M:   "Well, I do have plenty of duties to start that have been piling up since two days ago," Mandoria said, "Sir Rowen has helped with them of course but there still is a lot to do."

Mandoria took out a leather-bound journal, which just so happened to be the one that England kept knocking over, and opened it.

"I always keep a calendar of my duties so I never forget anything," he commented, "today I have a land dispute to settle between two farmers on the outskirts of the city, a meeting with the mayor of Dewhurst to discuss building a new church, and since the British put tariffs on our products I have to announce to the kingdom to be careful of how much they harvest so nothing goes to waste."

N:   "If I may suggest," Anglo spoke up, "if Saxon and I could go to the farmers and settle the dispute, and England can go to the meeting on your behalf to the mayor of Dewhurst. And perhaps, after you have done your announcement, Sir Mandoria, that you could rest from your injuries."

"But you're missing something," pointed out Saxon, "I doubt that we, as English, are going to be well appreciated when the Mandorians hear about the tariffs."

"It's that or they start bowing down," muttered England as he placed his fork down on his empty plate, "someone would probably keep an eye on us." He faced Mandoria, "as for the tariffs, I hope that they will be lifted as soon as possible."

M:   Mandoria shrugged, "I hope so too, announcing something to the kingdom isn't terribly hard, my kingdom is quite large so I have my scribes write down my speech and royal announcers ride to the many towns and villages to inform the public. And although I very much appreciate your offer of assistance, I don't foresee it being successful, as I'm fairly certain none of you speak Mandorian."

"I can go with them, Father," Mandara offered, "I can help translate and it can help me learn what to do when Derogan and I take over the kingdom, we can go find Sir Rowen so he can help too."

Mandoria hummed at the proposition, not seeing too much wrong with it, "I suppose, but what about the rogue nations, how do we know the Prussians were the only ones, it could still be dangerous to wander the kingdom."

N:   England hmmed in realization when he remembered that they don't speak Mandorian, but was thankful that Mandara stepped in to help.

"Then we'll make sure that we do our jobs efficiently," Saxon shrugged, "and maybe for extra protection we could have a couple of knights accompanying Sir Rowen."

"But I'm sure that Sir Rowen has been able to organize the patrol of the Kingdom," the winged country spoke, "and with Celtica's advice, he knows where to look."

"I might as well come with you guys," muttered Johann, "I don't really have anything to do, so I might as well start learning more about the people, and the language too."

M:   "Yeah it'll be fun," Mandara said cheerfully, hugging Johann, "we can show you the kingdom and what it's like to live here, it will be an adventure."

Mandoria chuckled at Mandara's enthusiasm, he then called for a servant to bring him a map and inkwell. When the requested items were retrieved, the king plucked a feather from his good wing and dipped it in the ink, then started marking the map.

"The feuding farmers are at the northwest outskirts of the main kingdom, approximately 15-30 minutes on horseback," he said as he marked the destination and best path to it, "Dewhurst is two hours east by horseback, normally a 20-minute flight but obviously England didn't get Anglo's half of the genes. I personally recommend that Rowen goes with England since if something does go wrong he isn't fully capable of defending himself at the present moment with his injuries, no offense England."

N:   "None taken," England replied, and he pointed at his injured arm, "I can't exactly land a good hit in a sling." He looked at the map and sighed, "two hours on horseback, that's going to be fun."

"So Mandara comes with Saxon and I then," spoke Anglo as he stood up, then he smirked, "and the journey would be much quicker if Saxon had wings."

"And what, you would carry me," the entity scoffed, "no thank you. Thirty minutes on horseback is a breeze," he looked up to the other, "and I might race you there."

The winged country only shook his head, then he asked, "Johann, who are you going to go with?"

The boy's eyes flicked from one group to the other, and answered, "I'll go with Sir England and Sir Rowen."

M:   "We can't fly either remember," Mandara reminded Anglo, "both of our wings are hurt," he then looked to Mandoria, "do you really think Derogan will be ok by himself?"

"I honestly don't know," the king admitted, "I just think he needs a day to organize his thoughts, but I do know that he will make it through this, it's just going to take time."

Mandoria had his servant come back to help him stand, Mandara also helping, "I should get to work on some of my less-laborious duties, you're welcome to ask some knights to accompany you if you desire, just try to come home before sunset."

N:   Saxon stood up and smirked at Anglo, "well it seems that you have to join the fellow wingless folk on a horse ride," then he yelped as golden feathers covered his vision.

