Chapter 214: Hurried Departure Again
The next morning was a chaotic rush to get showered and dressed in time to get everything organized for their departure.
The Royal Guard would be driving the trucks, and the Colonel had managed to find three staff members to go with them. Cook Beth, Jasmine, the Farrier, and a scullery maid named Liz.
She was an indentured servant to the Palace, as the King had paid her family’s debts and she still had years of wages left to pay them off. But the Colonel had arranged to pay the exchequer and transfer her debts to Dominic, as Duke of Wistover.
It was a common enough thing, though most of the people who were working off a debt were working off fines for petty crimes, not their family’s massive gambling debts as Liz was.
Beth had recommended her, as even now, her family was pressuring her to give them the portion of her wages which didn’t go to paying the debts they had accrued. Being away from the Capital would be good for her.
That was enough to get the household started, though the Princess still intended to have them stop along the way and pick up a few more cleaning staff.
Once she had staff that she could trust, she would promote a few of them to Lady’s Maids.
Additional cleaning staff were certain to be essential to the first weeks, though. If the house had been full of soldiers, it was certain to be a mess, even if it was in serviceable condition.
When they exited the Royal Quarters of the Palace, it was time to say their goodbyes. But Dominic couldn’t find Pops in his suite, despite the early hour.
His next stop was the forge, but when Dominic stepped outside, the old Dwarf was sitting on the step of one of the trucks, smoking his pipe.
"Ah, there you are. Pops, it’s been a pleasure working as your apprentice." Dominic began.
Pops snorted. "Did you think it was that easy to get rid of me? I’ve leased the forge at the staging area to my nephew Korbin, and my gear is packed.
They might have forced me to work at the Palace for the war, but it’s about over now. No harm in leaving for greener pastures."
Dominic smiled. "We might need another truck if you’re packing all your gear."
Pops chuckled and tapped the ash out of his pipe. "I sold most of it to the boy. He will need it. But he’s a proper Master Smith as well, the staging area won’t be hurt by his presence, and the Master Armourer has agreed to take over the Royal Forge.
Master Gunsmith Jacob will be taking over as the Weapons Master in my place."
Dominic nodded. "It’s an honour to have you with us, then. Perhaps the new estate won’t struggle too much to get the farmers set up. I don’t think that the Kingdom has a better toolmaker."
From behind him, Dominic heard a young woman laugh.
"Not only are you stealing my big sister, you’re stealing my favourite cook and the Master Smith as well? You have made out like a bandit, Duke Wistover." Princess Elanor joked.
Dominic bowed politely to the youngest Princess. "So it would seem. Perhaps now that the war is ending, they will let you rejoin your friends in the Academy. Even schoolwork has to be better than being stuck in the Palace all the time."
Princess Elanor huffed. "Anything is better than being confined to the Palace. I’m not even allowed out into the Noble districts to visit friends or go shopping. I will be so happy when that restriction is over.
But not having my big sisters around will be awful.
You’re stealing one, and Josephine might be going to West Keria with Thorvald.
I don’t know what happened in the meeting yet, but Duke Saldock looked enraged when he left."
One of her guards cleared his throat and the Princess sighed. "My Governess says that gossip is an unsuitable pastime for a Noble Lady."
Dominic nodded. "Perhaps a popular one, but hardly seemly, I suppose.
Princess Alexis will be here soon, though. If you want to send her off, just wait a little longer."
The youngest Princess sighed, then went to join Pops on the step of the truck.
"Forge Master, might I join you? I suspect that my sister will need some time to say her goodbyes. With a lifetime of acquaintances in the Palace, she has far more people to meet this morning than Duke Wistover."
She smirked a little as she used Dominic’s title, and Pops patted her on the head.
"Things are changing, are they not? To think, that when you first met, he was an apprentice smith, out hunting Goblins for forge materials." The old Dwarf joked.
"I wish I could go out hunting Goblins again. Do you know how far behind my training is now that I’m not free to upgrade my Trade Skill? How am I supposed to reach Rank five Paladin if I can’t go out and fight anything?" She complained.
"Well, you can always keep practicing with the Royal Guard. Isn’t that how the rest of the Royal Family had to do it when they weren’t sneaking out of the city?" Pops asked.
Elanor sighed heavily, doing her best to look the part of the mistreated Princess locked in a castle.
"They used up all the good ways to sneak out. Now that I’m trying, the guards have seen all the tricks and there is nothing new to them. I bet that my first and second brothers had it so easy."
The Royal Guards chuckled at her annoyance.
"Highness, the First and Second Princes had to grow up with the guards who were familiar with the previous generation’s attempts to sneak out of the Palace. So they were in the same position that you are." The head of her guard detachment explained.
"Well, that makes me feel a little better.
But where is Alexis? They’re going to come drag me back to lessons soon, and she’s still not here."
From the Palace, the sound of armoured boots marked the approach of someone important, and the youngest Princess stood up with a hopeful smile on her face.
But the one who arrived was not Alexis, but Josephine, accompanied by Lord Thorvald, and her Royal Guards.
"Is Alexis not here yet? She must be at the barracks, saying goodbye to the Order. I should have gone there first." The older twin announced with an annoyed frown.
Apparently, everyone was waiting in the wrong spot today.