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horses, ghosted up behind Steffen. The crown prince nodded to the man and led his horse away, clearing out for the unwatered horses.
    “Does anyone know if Ilz has an inn?” Steffen asked, approaching several of the guards.
    “It doesn’t,” Dominik said, his eyes bright and his voice eager to share his information. “It lacks goods to trade and isn’t on any major roads, so there hasn’t been a need for one. Your orders?”
    “Dominik and Alwin, please ask some of the farmers if we could stable our horses with them. We’ll reimburse them with coin.”
    “And for yourself and His Majesty?” Alwin prompted as he minutely adjusted his helm.
    “Perhaps the master merchant will be willing to house us. He’s with Father, so I suppose we cannot ask until they will return.”
    “A good plan, Kronprinz,” Dominik enthusiastically nodded.
    Alwin bent at the waist in a perfect bow before he started to walk out of the village. “Newbie,” he called, gesturing for Dominik to follow him.
    “Right away,” Dominik said, trotting after the more experienced guard.
    Steffen turned to look back in the direction in which his father and the master merchant had set off. “Send help, please,” he whispered. “Someone strong enough to break this grief. Someone heroic.”
     

 
    Chapter 3
    The First Adventure
     
    “I despise most people,” Gabrielle announced as she walked down the worn dirt road, the morning sun slicing through the sky. “But I would very much like to meet a ship of pirates.”
    “Whatever for?” Puss asked, artfully draped over her shoulders and enjoying the ride. “The lot of them are nothing but dirty, dishonorable knaves.”
    “You’ve met one, then?”
    “Whether or not I have, it does not change the fact that humans cannot easily bathe in a ship.”
    “Which means you haven’t met any, so how could you know?”
    Vexed, Puss twitched his whiskers forward. “And I suppose you would like to meet a group of thieves or highwaymen, or perhaps even a member of the Verglas Assassins’ Guild?”
    “Even I am not so daring as to wish to meet a Verglas assassin. I long for adventure, not death. But I would not mind meeting a debonair highwayman—a well-behaved one,” Gabrielle said. “But I do not think that sort of man exists here. Arcainia offers only common, scrubby, mean-hearted bandits.”
    “And how did you become convinced that pirates and highwaymen can be debonair ?”
    “Stories. I’ve heard tales about a pirate queen and king, and there’s more than one tale about a highwayman,” Gabrielle said.
    “Whatever thief put such a story into circulation has an excellent grasp of public relations,” Puss said.
    “What?”
    “Nothing. Based on my understanding of Arcainian geography, I think we will reach the village of Wied before dark.”
    “I assume we will walk straight through it?”
    “Will the villagers recognize you and drag you home?”
    “Not likely. I’ve visited Wied twice in my life,” Gabrielle said.
    “Then perhaps we will linger.”
    “Why? We haven’t any money to stay at an inn. And last night was quite enjoyable,” Gabrielle said. She had slept, with Puss curled at her side, in a small copse of trees. The cat had made a fire with flames that burned a ghostly blue color and had caught them a fish to share while she gathered berries, which she had eaten for breakfast.
    “We shall not sleep outside if I can manage it, but the main factor will be the strength of your luck.”
    Gabrielle lost some of the spring in her step. “Luck? If that’s the case, we’re doomed.”
    “I never specified if I meant bad luck or good luck,” Puss said, his whiskers tickling Gabrielle’s cheek.
    “Which is it?”
    “Either will do. To an adventurer, they are one and the same.”
    “I disagree. The difference between good luck and bad luck is what separates successful adventurers from dead ones,” Gabrielle said.
    “That might be true in some cases, but either will