"Even if I can't fly right now," Anglo stated as he flicked his good wing at the entity's head, "I still have the ability to whack the nonsense out of you with it."

"Thank you, Sir Mandoria," said England, ignoring his fathers' conversation, "and we'll try to make it back in time." With that, everyone left the room, Anglo and Saxon following Mandara to the stables, and England and Johann following them, hoping that they would find Rowen.

M:   In the stables, Derogan had taken the opportunity to have Cinnamon meet little Spirit, Gemstone was nearby watching but she trusted Derogan to keep her baby safe.

Mandara walked out of the threshold to the stables but when he saw his brother he immediately backed up and had everyone hide behind him, then they all peeked out to watch.

"How do you like your new baby brother Cinnamon," Derogan asked, his voice sounding tired and monotonous, "guess Thunderstrike couldn't leave us could he."

Cinnamon whinnied with joy, clearly very happy to have Spirit in her life, Spirit was jumping for joy at having a big sister.

"Well, I'm glad that he still finds something that makes him happy," Mandara whispered to the others, smiling at the small one on his brother's face.

N:   Johann nodded and smiled as Spirit jumped around Cinnamon, and he whispered, "Should we let them be? It looks like they are enjoying themselves and it might be one of the few times Derogan would smile in a while. Sir England and I can go somewhere else to find Sir Rowen."

The English country agreed, "he is working right now so we might find him somewhere else but there is a chance that he is just further in the stables."

M:   "Well, we need to go in there anyway to get our horses," Mandara reasoned, and after watching Derogan a little more he said, "I think I'll take a different horse today, that way those three can spend a little more time with each other."

Mandara eventually led everyone out and walked to the group, Derogan looked up to them but quickly went back to the horses.

"Hey Derogan, we're all going out to help Father with his duties, do you want to come?" Mandara asked, he knew the answer but he figured he might as well be polite. When Derogan shook his head Mandara nodded in understanding, "ok, just figured I'd ask, do you know if Rowen is still around?"

"He left a few minutes ago," the older prince simply said, "you should be able to catch up to him if you hurry."

Mandara nodded, knowing that Derogan didn't want to talk so he stopped the questions, "Well, you have a good day then, I'll take a different horse so you can spend more time with Cinnamon."

N:   Each of the countryhumans went and found a different horse; England found the one that he rode when he rode after Derogan last time. The grey-coated Arabian nickered at the sight of the country, remembering what happened last time, and butted her head against the country, where England muttered a small "sorry" in response. Saxon saw the interaction, and teased, "You're not going to run off again, are you," causing the country to just roll his eyes and begin to saddle the steed.

While he was prepping, he asked Johann, "Do you know how to ride?"

"No, not really. I've been riding with Sir Rowen every time I went on a horse." The country nodded, and when he had finished, he allowed Johann to sit in front of him. He helped the boy up and then mounted himself, holding onto the reins and guiding the mare outside. Both Anglo and Saxon stood beside their saddled horses and waited for the pair.

M:   At first Mandara wanted to take Xanthos but he knew that he was far too big for the nine-year-old and would most likely fall off, so he picked out a cream-colored Friesian dubbed Apollo. Apollo was a full-grown stallion so Mandara had a little bit of trouble getting on but with a little help from a stablehand he managed well.

"We have a long and dangerous journey ahead of us, let us embark on our quest to complete the king's royal duties." He announced in a dramatic voice, trying to make things fun.

N:   "We shall trek through the Kingdom, survive through the heat of the sun," Johann played along, "but be not afraid, my friends, we will get through this."

"Unless we find the Kingdom of the Snakes," smiled England, "then I'm pretty sure who would not get through this." He glanced at Saxon, who mounted his horse, and the entity glared back.

M:   "Better hope we don't encounter the goddess Zurella then," Mandara teased along with Johann, "Saxon would die of a heart attack when he sees a snake the size of a grizzly bear."

When he was done tormenting Saxon, he got directions from a stablehand of where Rowen was, waved goodbye to Derogan, then they all headed out.

It took quite a while to find Rowen but when they did he asked what they were doing, "It's still dangerous to be away from the castle, I got a tip that a few Austrian soldiers were spot trying to cross the border."

N:   Saxon's eyes widened at the thought of a snake the size of a grizzly bear, and his chest tightened when he imagined how large it would be. The entity remained silent on the journey towards Rowen, his expression slightly fearful as his eyes scanned the area around him for reptiles.

