The journey took the better part of eight hours.
The road changed character several times — smooth near Ezakael, rougher through the mid-stretch where maintenance had clearly been inconsistent, then gradually better again as they approached Astran territory. The escort kept pace without incident. They stopped once to water the horses and eat, and the Duke said nothing during that interval either.
Julian sat with the discomfort of the journey and said nothing about it.
What he did not say — what he kept entirely to himself — was that the eight hours had required a continuous, mind-consuming effort to simply remain in the carriage.
The instinct to teleport had surfaced somewhere around the third hour.
He knew exactly where the duchy was. He could have been there and back before the horses covered another mile. The restraint required to ignore that pull was more taxing than he had anticipated.
The Astran duchy gates appeared in the late afternoon.
