Now that both the royal council and the king himself were on board with the decision, the only obstacle to the Lindridge visit was Zarkon. Of course, the monarch could easily ignore whatever the old wizard suggested, but secretly, he too was a little hesitant.

  Once his training session was over, the twins immediately went back to their teacher to try and hear his opinion on the matter. Perry made no attempt to hide her own thoughts either. She did not like the idea at all and was going to try and convince the healer.

  Varre and Etty were left to their own devices. Elvira even made sure to let them go a little earlier than scheduled. She wanted to give the old friends some more time to catch up.

  Unfortunately, the night came quickly at this time of year. It was already too dark to visit one of the castle’s towers and get a good look of the city. The king promised to show it off tomorrow instead and invited the noblewoman to dinner, together with his other friends. Ever since the campaign ended, he tried to spend his evenings together with both Alderman Nilo and Head Merchant Lester. As much as possible.

  Occasionally they tried inviting Alastair as well, but since his old companion wasn’t a member of the council, the opportunities to meet were fewer. As a loyal knight, he had travelled together with the army, but now he had returned to his father’s village outside of the capital. He couldn’t visit every day.

  Esther was very interested in meeting Varre’s new friends. During the dinner, they made sure to share stories from their escapades around Westbridge while the former student was still just a duke. As self-declared connoisseurs of tavern culture, they visited almost every single establishment in the city. They enjoyed the rowdier crowds found in the craftsmen quarters, though even they tended to avoid the city’s slums. Still, they kept some of the more embarrassing details and adventures to themselves.

  In return the noblewoman shared tales of her own. Apparently, the original Varre was much more of a bookworm than the current one. She was a little surprised to hear about his changes since the terrible Soulkiller plague killed his parents, but accepted the news as an amusing curiosity. Tragedy often changed people.

  The king was surprised as well, but the old Varre’s bookishness made sense to him in hindsight. Duke Tymon kept an extensive library inside the Westbridge manor and likely Lindridge too. While he tried to avoid combat and physical training, he heavily valued knowledge and education. Of course the duke wanted his son to follow in his footsteps. Especially since Varre was his only child.

  The former student was also curious about life in Lindridge. To his dismay, apart from some generalisms about their relationship and hobbies, Esther remained tight lipped. “You’ll just have to wait until you see it for yourself,” she teased, “if you want your memories to return, then we have to do it properly.”

  -*-*-*-

  The next day, during breakfast, Benjamin brought a new revelation to his liege. “Your majesty, I’ve spoken with the other councilors and we decided that you do not have to attend today’s meeting.”

  Varre raised an eyebrow. “I don’t have to? What exactly does that mean? Is this some kind of mutiny?” he joked.

  “Wouldn’t it be nice if you could show Lady Etty around the capital? I’m sure the kingdom will survive for a day without your guidance,” the chamberlain explained.

  “Hold on a minute,” the king replied, “you’re telling me to take the day off? You? Of all people? What about the rest of the councilors?”

  Benjamin smiled. “Don’t worry about that. I’ve already spoken to all of them. Go ahead and enjoy yourself, your majesty.”

  Varre chuckled. “Well, I won’t argue with that.”

  The noblewoman was already waiting for him in the corridor outside. As promised, the pair began their tour by visiting the castle’s tower, where she could finally get to see all the sights from above.

  The king was already familiar with it, having been here several times before, but it still looked impressive. The city wasn’t massive by Earth standards, but after spending close to a year here, he was starting to get used to the different scales.

  He had to admit it was very picturesque. Beautiful boulevards led away from the castle, all the way to each of the city gates. The buildings closest to the main streets were much more representative and inhabited by the wealthiest citizens of Westbridge. Even further away, in the craftsmen quarter, the buildings were reserved for the relative elites.

  Away from the major arteries, the buildings moved away from order into a messier chaos. The streets were narrower and varied, with plenty of shortcuts and dead ends. Some of them could be a little dangerous, especially the slums, but the locals understood the layout.

  Etty was mesmerized. She had seen some glances of the same view from the castle windows, but having the whole unobstructed visual here was completely different. She kept asking Varre about the various landmarks, and to his own surprise, the king was able to explain everything. By now he recognized all of the major temples and even the city squares. He recognized both the mage’s and adventurer’s guilds, the town hall, and even showed off his family’s personal manor.

  Then, as the girl fawned over the magnificent buildings, he looked out towards the surrounding countryside. Though the battle was long since over and the battlefield had been scoured clean, he could still remember exactly what it looked like in the moment.

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  The fields still bore some marks, only visible from up here. Having been stomped on by thousands of boots, they looked a little different from the ones around them and he could almost hear the sounds of combat as he squinted his eyes.

  Etty, noticing that something was wrong decided to grab his hand, taking his attention away from the memories. “It’s beautiful up here! Thank you for showing it to me.”

  “Yes… it’s quite nice,” Varre replied, absentmindedly.

  “And now all of it belongs to you. How does it feel?” she asked, leaning towards him, so she could look into his eyes, “no matter what we used to talk about, you never really believed you’d take the throne someday. You were supposed to inherit the duchy and keep managing it for your own family. And now… this.”

