Journey Into the North

Placeholder on first Harris post.

Alden let himself be taken towards a bath. It was designed for humans; it was just a tub and a bench, obscured by a hastily constructed wooden screen. Alden set the gryphlet down on the bench, took off his flight webbing, and began splashing water on him. He used the soap on the fur part, the feathers didn't need it. It wasn’t easy to get all the fur, but he finally accomplished this. He then jumped into the tub to rinse off the soap.

The water was lukewarm, the result of some hasty heating. Alden climbed out of the tub, soaking wet. The gryphlet chortled in amusement, Alden looked perfectly ridiculous.

"Don't laugh, you're next," Alden replied with a warning. He walked over and picked up the gryphlet and moved towards the water. She cried out in alarm, but it was too late. Alden dropped her into the tub. She bobbed back up to the top, crying for help. Alden picked her up, and began using soap on the wet gryphlet. After he finished, he put the her back on the bench.

Alden kept a close eye on the gryphlet as he put on his flight webbing. It shook itself dry, after which it glared at Alden, an indignant fluff ball.

If looks were swords... he thought, before picking up the gryphlet

Dry and clean, the two were directed by a page towards a waiting area. The group trickled into the room one by one. Alden didn’t pay much attention to the others; he was more interested in the gryphlet. The last thing he wanted was for her to run wild in a camp full of men with swords.

After the group was all there, a page came.

“Is everyone here?” he asked.

“Yes,” Cyrus said.

“Then General Harris will see you. Follow me,” the page said.

"About time," Cyrus growled.

The page took the group towards a building at the center of the fort. The page knocked at the door.

"Enter!" A strong female voice responded. The page opened the door and the group entered a large room.

In the room; there were several tables with all manner of reports, maps, and other papers covering them. Behind a desk at the end of the room was an old woman. She did not look up at the others, she instead read a scroll. She peeked over the scroll before turning back to it.

“Your reputation precedes you Alden. Begin your report.”

“General, since leaving the Capitol, this group has killed about fifty imps, one hundred goblins, and a priest.”

“We’ve killed some Duregar, a patrol of elves, and another priest in addition to that number,” Cyrus said.

“Quiet!” Harris barked at Cyrus. She glared at him, before turning back towards Alden. “Continue your report, Alden.”

“I briefly separated from the group to look for Ursa, he’s a…”

“I know who he is. Don’t waste my time.”

“I found Ursa and we ate at an elven camp. This was before Sedgeley. I fear we may have given them some information,” Alden said, embarrassed.

“We killed them,” Valin declared. Harris glared at him but said nothing.

“I rendezvoused with the others at Sedgeley. When we got there, we found it razed to the ground.”

“Did anyone survive?”

“No one survived the attack that I know of. It could be that several fled the village, but we encountered no civilians on our route.”

“What else occurred?” She said, staring pointedly. Alden followed her gaze towards the gryphlet.

“Oh. During the trip we picked up several additional members to our group. May I present Fionnabhair Chant, Carmenia Virsetil, and my gryphlet?”

“Gryphlet? You haven’t named her yet?”

“No, General. How did you know she was a she?”

“I have my methods Alden; you don’t need to know about them.” General Harris stood up and walked over to the gryphlet. She bent down and picked her up, much to the delight of the gryphlet. She walked back to the desk and sat down.

“I think Kira is a fine name for a baby girl, wouldn’t you agree Alden?”

“Yes ma’am,” Alden agreed unconsciously.

“Then it’s settled. I’ll ask more about these newcomers later. Are they under contract?” she asked. She began to stroke Kira, who let out a purr.

“No.”

“Come forward and sign these; or get out,” General Harris said to Finn and Carmenia, before yelling. “Cicero!”

“Yes madam general!” he was handsome, with a clean uniform.

“Help these two ladies fill out their paperwork,” she turned back to Alden. “Your actions with the enemy are worthy of a court martial, and were it not for the fact that we are on the brink of war, you would most certainly be heading home.” She turned to the rest of the group.

“I don’t know that much about the rest of you, but what I do know is that you’re all mercenaries and all of you are lucky to be alive. It is because you’re lucky that you are here in the first place. While you stay here, you will play by my rules. If I hear of any disruptions regarding any of you, you will be punished. This is a dry camp, no alcohol is allowed. If you are the pathetic alcoholics I think you are, let me know now so I can send you home.”

“Ma’am the paperwork is finished,” Cicero said.

“Thank you for your help Cicero. Will you take Kira out of here and take care of her until I’m finished with these mercs?”

“Yes General.” Cicero left the room quickly with Kira.

“All right, are there any questions before I brief you on your mission?” she asked sharply.

Carmenia glared at the soldier called Cicero. He grinned at her, his eyes looking her up and down. She bit her lip to keep from some undesirable things slipping out.

