That night during supper King Geres announces to his court that the princess is leaving the next day for the Wizard's Collegium in Surinth. Then, after dinner, Karli is swamped by people from the court coming to bid her farewell. Each person says goodbye, some with tears and their eyes, some almost happily, and each wishes her the best of luck.

By the time Karli returns to her rooms, she has tears in her eyes herself. Once in her bedroom, she flops down on the bed and starts crying. Then, a knock is heard at the door.

"Karli, may I come in?" Karana's voice says from the hallway.

"Yes Mother," Karli says.

Karana enters the room to find Karli scrubbing at her eyes. She is trying to cover up the signs of crying, but Karana sees right away how upset Karli is. She sits down on the bed and takes Karli in her arms.

"There, there," she says. "It's all right."

"No, I'm fine," Karli says, trying to be brave. "It's just that I'm going to miss them."

"You'll be fine Karli," Karana says. "I know how lonely it is, going somewhere completely new. You'll make friends there, and you'll be happy. I'm sure of it."

"That won't make me miss you less," Karli says. "Do you promise you'll come visit, a lot?"

"Of course I will," Karana says. "How could I abandon my only daughter? I'll visit you as much as I can, and you can come home for the festivals. Is that okay?"

"Yeah," Karli says. "It's great. I can't believe I'm being such a baby. I really do want to do this, I'm just scared."

"I know," Karana says. "I'm sure that by the time you've been there for a week, you'll be over this. You just need some time to adjust. I was just coming to check on you. Now I'm glad I did. Good night Karli. You should go to bed now. The caravan leaves at sunrise tomorrow morning."

"Good night Mother," Karli says.

Karana exits the room, leaving Karli alone. She takes one of the frilly nightgowns from the pile that is still on the floor and dons it. Then she snuggles into bed, and she is asleep within a minute of laying her head on the pillow.

The next morning a servant wakes Karli before the sun is up. She dresses herself in clothing from her packed pile that she had purposefully kept out, and then she tells the servant to have her bags taken to the courtyard. Then she heads out of her room to the main stairway.

She finds her parents waiting for her at the bottom of the stairway. They both have worried looks on their faces, and as she approaches them, they reach out for a hug. After hugging, they all head for a smaller room to eat breakfast.

After breakfast all three of them are crying. Karana and Geres escort Karli out to the gates of the castle, and they all give one big huge last hug to say goodbye. Then, Karli gets in the carriage waiting at the gate with the two guards, and the carriage pulls away.

Karli watches out the window of the carriage until she can no longer see her parents. Then she turns back into the carriage, and takes a look at the two guards with her.

One guard, Biri, is a woman. She is about fifty years old, and her hair is bright white. She is lean and well muscled. Her bright blue eyes glitter out from a face lined with age, and scars. She wears practical, though not very feminine, clothing and carries a short staff instead of a sword.

The other guard is a young man, of about twenty years of age. His face is smooth, with no scars at all. His hair is golden blonde, and his eyes are hazel. He wears the traditional uniform of the Gredine Palace Guards, and he carries a sword.

It takes less then ten minutes for the carriage to arrive at the place of departure for the caravan. By that time, Karli manages to compose herself, and get rid of all the traces of her crying. Once the carriage is stopped, both guards exit, then Karli takes a deep breath and steps out of the carriage.

The stockyard surrounding her is crawling with people, all intent on making sure that nothing is wrong at the last minute. Karli spends a few moments staring around her, confused by the rush of people. Then, a man notices her and walks over to her.

The man is of medium height and lean, but not wiry. He has short blonde hair and warm brown eyes. He is dressed in dull, but not shabby clothing. He has the look of a member of the merchant class. He looks at ease and calm in the seeming chaos of the caravan preparations.

"Your Highness?" he asks as he approaches Karli. She nods. "I am honored at your presence Your Highness. I am Serkith Sashiki, leader of this caravan. I understand you are to be attending the Wizard's Collegium in Surinth?"

"Yes," she says.

"My son will also be attending," he says. Then he turns to the crowd of people behind him and shouts. "Jaken, come here!"

A boy comes running from among the throng of people at the sides of the clearing. He is about fifteen years of age, and skinny, like most boys his age. He has short black hair and soft hazel eyes. He bears a marked resemblance to Serkith, and he is wearing a soft tunic and pants obviously designed for traveling. A scruffy looking dog follows behind him.

"Your Highness," Serkith says. "This is my son, Jaken Sashiki. Jaken, this is the Princess."

"Pleased to meet you Your Highness," the boy, Jaken, says.

"No, please," Karli says, laughing as Jaken tries to bow before her. "I don't like all that formality. Just call me Karli."

"Okay Karli," Jaken says, warming up and seeming to sense that she wishes to be just a normal person to him. The dog behind him whines, and he reaches back absently to scratch its head. Karli stares at the dog, a curious expression on her face. The she suddenly shakes her head.

"That's a cute dog," she says. "Is he yours?"

"Yeah," Jaken says. "I guess so. He started following me around the other day, so I asked Mother if I could keep him. His name is Majesty."

"Majesty?" she asks.

"Yeah," he says. "But I call him Maj for short. The day he started following me, I bought this one statue in the market because it looked like him. The merchant claimed that the king carved it."

"My father?" she asks. "I don't suppose you'd let me see it, would you?"

"Sure," he says. He pulls a little statue out of his pocket and hands it to Karli. She feels a little tingle as her hand comes in contact with his, which stays as she grasps the little statue. She turns the statue over and over, seeming to look for something. Then she smiles widely and hands the statue back to Jaken.

"My father did this," she says. "See, there's a little mark right there. He puts one of those on everything he does. He must have not liked the way it turned out. It's special though. You should keep that."

Then Serkith starts yelling from the middle of the yard for everyone to be quiet. Everyone shuts up, and he starts giving orders to get ready to move out. After he finishes, he goes over to where Karli and Jaken are talking. Jaken glances guiltily at the crowd, then turns back to Karli.

"I'm really sorry," he says. "I have to go now. We're leaving soon, and I think Father wants me with him. I'll see you later."

"Sure," Karli says.

She watches silently as Jaken runs off to help his father with the caravan. A look at her face betrays her desire to be helping them as well, but just as she is about to go offer to help, Biri puts her hand gently on her shoulder. She looks up at Biri, and the woman shakes her head slightly.

"It would not be appropriate for the Princess to be running around getting herself dirty, your Highness," Biri says, and then she smiles. "And anyway, you don't know anything about preparing a caravan. You would just be in the way, and you don't want that, do you?"

"I just wanted to help," Karli says.

"They don't need the help Highness," Biri says. "As chaotic as it looks, everything is really quite organized."

"Anyway," the other guard says lazily. "What would people say if they saw the Princess helping a mere merchant prepare his caravan?"

"This is none of your business, pretty boy," Biri says, showing an obvious dislike for the young guard. "And watch how you speak to Her Highness!"

The male guard stalks off, clearly irritated by Biri's words, but just as obviously aware that she outranks him and has every right to be scolding him for stepping out of place. Still, he looks less than happy. Karli, mindful of Biri's words, merely continues to watch Serkith and his workers set up the caravan, until finally the merchant announces that they are prepared. And so, just as the sun starts to peek over the horizon, Karli finds herself being helped into a wagon, as the caravan sets off for the city of Surinth, and the Wizard's Collegium.