Timeline: Present
Location: Caravan En Route to Azamar
By evening, they were on their way. Their externally unmarked caravan was a small, self-contained world moving through the vast, untamed wilderness. At its heart was a levitating, oblong pod, internally a masterpiece of Eldorian craftsmanship. It was carved from luminous Solaris bloomwood, its surface inlaid with swirling patterns of silver giving it a moving soft glow at dusk as a form of camouflage. Instead of wheels, it hovered a hand's breadth above the ground, gliding silently on a cushion of contained air magic from embedded magic stones they referred to as agates, softening the bumpiness of the ride. It reminded Vivian of those old Airstream travel trailers she had seen in vintage photos of her "Snowbird"3 grandparents' annual pilgrimage from the cold winter climate of the north to the sticky and humid land of golf courses in the south.
Surrounding the pod was the security escort: a dozen of Callum's royal Barklars, their maroon leather armor etched with the emblem of the Veridian Heartwood over teal tunics and balaclavas, which also provided some camouflage when in the shade of the trees. When not in the forest, it slowly shifted to a more shiny surface, outwardly reflecting the surroundings even in bright sun. They rode powerful Eldorian beasts like steeds with coats decorated like a Japanese sumi-e painting and an intelligent, watchful look in their eyes. The rhythmic thud of the padding of their paws and bare hooves on the packed forest floor was a steady, reassuring beat against the wild sounds enveloping them. The caravan moved as a mobile fortress of loyalty, wood and enchanted leather.
Vivian now understood why the Eldorian Barklars only used this faux leather as their preferred armor: even with such a large caravan, they could obscure (to a certain degree) both their sound and their presence.
The first leg of the journey would usually take about ten days after which the caravan crossed to the island by boat. Aside from the royal pod—which Callum insisted Vivian use, after which Vivian convinced Kel to also use—supplies were arranged to expedite the journey by the guards and beast mounts moving in shifts. That also allowed for two days of travel before they needed to stop and camp for the night, cutting the time in half.
Vivian's nervousness was already apparent, but most of the caravan took it as Lady Alura's first time as a diplomat for Eldoria. Callum's participation in the journey was to train and supervise this effort. And everyone else was there to protect the prince.
After the first day with Callum, Vivian and Kel sat in the royal pod completely silent. Callum strongly suggested that Kel find some other place to be on day two. This left Viv and Cal free to talk without concerns of Vivian's secret getting out. But Vivian suggested Kel be made aware of her situation. "Callum, Kel and his team are putting their lives at risk without really knowing why."
With a somewhat terse response, Callum argued, "No. They are here to protect me, and this is what I have decided".
Vivian watched Callum closely as she had never seen this side of him. He was serious and authoritative, bordering on downright bossy. After a moment, Callum looked at her to understand why she was staring at him. Then, she made a small noise that became a giggle that became a stifled chuckle and moved on to an all-out laugh. Vivian couldn't help herself.
Embarrassed and without understanding what would have been so funny, he watched her. It was strange how it was still Ally's face, but their mannerisms were so different. It was utterly fascinating. But his thoughts were interrupted by the sound of her cute (so he thought) laughter. And with a smile, he sheepishly asked, "What is so funny?"
Vivian was covering her mouth in an attempt to rein it all back in. "It's just," she paused while trying not to giggle. "It's just that I've never seen you so serious. You are all…" Vivian lowered her voice to sound more like Cal. "'I am the Prince of Eldoria, and I. Have. Decided'," Vivian started laughing again.
Callum smirked. "It is not that funny. And you know I could have your head for making a joke at a royal's expense."
Vivian suddenly got very quiet—before she burst out laughing even louder. Callum attempted to look indignant, but soon joined her in laughter. Outside the pod, Kel looked over at his next-in-command, Aart, as they pretended not to hear the laughter coming from the royal pod.
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Location: Between Eldoria and the Isle of Azmar in the world of Aethalgard.
The caravan's procession was making record time but they had to stop on the third day to rest and make camp. The Barklars moved efficiently, transforming a small, defensible clearing into a secure camp in what felt like only minutes. Tents of tough, oiled, plant-based canvas were unfurled and staked down. A fire pit was dug, its perimeter lined with river stones. Bedrolls were laid out, and a small cook-fire was coaxed to life, its fragrant smoke curling into the twilight air. There was no wasted motion, only the low murmur of voices and the soft brushing of items against hands as they unpacked campsite gear in a surprisingly quietness. Vivian could tell their camaraderie was a tangible thing.
Vivian immediately tried to help, of course, shocking the members of the caravan. Callum gently pulled her away explaining she would not be of much use but it was the thought that counted.