He had practically forced her to sign the paperwork, and it irritated her, but mattered little. Breaking the contract wouldn't be too hard, and she figured that she might as well use the "luxury" items, such as a bath, soap, comb, and perhaps new clothes, that were here.

Cicero was conveniently told to take care of Kira, and she finally was able to breath. It just wasn't safe to be around human men, they couldn't control their actions like elves could.

As badly as Carmenia wanted a hot bath, she had to stay and listen to this stiff talk about what they were supposed to accomplish.

We were taken to a large, wooden building on the opposite edge of camp, which for human armies must have qualified as grandiose, but to me, was nothing but a stable.

Sitting behind a desk scattered with various maps, despatches and other paperwork was a strong looking, older woman with graying hair. This was "General Harris".

The first thing she did was address Alden, who held no real authority in our group, and asked for a status report. After a while of her hot air and mindless gibberish, she said

“I don’t know that much about the rest of you, but what I do know is that you’re all mercenaries and all of you are lucky to be alive. It is because you’re lucky that you are here in the first place. While you stay here, you will play by my rules. If I hear of any disruptions regarding any of you, you will be punished. This is a dry camp, no alcohol is allowed. If you are the pathetic alcoholics I think you are, let me know now so I can send you home.”

At this, I could hold myself in no more.

"Excuse me, General, but I will follow no such rules. I am not one of your subordinates. I am no merc, either, although you sure seem to be the ever-presumptious human. I am Valin Norovir, the Elf whom your orders of assistance are directed for. I am not your subordinate, in fact, I am your superior. And if I were you, I would learn to hold my toungue to my betters. Neither I nor my companions will follow any such arbitrary rules placed on us by you or any one else at this camp."

I reached across her desk, and grabbed the "contracts" she had just forced the girls to sign. I tore them to peieces to show my seriousness.

I immediately turned on my heal and left the "office".

Henry smiled at Valin's approach. Often, he found the Elf to be annoying, but this time, he had mirrored the thief's own opinions. Throughout the whole tirade by the arrogant General, Henry had felt like shooting her in the chest. His hands had fingered his crossbow throughout, as he hung back in the corner, hiding his face. There was no need to have his appearence stuck in the mind of a General, after all.

He had picked his fingernails and caressed his unshaven chin, all the while thinking that he hated the army, he hated laws, he hated being told what to do.

As Valin showed her what he thought of it all, the thief had inwardly grinned.

"Aye. I agree. I won't take orders from people like you," Henry spat, and turned and followed Valin straight out of the room.

Into the stunned silence that followed, Cyrus' booming laughter rang out. He had felt like lopping off the woman's head for her dismissive nature, but now he found he rather enjoyed it, especially after seeing her trumped like that.

"We aint yer typical mercs, young miss, of that I can assure you." Cyrus growled. "I, am Cyrus Stoutheart and I lead this here group, so if ya have any questions, you can direct 'em to me.'

Her mouth snapped shut at the mention of his name, eyes re-appraising. A woman well schooled in the military would definetly have heard of him and his mercenary exploits. Although she probably was already aware of his identity, the recent shift in status obviously caught her off guard.

"I was under the impression," she began, "that one Seraph--

"Things change missy." Cyrus interrupted.

Angry now, she glared openly. "Now see here, Master Dwarf, this is my camp and my army so what I say goes!"

"Well ya can take you thrice damned camp and shove it right up yer presumptious arse!" he yelled. "Where I come from, there's a thing called manners. And I aint never heard of any commander ever, being so disrespectful as to welcome a weary company just in from a long, hard fought journey in such a manner."

"We are on the eve of a war!" she shouted back. "There is no time for such niceties. I repeat, you will do as I say."

Cyrus shook his head sadly. "Yer just dont get it, do ya? And besides, as my dear companion just happened to mention: you are his subordinate, not the other way around."

There was a tension fraught silence. "I think I'm gunna go take a nap." Cyrus said, turning around. "Oh and as soon as you display some respect for me, mayhap you will recieve it in turn." he said as he left the room.

"We are not the enemy, general, best you realise that real quickly."

I had stormed out, and much to my surprise and amazement Henry had followed me out. I could hear Cyrus guffawing after us inside the so-called office long after I had made strides to leave.

I noticed soon after that Cyrus, too, left. Henry was trying to catch up to my quick pace (Even for an Elf I was fast) but the fact that he was human wouldn't allow him to match my pace.

"'Ey Valin, wait a sec'nd!" He called after me. I stopped, and turned around waiting for him.

All of a sudden, I heard General Harris bellow to (I could only assume) Cicero
"Bring them back here to me!"
And of course, lo and behold, Cicero came rushing out of the office, his cloth cloak and uniform waving in the wind. I guess he cared more of ceremonial duties than fighting.

