System Change

About an hour and a half later, Derek walked through the front doors of the palace. Instead of using Void Travel, he had just gone back to Savannah and took the regular teleporter to the capital for only a handful of gold. The majority of the time he spent traveling was going through Savannah and waiting for his turn at the Teleportation Building.

After he arrived in the capital, he had jumped into the air and made a beeline toward the palace with his new movement ability. Again, it was rude and very frowned upon going through the city like he did, but it was much better than using his ability on the ground while being in crowds of people. After all, he didn’t disappear and reappear with Powerstride, he just moved extremely fast. He’d hate to see what would happen if his stat-filled body came into contact with someone else while he was using the skill.

Derek was led into the Throne Room right away upon his arrival. Only a few people were there waiting for him. Both Alanah and Avery were there, along with King Edwin—that was it.

“Is this everyone?” Derek asked.

“It is,” Edwin replied. “Everyone else has gone on ahead. We thought it best that the bride and groom be given extra time to prepare while in what will become their new home—even if it is only a few more hours. We decided to wait for you.”

“It took you long enough,” Avery said from beside Alanah.

“Sometimes, it’s better to take your time and enjoy yourself,” Derek replied with a shrug.

“And did you enjoy yourself?” Avery asked.

“Oh, not at all,” Derek said. “Spent most of my time getting here waiting in line. Things like that have got to be what hell feels like.” Was totally getting some DMV vibes back there.

“Well… now that we have reopened all the Teleportation buildings in the kingdom and declared it safe to use them, there will be quite a bit of congestion until things settle down. Everyone has been stuck in one place while the war was raging, so, now that there’s no danger, everyone has flooded the buildings all at once,” King Edwin explained.

“That makes sense,” Derek said. “So, how many people from each kingdom will be there? I imagine that, since it is taking place in Astrus, they will make up the majority. Will there be a lot of Cydarians going since the teleporters are now working?”

“There will not,” Edwin answered. “Robert and his family will be there, of course.”

“Of course.”

“But other than them, I have seen to it that it is just us higher ups in the kingdom. Us four, Edward, Edgar, and Elouise. Phillip will stay here to watch over things. I invited Natalie, but she refused—saying that she wasn’t needed for anything and it would be of no value for her to go. Our noble houses are still in quite the mess after the… culling, and since the war began so soon after, we weren’t able to sort through everything. It will be one of the top priorities for me—or Edward, actually—once things calm down.”

“I see,” Derek said. He could see that it was best to just go with the top because it would at least show that they weren’t playing favorites. Natalie would have been the only real exception, nobility wise, but she had refused. “What about the Indrians?”

“I have left that up to King Osian,” Edwin replied. “Sabrina Elras is the daughter of his brother, so I imagine he and his brother will want their families there for the occasion. As for others, we’ll just have to see. But, as you said, the majority of the noble houses of Astrus will have their heads and other families there. This is a ‘celebration’ to calm those nobles, and the rest of Astrus’s nerves as a new power takes control.”

“That sounds about right,” Derek said. “Are you sure it’s wise to bring your entire royal family?”

“I have given instructions,” Edwin said. “Edward and Elouise are not to stray far from Edgar during the celebration. I have faith that Edgar can protect those two if anything goes wrong.”

“And what about yourself?” Derek asked and saw the old man wince.

“I am old, and I may not be as strong as the three of you or Osian, but I’m no slouch. If I cannot protect myself, then so be it. Edward is slated to become king, anyway.” Edwin said. “I will do my part as the current king to establish good relations.”

It seemed that Derek’s thoughts were correct. Edwin was expecting something to happen as well. It was good that everyone was taking precautions. There was also the chance that they were all worrying over nothing, but it was better to hope for the best while preparing for the worst.

“I’ve also sent an open invitation to Vallum, so it’s possible that a few of the dwarven people show up. However, they are a very private people, so I doubt it,” Edwin said. “Especially on such short notice.”

Stolen novel; please report.

Derek nodded. He wouldn’t mind meeting some of the higher ups from the dwarven kingdom. He still planned on visiting their capital one day, and maybe even taking Brandi with him if he did. She would very much enjoy exploring a crafting-centered society. Or… she will refuse to go because it will interfere with her own crafting.

“Are you all prepared?” Edwin asked, causing Derek to break out of his thoughts and nod. “If so, then we should get a move on. We’re probably going to be the last ones there.”

I wonder if Silvi is already there, Derek thought, then focused on their link. If she was still in Savannah, he wouldn’t have a problem locating her. After focusing on it for a second, he smiled. She definitely went ahead. I wonder how weddings work here. Celebration, then wedding, or wedding, then celebration? Or, maybe even celebration, wedding, then another celebration.