"What do you mean, not much use?" Viv said to Callum out of the side of her mouth. "I could not only set up this whole camp, but probably improve some of the techniques from my world." She sighed. "At least let me cook something for everyone."
"You remember you are Ally, at this moment, right? And I assure you she has never attempted to learn any of that stuff because she has the most powerful magic any of us have ever seen in the kingdom or anywhere else."
"You're telling me to channel my inner Ally. Got it." Vivian declared with a new determination.
"I have no idea what that means, Viv. Also... you should probably not use those weird sayings around other people."
"Got it. I will save all of my weirdness for you." Vivian froze as she realized what she had said and tried to walk it back. Callum pretended like he had not heard anything after she had agreed to his advice.
As dusk settled, the camp took on a warm, inviting glow. The sky had an orange to deep violet ombré, and the first stars began to prick at the fading light. The main campfire crackled, casting dancing shadows on the faces of the Barklars gathered around it. The air grew cool, carrying the scent of the trees and woodsmoke to which the caravan thanked the forest for allowing them to use. It was a pocket of warmth and light in the seclusion of the dark wilderness.
By the glow of hanging Everlight flowers inside of the pod, Vivian journaled on loose pages about everything that had happened since her arrival with the intention of giving them to Callum for safe-keeping until Ally returned. The pod served as her temporary bedroom and was surprisingly spacious, lined with velvet-like cushions. It was a stark contrast to the rustic camp just outside, like an accidental tourist lost in the wild.
These journal entries were an automatic habit for Vivian to communicate with Ally, and the only way to keep each other informed of what was missed. Other than passing information along to their respective confidantes, it was the only form of communication that they had.
However, with Alura's journal nowhere to be found, Vivian relied heavily on Callum's explanation of things that had happened. So as she journaled about things she thought Ally should know, she looked out of the pod to describe the camp scene in case Ally had never been.
In all the years Ally and Vivian had switched, Vivian had never seen outside of Eldoria. And Vivian was itching to be outside and experience it all—not sequestered in what was essentially a Eldorian RV. But, pretending to be Ally meant that Vivian had to accept the comfort of the royal ward's station, whether Vivian wanted to or not.
Though, Callum once told Vivian that their families were very close, and Ally was better at being a mischievous little boy than Callum ever was. According to Prince Callum, her boy-ish charms were mostly due to her older brothers daring her to do things. Vivian never had siblings. But Ben was close enough.
She looked through the window of the pod toward the beckoning flame of the camp. There was an obvious bond between the Barklars, and she really wanted to be a part of it. She squinted her eyes and pressed her face up against something glass-like to try and see more. Unfortunately, that was when the door opened suddenly, and Vivian tumbled out. The culprit, Prince Callum, flashed a big smile and said, "I take it you want to join us for a bit?"
Without hesitation, she nodded affirmatively, even as her head was nearly at Callum's feet. He held out his hand and she went to grab it higher on the arm like they always did at the dojo or the gym. But Callum took her hand and pulled her up like he was picking up a leaf. Vivian's real body had lean muscle to be able to carry people and even other firefighters in complete gear out of a building if need be. But Ally's body only had the trappings of nobility with impractical wardrobe choices available and nothing suitable for a good workout. That's when Vivian vowed that as long as she was able, she would get Ally's body into shape. She made a mental note to ask Callum for some sort of outfit that she could wear for the task.
As she neared the Barklars sitting around a campfire with their bedrolls, a sudden hush spread between the men. She had felt this before when she was the only female firefighter on duty. The male firefighters were being respectful in their own way, but it meant that she missed out on the bonding the rest of the team had. As her heart sank, she whispered to Callum that she should go back to the pod and turned to leave. But Kel was standing in her way, looking down at her with such fierceness that she moved into a judo kata to throw him if necessary. Instead, symbols on her skin started to light up and glow. She gasped, remembering the nightmare of her hands glowing in her nightmare as a child.
With a quick motion, Callum grabbed her closest hand and pulled Vivian behind him with a nervous chuckle. Suddenly realizing that a prank might not be as good of an idea as Callum thought, he slapped Kel on the back and said, "Kel and the guys think you should have a drink for your first time camping with the Royal Barklar security detail." Then looking at Kel's face, "haha.. Kel, what have I told you about sneaking up on powerful mages..."
Kel handed Vivian a silvery cup with some sweet-smelling liquid. "This is Moonwhisper Mead, if you've never had it. It used to be pretty popular in Greenleaf City. You are supposed to drink it under the moon from a silver chalice—kindly provided by our Prince Callum. But if you would like something else, we are well-stocked."
"Thank you, Lord Kel. This is perfect. Vivian felt a little embarrassed at her over-reaction, but was more stunned that her body reacted on its own. She was sure Cal would want to ask about it, too. But she didn't know any more than he did other than the feeling was both nostalgic and tapped into a childhood fear. It felt like she was taking in all that was around her, processing almost like food that broke down and rebuilt as an extension of her body while a butterfly tingle spread from her core to her limbs.
