Tenebris Renasci: A World of Magic and Gunpowder

Chapter 40: Journey towards the city.



With the introductions out of the way, Charlotte turned back to look at Alexander with a warm smile. 

Alexander hesitantly smiled back, before turning towards béatrice, hoping she'd give him any suggestions or help. 

Béatrice looked down to Alexander with little interest and an impatient expression. "What are you looking for?" She asked, "You know the layout of your home, and you know what I expect of you." She then sighed, turning her attention to Charlotte. "Now that that's done, I suggest we get down to business."

Charlotte chuckled. "Ahh béatrice, I wonder how Napoleon did it for so long."

Béatrice glared at Charlotte briefly before turning towards the entrance. "Your attitude has been noted." She replied, walking back towards the estate.

Charlotte continued to softly chuckle as she followed behind her, but not before turning to Alexander and giving him a quick wink. 

Alexander watched them leave with a confused expression. He had just been thrown to sea with little more than a life jacket.

"So!" Elizabeth said excitedly as she squeezed Alexander's hand. "What do you want to do first?"

Alexander turned to her with a weak smile.

Taking a deep breath, Alexander began looking at his situation objectively. Breaking his situation down, he realized that it was essentially a play date with a girl his own age.

Given how young Elizabeth was, it wouldn't take much to entertain her, while on the other hand, Victoria was older and therefore more mature. It would take significantly more to entertain her, or it would seem.

Realistically, Victoria wasn't going to be entertained by a six-year-old boy regardless of what he did, and because of that, he probably wouldn't even need to entertain her in the first place.

So all he had to do was let Elizabeth dictate the entire show, and everything would be fine!

Alexander's smile grew more confident. "Whatever you want to do." He said, gesturing out.

Elizabeth giggled. "I want to visit the city!"

Alexander's jaw dropped almost immediately as his mind went blank.

"That actually doesn't sound terrible." Victoria chimed in with a sigh. 

Donna, who had been quietly listening while leaning against the carriage, nodded. "Couldn't hurt, I could use a few drinks." She said with a smirk, pulling herself off the carriage.

"Are you sure that's wise, D'élite?" Claire asked, her expression slightly concerned, "This is royalty…"

"What, you think I can't protect a few kids?" Donna asked, her tone slightly annoyed.

Claire simply shook her head. "That's not what I said ma'am, however, would it not be wise to at least prepare a platoon of pathfinders?"

Donna chuckled as she placed a hand on her hip. "Nah, It's not sergeant, there's a reason her majesty only travels with me." 

Claire simply nodded. "Of course, forgive my rudeness D'élite pathfinder Donna."

"D'élite, what does that mean?" Alexander asked aloud.

Donna grinned as she turned her attention to Alexander. Though Alexander hadn't noticed it before, he noticed Donna had extremely sharp canines. 

He only noticed it thanks to how wide her smile had grown. 

"I could kill every pathfinder here," she said with a soft yet threatening voice, "and still have an appetite for seconds."

Alexander's eyes slowly widened as he processed what she had just said. There were around five hundred pathfinders currently stationed here, ranging from privates to captains.

If she could kill all of them, then she would essentially be a one-woman army.

No, she is a fucking monster.

Clearly, she was over-exaggerating, however, Alexander wasn't going to call her out on her bluff. "I see," Alexander said with a nervous chuckle.

"Did you know Donna's not the only one Alexander!" Elizabeth chimed in, "There's six others!"

Alexander nodded, to that there was an entirely different level of pathfinder was a sort of a comforting thought.

If only they had been in the Fallen Kingdom, maybe I'd still be at home.

Alexander sighed as he straightened himself up. "That's cool, I guess that's why she's the only person guarding the queen."

"Yep," Elizabeth answered. "Anyway, are you ready to visit the city?!"

Alexander shrugged. "Okay, but I've never been so…"

"Then it'll be an adventure for all of us!" Elizabeth said happily as she cut him off. 

She began tugging at his hand, pulling him towards the carriage. "Let's go, let's go now!"

"Alright," Alexander said softly as he was pulled towards the carriage. 

Victoria, who had been mostly silent, pointed towards one of the open-top carriages that were parked in the courtyard. "Uhm, I'd honestly rather actually SEE the city, and not watch through glass."

Donna chuckled as she nodded. "You got a point there."

Elizabeth stopped in her tracks and turned towards the open-top carriages. "Then let's pick that one!" She said, turning around and leading Alexander towards the new carriage.

Claire looked at the carriage and silently sighed. "I'll fetch a Windwalker and driver." She said before turning away, heading towards the stables. 

Alexander watched as Claire jogged off towards the stables. 

He felt a mixture of excitement and apprehension building within himself. 

He had expected the day to progress as all the others, yet it became increasingly evident that wasn't the case. 

As Elizabeth raced towards the carriage, her enthusiasm was palpable. Alexander couldn't help but smile along with her.

Even Victoria, who had been cold and cool, had a small smile playing on her lips as she approached the carriage. 

Donna followed behind her, she had a mischievous grin on her lips as she walked with a confident stride. Despite her menacing aura, her presence gave Alexander a bit of reassurance.

Still waiting for Claire to return with the Windwalker and carriage driver, Elizabeth decided to climb inside and claim her seat. 

"Come on Alexander, you can sit beside me," Elizabeth said with a giggle as she patted the seat beside herself, beckoning him.

