Follow the Bishop's guidance

You quit the tournament early, forgoing any chance of the prize and reputation that your performance might have gained. Your squires and attendants are baffled when told of this, and even more so when instructed to return home without you. They have enough trust in you to obey and believe your words that you will return soon. That trust might be misplaced...

There's no guarantee that this mission will be short. If you are actually successful in finding this princess, than it's likely that you will be gone for a great amount of time, possibly even forever. You try to square this against the feeling that success seems impossible. A combination of divine premonition and astrology does not fill you with hope and confidence in this matter, many a fool has been misled by heretics and the certifiably insane, at times even to their deaths. You assure yourself you are not such a fool, rationalizing that if there is a real chance that a living member of the royal family still lives, it is absolutely worth doing what must be done to see her reinstated on the throne. You'll expend a reasonable search, and return home; what constitutes reasonable being a gut feeling at this point.

The Bishop's premonition points to the Imperial province of Orkuz. It's some distance from where you are currently, but that does make a degree of sense. The kingdom of Agito shared a border with Orkuz before it was conquered and subsumed into the Empire. Many refugees fled to Orkuz as the closest settlement and got no further. Their presence was not welcome during the conflict and has not improved in the last century since. They are at reluctantly tolerated in the best of cases, more commonly persecuted both by the Orkuzian governor and by the common populace. That the Bishop foretold that the princess had fallen as far as one could possibly fall, so that would line up with what you understand as well. You reason the place to start would be the regional capital, also called Orkuz. It's the most populated area, so by mathematics alone it would be the most likely place for her to be. If she isn't, the various traders and travelers in and out may know something. Gabrielle agreed with this reasoning, and you two departed together in this direction.

Unfortunately, it seems this is about the only thing that the two of you will agree on. On one hand, you regret having Gabrielle along, but on the other hand your recognize you probably wouldn't be doing it at all if not for her. This is going directly against her interests as a noble, and she is fully confident in what the Bishop told you; in most ways the two of you could not be further apart. A frustration to no end. She is certainly beautiful, and she has to know that, you recognize, but the beauty in her face does nothing to improve her manners towards you. Still, if there is any hope of this being successful, the two of you will have to figure out a way to get along with each other. It's a long journey to Orkuz, so you try to fill it with small talk.

"You seemed to know who I am pretty easily back at the tournament"

"Everyone knows who you are, dull stone."

"I didn't realize I had done anything that garnered that kind of a reputation"

"That is precisely the reputation you have, and your father before you. Constantly trying to prove that you actually deserve your noble status"

"Nobody seems to believe that we do, it would make sense to prove them wrong."

"You don't, and nothing can be done to change minds on this matter. The best you can hope for is that some new family of pretenders becomes knighted, and the entire Empire can focus their distrust on them so that they completely forget about you."

Her cutting words seem foreign to you; most nobles pride themselves in a more courtly forum. Her sense of honesty and social cues seems to have come more from the church than from her family. "That seems a rather bleak perception of your fellow nobles, Gabrielle. Do you really not see any other way?"

"Well, one could simply put every noble on a ship and sink it to the depths of the ocean, their wealth spread to the common people, but I don't think that will happen any time soon." This thought actually exudes a small smile on her face, even more confusing to you

"But, you are a noble..." You retort feebily, no better words come to you to express your bafflement

"Did you see or hear any signs of my family at the tournament? Have you ever heard my name in royal banquets? I am a noble in name only. For all of your pretending, you are more a noble than I. All that I am belongs to the church."

"Wow" you reply, still trying to understand your new travelling partner "Why is that, if you don't mind me asking?"

"I do mind, actually. Maybe later I'll tell you why Michael"

That was the first time she actually had enough respect to use your name. Maybe there's a chance of things working out after all...

There is a common roadway between the tournament grounds and the main highway to Orkuz, common with travelers, traders, adventurers. Vagabonds and knuckle draggers as well, it would appear. You come across a large wagon, carrying a bountiful harvest, is stopped on the side of the road. Immediately, you know something is awry, even in relatively safe areas like this, everyone knows not stop for any reason between cities or taverns, if it can be helped. You hear cries of help, a woman and child from the sound of it. Without a second thought, you put your horse into a gallop to close the distance. Your suspicions proved accurate, a band of ruffians had surrounded the wagon and were threatening to kill the owners. Seeing an armored knight, weapon drawn, charging at them quickly exposed their cowardly nature. You bring one down easily, and the rest make their way back up into the hills, difficult for you to get up and follow. Angelica was able to bring down one more from a distance with a crossbow shot; unconventional for a Paladin, but appreciated. Rather than reloading and try to get another, she rode up to meet with you and the wagon owners

"Blast! This certainly won't be the last of them." She cursed out loud

"True, but they'll certainly think twice before they try a stunt like this again, and we have our own mission to get to."

"Large problems do not justify ignoring the small ones. What difference will our mission really mean if we fail to improve anything else around us on the way?"

"If we stop for every problem, we will never actually get to accomplish what we set out to do."

Gabrielle breathed deep, suppressing a useless retort "You're right, of course. We can't solve all of the worlds problems. We'll do what we can, but we have to keep our eyes on our mission."

"Excuse me, but did you say Mission?" The two of you, in poor judgement, ignored the people in the wagon until just now. The voice you heard was the childlike voice from earlier, though know you see it to actually be from a Halfling. Middle-aged, for his species, with a graying beard, sitting on a large book. "But are the two of you intrepid heroes embarking on a Mission of some kind?"

The two of you try to talk over each other, you saying yes and her saying no. The halfling, having heard what he wanted and all he needed, ignores the conflict of story. "Well, than today is your lucky day! Franklin Fizzlewig, wizard and daring explorer! Whatever mission you are on, I would like to offer my services to help, in exchange for saving my life, and my friends harvest."

"Beg your pardon, my dear wizard, but our mission is of the utmost discretion and highly dangerous, with the chance of upending the very fabric of society. This is not the place for a wizard who can't fight off a small band of hoodlums"

"Ahh, but that's where you have me wrong. I was just unfortunate enough to be sitting on my spellbook! If I'm prepared for what's coming, it's an entirely other story. I won't be taking no for an answer on this! Besides, I'd already be dead if not for the two of you. I owe you both this much"

"Welcome to the team, mister Fizzlewig. We'll need all the help we can get." You help the halfling out of the wagon and onto your horse. The other person in the wagon, being unharmed but slightly startled, heads off immediately after you, keeping her wagon up with the two of you as protection should more vagabonds spring up. Every once and a while, you look back, and see Angelica with a small smile. You don't know who or what she's smiling about, but it's still a nice change from how this started. The rest of the journey is quiet and uneventful. The guards, recognizing your crest as indicating nobility, permit your entrance to Orkuz without difficulty. You hitch your horses up at The Windrose Inn, and attempt to get your bearings in this new environment

"Well, that was the easy part. Now what?" You ask