Beth nodded, not really surprised. Of course it'd take a long time. Not only weren't they down there where the people disembarking from the ship were, but it'd take a while before word would reach them anyway.
"Well, I guess it would be safe to assume that everything's alright," Beth said, a little hesitantly. There hadn't been sounds of fighting, but that didn't always mean anything. "Let's go find your father. Maybe he'll know something by now."
Kystia nodded, not arguing. So, Beth set the girl down on the ground and they both started walking to where the marquis' office was.
Beth had a feeling that whatever was going on would be directly relayed to the marquis the fastest. As even if those on the ship aren't hostile, that didn't necessarily mean that they were friendly. Beth figured it'd be best to not say anything about that to Kystia, as she doubted the girl would fully understand.
At the very least, she figured Kystia would also do well to be around her father at this time. As his presence would likely would have a calming effect on the girl, no matter what else got mentioned about what was going on.
The trip to the marquis' office took longer than Beth would like, but that was hardly the biggest problem. The biggest problem was how tired Kystia was. She kept moving slower as she struggled to stay awake.
Beth figured that she was tired from a combination of it being so late in the day in addition to having had the scare and was calming down from it. Maybe when she recovered from the rush of adrenaline leaving her body, she wouldn't be so tired, but that didn't help either of them right then.
So, Beth picked her up again, hoping that the marquis wouldn't get any other ideas of how to care for his daughter and have Beth be more of a nanny than a bodyguard. As she hoped to be able to get out from being a bodyguard sooner rather than later, even though she wasn't completely sure how to go about doing that.
After all, how was she supposed to be certain that the danger to Kystia was over? It wasn't like she had a crystal ball with which she could either see what was going on elsewhere in the universe or even what might happen down the road in the future.
However, they still eventually made it to the marquis' office. Then as they approached the door, Beth could hear the marquis talking to someone.
"How did they fly that thing here?" he asked calmly, making Beth wonder if the marquis knew who was on that ship. "And where did they find it?"
"They said they'd like to talk to you about it, but they asked that no one climb the ladder to the ship until they do," a young voice asked, Beth assuming it was one of the guards who either saw the ship in the first place or was one of the first to respond to the alarm.
There was silence for a minute before the marquis replied, "Fine. I'll hear them out. I'm sure they have a good reason to ask that of me, but keep an eye on it. Make sure that there's nothing else coming off that ship."
"Yes, my lord," the young guard said sharply. A moment later, as Beth neared the doorway, the young woman in the uniform of the marquis' guards nearly ran her over.
Not that Beth was that surprised or annoyed by that fact. As it wasn't like either of them had any reason to know the other was approaching the doorway at the same time. Though, she was a little annoyed with how the guard didn't even seem to noticed them even after the near-collision.
"Ah, good. You're here," the marquis said as Beth carried Kystia into the office.
"What's going on?" Beth asked as she set Kystia on one of the chairs, where she leaned to the side, at least half-asleep. "Do you know who was on that ship?"
The marquis grinned in a way that Beth didn't like. It was the kind that said 'I know something you don't know' and she doubted that it would amuse her as much as the marquis seemed to be at that moment.
"Yes, I know them," he replied calmly, "and you know them too."
Beth blinked. There were a number of people she'd met on this world that she couldn't immediatly determine who the marquis was talking about. Though, as she thought of each person. She also had to consider who the marquis was aware of that she knew.
In the end, she could only come up with her friends. Somehow her friends had ended up on that ship and she wasn't sure what was going on. Let alone how her friends came by a flying ship like that.
Especially since she hadn't seen any signs of ships like that up to this point. Though, she couldn't help but wonder if the marquis had seen ships like that before and that maybe it was at least known to exist, if not a common sight.
"My friends," Beth said flatly, drawing a nod from the marquis.
Beth wasn't sure what to do with that knowledge, though she had a feeling that the marquis was now looking at her in a more suspicious light, even though she herself hadn't done anything wrong. Or even had anything to do with this ship.
"Don't worry about any of it," the marquis said before Beth could think of anything else to say. "I'm curious as to where this ship came from as you are. It's not something that I'd expected to see on my lands at all. Not with the rivers and oceans large enough for a ship that size to be well away from my lands."
"So, you haven't heard of something like this before?" Beth asked, not sure if she should mention that she'd heard about things like this before from video games, books, and anime. She didn't think that talking about any of that would help her situation out any. Or even that of her friends.
The marquis shook his head. "Not at all. I wasn't even aware that it was possible to make something fly that wasn't naturally born to do so."
"Well, in the world I'm from, we can make things fly, but only with certain means," Beth mused, feeling like this probably has something to do with magic, though she wouldn't have thought that any of her friends would have been strong enough with their magic to get something like that to fly. "Ships like that certainly haven't been able to fly in my world."
