"Oh... What kind of job?"

"I don't know yet. Now, time to smother your curiosity," Fiona said, placing her foot over his mouth, and pressing down,

“and to go to sleep" she added, placing her other foot over his eyes.

Magnus fell silent.

Soon after, they were both in the Land of dreams. Fiona dreaming about her new plaything, and Magnus dreaming of chimeras, dragons, and maybe a damsel or two?

“I think that is all..." Magnus said to himself, as he put the bag onto the carriage.

That was the last of several bags and boxes that contained his

Mistress's things. She sure had a Lot of clothes and footwear. She also had several thick books and a Large box, containing a lot of bottles, ingredients, and god only knows what else. Magnus inspected his new responsibility with an appraising look of an expert. Apparently, his

Mistress thought that now, as she had a permanent servant, she should own a carriage and a pair of horses to use in her travels. It was much more comfortable than renting it, or even using public carriages that occasionally transported people and messages between towns.

“She needs comfort like she needs air..." Magnus thought.

He sized up the horses, inspected their teeth, their hooves, and decided they were good enough. They would be adequate for pulling the carriage. The carriage Looked quite nice. It was a closed carriage with a relatively big passenger compartment. It was painted in light blue color, with big windows and a door on one side. The seats inside were padded and comfortable. Magnus climbed onto the driver seat at the front. His Mistress should be ready soon.

Soon after, the Light blue carriage was rolling down the streets of

Fairfield, attracting some curious looks from the people on the streets. Magnus was quite alert until they left Fairfield. He felt uneasy driving the carriage with so many people on the streets. Some child could always run in front of the carriage, or someone could maybe try to attack or rob them. It was highly unlikely, almost impossible, for an attack to happen in the middle of a town and during the day, but

Magnus felt he should be on his toes nevertheless. He was his

Mistress's only protection. He checked the knife he kept attached to his belt. He would be ready. He hoped to god he would never have to use it though. Wounding or killing someone was very much against his nature.

Once they were out of the town, he felt so foolish. It was a hundred times more Likely for an attack to happen on the road. Theirs was a lonely, fancy looking carriage, with no one but the driver to defend it. He would need to arm himself better maybe... He was handy with the knife, but he never held a sword in his hands and it was unlikely he would successfully use it, even if he had one.

In contrast, his Mistress seemed completely relaxed. He arched his neck and peeked inside several times. She was reading something, and seemed not to have a care in the world. She opened the window a couple of times to give Magnus the instructions which road to follow. She knew

Vistania's roads well, after so many years of travelling. They were following the road that went northeast from Fairfield. It would take them two days of travelling to reach Countess Silvana's estate. The estate was situated only a day and a half of travel from Vistania's capital Highfort which Lied further north. They stopped several times, for hygiene breaks, to stretch their legs, to eat. Magnus was watching the surrounding terrain the whole time. He thought they were such easy prey for bandits. The sky was darkening already when they finally rolled into Brickston, a small town that lied on their way. Magnus stopped the carriage in front of the only inn the town had. He opened the door for his Mistress and followed her inside, eyeing the inn's patrons. He felt uneasy with so many eyes following them. His Mistress was obviously a sight to be seen.

“My dear Cob, I assume your best room can be on my disposal?"

“Of course, lady Fiona." The innkeeper replied, bowing.