Kel ushered Vivian and her drink to a slightly fancier bedroll to use as a seat. She, once-again, inwardly cursed how impractical women's clothing was in this world. Still, they made an effort to include her and make her as comfortable as possible. As the night deepened, the campfire became the heart of their makeshift world. The Barklars, with minimal armor covering only their chest and torso, relaxed in the flickering light, sharing stories of past campaigns and laughing at old jokes. The air was filled with the scent of some type of stew, the murmur of easy conversation, and the occasional, hearty swallow of mead. It was a simple scene of group camping found in both worlds.
"Moonwhisper plants come from my hometown," explained Kel. "When you drink Moonwhisper mead, you can feel it calm you. But the part that makes it so popular is that it enhances your dreams, making them more pleasant, vivid and memorable. For some of the Barklars who are away from home, it can sometimes be a way for them to see their loved ones."
Vivian looked again at the drink. She had suffered from night terrors as a child and learned to lucid-dream at an early age to control those nightmares. Kel tapped his silver cup on a log and the sound resonated like the tone of a Tibetan Singing Bowl. Except, the sound went through them as a wave that caught Vivian's breath. Callum smiled knowing that Vivian had never experienced the way the sound coaxed the listeners. It demanded their attention focused only on the person who was about to speak. In complete silence, everyone looked at Kel.
Kel raised his cup in front of him and used his finger to draw a sigil on the side of the cup. Upon the sigil's completion, his Moonwhisper Mead began to glow. One-by-one, each Barklar drew a sigil on their cups after which they would glow. Callum showed the sigil to Vivian on his own cup and she copied his movements. She was surprised it worked and wondered if it meant she was using magic. But Callum quietly explained the magic was in the cup itself.
When all of the cups around the campfire were glowing, everyone drank the mead. Vivian hesitated to even sip the mead for fear her nightmares would be uncontrollable. But she noticed that drinking the mead made the glow fade, and everyone was waiting for the last cup to dim. So she sipped, to move the ritual forward. It was like a honey mead, but had warm spicy notes and a calming effect like chamomile and valerian.
When all of the glows dimmed, everyone tapped their cups like Kel did at the beginning. The combined sound from all of the cups sent a sound wave that rippled over the camping area and onward into their surroundings and the leaves of the forest trees seemed to applaud in approval.
But Vivian's breath hitched again. She closed her eyes to feel the sound wash over her and through her in what she could only describe as a hypnotic state. She began to recognize the arousing sensation of submitting to the sound's dominance over her. She looked at Kel, thinking he was a predictable fantasy world trope where every man was handsome with a chiseled body. She wondered what his pecs would feel like beneath her hands and her face flushed into a deep scarlet.
Callum abruptly stood, ushered her back toward the pod. Vivian's eyes continued to focus on Kel as she noticed that even his profile was sexy. Arriving back at the pod, Callum slammed his hand on its surface just an inch from Vivian's head to get her to snap out of it. Callum spoke just above a whisper in almost a growl, "Viv! Snap out of it. You know you are Ally in their eyes."
Vivian looked at Callum's hand next to her head and started giggling. "Did you just do the wall slam trope?"
"You are saying things that I do not understand again. You have to be careful about saying things from your world."
"But it's all so very trope-y here. Everyone is handsome or beautiful, and the extremely hot prince goes on a journey with the female protagonist. And I've met so many tsunderes when I've been here, it's like they teach it in school. You must see it, right?"
Callum cleared his throat. "Did you just call me 'the extremely hot prince'?"
"Oh. Like you don't already know. I mean... look at you." Vivian giggled again. "It's almost absurd how hot you are."
Callum stopped breathing and then sighed. "I have never met anyone who gets like this from one sip of mead."
Vivian waved her hands and shook her head to indicate that he was wrong. Then she looked deeply into Callum's eyes. "Not the mead—the sound waves. You didn't feel it invade your whole body with its penetrating harmonics? I think my dopamine levels just spiked higher than I have..."
Callum covered Vivian's mouth. "You are doing that thing with words that make no sense in this world." Callum paused when he noticed that she was not even resisting his hands covering her mouth. He considered that Ally would have thrown some spell at him by now. But Vivian... she thought he was "extremely hot," which was probably good, right? Callum couldn't help but smile at the ego boost. He then shook his head to brush the thoughts aside.
"You are going to be so embarrassed tomorrow when you are no longer... whatever this is." He opened the pod door, pulled out the steps for her to use, and followed her inside. "Come on, Viv. Just sleep it off, and we will pretend none of what you just said happened."