"Land ho!" the ship captain bellowed as we caught sight of the pier. With my face still covered with my hood, I slowly walked towards the side of the ship whilst pulling Wonder along. I watched as the ship slowly approached the pier. I kept my head low as I looked around. For all I knew, Benjamin's men could be awaiting for my arrival.
A few minutes passed and the ship came to a halt. Immediately, I joined the crowd and kept a low profile. I couldn't risk for my identity to be discovered quickly. This was Benjamin's home. He knew every wide and narrow roads here. And I wouldn't be surprised if he also knew everybody here.
Benjamin had always been popular amongst his people. Unlike me, he preferred to socialize with their people. According to him, it was best that the whole kingdom knew who their monarchs were.
Well, his people didn't really know him. I would be certain that they didn't know about his other side. The side that could manipulate others in order to obtain anything that he wanted.
"Give us your travel documentations."
I raised my head immediately as a domineering male voice spoke from up front. Up ahead, two guards stood side by side as the person at the beginning of the line handed a piece of parchment.
Carefully, I slid my hand into my pocket and grabbed the travel pass that I had. It wasn't easy to obtain this. I had to do a lot of convincing just to get one.
~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~
"What do you mean I can't request for a travel pass?" I asked the head of the pier. I continued, "I don't want to use my position as leverage. But at this point, you should be aware of who you're talking to."
He replied, "I'm well-aware of who you are, Your Highness. However, His Majesty has set rules that only resources can be on our ships, as well as the people working there. As much as I want to help, I don't want to lose my head befause of treason."
I flung out my sword, putting it directly under his neck. He put his hands up as he shivered in fear. Leaning onto the table, I said, "So, would you rather lose your neck today with my sword? I can certainly do that."
He gulped as he looked down on the sword with frightened eyes. "But, Your Highness–"
I interrupted, "I know you're only doing your job by following my father's orders. Frankly, that's how our people live these days: in fear of His Majesty's wrath. But I need your help for just this once. I have to solve a private matter across the sea and I need travel documentations to avoid suspicion."
He stared at me, clenching his jaw. He asked, trying to act tough, "And if I don't?"
"This situation can go both ways. First, give me a travel pass and I'll pay you triple. Act like I was never here if you're questioned. And if you still think that won't work, I'll leave a note, saying to pardon you of your fault," I said. I continued, "Or, I can go out there, steal someone else's pass and delay the shipment of resources. That would anger my father more. He might even punish you more because of incompetence and allowing the prince to escape."
He stared at me, horrified.
I added, "On the contrary, you're lucky to still have your head at this moment. Unlike my father, I don't result to violence right away. As much as possible, I want to negotiate with the people I come across with. Granted, this is quite an aggressive negotiation. But at the very least, you still have your head connected to your body."
He looked around and back to me as he did some time to think. He did that for quite a while before he asked, "Before I make my decision, may I ask you something?"
I groaned. "I don't have time for this, sir. If you're doing this to stall–"
"No, it's not that, Your Highness. I'm just curious about something."
"And what is it?"
He asked, "You have the ability to travel to other places whenever you want. Why can't you just do that and save yourself all this trouble?"
I sighed. I replied, "As much as teleporting is a blessing, it also has its disadvantages. Using it to leave will get the attention of my father. And using it to arrive at my destination will also give me unwanted attention. You should know by now that I don't want that kind of a situation. Which is why I'm here in your office, requesting for a travel pass."
He looked around once more, avoiding my gaze. I had absolutely no clue on what was running in his mind. But I hoped that he would agree to my request. And if he would agree to it, he should make up his mind a little faster than usual.
Time was running and with more time I wasted, the more chances Benjamin had to muster even more sources and to keep Laura further from my reach.
The silence was broken with a sigh. He asked another, "If I approved a travel pass for you, will you keep your word in defending me from His Majesty? Because if you said you will and you never went through with it, and I died as a result, I'll make sure that your afterlife will be worse than your life here in our realm."
Looking at him straight in the eye, I replied, "You have my word. I will leave a note that you can show to my father in case he comes here. I already have a hunch that he will. So, I'll ro all the necessary preparations for that."
He sighed once more. "Kindly remove your sword from my neck so I can write the travel pass for you," he said.
"Of course," I carefully pulled my sword back and put it back in its sheath.
He shook his head as he grabbed for his quilt and a piece of parchment. He explained, "I will indicate here that you're visiting as my apprentice and that you're there to make sure that everything has been transported properly." He opened the parchment wide and looked at me as he asked, "What name would you like to use?"
My brows furrowed at his question.
"I can't just put your true identity on this, Your Highness. If you want to travel without anybody knowing, you have to be someone else. Especially, when you're doing something behind your father's back," he answered. "Now, what name would you like for me to put in here?"
My mind froze as I was caught off-guard. My eyes roamed around the room as I tried to think of a name as fast as possible. Then, my eyes landed on the plant displayed in his office.
"Ledoras," I muttered.
"What was that?"
I returned to him and replied, "Ledoras. That will be my name."
He stared at me before asking, "Like the mythical healing plant? Why would you use that?"
I shrugged. "It has some sort of mystery in its name. And that's the first thing that appeared in my mind."
He looked at me for quite a bit, baffled still. But when he saw that I was serious with my reply, he immediately wrote it down on the paper. And after a bit of writing, he grabbed his seal and stamped it on the lower left side of the letter. He then carefully folded it into three and handed it over to me.
"Do you mind if I give you a piece of advice, Your Highness?" he asked.
I slid the paper into my pocket and replied, "I need all the help I can get."
Pointing at the wall beside the door, he said, "Take my cloak with you, as well as my mask."
I turned my head and followed what he said. Immediately, I put on his cloak and the mask, which covered my face from the nose down to my chin.
He continued, "Keep your appearance anonymous. No matter what happens, you must decline showing your true self. Keep the hood down and hide your face at all times. Present yourself as a hermit if you must. If this is a mission that you need to finish without any unwanted attention, then you must keep a low profile at all times. Be cautious of your surroundings and do not talk too much."
I nodded.
"And please, Your Highness, return home safely."
"I will do my best," I nodded. I approached his table, grabbed his quill, another piece of paper and wrote down the note that I promised. Even though he was hesitant to help at first, he still went through with my plan and gave me advice at the same time.
I then folded the letter and left in the middle of his desk. I then said, "Thank you for everything. I will follow your advice." I bowed towards him and left the room. I should be travelling to Eastern Sun before daylight. I couldn't risk being caught by James or his men.
~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~
"Travel documentations, please," the guard said as he lent out his hand to me.