Arcadia's Ignoble Knight: The Sorceress of Ashtown

Of Maids and Trains

The train had started moving a little while ago. Because he wasn't at the academy, Caspian had taken to wearing something a little less conspicuous. His black pants ruffled as he shifted in his seat, and his brown leather boots scuffed against the carpeted floor. The white collared shirt he wore had a slight dip in the front. A brown traveling cloak had been thrown over the entire ensemble for good measure, and a red bandana was tied around his head, keeping his red bangs out of his eyes, while also hiding his ears. The clothing he'd donned was loose and way more comfortable than the academy uniforms. Those outfits were torturous.

Stupid old man and his stupid militaristic dress code. Didn't he realize that not everyone enjoyed dressing up like a dog of the military?

Looking out the window, Caspian's eyes gazed upon the passing scenery. The area around Arcadia's Knight Academy was mostly grassy fields and plains. There was little else to see except for the occasional farm here or there. It was a very rural place. Agriculture was big in this particular side of Arcadia. It was nothing at all like the technologically advanced Temarian province, or even the industrialized Dystian province, which was his current itinerary. The Ruudon province's primary resource was its livestock and its agriculture.

While he sat there, a slight grumble emerged from his stomach, reminding him that, in his haste to escape from Christo, he'd forgotten to eat breakfast. He must have incurred some really bad karma to suffer under that fool. He'd never believed in the idea of reincarnation, but there had to be something he'd done so far in the past that he didn't remember it, something so horrible the spirits had decided to punish him. It was the only way he could explain why he'd had such a ludicrous case of awful luck. As if his entire life being destroyed hadn't been enough, life just had to stick him with an annoyance like Christo.

His stomach rumbled again.

"Ha..." Caspian sighed. "I guess all that running has made me hungry."

Standing up, Caspian made his way out of his compartment and into the hallway. The slight squeal of the train running along the tracks accompanied his footsteps as he walked into the next car; an open car with several booths for people to sit in, he noticed. It appeared to be quite crowded, with nearly every seat taken. There were so many people that their faces actually appeared to blur together in a mishmash of color and hair.

All of the people in this car were peasants, like him. The rich had their own set of cars near the front. He'd never been there, but he'd heard tales of their extravagance. Purportedly, the cars up front looked like the stateroom suite to an expensive inn. Julius had once tried riling him up by bragging about how he'd gotten to ride in them several times. He'd also mentioned how he felt sorry for Caspian, because he would never get to experience the joys of riding in one.

That day, Julius had received a broken nose during their spar.

While Caspian had never been to the front cars, he always had tickets for the sleeper cars. That was one of the greatest benefits to being given tasks by the headmaster. He always got his own compartment. Which was just as well, since he disliked large crowds.

Just as he finished opening the door to enter the second to last car, someone else tried doing the same thing, and when they realized nothing was there for them to push open, they lost their footing and stumbled through.

"Oof!"

"Kya!"

The results were about what could be expected from such a first meeting. Caspian ended up colliding with the much smaller body of whoever ran into him. Because the other person was moving so fast and Caspian's pace was slow, he was knocked onto his backside. He also ended up smacking the back of his head when it had a meeting with the floor. The other person fell on top of him, their momentum so great that it pushed them forward.