Silvia P.O.V.

We were all done packing and by the end we had more than a few of the wagons from the caravan filled up just with the things from all of the things we had decided to take from our personal homes. The rest of the wagons were of course filled up with everything else Alana and Judy decided to take with them in hopes of turning a big profit in the capital.

This made the news we had gotten two days ago a very messy affair to celebrate and would turn our first few years in the capital a lot more logistically difficult than we had expected. It was still very much something we all celebrated and while I was a bit guilty that it wouldn’t be in the letter we sent to Ajax seeing the look on his face when we told him in person would be its own reward.

Kate had gotten pregnant. She and Tom had been trying for a few months after Tom had reached level twenty-five, the idea being that they could handle the added stress while we were still in Lessis and their workload was manageable and then their child could benefit from growing up in the capital. Conception between humans and beastkin was known to be more difficult than just between humans.

“How are you feeling darling?” I asked Kate who was already seated on a comfortable seat while Tom and Sam were finishing loading up the last of the wagons.

“I’m just fine.” She said and I knew all of us were treating her a little too much like she was all of a sudden made from glass but I couldn’t help it.

“We’re all set and ready to go.” Tom said with an excited cheer as he climbed up and took his seat next to Kate while Sam and I moved to the wagon in front and took our own seats as the caravan finally started to move.

“I still don’t like this.” Sam said with a small frown as we took our own seats. “Are you sure we shouldn’t have just told them?”

Sam had already put together the same thing I had, someone was pushing us to move behind the scenes, not only that but we both knew that it was my parents that were doing so and we decided not to share that with Tom, Kate, Judy or Alana.

“Yes, this is for the best.” I said. “The sooner we get to the capital the better it will be for all of them, I don’t want them to stall themselves over this.”

“And there isn’t any way that this will end up hurting them down the line?” He asked with a bit more venom in his voice. Venom I understood considering I had been practically disowned when we married.

In the year-long period following the attack on the village I had been working with Alana and Judy. While both of them were focusing on expanding and making sure all of the branches they had opened were running smoothly I had been in charge of the main branch here in Lessis and keeping it on track. Doing so not only raised me to a very high position in their organization but also offered me a chance to level some skill I hadn’t used in a long while and I even leveled more than once from the high workload.

“Yes, I’m sure.” I nodded. “I looked over all of the contracts they signed and while they were a bit suspicious of just how favorable they were, all three of us made sure that there was nothing there that would tie us down or come to bite us later in any way .”

This mystery benefactor organization that was looking to help us in exchange for using our branches up north had been working with us for months but it hadn’t been until recently that I put together that it was my parents who were behind it. What finally tipped me off was the news that Kate was being called to the capital and that Tom was also being moved there as well.

That kind of move was actually common with the Healing Union being able to lean on the guards and make the move happen but they never brought the spouse along with their recruit. It was always their member going first than them asking the guard to bring their spouse down as well. Marriages between the Healing Union and the guards were actually quite common considering how often the healers treated the guards.

“But then why would they have us all brought to the capital?” Sam asked.

“I can only think of two reasons.” I answered quietly as the two choices were so different that comparing them as I had for the last few weeks still made me feel uneasy.

“Two choices?” Sam was surprised here since he could only come up with the first of the two.

“Yes,” I confirmed. “The first is that they are actually sorry that they sent us away and after hearing about the attack they wanted to make amends and have changed their positions.”

“That’s what I thought as well, what else could it be?” he asked, thinking that this was the only option was probably the only reason that he went along with it.

“The other is that Ajax’s potential is so big that they are looking for any reason they can to bring him into the fold and benefit from it.” this option would be one I will investigate and will always be on the lookout for, I won’t let them hurt Ajax Tom or Judy in the same way that they hurt me. “In this case that would be the reason the conditions were all so favorable for Judy and Alana, they were not the ones they were targeting by helping them.”

“Hrrr” a purring noise sounded from right next to me as I felt Fluffy rub her giant head against my arm. The shadow cat was now the size of a small pony and had already reached level thirty surpassing even Tom and was showing no signs of slowing down. All estimations from the guard was that by the time fluffy was fully grown in two years it would be level sixty and that her full potential might be as high as level one hundred and fourty. This was also the reason the guard down in the capital used to bring Tom down for specialized training.

“I’m just fine Fluffy.” I said as I scratched the cat behind the ears. This cat had all but eaten Tom, Kate, Sam as well as myself out of a house and home after Ajax had left and we ended up having to procure the cores for her diet instead of Ajax providing them from his share of the delve. Still we had always made sure that she had as much as she needed and that was the reason why her potential was estimated to reach as high as one hundred and forty in her prime.

The road through the countryside was like a trip down memory lane. I still remembered my first reaction to these types of open planes back when Sam and I first left the capital behind and moved all the way out here. I hadn’t appreciated the quiet living in a small village like we had would bring back then, all I was focused on was the lack of nobles. Now I was wondering how I would manage to adapt back to the lifestyle of the capital.

The trip to the first city on our route was thankfully uneventful, this despite the fact that we were moving at half the speed a normal caravan would because of our massive size. Once we arrived however Alana and Judy were well on their way to scour the city for any opportunity and that left me in charge of the caravan and selling anything that I thought could bring us a profit.

By the time we were ready to move on again I had sold off as much as I could from the items that had the lowest value for volume. Almost everything we had would sell better in the capital so I had to make space for us to buy some of the more expensive things that would bring with them a bigger profit when resold.

“The next city is clear.” our scout said as he returned to us when we were a quarter of the way to the next city.

All of us had learnt from Ajax's letter that told us about the situation he encountered one city before the capital and with the amount of goods in the caravan we couldn’t afford to end up having them seized under a royal decree.

“You’re looking a lot more relaxed now.” Judy said as we made camp for the night. I also noticed that Alana, Kate and Tom were all there as well with a determined look. “Maybe now you can tell us what it was that you were holding back all the last two weeks before we left?”

“Ah… you knew.” I said a little defeated. It seems my acting skills are not as good as I hoped they were so it seems like I will have to let the cat out the bag a little sooner than I had planned. “I think I know who it is that worked to get us all to move to the capital so soon.”

As I started telling them everything I hoped they wouldn’t hold it against me once I told them the reason for it was for their own good.