Frozen Stars Over Wonderland - Chapter 15 (Patreon)

Fall flew by in the blink of an eye. Alfre didn’t even realize the harvest festival was coming up until it had already passed. The weather turned cold and rainy, and then cold and snowy. Alfre was indeed glad for the direwolf pelt Canus had given her. Spica had transformed it into a fur lined coat and a set of warm boots. The buffs that came along with it were far and beyond what she’d expected. She’d snuck off into the Wilds by herself to find Canus and show him what Spica had made. The wolf god was both happy that she’d found a use for it and sad at the reminder that his friend was gone. One of his other wolves, however, was pregnant, and would give birth late into spring. If the pups lived into adulthood, he would likely release Lokki. Lokki was very docile as a wolf, Alfre noted, and hoped that the new personality would carry over when he was turned back.

“I mostly said the ‘until the end of your days’ thing to scare him,” Canus admitted. “Don’t really want to deal with him for that long.”

Ren approached Alfre and her friends one day early in December with a favor to ask. The guild was very close to reaching the last milestone necessary to become a kingdom, but most of her usual quest takers where tired and worn out. 

“It’s the second to last quest,” Ren told them. “But no one wants to deal with it. C’mon, please? It pays super well. And it’s not one of those boring ones like ‘kill fifteen boars in the Cobalt Farmlands’ or anything.”

“Why don’t you do it, then?” Spica asked.

“Cause I’m saving the last quest for myself,” Ren answered. “And besides, you guys haven’t been on a quest since that thing with Canus and the asshole hunter or whatever.”

The group exchanged looks ranging from curiosity to mild irritation. Alfre turned to the guild master. “What’s the quest?”

“You got to go out to the big Wonderlander kingdom out west and return their prince to the throne, cause some random tyrant’s taken it over or something,” Ren explained casually. “Meet up with the prince at the Dormouse Inn right when you get into the city. Ask for Alessio.”

“We’ll have to rent elk if we’re traveling that far out,” Elias muttered. “Any of you ridden elk before?” 

Traveler nodded, but she was the only one.

“I’ve ridden horses before,” Alfre offered. “Is it much different?”

“Couldn’t tell you,” Elias admitted with a snort of a laugh. “I haven’t ridden one since the Incident.”

They packed for the long journey, bundled up in the warmest clothes they had. Elk were easy enough to rent, a Wonderlander run stable rented them out for fairly cheap. They left early the next morning, before the sun had even risen above the horizon. Traveler led the way, haven traveled between the City of Spade and the Wonderlander kingdom before. From the story she told, when the Incident occurred, she appeared inside the Wonderlander kingdom, having been there completing a quest when the Incident happened.    

“What’s the kingdom’s name?” Izo asked, his voice wavering a bit as his elk trotted over the frozen ground. 

“Sapfir, if I remember correctly,” Traveler replied. “Most things on this continent are named after blue things, even the continent itself. I’m unsure what language they’re using for their naming conventions, though. Something Eastern European.”

“It’s Russian,” Spica supplied. “Considering the fact that half the continent is frozen tundra, I’m not surprised. The developers weren’t very creative when it came to naming things.”

“I could have told you that,” Alfre joked. 

The journey was long and fairly boring. They ran into a few bands of goblins, all wrapped up in patchwork furs for warmth, and a few boars. But for the most part, mobs stayed where they were warm, whether that is huddled together in hollow trees or tucked into burrows in the ground. There would be no Ursa Major this trip. 

They passed through several small villages along their trip, most of them farming communities. The Wonderlanders stared at them in awe and suspicion as they passed through. Several times Alfre overheard a small child commenting on her stature to their parent. She ignored it. There was no use getting angry at a child for something like that. 

Now when a full-grown man commented on it…well, no one could prove she was the one who caused the snow on the roof of his house to fall on his head and knock him to the ground. 

The Kingdom of Sapfir was smaller than Alfre expected. It wasn’t much bigger than the City of Spade and its surrounding farmlands. The walls surrounding the royal city were tall and white, banners emblazoned with a red crown hanging on either side of the gate. Wonderlander soldiers in black armor patrolled the roads, staring Alfre and party down as they rode by. 