He quickly caught up Henry, who was so focused on catching up to me, that he didn't notice Cicero. Once Cicero grabbed his arm and started pulling him towards the office, Henry started kicking and punching with all his might, however, being a theif, he wasn't very good at fighting short distances.

Quickly, and silently, I drew my daggers from their various belts and straps I had them in, and in a split second, sent all five of them flying towards Cicero. I realized at that moment, however, that Henry was quite close to Cicero and if my aim was off at all, it might be Henry I hit rather than sir-loves-the-smell-of-his-own-farts.

Luckily for both myself and Henry, my aim was as perfect as ever. The five daggers managed to catch all the loose patches of his clothing, pinning him to the outer wall of the building that housed Harris' office.

I drew my sword slowly, as I walked over to him, twisting and flinging it around in the air as I walked. When I finally arrived in front of him, and after Henry had regained his senses, I began to talk to him.

"Well, well...Cicero, is it? Yes, thats right. Cicero. What in the nine hells were you doing, tryign to attack one of my companions? You should know better than that," I said, calmly, yet threateningly.
I lifted my sword to his face, and placed it back down.
"Now, I'm pretty sure I know why you did it, and let me say, following blindly you're general's orders is not going to work from now on. See, your General Harris, whether she will admit it or not, is subordinate to me, by order of your King. If you don't like it, I can arrange 'other' duties for you. Do you understand?"

He nodded very quickly, as I brought my swords blade up to his face, testing its sharpness on my forefinger.

"Also, furthermore you should note, that no one lays a finger on my companions or does anything to try and exert any control on them. They are not your soldiers, they are my freinds, my family. If you hurt them in anyway, unimaginable pain will come upon you and your entire house. Do I make myself perfectly..."
I paused, bringing my blade up to his face, and giving a quick slice to his face to "brand" him so-to speak. It is a common custom in Tor Arcana that cowards be branded. I continued,
"...clear?"
He nodded vigourously, all color drained from his face.
"Good," I said, removing the daggers holding him in place allowing him to fall to the ground.
"Now go give that message to general Harris"

The rest of the group stood in the small structure, as something was quickly pinned to the wall, a few indecipherable voices heard then the door was opened and Cicero hastily made his way back inside. Cicero's eyes darted around the room, seeming somewhat frantic; a small but noticeable amount of blood slowly making its way down the left side of his face.

"Where are they?" General Harris said her voice strained and her hard gaze staring Cicero in the face.

"Outside, General" he replied downcast wiping at the blood.

"You're telling me you refused my order?" She said her voice quivering from the anger she struggled to control. "Come here" she said standing as Cicero slowly made his way to her desk. "Corporal Cicero, by dawn I want our stables clean" she said staring him down, as his shoulders dropped in dismay.

"Yes Madame General" He said, saluting.

"Now, where were we" General Harris said addressing Seraph.

Completely ignoring Harris Seraph turned to Sirloaz and Cyrus "You may leave, and get some food for the ladies and yourself" Seraph said as he gave Finn an apologetic shrug. Cyrus scoffed as they left the small building leaving Seraph and General Harris.

"You 'eard 'im, lets get some food in ye'; oy soldier boy where's yore mess hall?" Cyrus said all but politely to the nearest Soldier.

"down 4 rows of tents on the right, big building, can't miss it." He replied ignoring Cyrus' remarks.

"Thank you" Carmenia said nodding as they walked by, the soldier just staring after them.

"First thing 'o business, lets get some lorae" Cyrus said searching his person.

"I thought we drained it all" Sirloaz said remembering all to well what had happened that night.

"Bah, any good dwarf brings a few flasks with 'im" He said smiling as he produced another flask and began to take a drink.

"Hey, you can't have that there" an overenthusiastic officer said as he ran up behind them. " Hey tell your buddy no alcohol, and i'm gonna have to confiscate that, and report to the general" the officer said tapping Sirloaz on the shoulder, only to receive a sharp elbow to the stomach courtesy of Sirloaz, and with a grunt the man sank to his knees. Cyrus looked back at the wheezing officer and then to Sirloaz, he only shrugged and walked on towards the mess hall.

The command post was empty except for myself, the General, and her bodyguards.

Before I said anything, I took a quick headcount. Four bodyguards total, all with (likely enchanted) full plate armor and longswords. I nodded my approval, then looked to the General, who still had not yet met my gaze.

"General Harris; permission to speak, ma'am," I said. Technically speaking, I did not need to ask permission to do anything. We were of the same rank, and I was not in her army. However, as leader of an army back home, I knew that nothing was more demeaning than having your authority undermined by someone you didn't respect.

She looked up at me for the first time. I stood at attention, my heels close together and my back straight. My hands were both at my sides, very clear of my blade.