"Saxon, Mandara, and I are not going that far and we'll try to complete the task as quickly as possible," Anglo spoke, "but Sir Mandoria suggested that you would accompany England and Johann since they would be less capable of defending themselves. And it makes sense as they would be traveling the furthest."

M:   "What tasks, did I miss something when I left," Rowen asked.

"Yeah, we're helping Father with his duties to keep Saxon occupied and out of trouble," Mandara explained, "he, Anglo, and I are going to settle a feud between two farmers and England, Johann, and you are going to Dewhurst to talk to the mayor about building a new church."

Rowen hummed at the information given, seemingly skeptical about the duties, "not to sound rude or anything, but if you're sending Saxon to settle a feud he would most likely make it worse considering that is his job description as head of insurgents. And England talking to the mayor about the church is an issue too since his Christianity religion is rather ... how do I put this nicely ... intolerant of other religions."

N:   Saxon shrugged and muttered, "fair," getting an angered stare from Anglo, who then stated that he would make sure it wouldn't happen. However, England spoke up and tried to defend himself, "We are ... we are tolerant."

"Well," Anglo interjected, "there was the whole Inquisition going on with the Catholics and Queen Mary, and all the people who died because of it."

"But," England interrupted, "my country is no longer Catholic."

"Yes, that is true, but there was the whole Pilgrimage of Grace under King Henry before that," reminded Saxon, "people within Christianity protesting against the reforms, and remember all the people who-"

"OK, ok," yelled England, "I get it; we are not that tolerant, but I, as a person, am tolerant. I mean, both my fathers believe in a whole pantheon of gods, and I'm fine with that."

"Maybe the reason why you're coming with us, Sir Rowen," spoke Johann, "is because you speak Mandorian and you know and believe in the Mandorian gods, so you can help us out in Dewhurst."

M:   Rowen hummed again as he thought about it, then nodded, "that is reasonable, I'm sure my knights are more than capable of patrolling by themselves, though I will have two go with you three since any rogue nations are more likely to attack the group with the wanted felon."

With that, he hopped on his horse and commanded two soldiers to go with the others while he accompanied England and Johann.

"Alright, we'll see you guys later," Mandara called after them, "don't have too much fun without us."

N: "Same with you," Johann called back, and then he faced forward. "Did you say Austrians?" the boy asked Rowen, "I know that the Austrians were not the best, since they did oppress Saxony along with the Prussians, but they were definitely not as bad as the Prussians; sometimes an ally, and I had a few Austrian friends too."

"But the difference here is that these ones are here to hunt down Saxon," spoke England, "there would be an Austrian who is kind and friendly, but the people are troublesome and someone who comes to kill is dangerous."

———

As they rode away, Anglo muttered to Saxon, "what I said back there, I mean it. I don't want you to cause any trouble."

"Calm down Anglo," Saxon replied, "It is not as if there is much to deal with anyway. What do you think I will do, make them duel over the ownership of the land?" The winged country narrowed his eyes at the suggested, then he indicated to the two knights who were with them.

"I'm joking," the entity said quickly, "I'm not going to do that. What's the worst that could happen?"

M:   The two knights with them didn't understand English very well so they didn't know what the two foreigners were saying, Mandara translated but they didn't seem amused by the joke.

———

"I agree that we should be wary," Rowen said, "I doubt they have deadly intentions but it's better to prepare for the worst scenario than be in said scenario and be unprepared. 'Prepare for the worst and hope for the best', that's my motto."

The captain looked up to the sun to judge the time, "Dewhurst is about a two-hour ride on a normal day, however, there have been some unusually high rains and the river that cuts through the path has been swelling immensely, so it may take longer to take a detour to the nearest bridge, but we'll see how big the river has gotten first."

N:   "High rain," muttered England, "sounds like my kind of weather." The country followed the captain, watching out for a river, and it wasn't hard to spot the moment they came across it. As they approached the bank, they watched as the waters rushed in front of them, the river was wide and England could guess it was deep.

"Woah," Johann gasped, "that's ... could we cross that?"

"I don't know," the country replied, "horses are good swimmers, but maybe we should play it safe."

M:   "Looks can be deceiving my friend," Rowen said, "the reason this part of the river has no bridge is because it is the shallowest part and would only go up to a horse's knees. It doesn't look much deeper than their stomachs and we have trained all of our horses to be able to handle rapids with all of the strong rivers in this country, just follow my lead and you should be fine."

With that, Rowen had Star Dust wade into the river.