Guardian(Part IV): Revelation

Chapter 18: Penny

I took Nyxa out of the ruins, and to a nearby village, then I bought her clothes for her to change into so she could better hide her identity. I doubt anyone would have recognized that I was walking with the Goddess of Starlight herself, but I still had a feeling that hiding who she was was the best thing I could do until we were back in Cordinshire. We managed to catch a train to Cordinshire after Nyxa changed her appearance, but the furthest we could go was a city on the border between Aderas and Illondas. I hoped that Nyxa would have regained some of her memory by the time we were there, in a city called Athari, but she hadn't. All she knew was what I told her, which was that her name was Nyxa, and that she was a very powerful Ilentia.

"So, who's in Cordinshire that would protect me?" she wondered.

"Your mother," I answered. "Rionah."

"Rionah," Nyxa whispered. "That sounds... familiar. She's my mother?"

"Yes," I assured. "She'll know what to do for you."

That was what I hoped for, anyway. I hadn't met Rionah personally, but from what I did know of her, I didn't know what would happen if I brought Nyxa to her. She was her daughter, though. I imagined Rionah would be happy to see her. If we managed to get to Cordinshire, anyway. I looked at a train schedule in Athari's station for a route to any city in Camnora, but there weren't any lines available. Auldrin and Ymrion were both shut down, and we wouldn't get any further from Athari by train. Camnora must have been hit hard by something, or they didn't want to take any chances after losing their entire army three years ago. The entire country was probably blocked off to all outsiders, which would include me and Nyxa.

"Well, shit," I whispered. "Nyxa, how late do you think you could stay up?"

"I don't know," Nyxa answered.

"Well, um," I stammered. "I don't know if we can stay here. This is a rather volatile region."

"What do you mean?" asked Nyxa.

"Queen Marie's allowing King Olgierd to station his soldiers within her borders for her people's protection," I enlightened. "But there's probably only one way that will end."

"Uh, Penny?"

"Yeah?"

"I don't know who either of those people are," Nyxa reminded.

"Oh, right," I admitted. "Marie is the Queen of Illondas, and Olgierd is the King of Aderas, and he offered Marie some of his soldiers to protect her citizens in areas more vulnerable to demons and Lost."

"That sounds kind," said Nyxa.

"Well, I was born in Aderas, and I know how the country's politics work," I corrected. "Olgierd is one of those Kings who has absolutely no care for other kingdoms than his own. During the Third Great War, when other countries called for his aid, he refused to answer, which is why I'm not trusting that his soldiers being stationed in Illondas is for the protection of people that aren't his."

"But perhaps his intentions truly are for Illondas' sake," Nyxa hoped.

"No, there's only one reason Olgierd would send soldiers beyond his border," I denied. "I know him well enough."

I continued to look for any trains that could take us further west, but the furthest we could go was Quorias, which was right in the middle of Illondas. Maybe we could manage to find a different train tomorrow, or some other way to get to Cordinshire. Hopefully, we wouldn't have any trouble with that, but there was either a complication involving an ambush by monsters, or the Lord of Athari was practicing caution by restricting transport to and from a country that his own country was attacked by just three years ago. I took Nyxa out of the train station and to an inn to stay for the night. It was still midday, so there was still some time before we needed to sleep. I didn't have a lot of money, so I found a cheap inn with a name I didn't bother committing to memory. We would be out of it first thing tomorrow.