“Kinda funny how a kingdom on the blue continent has red in its banner,” Izo noted absently.

“Pretty sure that’s the usurper we’ve been hired to deal with,” Spica whispered. “Best not say those sorts of things too loudly. Any monarch worth their salt has spies everywhere.” 

The Dormouse Inn was fairly easy to find. It was tucked against the outer wall and a small, rundown looking thing. They left their elk at the watering trough and entered. The main dining hall was practically empty, save for a young man in far finer clothes than one would expect given where he was and his two companions. 

Alfre approached them first. “You Alessio?”

The two on either side of the young man shushed her frantically, glancing around nervously. “Be quiet! You never know where the Red Queen’s agents are hiding.”

Alfre rolled her eyes. “Even if they were here, they wouldn’t be a match for us. So are you the person who hired us or not?” 

The young man nodded, his brown eyes dark and tired, but still blazing with rebellion. “I am. You may call me Alessio, heir to the Maddigan line who has ruled this kingdom for generations…until that woman came and forced me from my throne.”

Elias and the others came to sit around the now very crowded table. Spica sat with full view of the door and the rest of the dining hall, eyes bright and watchful. Alfre sat facing the prince, her pale eyes meeting his.

“How did it happen?” she asked, folding her hands on the rough surface of the table in front of her.

“She threatened to burn and pillage the farmlands outside the walls if I didn’t agree,” Alessio explained. “She’d placed spies in my army. Only those who guarded me directly were safe from her manipulation. It is said she can control the hearts of men, be it with her magic or her wiles.  She would have turned my army on the people. I couldn’t risk it. Not until I had more help that is.”

He looked to each of the party members in turn. “I…had hoped for more, I must admit.”

“Probably should have mentioned that in your request,” Alfre teased, hoping to lighten the situation. It didn’t help. She turned to Elias and Traveler instead. “Is it really possible for her to have mind control magic?”

“There is a magician spell that allows casters to turn an mob against other enemies,” Traveler said. “I don’t know if it can be used against Fell though, I’ve never tried it. Not a magician, you know.”

“I’ve never tried it in PvP combat,” Elias admitted. “The spell description specifically says mob or non-player character.”

“And what about her wiles?” Spica asked, a little bit of sarcasm leaking into her voice. “Are we at risk of falling into the ‘I have boobs, you must obey’ trap?”

“Well, I’m not,” Izo said plainly. “Not really interested in boobs. Or…ladies in general, really.” 

Traveler shook her head as well, “I’m more of a butt girl than a boobs girl. Nice butts are more universal.”

Alfre shrugged. “I’m not going to fall for any wiles, regardless of who they come from.”

Spica’s eyes landed on Elias, who smiled fondly at her. “You know the only wiles I’d ever fall for are yours.”

Spica smirked. “I’ll hold you to that, magician.”

Alfre turned to smile at Alessio. “I think we’ll be pretty safe.” 

Alessio seemed…unconvinced. So did his two guards. Well, that was their problem.

“So how are we doing this?” Traveler asked. “I doubt we can just charge through the front door.”

“There’s a secret escape tunnel, the one I took to escape with my guards after it became clear that the Red Queen wasn’t just going to let me go quietly,” Alessio said.

“Of course there is,” Alfre muttered under her breath. Elias elbowed her in the shoulder.

“It comes out just along the wall a mile or so north of here, near a secondary gate that’s rarely guarded,” Alessio continued. “If we follow it back towards the palace, it should come out in my bathing chambers…that is, if the Queen hasn’t discovered and sealed the tunnel.” 

“Even if she has, it’ll probably be easy to blow open,” Elias assured the young prince. “Especially if Traveler has a gun equipped.”

Traveler merely grinned.

“It would probably be best if we enter the tunnel under the cover of darkness,” one of the prince’s guards, an older woman with greying black hair, spoke up. “That way, we’ll have a greater chance of taking them by surprise.”

The party exchanged glances before Alfre nodded. “Works for us. Are we doing this tonight, or should we wait?”

Alessio shook his head. “I do not wish to wait any longer.”

“Very well,” Elias agreed. “Once the sun has set, we’ll make our move.”