Alexander hesitated briefly before stepping into the carriage, settling next to Elizabeth he took a deep breath. 

Elizabeth moved to grab his hand once more, holding it tightly as she smiled at him. 

Alexander looked towards her with a smile of his own. 

He wasn't quite sure of what to expect next but was ready to go with the flow. 

Victoria climbed in next, taking her seat across from Elizabeth with grace. Her gaze lingered on the Nova estate briefly before turning her attention towards the busy town beyond the hill. 

It was around this time Claire returned with both a driver and Windwalker. 

The windwalker was a bit larger than the ones Alexander was used to back home, its coat was a silvery black, and its eyes were a deep green. It walked with grace and elegance, almost like a show pony.

Donna moved to the front of the carriage to greet both Claire and the driver, who surprisingly enough, was Charles. 

"Hello, your majesties, Ms. Donna, and lord Alexander." Charles said with a respectful tone, "I will be your designated driver."

"Hi, Charles!" Elizabeth said with a wave, "It's good to see you again!"

Charles looked at Elizabeth and smiled. "Hello, Princess Elizabeth." 

As Charles greeted everyone, Claire attached the windwaker to the carriage with its harness.

When she was done, Charles climbed into the driver's seat and grabbed the reins. It was then that Donna hopped onto the driver's seat beside him, stretching her arm out behind him as the other rested on her thigh. "Move it, Charles." She said with a laugh, "Drinks won't serve themselves."

Charles gave Donna a quick side-eye. 

"R-right away Ms. Donna." He stammered while flicking his wrist. The Windwalker shook its head as it pulled away from the parked row of carriages and cars. 

It moved gracefully as it moved past the courtyard and down the hill. 

As the carriage slowly rolled down the hill and through the fort that surrounded the nova estate, Alexander had his attention drawn by Elizabeth. 

"So," she began, a wide smile on her face, "what's your favorite color?"

"Uhm, purple, but black is a close second," Alexander answered.

Elizabeth giggled. "Really?" She asked, "I like pink, but my second favorite is white."

Alexander nodded. "I think I can guess why you like pink." He said with a point to her pink eyes, "But why white?"

"Because white is the color of pretty clouds, and I like pretty clouds."

Alexander found himself smiling warmly. "Seriously, you like white because of clouds?"

Elizabeth nodded. "Absolutely!" She then pointed towards Alexander. "But now it's my turn to ask a question, why do you like purple and black?"

"Well, it's a long story, are you sure you want to hear it?"

Elizabeth nodded. "Of course, I want to know everything about you, so we can be friends." She said with a grin.

Friends huh, okay…

Taking a deep breath, Alexander nodded as he leaned back in his seat. 

Recalling the memories of his previous life, he began to organize it in a way to tell his story without revealing the fact that he was reborn.

"So, one day I was out in a field with my parents, we were having a picnic together." Alexander began, his tone reminiscent. "Everything was fine at first, we were eating, laughing, playing, but suddenly, the sky began to darken and thunder rumbled in the distance."

"That sounds like a storm," Elizabeth commented.

Alexander smiled. "Yep, that's exactly what it was." He replied, "Anyway, we were caught off guard by the storm because we had been told that the sky was supposed to be sunny that day."

"But it wasn't, because of the storm, right?" Elizabeth said, leaning closer to Alexander, clearly intrigued by the story he was telling.

"Elizabeth." Victoria said with an annoyed tone, "Can you be quiet… for five seconds!?"

Alexander chuckled as he turned to see Victoria was leaning slightly forward as well. 

Is she interested in my story too? That's funny.

Alexander wasn't expecting that.

Elizabeth smiled sheepishly as she nodded. "Sorry Victoria," Elizabeth whispered as she placed a finger over her mouth. "I'll be quiet."

Victoria sighed as she turned towards Alexander, "Continue." She said, almost as if it was an order.

Alexander nodded. "Yeah, so like I was saying, the storm came out of nowhere, and we were caught by complete surprise." Alexander said, his tone becoming more narrative, "My father began hurriedly grabbing our items, while my mother grabbed me in her arms. As we gathered our things, drops of rain began falling from the sky, splashing against my forehead."

"When the rain hit my head, I looked up to the sky, it was then that I saw the sky changing from this blue color to the sort of warm magenta with an orange horizon. I was drawn in by it, and I continued to watch as my mother began jogging back towards our carriage."

Alexander then smiled, "It was the first time I had ever seen the sky change to such a color, and ever since then, I always wanted to see more of it, you know?"

Elizabeth nodded eagerly. "Definitely!" She exclaimed, "In fact, purple is now my third favorite color!" She said with enthusiasm, holding up three fingers. 

Alexander chuckled, "Welcome to the team." He said, holding out his other hand. 

Elizabeth giggled as she gave him a high-five.

"So why do you like black?" Victoria asked.

"Oh yeah," Elizabeth said, "you never answered that."

"Oh, well, I just like it," Alexander said casually.

Both Victoria and Elizabeth narrowed their eyes in slight confusion as they studied Alexander. "Alexander, that's not a real reason," Elizabeth said worriedly. 

"Yes, it is," Alexander replied. "What, did you expect I'd have a story for that too?"

"I guess so," Elizabeth said, slightly disappointed. She then turned to Victoria, "What's your favorite color sister?" She asked.

Victoria sighed. "I don't have one, picking something as pointless as that is for children."


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