They traveled well into the evening and a bit beyond, getting almost to the border of House Azalea’s lands before settling to camp. Though it had barely been discussed after the meeting with Bhaak, Elizabeth and Desir had succeeded in getting directions. They had to head much further West, then backtrack South slightly. The Duchess’ former family was thankfully not the most remote from the Republic, though the distance they had traveled already would have taken weeks on foot.And it was indeed only the edge of those lands they arrived at. Desir surmised for them that Azalea was positioned on the outer boundary of the kingdom’s ‘heartlands’, where the oldest noble families bickered and schemed. Still a position of grandeur, yes, but far from the top of the pecking ladder, at least in theory. What the actual political situation there might be was yet unknown.Either way, it would have to wait, given that dawn was upon them. Elizabeth bid a quick goodbye, opting to scout out the nearest town she had spotted in the distance before they had set down to sleep. The rest of them chose to wait for Bhaak.“You look unusually tired,” Irwyn noted Waylan’s stance being particularly hunched as he sat in the grass. Lot of fertile plains and fields in the kingdom, Irwyn had noted.“I have made a horrible mistake,” the sneak mourned.“What?” Irwyn looked at his friend fully, but wasn’t sure what might have changed besides looking surprisingly worn out.“I am almost certain one of my ‘small’ boons made my pillows always feel cool,” the sneak sighed wistfully.“And you were the only one to get that?!” Alice interjected with outrage.“Who knows,” Waylan pondered. “Irw wouldn’t even be able to tell.”“True enough,” he nodded. “But I would not have bargained for something like that.”The withering and betrayed look Alice was giving him for that comment was rather unwarranted. Desir, in the meantime, (...)