"It is ridiculous that it takes us weeks to reach the capital. How is the Empire supposed to stay together if a message takes ten days to cross one province? It is simply archaic," complained Celestia, letting her back fall against the plush silk backrest of the carriage with a sigh of frustration she seemed to have been holding since they left the Stormvale lands.
Lyssara did not respond immediately. She kept her gaze fixed on a copy of the Imperial Gazette, a rough paper newspaper that arrived late to the coastal areas but was still the best source of information about the movements in Vaeloria. Her fingers, gloved in fine leather, turned the page calmly, as if Celestia's lament was just another sound of the journey.
"I would like to travel through the skies, like a seagull flying among the clouds," Celestia continued, looking up at the carriage ceiling as if she could see through it. "No muddy roads, no horses that need rest every few hours, and above all, none of this constant confinement. They should build something faster, something that defies the logic of these distances."
At that, Lyssara lowered the newspaper slightly and observed her friend. They were there, sharing a cramped space for days, because their mothers had arranged it. Duchess Elyn and Matriarch Seraphine Valmar had decided that their daughters should enter the Imperial Academy together. It was an obvious political move: to show an unbreakable union between House Drayvar and House Valmar in the eyes of the Vaelorian court. To the world, they were two young nobles beginning their education; to the Houses, however, they were a declaration of strategic alliance.
"It is tedious, yes," Lyssara admitted in an icy voice.
While Celestia continued talking, her mind had already begun to calculate.
'Time is the only resource we cannot recover. Every hour in this carriage is an hour that I am not training or studying the capital's terrain. What would be efficient in this? More well-trained horses? Some imported beast of burden from the southern deserts? Or perhaps the problem is not the animals, but the infrastructure. Improving the roads is only a temporary solution if the base speed does not change.'
"Have you caught up yet, or are you going to keep pretending that map is more interesting than my face?" Celestia sat up, regaining her usual vivacity.
Without waiting for a response, she continued.
"Marianne wrote to me that the welcome events at the Academy are absolutely mandatory this year. She says the atmosphere is tenser than normal. It's no longer just about who wears the best dress, but who aligns with whom from day one. She asked me: 'what if someone decides they don't like you before they even meet you?' In Vaeloria, the wrong side at the first dinner can ruin your three years of study."
As she spoke, she leaned forward, naturally invading Lyssara's space.
"They say there's an heir from the Oakhaven kingdom who is... well, 'memorable'."
At that, Lyssara finally folded the newspaper and placed it on the empty seat beside her before responding.
"The Academy has always been a microcosm of any competitive structure. Marianne is right to worry about power groups. If you don't enter with a defined network of allies, you become prey. Rylan has already paved the way for us, but that also means we inherit his enemies."
"Speaking of inheriting things..." Celestia said, touching her hair with a deliberate gesture. "I've decided that the capital's fashion requires drastic measures. Those long, heavy manes that look like curtains are completely outdated in current fashion circles. I've cut mine shorter to adapt to Vaeloria's new trend. Do you think it will be more noticeable? They say a clear neck and a sharper style convey an image of greater level and confidence."
'I hope someone up there has good taste,' she thought with a mischievous smile.
Lyssara evaluated the change carefully. Celestia's hair, now layered and modern, gave her an air of maturity that contrasted with her volatile personality.
"Do you like it?" Celestia insisted.
"It makes you look as if you know exactly what you are doing... even though I know you don't."
Celestia frowned and gave a little pout, as if she were half-annoyed at not receiving a greater compliment. After a few seconds, she turned towards the window and lowered it to let in the air, which was starting to cool as they ascended the inland routes.
It was then that a rhythmic sound, like a thousand hammers striking in unison, flooded the compartment.
Along the edge of the Imperial Road, what Lyssara had been imagining minutes before seemed to materialize before her eyes by the work of a higher will. Hundreds of men worked on an engineering structure that defied sight: long parallel steel beams stretching as far as the horizon.
"Look at that!" Celestia exclaimed, leaning out further. "What is all that mess?"
Immediately, she called to one of the knights riding alongside the carriage.
"Hey! What is all this metal mess on the ground?"
The knight, a man of House Valmar, slowed his mount to approach the window.
"It is the new transport mechanism implemented by the Empire, Lady Celestia. They call it the Iron Road for the trains. It is a mass transit system that uses refined minerals combined with Aether cores to generate constant propulsion. They say the machines don't tire and can transport ten times the weight of a caravan at five times its speed. The Empire is investing fortunes in connecting Vaeloria with the main ports."
