Two weeks of uneventfully smooth travel flew by like the sands of the desert. Soon enough, though, the desert borders came within view.
The carriage stopped for a rest at a small oasis near the border. Once the group began to pack up to leave, Chelsea realized…
It was time.
"Robin…" Chelsea called out in a quiet voice.
"Yes, Chelsea?" Robin paused as she was about to board the carriage.
The two dragons looked at each other, and then looked at the border. Chelsea then turned towards Robin.
"Unfortunately, I'm afraid that here is where we must part ways." Chelsea sighed.
Robin stopped, stunned. She looked forward, and indeed, the desert border was before them. She lowered her eyes for a moment, feeling reluctant to part ways.
Briar placed a hand upon her shoulder. Robin glanced up at her. Briar smiled warmly at her, and then her eyes moved purposefully in Chelsea's direction, reminding Robin that Chelsea was waiting for an answer.
Robin turned and walked over to Chelsea, silently. The small breeze picked up the sands about them, making a rustling sound as it passed. A few small birds in the oasis called out their merry little songs, despite the somber attitude.
"Brother said…once you have received the approval of all of the Guardians, to come and visit him once again." Chelsea informed gently.
"I will remember it." Robin said. "But I will also miss your company."
"Ahem! We dragons, are usually quite jealous about our partners." Liam said, and closed one eye. "But for you, I will make an exception. Robin, friend of True Dragons, you are free to come and go as you please within our domains. Do come and visit us again."
Robin looked at Liam, surprised.
"Next time, make sure we can spar to our hearts content, okay?" Liam emphasized.
"...oh. That's a promise." Robin nodded with a grin. That's right. Liam was a battle junkie.
Chelsea gave Robin a hug and whispered in her ear. "It appears that I will have no chance to tell Christian your little secret after you leave. Do try your best."
Robin's face flushed. Was this revenge for all the times she had teased Chelsea these past few weeks? She wanted to back away, only to find that Chelsea had locked her into place with that hug. A dragon's strength was nothing to sneeze at, after all.
"Yes…I'll remember." Robin gave up struggling and agreed. Finally, Chelsea let go, smiling cheerfully at Christian's sour expression.
One of the King Slimes decided to stay with the dragons, so it hopped off the carriage. It hopped into Chelsea's arms, something which caused Liam to glower jealously at it. But, for Chelsea's sake, he restrained himself.
Chelsea was practically beaming with delight at their new companion. Liam shifted his gaze elsewhere. They could keep it as a pet, he supposed.
"...Fare well, Chelsea." Robin finally said.
"Until we meet again, Robin." Chelsea nodded, and stepped back.
Robin returned to the carriage, and looked back before she climbed in. Chelsea waved. Robin waves back, before quietly getting onto the carriage. The carriage started moving.
As they crossed the border, Briar tapped on the window. During their whole time travelling, she had tirelessly walked alongside the carriage as easily as of she were taking a stroll. Briar tapped once again, and pointed back the way they had come. With a smile.
Robin opened the window and poked her head out, looking back towards the desert. A huge rainbow shone as rain began to fall out of a clear blue sky upon the desert sands. Robin blinked in surprise, then smiled.
It seemed Liam and Chelsea had their own way of saying goodbye.
~~~
After a few days' travel, the flags of a certain country could be seen over the tops of the trees. At that point, Keith had the carriage pull over off the side of the road. He even made sure they couldn't be seen from the road at all.
"What gives, Uncle? Why do we need to be so secretive?" Robin asked.
"Do you remember that troublesome kingdom that was mentioned? You know, the one where the queen likes to gather handsome men around her?" Keith asked.
"Yes?" Robin said, not seeing the point.
"We are approaching that kingdom." Keith said, looking like he had seen something foul. "So all the men will need to disguise themselves."
"So?" Robin asked.
"...Ahem! If the hero were to be captured into the queen's-" Keith was cut off as Robin suddenly realized what he meant.
"Say no more! I understand completely!" Robin cut him off hastily. Briar chuckled seeing this interaction.
"I believe I can help you all in this endeavor." Briar said, as she raised a hand. "I'm fairly good at disguises, after all."
~~~
Half an hour later, the carriage made its way to the checkpoint. Robin slumped in her seat listlessly, her head covered by a hood which she pulled low over her face.
"Halt! All men, please dismount the horses and carriage, so that your appearances may be assessed, according to the laws of our kingdom." A lady knight called out.
The knights dismounted from their horses, and the men went down from the carriage. A lady knight looked in through the doorway. Seeing Briar's elven appearance, a glint of jealousy arose in the Knight's eyes. She decided to leave no stone unturned.
"I said 'All men'. If you are hiding a man from our assessment, you can all be arrested. Who's that sitting over by the window? Take off your hood!"
Briar looked over at Robin, and patted her shoulder sympathetically.
"I'm sorry, my dear, but the knight needs to do her job." Briar said softly.
Robin flinched, but slowly lowered the hood to bare her blushing face. Robin was once more wearing a dress, with the ringlet black hair that Quinn helped her out with. Freckles spread numerously across the bridge of her nose.
"The poor dear is really conscious of her freckles." Briar explained to the guard. "We came here seeking treatment for them as we heard that the best beauty treatments could be found here."
The lady knight stared long and hard at Robin's face, but there were no signs of a disguise on her.
"Very Well. Apologies for making you uncomfortable." The lady knight closed the door, and looked in through the other side. Gerard was able to escape assessment, since he was a child.
Hair of excessively dull and muddied colors, buck teeth, overbites, underbites, uneven skin tones, unflattering nose profiles, squared faces…
Between Quinn and Briar, they were able to completely transform the group into a team of ordinary folks who could never be considered handsome. Even the abdominal muscles had been smoothed over, until it appeared normal.
"It seems you enjoy looking the fairest in the group." The lady knight noted as she glowered at Briar.
"I'm aware of the queen's weakness for good looks." Briar shrugged. "But it would be inconvenient to have my entourage separated from me. So, you can only say that if circumstances weren't such, I might have chosen a different company to bring."
"You're saying that you purposefully brought an ugly company, along with you? Are you trying to disgust our queen to death?" The lady knight seethed.
"The queen need never see my company. We are merely here to help my younger sister." Briar replied. "Once our business is over, then we shall leave."
"Lady Allison, she hasn't broken any laws." One of the other lady knights reasoned. "We can't obstruct them."
Lady Allison snorted, and stood back. "I'll be watching you." She said with narrowed eyes.
"Feel free to admire my beauty as you'd like. It doesn't cost a coin just to look." Briar replied as the men filed back into the carriage, and the knights returned to their horses.
They drove through the first three towns before they stopped for the night in a fairly prosperous town. All this time, although they were outwardly quiet, telepathically, they were communicating in secret.
'What I don't understand is why we have to stop here?' Christian asked. 'Why can't we just drive all the way through and leave as quickly as possible?'
'It's too suspicious.' Keith answered. 'We at least need to stay the minimum amount of time necessary in order to accomplish the so called business we arrived here for. Otherwise someone will start sniffing about our business and calling it rotten.'