The marquis nodded absently, making Beth wonder if he'd already shifted his thoughts away from her, not that she'd have blamed him if he did.
The marquis didn't say anything after that and eventually Beth sat in an open chair while she waited. She figured that her friends were going to be escorted to this office, since the marquis didn't seem like he was going to move anywhere, though Beth couldn't help but wonder what her friends would say when they got there.
Beth wasn't sure how long it took before her friends arrived, but she was starting to nod off when they had. Assuming she actually hadn't fallen asleep while waiting.
Whether or not she fell asleep, she saw the marquis still standing by his desk, pretty much in the same position as when Beth had arrived. Which told Beth all she needed to know about how uneasy he was about the sudden appearance of the flying ship.
"Okay, here's what's going on," Ralph said as he walked through the door, ahead of everyone else. "We met someone who apparently had been living near the summit of the mountain and was inventing things. She had a deal with someone who was using bandits to deliver supplies to her which she used to build that ship out there."
Beth wasn't sure if it was because she wasn't fully awake and still partly asleep, but what Ralph said didn't make as much sense as she'd have expected. Though, she could at least tell that he was making his statement as concise as possible, which for Ralph was a surprise in and of itself.
"So, who is this person?" the marquis asked, his tone more dangerous than Beth had heard from him before.
"She's an inventor. She's reluctant to trust any noble and we had a hell of a time persuading her to trust you enough to show up," Tim answered. "She's still on the ship, partly because we need someone on the ship to keep it from crashing to the ground, and partly because she wanted to let us explain things so if it doesn't go well she can still leave quickly."
"I see," the marquis replied, not showing what he was thinking at that moment, though Beth had a feeling that he wasn't feeling very charitable at that moment.
"Are you thinking of the inventor as an enemy?" Beth asked, having a hunch she was right.
The marquis nodded. "Of course. Who else would even come up with something like that?"
"Actually, I think she built it in order to find an uninhabited place to live," Amelia remarked, apparently startling the marquis. Which Beth had to struggle to keep from laughing at his expression.
"Stay out of this," the marquis said, quickly recovering his composure. "I'll handle this and make sure this 'inventor' isn't a threat to Kystia."
"Yeah, I'll stick my nose into this if I want to," Amelia snapped, looking like she didn't care for the marquis to dismiss her out of hand like that while he wasn't doing the same to their other friends. "This woman is an asset that you'd be lucky to have on your side. Not only can this transport things more quickly, but it can hold a lot more than a cart can."
"Yeah," Hannah chimed in. "It might not be small enough to hide, but you can also put Kystia on it and make it easier to get her away from anyone trying to attack her."
"The only thing is, is that we don't know how long the fuel lasts," Wes added. "So, there's still a few more tests to run, tests that we'd like to deal with in a place that won't damage the ship when it can't fly anymore."
The marquis looked troubled and Beth was pretty sure she was fully awake at this point. Though, part of what was being said around her felt like it might be more of an elaborate dream than some of the other ones that she'd had in the past had been.
Beth wasn't sure how he'd react, though she did get the feeling that he wasn't happy. Part of it was certainly because of the scare the appearance of the ship caused, but she had a feeling that there was more to it than just that. That there were other things about this situation that wasn't happy with.
"What do you know about this 'inventor?' And I mean more than just talking with her? What is her history? Why did she choose Stone Mountain for her work?" the marquis asked, his tone lower than Beth could remember hearing it. Even when he hadn't been sure about her and her friends when they'd brought his daughter back.
"Actually, we don't know most of that, but from what I understand, she moved to the that mountain because she was tired of not getting credit for all that she invented," Ralph replied, sounding like he was ready to challenge the marquis, regardless of what consequences might follow. "Even there, she lived in fear of others coming and taking what she'd worked to build herself."
The marquis nodded, as if he either had expected as much or if it was some kind of test that had been passed. Beth wasn't sure, but she doubted that her friends would appreciate that sort of thing given the circumstances of this discussion.
"Very well," the marquis said, pulling his chair out and sitting down, taking care with his skirts so he didn't wrinkle them too much. "Do any of you need to take her place for her to meet with me? Or does she expect me to go to her?"
Given his earlier stance, Beth wasn't sure what to make of this change. She knew the marquis wasn't cruel, but that didn't mean he was quick to trust either. Especially when it came to the safety of Kystia.
Which made her wonder just how much he trusted the word of her friends that this inventor wasn't someone who was trying to pull a fast one. She certainly hadn't seen any signs of that before. Although, to be fair, a situation like this hadn't come up before to this extent, either.
"Well, I think we can talk her down, but it's not like any of us know what would need to be done if something went wrong with the ship," Tim answered, almost sheepishly. "So, it might be good for you to go onto the ship yourself."