With those thoughts, Edwin led them all to the palace’s private teleportation circle. With his explanation of all the other ones having so much traffic, even as royalty, it would be a hassle going through all the crowds. Plus, if you have your own private teleporter, why not use it?

Soon, Derek found himself standing in the teleportation circle with everyone else, then, with a flash, they disappeared. He had been wondering earlier how they were linking the teleporters, and he soon found out. It wasn’t all just one quick teleportation, instead, it was a bunch of jumping around. From the capital, there was on jump within the kingdom, then they went through Indria.

There were three jumps in Indria before they made it to the first teleporter in Astrus. From there, Icecrest’s teleportation circle was only two teleportations away. Luckily, they had already prepared for everything, so the teleportation circles they were using were all clear of people and easily used—well, that was until they got to the final one.

The one in Icecrest was even more crowded than the one in Savannah that Derek had used. Fortunately, it was all traffic from people coming into the city, and not going out of. It was a kingdom-wide celebration, after all.

After they left the teleportation building in Icecrest—the one that was closest to the palace, as Icecrest had multiple teleportation points around the city—they moved to the streets. There, it was standing room only because they were so close to the palace. If Derek was worried that people weren’t going to have enough time to make it to the capital before, he wasn’t anymore.

After pushing their way through the crowds, and being hit with some unkind words and a few elbows from angry people—which turned into people with pale faces when Avery got tired of it and let a small portion of his aura trickle out before he was chided by Alanah—they finally made it to the entrance to the palace courtyard.

The courtyard was filled with chairs for wedding goers to sit, and a well-decorated platform to hold the ceremony. So all of those who came would be able to see, or at least hear, the ceremony, they had decided that it would take place outside. Currently, the courtyard was clear of people—aside from the few servants who were putting the finishing touches on the area. With a few words to a guard by Edwin, they were quickly let in and rushed into the palace proper.

When a guard opened the double doors to the Great Hall, Derek was instantly able to see that Silvi had been busy. He turned to ask Alanah about it all, but was stopped by the announcement of their arrival.

“Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Mr. Derek Hunt, Mr. Avery Swan, Miss Alanah Swan, and the King of Cydaria, Edwin Cydaria, to the celebration!” A herald shouted from beside the entrance to the hall—gaining everyone’s attention.

Derek couldn’t help but feel a bit underdressed in comparison to everyone else. Alanah was wearing a beautiful emerald green dress, and even Avery was wearing a luxurious tunic that looked to be made of a velvet-like material with emerald green trim to match Alanah, along with a nice pair of trousers to complete his outfit. Not just them, but everyone else he could see in the room was wearing something just as extravagant. Derek didn’t sweat it, though. At least my boots are better than anything anyone else is wearing.

After scanning the crowd, Derek quickly shifted his gaze back to the dozens of long tables adorned with an array of tantalizing dishes. Derek turned to Alanah and asked the question he had been preparing to ask earlier. “Did you help with this?” he asked in a whisper.

“Not much,” Alanah said. “I did have my people prepare dozens of dishes just in case, but it seems that Silvi didn’t need any more help than what I gave her.”

“What kind of help did you give her?” Derek asked. “Surely she couldn’t have put it all together in just her kitchen. It’s a big kitchen, but it’s small compared to the amount of food I’m seeing.”

“She came back and asked if I could provide her with a kitchen, so I gave her the orders to take to my staff to allow her to use the main kitchen in my restaurant in the capital. She used both her kitchen and that one. According to my staff after I returned, they were very uneasy with the open portal radiating that dread these last days, but they eventually got used to it.”

“Oh,” Derek said as he thought about it. Did I feel a portal from Silvi? He couldn’t really recall, but he wasn’t near as affected by the feeling as everyone else. Maybe I just got used to it. “Still, it’s surprising that she did so much.” It’s also surprising that she asked for help. I guess when it comes to food and cooking, nothing’s off limits for her. I just hope that there’s not any hidden elf steaks or elf loins among the spread.

“It is surprising,” Alanah agreed. “But she did a very good job.”

“I’ll have to let her know,” Derek said. Then he scanned the crowd, looking for his companion. Finally, he saw her sitting at the head of one of the tables looking smug. “Well… maybe not.” Damn, he thought. Even she dressed for the occasion. When did she find time to get a new cloak? The cloak she was wearing was very similar to the last one, but it looked to be created with a finer material and what looked like a woven collar for her storage rings. And when the hell did she find the time to get that little chef’s hat that’s covering her horn?

“Uhem!” Derek heard someone clear their throat to gather attention as he was thinking about his companion. He looked up and saw that it was Robert Cydaria. “Now that everyone is here, I would like to thank you all for coming.” Not far away from Robert, his mother was nodding along with what he said with a smile. “Without further ado, if everyone could please follow the staff and take their places outside, we will begin the ceremony.”

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