Chapter Text
Callum had the connections to go just about anywhere on official business, but this time what he really wanted was for nobody to know where he was going.
Once he’d thought of ways to not share the details of his trip without actually lying (which he was terrible at) he'd still need a guide to lead him to the relative safety of the oasis in the heart of the Midnight Desert, as well as an Ambler to carry him there and back alive.
Very few humans in the world knew how to come by either one, but Prince Callum of Katolis knew how to arrange for both – and with the aid of the Crow Master, whose job was often to send and receive letters without reading them, he could even do so confidentially.
As High Mage, Callum was actually expected to go on expeditions in search of magical knowledge and resources. This would be one of those, for all anybody knew. And it was true that he was after knowledge he could only gain through magic, as well as spellcasting resources. That meant instead of lying, he was just technically correct, the kind of correct that could let a clever young man justify anything to himself. At least for a little while, until the deed was done.
The only real downsides to the plan were that Callum didn’t actually trust this guide, and that last time he’d relied on the Ambler to get him through the desert, it had left him behind.
Him and Rayla, that is. They’d been stranded at the very oasis he was trying to reach now. It was where they’d first–
Well. That wasn’t something he needed to focus on now. Maybe he wouldn’t ever have to think about it again, anymore, once he’d finished his excursion to the oasis and come home.
The crows came through. The arrangements were made. Ezran was concerned about Callum, but only in the same way he had been ever since Rayla left them, and that was fine. Soren was under the impression that getting out there and doing ‘mage stuff’ was a sign that Callum’s spirits were improving. Corvus didn’t ask questions, but helped him choose provisions. Last, Opeli made a note of it for her all-important kingly scheduling calendar.
Callum traveled cross-country without incident. Sneaking into Xadia – and around a certain angry giant dragon’s territory – was easier now that he could get around by flying. Traveling at night worked best at this time of year, anyway, and even if anyone had been watching for him on the border of the wastelands, he was just some wandering weirdo in a hood. Every corner of every kingdom had those.
The burnt-black sands of the Midnight Desert came into view, and then the agreed-upon landmarks, and then Callum’s contact and her Ambler.
It was time to find out if he could use her or not.
+++
“Oh, this is fab,” Nyx mumbled to her Ambler mount, rotating the segments of her prized spyglass in her hands. This let the lens-that-looked-through-a-lens inside of it focus better. She’d spotted him coming a wing-sprint off, but with her glass, she could now make out his sense of fashion. “It’s a weirdo wanderin’ about in a hood. Though they’re all over every kingdom, I suppose.”
Her giant Ambler groaned in its accepting, easygoing way.
“You’re right,” Nyx allowed, “A big fare is a big fare.”
The Ambler didn’t need to repeat itself, just glance at Nyx. That was a power of communication it had, similar to how it didn’t need to use words at all to get its points across. It was just… convincing, sometimes. At least, it was to her.
“Yeah, yeah. I’ll go turn on the charm and then pay my own way with some food for you,” Nyx said. She was, after all, not much more than a passenger herself on this voyage, one bribing the Ambler to ramble where she wanted to go. Not that the paying customers needed to know that.
“Hello, worthy client!” Nyx dove down to meet this paying customer from high atop her Ambler’s back. She made a landing that whooshed black sand around in a circle in a particularly flamboyant fashion. It looked cool, although she hoped that it didn’t get in the client’s eyes. There had been an… incident with some dust, one time.
“Naimi-Selari-Nykantia, at your service, noble traveler!” she said in her winningest, saleswomanliest voice. “You can call me Nyx. I do presume you’ve come here by previous arrangement? If not, your crossing of the Midnight Desert may have to wait, for I’ve already accepted one fare, and duly I am honor bound to–”
“Save the speech, Nyx. I’m just here for the ride there and back, like I mailed about, and I don’t want to answer a lot of questions.”
Nyx grimaced. Of course he going to be was all business. Nobody without some important business would ever be out in the unsafe Midnight Desert in the extra-unsafe summer if they could help it. Her clients were almost always contraband smugglers, and almost never fun.
