The next few days went by in a bit of a blur. I spent them mainly with Tallia, helping her repair the barrier around the island, but I also made stops to see how everyone else was doing from time to time. It was just hard to get away from Tallia now that I had her.

It was now morning, and the two of us were just relaxing in bed together after just enjoying some time. That was pretty much all we had been doing in our free time, but I wasn't complaining.

"You know that we can't keep doing this forever," Tallia said three days after I had woken up as the two of us laid together in bed naked together, and I leaned in to kiss her.

"Are you sure?" I teased, but Tallia gave me a look that made me roll my eyes. "I know, but you can't blame me for trying. I just wanted to squeeze as much time as I could with you, but I will go see what the girls are up to in the manor."

"I am sure that the little countess will be excited to see you. Maybe just stay out of Bramma for a bit while I do some poking around about Kira and Melrose. I still don't really think that we should trust the queen," Tallia said with a sigh and tucked her face into my chest as I wrapped her in my arms.

"Are you sure that you don't want me to come with you?" I asked, but Tallia shook her head.

"No, I would like you to go up to Torrian. After everything, you could use a bit of a break, and you can take some of the girls with you that you are watching over. That means Claire and Elfinia, but you had better take those two troublemakers," Tallia said, looking up at me with narrowed eyes. "They were thrown out of Bramma for snooping around."

"Who? You don't mean my pair of detectives?" I asked with a grin and then groaned as Tallia bit my chest.

"This is why you can't spend every day with me! You need to keep those two in line, so take them with you. I am sure that a few others will want to come, so you should take a wagon and enjoy the trip. I don't want to see you back at Northwall for the next two weeks. The boat that you requested is being built, but they won't have the skeleton built until then, so there is no point in you hanging around. There also have been some food problems up there. You seem to have a knack in the kitchen, so maybe you could help them out with new dishes or maybe better ways to hunt," Tallia explained, and I perked up.

"Oh? Is this something that has always been a problem, or just recently?" I asked.

"This has always been a problem, but the Northerners all get by, but since you are here, I thought that you might be able to help. They are more hardened women, but they are also known to throw grand parties and big fires in the center of the city. I think that you will like the place," Tallia said with a smile, but I felt like there was something I was missing here.

"What is really going on?" I asked, staring down at her. "You are sending me away for a reason, so just tell me what it is."

Tallia gave a long sigh and looked up at the ceiling. "I have received word that there could be some unrest in Torrian. They are in the middle of selecting a new leader, and I don't think that things are going to end well if left as they are," Tallia said finally, and my eyes narrowed as I processed this new information. "Carrie is the current Warden of Torrian, but there is a new girl, Hilda, and she has some interesting ideas that might help the people of Torrian. The problem is that Torrian is the main city, but there are about five other smaller towns around it. They have a basic way of trapping, but they don't have many skills that are useful for making things to sell. The north is a cold place, so that is what they are good at making things for. There is a bunch of problems that I could tell you about, but I think it is better for you to deal with this."

"So let me get this straight," I said slowly as my hand tightened around Tallia's waist protectively while she lay in front of me. "You are sending me up to a city that is about to go into a civil war with a bunch of girls that have no combat training and telling me to just figure it out?"

"No, I am sending you up there because they need someone with a level head. The people of Torrian won't listen to me because I don't live there, but they will listen to you. You are also taking the girls so that they can help spread the message of peace. As for civil war breaking out," Tallia said with a shrug as she sat up and stared at me. "I don't think it will come down to that if you can help Hilda gain more support."

"And how exactly am I supposed to do that?" I asked as Tallia got out of bed and began getting dressed. "You haven't given me much information on what is going on."

"That is because this is something that you need to figure out on your own," Tallia said over her shoulder as she finished putting on her boots. "I trust you implicitly, Galio; otherwise, I wouldn't be sending you off into danger like this."

"That doesn't really make me feel better!" I complained as I got up and got dressed.

"Well, that is how things go. You will understand why I am leaving this to you when you get there, okay?" Tallia asked as she turned back and walked over to me as I pulled on my shirt that got caught on my point white ears. "You trust me, right?"

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