The Royal Mark-Chapter 160: Old Crate

The group sneaked out of their rooms one by one and went to their meetup place, which was outside the castle walls, the midpoint of the Northern and Eastern gates. Aeson and Lexi had been waiting there with two horses since after dinner, telling the stable master that they would take the horses early to get acquainted with them.

Chris and Elsa were the last ones to arrive at their meeting point. "Did you all bring everything that you need?" Chris asked everyone, who nodded to him.

"How about you, love?" he said directed to Elsa.

"I got the dagger, the wand, and you," Elsa playfully winked at Chris who blushed at the unexpected answer and gesture.

The rest either looked away or bit their lips to prevent themselves from smiling and chuckling. Women in Zemaria are the conservative types, so seeing their princess initiate flirting with her husband is something fresh for them.

While on the other hand, the werewolves couldn’t believe that their prince would become flustered at that simple word and action from his wife. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

Chris noticed the amethyst pendant that Elsa was wearing and touched it, "And this?"

Elsa giggled hearing the jealousy in his voice, "Don’t worry, it was not given by a man. It’s my mom’s. And I want to bring this since I left all her things in Novus and her necklace is making me feel that she’s still with me."

Chris nodded and turned back to the others to give instructions. "Rylie and Kaizer will take the horses that carry our things. Dasher, you will ride with Laureen–" Chris paused after hearing a request from his mind link.

’Let Baahu ride with me, please? Or I will never speak with you again!’ Chris heard Lexi utter via their mind link.

’Fine!’ he tersely replied.

"Baahu, ride with Lexi. Arla, ride with Aeson. Go to your spot and prepare to shift," Chris ordered. She noticed Baahu frowning but quickly fixed his expression.

’What’s the deal with Lexi and Baahu?’ he asked Elsa as he started undressing.

’Baahu is the mate of Lexi. That’s why she stopped pursuing you the moment he met Baahu,’ Elsa replied as she folded the clothes of Chris.

’Ohh! So that’s why she stopped bothering me. I thought you threatened her,’ Chris jested.

Elsa chuckled as she shook her head, ’Do I look like a tyrant princess to you for you to think that way?’

’Well, with your temper, you have a high chance of becoming one,’ he joked before shifting into his wolf form.

Elsa hopped in and commanded, "Let’s move out!"

It took them four hours before they reached a small port in the northeast. It is used by fishermen only and is not accessible to large ships. They have used a boat at the port to reach the ship that Andrius arranged for them. The ship was an hour away from that point and was looked after by a water mage and an air mage that Andruis trusted.

When they arrived on the ship, a feast of different kinds of dishes welcomed them. "What’s all these?" Elsa asked the two mages on board.

"The crown prince thought that you might be tired from your journey. He arranged this for you so that you don’t have to cook upon your arrival."

"That is so thoughtful of my uncle. Tell him I said thank you," Elsa replied.

"Do you need anything else before we leave?" one of the mages asked.

"Where did you put the crate that I asked to be placed here in advance?" Chris asked.

"It’s in your quarters, Your Highness," the water mage answered.

"Thank you, you may go." The two mages left together with the boatman who took them to the ship.

"Go and eat first we have a long day ahead of us," Chris said to everyone before walking away, but Elsa followed him.

"Chris, where are you going? Aren’t you going to take your lunch?" she asked.

"I will but I have to check the crate first. Do you want to see it?" Chris offered, extending his hand to Elsa.

Elsa nodded and took his hand. The ship that Andruis gave them was just the average size and enough for ten people to handle.

The couple went to the captain’s quarters and found their belongings on the bed that Elsa’s mages managed to sneak out of the castle during their mating night. However, the crate was nowhere to be found.

Chris checked under the bed and there it was, a long wooden old crate. He pulled it out and showed it to Elsa.

"This is our round-trip ticket to Novus," Chris said while taking out a long silver-like rod with a gemstone at the end that looked like it was floating in the middle of the oval casing with intricate design.

"What is it?" Elsa asked in curiosity.

"This is a mithril staff and that at the top is a moonstone. It belongs to an elven king who was defeated by my ancestor during a duel by death. To stop the feud between the two kings, the werewolf king offered to spare the life of the elven king if he would give this staff in exchange for his life.

The queen begged the king to give it but when the king did not agree with her, she revealed that the baby that she was carrying was a girl, therefore the king had no heir if he died. Their bloodline is the one fueling the Tree of Life, so the Elven Council urged him to let go of the staff."

"Wow, that must be a powerful staff for the king to think it is more important than his life," Elsa commented.

"It is a powerful staff and gives the bearer great power when the moon is out, full moon, or lunar eclipse. For example, at night they could use it to weaken the demons and vampires. At full moon, they could stop the transformation of werewolves, and on a lunar eclipse, they could literally destroy the witches if they wanted to."