The marquis sighed, closing his eyes for a moment before turning to look directly at Tim. "Is there another way to board that ship other than how you disembarked from it?"
Tim merely shook his head in response.
"Not as of yet, but I'm sure we can build a dock for airships like that down the road," Ralph remarked, his usual cheeky grin sprawled on his face.
"'Airship?'" the marquis echoed, looking a little amused and baffled at the same time. "Why do you call it that?"
"Simple," Ralph replied, as if it should be the most obvious thing in the world. "Because it's a ship that soars through the air. Plus, video games and movies call them that too."
Beth had to bite down on her lip to keep from giggling at the marquis' reaction to Ralphs statement. If he had stopped one sentence earlier, she was sure the marquis would have accepted his response. However, given how he had no idea what video games or movies were, she doubted that he understood anymore. As he likely was reevaluating his earlier assessment of the first part of Ralph's response.
The marquis opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. It was clear to Beth that his brain had gotten short circuited.
"Ignore the part about video games and movies," Amelia said quickly. "That's something from our world and you don't need to worry about that. Just think of it as something that you don't need to know the details about."
The marquis' gaze shifted to Amelia and Beth couldn't tell if he'd snap at her again or if he'd be gentler this time, much like when he first saw her. For Beth, it was even odds. She wasn't sure if she really understood the marquis when he got worked up, since she hadn't been around him much to know what he was like in those circumstances.
"I'll let it go for now, but one of you will need to explain to me what those are at some point," the marquis said, is voice crisp and clear.
Amelia nodded. "Got it. We'll figure out a way to give you a crash course on that."
"'Crash course?'" the marquis asked quietly, sounding like he was asking himself more than any of those in front of him.
"Don't worry about that," Beth said quickly, hoping to move things along. "It's just an expression where we're from."
The marquis sighed, suddenly looking more tired than Beth could remember seeing him. "Fine. Let's just get this over with."
Beth couldn't help but feel bad for him as he stood up. The adrenaline from thinking that there had been some danger approaching was clearly gone, then the adrenaline that he probably had when confronting her friends about the ship and the inventor was also gone, and that likely had sapped the strength he had when Beth had first entered the office with Kystia.
"Hannah, would you stay with Kystia?" Beth asked calmly. "I'd like to meet this inventor as well, but I don't think we should leave her alone. Especially if she wakes up here and there's one around."
The marquis paused as he was about to walk around his desk. He looked at his daughter, asleep on the chair Beth had put her in, blissfully unaware of what was had been discussed around her. Beth couldn't help but feel a little homesick from looking at her like that. It made her miss her younger siblings a lot.
"Please, stay with her," the marquis requested quietly. "If you leave her where she is, that's fine, but otherwise please take her back to her room. I'm sure she'll be more comfortable there."
"I understand," Hannah replied just as quietly. "I'll make sure she stays safe in case someone decides to try something with what was going on tonight."
The marquis nodded, his face hardening again to look rather serious. Beth wondered if she didn't feel so tired herself if she'd have laughed at the change. It did look amusing to her.
Nothing else was said as the marquis started walking out of his office. Beth followed, not taking the time to verify if Hannah would do what she said she would, since Beth knew Hannah well enough to not even question that.
When they reached the ladder hanging from the ship, Beth felt a little surprised at not only how high the ship really was, but also how much of the ladder was laying flat on the ground.
She estimated about at least ten feet worth of the ladder was laying in the dust on the ground.
When the marquis started climbing the ladder carefully, a few guards that Beth hadn't noticed started following after, though it was clear that they deliberately weren't looking up, which Beth realized was likely because of the marquis' skirts and they were doing their best to be respectful.
However, as Beth looked upwards, she felt a sense of vertigo come over her. She wanted to climb the ladder, but there was so much of the ladder to climb and if she lost her grip, there wasn't anything to break her fall but the ground.
Which wasn't a pleasant thought for her.
However, after a quick look at her friends, she told herself that they'd catch her if she fell, so she took a deep breath and started climbing. She hoped that she wouldn't lose her grip and if she did, she doubted she'd be able to make herself start climbing the ladder again. If only because she wasn't interested in having a repeat performance.
In fact, she had a feeling that once she was off the ship again, she wouldn't come up this way again. Even if her friends tried to coax her up. Not when she could just walk just as well.
However, she also wanted to know what this inventor was like. What would the exchange between her and the marquis be like? If she didn't make it to the top of the ladder, she wouldn't be able to know.
So, she merely made herself focus on climbing the ladder, where her hands and feet were, and nothing else. Not even where the top of bottom of the ladder were. Or even where her friends were, despite the fact she could feel them climbing up behind her.
To make it to the top, she made herself lose track of where everything was. Only what she needed to do to make it to the next rung on the ladder.