Celestia raised the window again when the construction dust began to bother her.
"Minerals and Aether cores... It sounds dangerous and extremely expensive. But I suppose it's just what I was asking for, isn't it? Something faster than these beasts."
"It's the logical solution," Lyssara murmured, processing the implications as she watched the beams disappear into the distance.
'A network of trains means that Emperor Titus can put a legion in Stormvale in forty-eight hours. The autonomy of the provinces ends the moment those tracks reach our doors. It is a way to make money by eliminating travel time, but it is also a steel collar around the neck of every Great House.'
"Well, as long as it's comfortable, I don't care who controls it," Celestia said, dismissing the geopolitics.
"When we arrive there will be new technical demonstrations in the capital," she added, her eyes shining with curiosity. "Rylan has been there for a year now, so he's surely aware of everything."
Lyssara raised an eyebrow, skeptical.
"I wonder if he will still be the perfect boy we remember... or if Vaeloria will have given him a more... flirtatious touch."
"Rylan will be more worried about maintaining his position. Knowing him, he must be in the top three of his class. He wouldn't accept less from himself."
Celestia sighed dramatically before changing the subject.
"And what about Kael? Do you really think he has the skills to enter the Academy when it's his turn? The Academy is not Stormvale. It's useless to think you're superior here if you're not."
At that mention, Lyssara remembered the scene with Aldric and how she managed to intervene for him at the time.
"Kael has an intelligence that most people don't know how to measure, different from Rylan's or mine. He will enter if he decides it is useful for him to do so. Don't underestimate him, Celestia. His mind is like those Aether cores: it seems like an inert stone until something activates it and releases an energy capable of destroying everything."
"If you say so..." Celestia made a gesture of doubt. "But the Academy changes people. Marianne says that up there, away from parental supervision, things get... intense."
Having said that, she slid from her seat and sat right next to Lyssara, eliminating any distance of courtesy.
The space in the carriage suddenly felt smaller. Celestia lowered her voice, giving it a silky and dangerous quality.
"Marianne told me something else. She says that at the Academy, away from our mothers' eyes, traditions of chastity become... flexible. I wonder if we will lose our virginity there, Lys."
Lyssara felt a wave of heat strike her neck, an instinctive mix of moral modesty and deep irritation at the frivolity of the topic. She tried to look away, but Celestia would not allow it. She extended a hand and, with deliberate slowness, touched her cheek. Her fingers traced Lyssara's skin with an invasive softness, approaching her lips in a gesture of seduction that imitated the way a man would try to bend a woman's will before a kiss.
"It's almost a tradition," Celestia whispered, bringing her face closer to Lyssara's until their breaths mingled. "Everyone is so stressed with studies that the celebrations become wild. Can you imagine, Lys? A boy approaching like this... touching you... making you forget all your doubts for a moment."
The heat rose to her face, but not from desire. It was an invasion. It was a loss of control. And she could not allow Celestia to see how much that physical proximity affected her.
With a dry but elegant movement, she withdrew the hand from her cheek.
"That is vulgar and absolutely unnecessary," she said, regaining her voice of steel. "It is a distraction. Sex and feelings are uncontrollable variables that only serve to cloud the judgment of those who do not have a firm will. I am not going to waste my reputation or my position in the Academy on a biological impulse. It is a matter of control. If you cannot dominate your own desires, how do you expect to dominate others?"
'It is pathetic that she sees this as a goal, when the future of the Empire is being forged in steel and fire outside this window.'
Celestia leaned back, letting out a crystalline laugh that contained no trace of regret.
"You are so boring, Lys. But we'll see. The Academy has a way of breaking even the most rigid wills. Marianne says that even the coldest girls end up succumbing to the Vaelorian atmosphere."
Lyssara did not respond. She opened her newspaper again, although the words now seemed blurred under the fog of her irritation. Celestia continued talking about study groups, night parties, and rumors about the professors, but Lyssara was no longer listening.
'Just a little longer,' she repeated mentally. 'I just have to survive this carriage and this meaningless chatter. The Academy will be difficult, but at least there will be rules, schedules, and, hopefully, silence.'
She looked one last time towards the steel tracks that continued to run parallel to them. The smoke from the forges stained the sky, marking the path to a city that, she suspected, would be much more exhausting than any conversation with Celestia.
She only wished the journey would end at once.