Well, fine, then. Nyx’s business was to collect a handsome payout by sharing a ride on the Ambler. Ride-sharing. She’d invented the term. Pretty clever, if Nyx did say so herself.
“Uh, not sure what you’re talking about,” was all Nyx said, though. “In fact, I’m completely incurious.” Maybe this smuggler wanted to know she wasn’t nosy?
“You going to get the Ambler to lift me up on its tail, or am I climbing its leg again?” asked the ominous hooded whoever.
Nyx was squinting at that hood, trying to see who wasn’t-quite-hiding underneath. “Uh, have we met before, valued customer…?” she asked. It was really the voice that struck her as most familiar, but she’d heard a lot of voices in her life of traveling. Most of the time, meeting people twice involved them trying to take some kind of revenge on her.
That was when Callum threw the hood of his desert cloak back – perhaps a bit more forcefully than he’d intended, so it kind of stuck on his shoulder. He also only now wondered if his hair, which he was trying to style a bit more these days, had gotten matted by the hood.
At least Nyx still looked suitably surprised to see who her client was. Unfortunately this took the form of pointing and then poking in rapid succession at Callum’s rosy cheeks, round ears, and hornless head, and nearly hopping up and down in astonishment. “It’s you! I wondered whatever happened to you!”
Callum had to withdraw a step from her inspection before she poked him right in one of his eyes. Instead, he put his fists on his hips and stood as tall as he could in a pose of triumph. “None other!”
This made Nyx blink her mismatched-colored eyes at him a few times. She responded the only way she could to this weird sentence and posturing:
“Wot?”
“Uh… I thought that’s what you say when you reveal your identity and somebody goes ‘It’s you.’ It’s what they say in plays.” Callum wondered why he’d just explained that. It hardly made his choice of words seem less lame. He adjusted his cloak a little.
Nyx didn’t really seem to care about those details, though. “Don’t really see a lot of plays. Uh, anyway, what’cha doin’ here of all places? Again?!”
“I’m out to survey that oasis. You know, the one you tried to abandon me at not all that long ago?”
“Yeah, it’s a nice one.”
“Basically, I want to sketch it and come back, and you get a bonus on your normal rate. For, y’know, confidentiality. Because despite being a notable foreign royal, I don’t like to travel with a lot of fuss.”
“Hm.” Nyx wondered if there was some alternate, human definition of ‘fuss’ at play here. “As I recall, the last time you traveled round here, you were with The Dragon Prince and a Moonshadow Murderer–”
“Assassin,” Callum corrected with a roll of his eyes, as though he didn’t enjoy having to think about the subject.
“Those are actually what’re called synonyms, though, I think?” Nyx shrugged. Her youthful disregard for rules and adult disregard for laws meant she hadn’t gotten as much formal education as some people. “But, as I was just recalling that I’d already recalled, you were also important somehow, right? Er, you’re… oh! I got it! The Dragon Prince was there, but you were, too! You were The Human Prince!”
“So even though you tried to con me, I’m gonna guess you don’t actually remember my name, either.” Callum really hadn’t expected this particular complication. He’d really thought he’d have the advantage by choosing not to hold a grudge.
“That’s your own fault for not having a notable introduction like mine, The Human Prince. So? Gonna make one now?” Nyx gestured encouragingly.
“It’s Callum. Prince Callum of Katolis.” Callum did not put any verve into this statement. Not even a fake-nice amount.
“Well, that’s not very memorable, either. No majesty, no showmanship, and I reckon lots of humans are from there. Can’t you throw anything else in, so I don’t forget?”
“You need more?! I’m a prince! And the High Mage!” Callum gestured to himself, well-illuminated by the desert sun, as though these things were easy to see.
To Nyx, he just looked like a human in an admittedly high-quality set of clothing, once you got past the magey affectation of the cloak. And although she had recognized Callum, humans could be hard to tell apart – they didn’t even have horns, after all. “Well, lots of princes are mages in Xadia. So that doesn’t do us much. Honestly, ‘The Human Prince’ is still your best bet. I think I’m gonna call you that, if it’s all the same.”