  “It wasn’t easy,” the king said.

  “I know,” she smiled sadly, “but you did it! And now you get to enjoy it.”

  Varre sighed, but then put on a smile of his own. “You’re right. It is quite something isn’t it?”

  “Come on, I want to see it from up close,” she added and started dragging him back towards the staircase, “I was promised a tour of the city!”

  The pair then moved back down to the ground level. Initially, the servants offered them the royal carriage, or at the very least a pair of horses, but the king staunchly refused. If they were going to explore Westbridge, then they had to do it properly. From the ground level. Like any other citizen.

  Esther herself was a little surprised by the idea, being used to more aristocratic standards. However, she was willing to go along with Varre’s suggestion. It was a nice change of pace for her and an opportunity for a more nostalgic trip for the former student. Whenever he used to go out with his friends, they often avoided expensive modes of transportation to better fit in with the commoner establishments they liked to frequent.

  Of course, the king couldn’t go out completely incognito. A small group of Royal Guards still tailed him and many people in the noble district even recognized him, stepping aside and bowing slightly as he passed. He may have left the crown at home, but the most powerful inhabitants did occasionally see him during court sessions. Even once he got further away from the castle into the less wealthy areas, the people could recognize that he was someone important by his clothes alone.

  Together, the pair walked around the city for hours. The view from the tower was beautiful, but it had many little gems and details. The side streets may have looked chaotic from above, but down here, they were charming. The dead ends and side alleys often contained small little gardens and courtyards hidden away from prying eyes. Some were dangerous, but others simply more private. The student had spent many night walking through them with his friends, and could now feel a strange wave of nostalgia.

  Varre even showed her one of his favorite taverns, though for her sake he made sure to pick one of the fanciest ones, intended for wealthy merchants. Since the establishment was used to important individuals who wanted some privacy, the kind was even offered a private room for his lunch.

  After a delicious meal, they returned to the castle. Only to find Perry already waiting for them next to the royal quarters.

  “Your majesty,” she bowed towards him, while giving the noblewoman a bit of a side eye.

  “It’s rare to see you by yourself,” Varre teased, “sometimes I feel like you’re glued together to your sister.”

  “What can I say? We make up for each other’s weaknesses,” Perry smiled back, “but this time, I just came here to deliver some news.”

  “Did something happen?”

  “I’ve spoken with Master Zarkon,” she explained, “about your trip to Lindridge? He said that he doesn’t see any issues with it, but he’d like to make sure someone watches over you while you’re there.”

  “Feel free to bring as many guards as you want,” Esther replied, turning to Varre, “I know that they have to follow you everywhere. You may not remember it, but your manor is large enough for many guests. And when we visit Ashbourne, I’m sure we’ll be able to fit all of you as well somewhere.”

  “That’s not what I meant!” Perry grimaced, “I meant someone more familiar with your treatment. Zarkon would like me to go with you,” she paused, “and my sister!”

  -*-*-*-

  Over the next week, the court slowly prepared for the king’s journey. Fortunately they recently had an opportunity to practice everything while Varre went out on the campaign. All of their equipment and furniture hadn’t even had the time to properly build up a protective layer of dust.

  The council worked tirelessly to solve the last remaining tasks while the monarch was still present. The communication mages that ended up helping so much over the last few months had been called back and asked to help out again.

  Under Mikkel’s reign, such measures weren’t necessary. It wasn’t that unusual for the king to travel to another corner of the kingdom, whether to hunt in a new environment or simply visit one of his vassals. It was the job of the council to make sure everything continued to run smoothly in his absence. However, considering the recent events and the chaos caused by the succession crisis, it was better to keep a solid line of communication between the monarch and his court.

  Elvira would join the group as well. While Lindridge was still fairly populated and mostly safe, the border area closer to Ashbourne was less so. Monsters and other magical threats could appear from the forests and it was best to have an expert available on hand in case anything happened.

  The plans to open up the new magical academy would be slowed down by this, but they could continue. The court mage could keep working on the detailed program as she traveled, while Treasurer Johan would search for the appropriate location.

  Hakon, as captain of the guard, would naturally participate too. He wasn’t ecstatic about the prospect of traveling to such remote areas, but he believed the benefits would be worth it. A huge force of sixty guards would ensure the king’s safety.

  Kerryn joined as well. There was no need to suspend Varre’s training. Just like during the rebellion, the program would need to be adjusted to better suit the conditions during travelling, but it was important to keep a steady pace of progress. Besides, a veteran adventurer could come in handy in case anything bad happened.

  From the perspective of the council, the goal of this trip was to try and hope to recover the king’s memories. Of course, Varre knew it was hopeless. He wasn’t the same person who lived back in that duchy. Instead, he hoped to use this as an opportunity to see some other areas of Logres. Throughout all his time in this world, he had only really explored the capital.

  He had seen a bit more of the Western province and technically even the road towards the capital, but that was while the kingdom was at war. Many of the areas were devastated by the conflict. Those that weren’t, had to try and accommodate armies of thousands of soldiers. Now, he would finally have an opportunity to see it from the ground level.

  While the view from the castle tower was nice, sometimes seeing things on foot would reveal new, hidden details.