Lucky for her, perhaps because Francisco was already accustomed to long walks carrying heavy loads, he wasn't among the wounded by midday. When he finally finished the march, Johann—his aide—and several officers close to his grandfather were waiting at the end of the Harz mountain range.
Johann looked at Francisco and frowned."Did you train in New Granada? Were you part of the army or something like that?"
The aide and the officers also stared curiously at Francisco, expecting an affirmative answer. They couldn't understand how this young man had managed to overpower all their soldiers and still finish the march first.
Francisco nodded, then shook his head."I did train in New Granada, but not as a soldier—more as a merchant. My father worked for the Cádiz Company, an enterprise tied to the royal family. Before my family's… radical ideas, I was supposed to inherit his position. That was the whole reason I was taken to Spain in the first place, to be born there."
