"Fresh fruit here! Best in all the land! Try the new cappa berry!"

"We have the finest jewelry of all! Get your sweet lady a gift! Show how much you truly care!"

"Silks, lace, imported fabrics! We have what you need!"

"Mama, can we get some geeky bread today?"

"Only if you behave."

"How much for this sword?"

"That sword? Well, it is nice, but how about this one? You look like the kind of guy who can handle such a sword."

"Jelek, wait for me!"

"Ah come on Kayan, you're so slow!"

Reaching the front gates to Ay Su, Vestin and Jensek maneuvered their horses through the crowded streets as they watched the merchants that lined either side call out sales pitches for their products. Jensek looked around the market and over at Vestin.

"I thought Ay Su was made up mainly of students from the school."

Vestin looked back at him from his horse and smirked. Normally Jensek kept to himself as he wasn't one for friendship or anything close to it.

"Yes, but that is the Central City you speak of it contains the school for the royals and nobles, a school for the servants who wish to work inside a palace, and the military academy. The Inner City is made up of servants of the main castle and their families plus the troops who've graduated from the military academy. The Outer City consists of merchants, people of various talents and crafts, also Inns for visitors passing through among other things."

Jensek rolled his eyes and scoffed,

"So, they separate people with walls. Makes sense to keep the poor away from the rich. What you don't see you can't envy."

Stopping his horse, he looked back at him and shook his head,

"That's not what they are doing, Jensek. This kingdom's system was thought up by a merchant who married the queen and became king," Vestin pointed to the castle turned into a school, "With the focus being on the castle it gives the troops an advantage to see enemies coming. They are also close to both commoners and rich alike giving them chances to make sure either side is protected. The old king was thinking of all the lives that live in this beautiful kingdom when he came up with the system."

Looking up at the castle Jensek scoped out the advantages the soldiers would have in a battle. Being able to split your troops in two or more meant a wider area of protection. One thing was for sure the army of Ay Su held thousands of nothing but the best soldiers in all of Zanooma.

"Now that you point it out, this place is on a bit of an upward slope. I guess you could say it was a military tactic to build the city around a hill."

Vestin looked back upon the crowd and then up ahead as he mentally carved them a pathway.

"Well, if we keep pressing through this crowd we might be able to reach the gates to the Central City soon. I wonder where the rest of the crew is. Maybe they have already made it to the gates and are waiting for us."

Jensek thought of the men he lost while fighting the Hitchers. He tightened his grip on the reins.

"It could be possible that none of them made it out of the forest back there."

Vestin sighed and looked at Jensek.

"Is your whole way of looking at life negative all the time?"

"I just choose not to get my hopes too high for nothing."

"The cup is always empty for you then, my friend."

Jensek peeked over at Vestin, an eyebrow raised as he scoffed,

"Captain, since when have we ever been friends?"

Vestin took in a deep breath then let it out slowly then said,

"Don't take it literally, Jensek, I was speaking figuratively. Anyway, let's just keep a lookout for Gibson and the rest."

"Your wish is my command, Captain."

They rode on in silence looking over the faces of the people within the crowd.

Vestin started to worry that he and Jensek were the only ones left in his small band of soldiers. While he only pretended to be on the side of the hidden king he did care about the men in his command. He also wondered if Gotte would be able to make it through the woods with those creatures hiding in the shadows.

"Captain, we should proceed with our orders, for now, don't you think?" Jensek said, breaking the silence.

"You're right we can look for our comrades later, Let's move on to the school. They should be waiting for my arrival. Once we get to Inner City, we'll part ways for a bit."

"They are not expecting us?"

Vestin shook his head and said,

"No, they are expecting me."

"Oh..."

"I was admitted into the school as a student to give me access to the school. With me being able to roam around freely on campus grounds it will let the search for the princess go a lot smoother."

"This had to be your idea."

"Why do you say that?"

Jensen stopped his horse and looked at Vestin, his eyes narrowed as he stared at him then said,

"Forgive me for speaking out against the queen, but she is far from being able to make such detailed plans. She is more the kill first and question later type."

Vestin motioned his horse to move ahead of him.

"You may be right, but let's keep talking like that to ourselves. We never know what ears may be pointed in our direction."

Jensek nodded and followed behind.

"Too true."

They made it to the West gate of the Inner City. They showed proof of their business there and were allowed entry. Vestin then turned to face Jensek.

"This is where we part ways now. I am heading to Central City. You may take up some rest here in the Inner City. They have a bed waiting for you in the barracks. Get some rest and scope out the city while I look for the princess if she is here. Once the intel is gathered, I will meet with you at the pub not far from the west gate. We can go over our next steps then."

"Roger that Captain."

Vestin turned to head for the castle then stopped and looked back at Jensek.

"Jensek, keep a low profile. If you happen to find the others, inform me as quickly as you can. Those creatures had poison on their darts so if any of them did make it out alive they would be in bad shape."

"I'll keep my eyes open. What type of poison do they use?"

"The deadly kind. I think it's called Death's Doorbell."

"Death's Doorbell. Then if any of them survives they will have gone mad from the pain. It would be better just to kill them out of mercy."

"No. There is a cure: just look for a man named Gotte. He should be at the pub I mentioned before, tell him this phrase 'The valley is beautiful at sunset' and he will help you."

"Got it."

Jensek paused as he thought of the men that might have gone crazy from pain. If any of them survived, that is. He looked back up at Vestin and cleared his throat.

This guy you mentioned, how do you know he will help me if I find the others?"

Vestin smiled, his eyes glowed a bit as he stared at Jensek.

"Because he raised me from a boy. He's kind of like my father."

Vestin then rode off and headed for the Central City gates.

Jensek's heart raced a bit at the sight of such an innocent face. It was a side that he hadn't ever witnessed from his captain before, and it was kind of cute. He put his hood over

"Dammit, I thought I'd gotten past this."