Chapter 220: All Nighter

It took nearly ten minutes before John was coherent again, and then another two hours before he was in any state to speak. The pain of the day’s revelations was palpable in the carriage, and everyone else tactfully left them to their grief.

An agony mixed with relief at their reunion.

So, the ride was a silent one, until the sun started to go down, and the driver opened the window to the passenger compartment, startling the maids.

“Your Highness, should we continue through the night. If you look outside, you will see that there are refugee camps everywhere, and the farmers have set up a militia to keep their crops from being looted.

The situation here on the outskirts of Castle City is far from good, and the rural villages appear to have been mostly demolished by the Dagos Army on their way through.” The driver asked.

Alexis nodded. “Just keep everyone moving through the night. The road gets bad north of here, but the trucks have good lights, we should be able to make it well enough.”

The driver nodded and closed the window, letting them rest as the sun went down.

A few hours later, the drivers stopped to swap positions, and to give everyone a rest break. It was fully dark, and they were in a more remote area, without any sign of farm houses in sight.

If they were going to stop overnight, this wouldn’t be a bad spot for it, but Dominic got the feeling that they might have someone watching them from the dark.

In the dark, not much would keep up with the trucks, as horses would struggle on the dirt road. But if they stayed stationary too long, then they would still be a target for vagrants and thieves sleeping near the road.

Half an hour later, they were moving again, and Dominic wrapped his arm around Alexis to keep her upright as she slept against his side.

Dawn broke with the trucks still moving, and another rest stop, where Beth quickly assembled a quick breakfast of biscuits, jam, and coffee.

“My apologies, but we are almost to the manor, according to the drivers. I will unpack the kitchen supplies the moment that we arrive and get started on a proper luncheon.” She explained.

Dominic smiled at the flustered cook. “It’s no problem. Travelling hard is called that because it comes with hardships. Even if they are as small as biscuits for breakfast.

At least they’re not hardtack.”

Pops nodded emphatically. “Even dunked in the coffee, hardtack is a miserable breakfast. We’ve all got plenty of work coming this afternoon.”

Just before noon, the road passed through a forested area, and Dominic pulled the window covering open.

“Do you need a moment?” Alexis whispered as Dominic stared blankly out the window.

Dominic shook his head. “No, I will go check the area later. Let’s start on the manor. If it hasn’t been properly cleared, it will be the worst of it all. I just hope that the soldiers who had been stationed here treated the remains properly.”

The new hires assumed that he meant there had been a battle here during the most recent hostilities, but Pops and Alexis both knew that he was thinking of what happened here ten years ago.

Dominic hadn’t buried the bodies before he left, and nobody had occupied the area since, other than one group of Cygnia soldiers a month ago.

The trucks stopped in the overgrown courtyard in front of the ramp entrance to the house, and everyone waited for Dominic to exit the truck, so he could be the first to see what was there, without interference.

Cautiously, Dominic stepped out of the truck, and looked around the entrance.

All signs of what had happened here a decade ago were gone, and only some trampled grass remained as a sign that there had been a military unit on the premises.

That was a good start. It meant that they had taken the time to at least move the bones away from the door.

Slowly, he circled the house, inspecting the outside for any portions in immediate need of repairs. He wouldn’t lead anyone inside if there was too much rot or crumbling stonework.

Then, when he got around the back, there was one oversized stone cairn with a simple stone plinth marking it as a grave.

“Good, they buried them properly,” Dominic whispered to himself, then continued to circle the building until he was back out front.

“All good from the outside. Let’s get everyone inside and inspect the manor. The soldiers said that it was inhabitable, but we all know that during a rainstorm that word can have a very loose definition to a travelling military unit.” Dominic called, loud enough that everyone could hear him.

That got everyone moving, and Dominic swung the front doors open, then paused in shock.

Everything was intact.

Well, all the solid pieces were intact. The drapes had been removed from the windows, the cloth of the sofa was damaged by rodents, and some of the wooden accent pieces were warped with humidity and neglect.

It would be a long process getting it all back up to perfection, but in general, the house was exactly as it had been left.

Alexis looked around the main hall and nodded in satisfaction.

The majority of the building was stone, and all the woodwork was simply decorative trim. It could be peeled away without compromising the structure.

Excellent as a fortified structure.

Beth and Liz crossed the room and turned down a side hall, which made Dominic laugh.

“That way is the servant quarters. The kitchen is the other way.” He called.

“Right, you’ve been here before, have you not?” The cook asked.

Dominic nodded. “It’s been some time, but I still remember my way to the kitchen.”

“There are two floors of rooms above us, and all the office spaces, plus entertaining areas, are on the main floor.” Dominic added.

Alexis left to inspect the office areas, the Royal Guard went to the upper floors to inspect the rooms, and Pops ventured off through the main floor to see what had survived.

“Hey, I’ve got a locked door here.” She called a few seconds later, bringing Dominic out of his reverie.

“Oh, you found the good stuff. That’s the Library. The next door over is the main study, and then the smoking room.” Dominic explained.

All three doors were locked, but Dominic knew how to solve that.

“Give me a moment, and I will see if the keys are still in the house. Nobody would typically have those keys on them, so they should still be in the house. There aren’t any signs that looters even visited the place.” He explained.

Dominic walked down the hall toward the kitchen, and then pressed his hand to the side of a cupboard by the door.

The hidden door swung open, revealing the manor’s keys, still hung on their hooks.

“There you go. The spare master key. Keep that one safe, I don’t know if we will be able to find the other copies.” Dominic reminded her needlessly.

After all, who knew better about the value of having the only master key to something than a Princess, who always had to worry about spies, thieves and opportunists trying to get into her valuables?

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