“I guess I did ask for anonymity.” Callum pointed up. “Look, are you going to have the Ambler lift me up on its back so we can get going, like I was talking about in the first place? Can we do that?”
They did, and after her making the price clear, and him outlining when and how she’d get to collect it, there wasn’t really any reason for Nyx to stall. The sooner they got underway, the sooner Nyx could bring Callum back, get her pay, and not have to deal with the judgmental nature of this human, who she’d rather hoped she’d balanced the scales with already.
After all, he’d helped save her life, one time! Now, he’d hired her as well. Surely that meant he didn’t entirely loathe her.
The human mage settled in on the passenger level of the Ambler’s saddle while listening to her yell her safety precautions for riders. But once the great beast’s saddle had been properly rigged and it was coaxed into beginning a pleasant walk to its favorite oasis, Nyx returned to its back to get some more information out of Callum. She had a lot of questions, and more were occurring to her all the time.
“Hang on,” she said (although he was doing nothing that he needed to pause to pay attention to her) “So, you really made it all the way here through Xadia without being noticed for a lone, you know… H-U-M-A-N? No offense, but you’ve never struck me as a master of disguise…”
Callum had been trying to kick back and open one of the research books he’d packed. Apparently he was going to have someone to converse with after all, but he already didn’t feel sure that would turn out to be a good thing.
“I disagree,” he said, “but if you’re actually curious, I specialize in sky magic now. It’s good for getting around. I know a moon mage, too. She gave me a tip I wanted to act on, and she’s good at ‘sneaky.’ I also don’t know who you were spelling out ‘human’ to hide it from? Seems like it’s just us here. Or can Amblers read?”
Nyx cocked an eyebrow at him. “Right, so you’re sassy, now that you’ve aged about two hours or something. You got moody and sassy, that’s a shame. And… ohh… you’re traveling alone, as opposed to last time, when you were with your love bug hero-girl…” (Comprehension only stole over Nyx’s face here) “After you returned your surrogate dragon baby! I see. That explains that. Gotcha.” The smug Skywing elf gave a completely unacceptable attempt at a knowing nod. “Say no more! I’ll deploy my tact on the subject and not bring it up again.”
Although it was much too late to make a difference, Callum still somehow doubted she’d live up to that promise. “You really know how to personalize the travel experience, don’t you?”
“Yes, well, I don’t think anybody could argue with that!” With a hopefully tension-cutting thumbs-up, Nyx knelt deep, enjoying the familiar grind of her toes settling into place inside the tips of her springy, tall flight boots. She coiled what she thought of as the ‘takeoff muscles’ of her long, strong legs, whipped her wings outwards, and soared on a useful hot weather updraft back towards the Ambler’s head.
Nyx just managed to see out of the corner of her eye that The Human Prince was staring after her. Naturally. She’d known her artful flying was impressive all along. Callum just wasn’t hiding it under a hood anymore.
“Just remember to rate me five stars!” she shouted over her shoulder at the dumbfounded look of admiration he had for grace in the air.
“What?” Callum asked, his expression shifting from awestruck to awfully confused.
“It’s something new I’m trying to get going!” After perching on the driver’s level, Nyx shot Callum a double thumbs-up from her Ambler’s head. Surely that many thumbs up could sway anyone to forgiveness of sins past? “When you tell your mates that this secret mission of yours worked out because of my ride-share business… or make a note of if to your royal friends or whatever… be sure to say you rate my work five stars! I’m here all season, and I need referral business.”
“Isn’t ‘four stars’ traditionally the most stuff can get rated?” Callum asked, still thinking of plays.
“That’s how you know five is even better!” called Nyx.
Callum was not sure she should be trying to scare up new business through his secret mission, but it was fairly amusing. He just kept himself from laughing and yelled to his guide, “Okay! Five stars. If you earn ‘em!”
He’d have to admit that Nyx was at least an entertaining driver so far. Plus, she didn’t seem to have any interest in finding out what he actually wanted to do at the oasis.
In Callum’s opinion, that was a very, very good thing.