I would need to travel almost all the way east to reach the dwarven stronghold’s turn off.

Could I make it to the griffins in Baldor’s Peek and back again in time to prepare for my father's army? Probably. I could run the entire distance… but it would be fine to do some sight-seeing as I went.

I walked leisurely down the road for half an hour before Hubert flew down and alighted on my shoulder. “Good morning.” He said in Keith’s dark and comforting voice.

“Good morning, Your Viciousness.”

“Ha,” Keith said. “How was your sleep?”

I shrugged, careful of the bird and the eggs. “Alright. I’m thinking I’ll be out here for a few nights while I return these.”

The raven eyed the crate. “I’ll send word that you’re on your way to the dwarven delegation.”

“Thank you.”

We walked in companionable silence for a while. I had the feeling that Keith came and went a few times, but I couldn’t be sure, so I just waited for him to initiate conversation again.

“Henrietta?” and he did.

“Yes, Keith?”

“Chancellor Grimly will meet you at the dwarven outpost at our border in...” Keith hesitated. “Three days?”

“Sounds fine.”

“Well.” Keith coughed. “Have fun.”

“See you when I get back.”

The raven nodded with human flair, and then Keith was gone. Hubert took off from my shoulder perch and flew down the road.

He was right, I would have fun.