Chapter 57: Chapter-57

Elara’s people disembarked with visible relief. Lisa practically kissed the dock when her feet hit solid ground. Several beast knights looked around with poorly concealed wariness—too many people, too much noise, too much unfamiliar territory.

The merchant crew helped carry trunks and supplies down the gangplank with practiced efficiency. Within an hour, everything was unloaded and stacked on the dock.

Kael approached Elara, his expression carefully neutral.

“Your Highness,” he said, bowing. “This is where we part ways.”

Elara looked at him. “Understood.”

“My father wanted me to be clear about something.” Kael’s voice dropped lower. “The Verin family values our business relationship with you. The preservation magic contracts are solid and we’ll honor them completely. But…”

“But you don’t want to be involved in royal succession battles,” Elara finished.

“Exactly.” He looked relieved she understood. “We’re merchants. We can’t afford to pick sides in palace politics. Helping you travel here was one thing—transportation is neutral. But beyond this dock, we need to maintain distance. For our own protection.”

“Practical.” And it was. Getting involved with her meant potential retaliation from her sisters or the Emperor. The Verin family was choosing profit over patronage. Smart.

“We’ll conduct business professionally,” Kael continued. “Guild meetings, contract negotiations, preservation magic implementation—all of that proceeds normally. But we can’t offer housing, protection, or political support. You understand?”

“Completely. Thank you for the transport. And the honesty.”

He bowed again, visibly relieved. “Good luck, Your Highness. You’ll need it.”

As the merchant crew returned to the *Silver Merchant* and began preparing to depart, Elara turned to face her assembled household.

Thirty-one people plus herself. All their belongings stacked around them. Standing on a dock in a strange city with no immediate support.

“Right,” Dimitri said, looking at a paper with an address written on it. “The property we purchased is at 47 Harborview Road. That’s…” He squinted into the distance. “About one or two kilometers from here. Uphill.”

The beast knights immediately began assessing the luggage. Captain Lyra started organizing them into carrying groups without being asked.

“We’ll need load distribution,” she said. “Heavier trunks divided between the stronger knights. Administrators can carry lighter bags. Her Highness carries nothing.”

“Wait,” Elara said. “What are you doing?”

“Preparing to transport the luggage,” Lyra said, as if this was obvious. “Two kilometers uphill with full load. We’ll need to make multiple trips unless we distribute weight efficiently now.”

Elara stared at them. “You’re planning to carry everything. By hand. For two kilometers.”

“Yes, Your Highness.” The fox knight was already hefting a trunk onto his shoulder. “It’s manageable.”

“We’re trained for long marches with full packs,” another beast knight added. “This is lighter than combat gear.”

“I can carry things too,” Lisa offered weakly, though she still looked green.

“Absolutely not,” Mira said. “You can barely stand.”

Elara looked at her entire household preparing to haul massive amounts of luggage through a strange city on foot like pack animals.

“Stop,” she said.

Everyone froze.

“We’re not carrying everything by hand for two kilometers,” Elara said. “That’s inefficient and exhausting. There’s a carriage station nearby. We’ll hire carts.”

The beast knights looked at each other in confusion.

“Hire… carts?” the hawk knight repeated slowly.

“Yes. Vehicles pulled by horses that transport goods and people. Very common in cities.”

“For us?” Captain Lyra sounded genuinely surprised.

“For all of us. And all the luggage.”

“But Your Highness,” the wolf knight said carefully, “that’s… that’s expensive. And we’re perfectly capable of carrying—”

“I don’t care if you’re capable. I care about efficiency. If you exhaust yourselves hauling luggage, you’ll be less effective if we’re attacked tonight. If the administrators are tired from carrying bags, they won’t be able to work on settling us in. Hiring carts is practical.”

The beast knights stood there looking collectively stunned, still holding luggage they’d assumed they’d be carrying.

“You were just going to… walk,” Dimitri said, also looking surprised. “All of you. With all of this. Without asking about transportation options.”

“That’s what we assumed,” Lyra admitted. “Royal protection details don’t typically warrant transport resources. We walk. We carry. That’s standard.”

“That’s stupid,” Elara said bluntly. “Put the luggage down. We’re getting carts.”

The beast knights slowly set down the trunks they’d already lifted, looking uncertain.

“Your Highness,” the fox knight said quietly, “most royals don’t… they don’t arrange transportation for guards. Guards are expected to manage themselves.”

“I’m not most royals. And you’re not just guards—you’re my entire security force, my fighting unit, and currently the most expensive asset I have. Exhausting you unnecessarily is bad resource management.” Elara gestured at the stacked luggage. “Ten of you stay here and guard everything. The rest come with me to hire the carts.”

“There’s a carriage station two streets over,” one of the merchant sailors called out helpfully before boarding. “Tell them the dock sent you.”

They left most of the luggage under guard and walked toward the carriage station—Elara, the five administrators, Lisa, and fifteen beast knights who still looked vaguely confused about this development.

“She’s getting us carts,” the hawk knight muttered to the fox knight.

“I heard.”

“Has anyone ever done that before?”

“Not in my memory. We’ve always walked.”

“Huh.”

The carriage station was a large open square where drivers waited with various carts and carriages. Elara negotiated with a weathered woman who clearly thought they were crazy for needing six carts.

“Six carts for luggage and people to Harborview Road,” Elara said. “How much?”

“Two silver per cart. Twelve silver total.”

“That’s expensive.”

“That’s standard. You want cheaper, carry it yourself.” The woman shrugged.

Elara paid without hesitation. Behind her, several beast knights exchanged glances—twelve silver was more than most of the servents earned in a month back at the palace.

They returned to the dock with the carts. As they loaded everything, Captain Lyra approached Elara quietly.

“Your Highness, we could have walked. Twelve silver is—”

“Twelve silver is less than the medical costs if someone gets injured hauling heavy loads through unfamiliar streets,” Elara interrupted. “It’s less than the security risk of an exhausted protection detail. It’s practical spending.”

Lyra was quiet for a moment. “Most royals wouldn’t see it that way.”

“Most royals have palace budgets and expendable guards. I have limited funds and thirty-one people I need functional.” She watched the carts being loaded. “Get used to practical decisions over status ones.”

As they rode through Port Crestfall toward their new home, Elara noticed several beast knights sitting in the carts looking distinctly uncomfortable—not from the ride, but from the novelty of being transported rather than walking.

The hawk knight leaned toward the fox knight. “This is weird.”

“Very weird.”

“But also… nice?”

“Don’t get used to it.”

But they were already getting used to it, Elara noted. Already adjusting to a princess who made decisions based on logic rather than hierarchy.

Good. They’d need that flexibility for what came next.

When they finally arrived at 47 Harborview Road and saw the decrepit mansion with its bare garden and cracked facade, the mood shifted.

“This is it?” Lisa asked weakly.

“This is it,” Dimitri confirmed.

The house looked haunted. Three stories of faded paint, cracked stone, shuttered windows, and neglect.

“Well,” the hawk knight said finally, “at least we didn’t exhaust ourselves walking here.”

“Small victories,” the fox knight agreed.

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