"About what!" she snarled, her lip curling in a sneer. She looked me up and down, then scoffed.

"Ma'am, your treatment of my troops is unacceptable, ma'am."

She looked incredulously at me, as if she were not used to being questioned by anyone, let alone a dirt ridden, tattooed mercenary. The irony that I was a general myself did not escape me. I made a point to not let it escape her, either.

"And why is that...soldier." She really did not know my rank--or where I hailed from, even.

"Ma'am...your troops are renowned for their compassion and their discipline, ma'am. By treating my troops like common criminals, you are inviting them to behave as such, ma'am."

"As far as I'm concerned, they are. And so...are you."

I took this insult with a grain of salt. So far, this woman had no respect of mine, so I cared not how she viewed me.

"Ma'am, permission to speak freely, ma'am."

She raised an eyebrows.

"Granted." She was no longer snarling or sneering. Now she was intrigued.

"My men deserve better than this. They have fought, and bled, nearly died, for this country which is not theirs."

"Then they should not be here. We don't need them, nor do we want them."

"But you have them. Under orders from the king, no less."

She scoffed again.

"We have no need for Elves and Dwarves in our ranks. You and your men are welcome to join us, but the elf and dwarf are not welcome here."

I smiled at her.

"Ma'am who do you think we are...ma'am?"

She looked uncertain for the first time since we'd entered the room.

"I need not answer that question. I know who you are."

"We are your superiors. You have your orders. The elf out there is Valin Norovir, rightfuly heir to the elven throne. You take your orders from him."

I still did not want to involve myself in the matter. It would only complicate things.

"And he needs us!" she crowed. "Needs us to lead him to victory! Elven leadership always were weak...now they rely on us to clean up their mess."

I stepped toward her and placed both hands on the talbe in front of her. I leaned in till my face was inches form hers. She stared at my blind eye.

"You don't know me, ma'am."

"I know your type."

"I am Lord Seraph Belfast Wyrmsbane. Ruler of the BloodPlains, Templar of Falthyr, and General of the Crimson Moon Legion. The only reason we came to you for assistence, instead of gathering my men, to the East...is convenience. You were closer."

She blinked. It was her only sign of weakness when she responded.

"Step back, before I have yopur head removed from its shoulders."

I did so.

"Now, ma'am. I'd advise your troops to keep in mind that my group is under direct diplomatic immunity while in your charge. We don't want to have a careless marksman getting twitchy with his bowstring."

She opened her mouth to interrupt, but I raised a hand and continued.

"I, in return, will advise that while we stay in your camp, we abide by your rules. Are we in agreement?"

She closed her mouth, then nodded.

"Do so immediately. I will send runners to every barracks."

Drying herself off with the scratchy towel given to her, Carmenia wrapped it around herself while gathering her clothes. Who knew what eyes lurked behind the dark shadows of the large cracks in the wood wall.

After slipping into her clothes, she wrung the water out of her long black hair and neatly plaited it. She looked in the cracked mirror hanging on the wall.

Frowning, she undid her hair. Maybe a change would look better, and besides, she was getting sick of an efficient braid. Glaring down at her waist-length hair, she decided just to leave it down.

Twirling her fingers around the wavy locks, her hair became a little curlier. This was what she wanted. Satisfied, she straightened her shirt free of wrinkles. Why did she care? She shrugged, and tried to stop focusing on her appearance.

In her memory, a certain pair of green eyes stared kindly at her...she shook away the unwanted thoughts, and stepping out of the room, saw Finn and joined her.

I bathed quickly and efficiently, opting to keep my own clothes over the regulation garb that one of the soldiers had left out for me beside the scrap of a towel. Within minutes I was dressed again and had my hair pulled back into its usual plait, and surrendering the bath to Carmenia.

So much had happened so quickly... I could hardly comprehend it all. I felt like I was moving through waist-deep water, or perhaps trying to complete the ritual wedding-dance after two days without sleep. Nothing made sense; everything, even moving, was difficult.

Liam was dead.

I sat down outside the baths and watched quietly as the soldiers went about their business. A few winked or even leered in my direction, and they received only a scowl and a rude hand gesture in return. I was not in the mood for dealing with men right now; at least, not that kind of man. Henry, Cyrus, and Sirloaz had all disappeared, apparently in hope of finding food. Tan'Quin and Valin were no where within sight, Alden was probably off playing with his fluffball, and Seraph was still in conference with that general woman. I didn't like her. At least Valin had torn up those contracts we'd been forced to sign.

I was busy staring at the dirt at my feet when Carmenia exited the baths, her long hair flowing free behind her. She smiled at me sympathetically and sat down. "How are you doing, Fionnabhair?"

"'M fine," I muttered, sitting forward with my elbows on my knees, chin propped on one hand.

She hesitated, then turned towards me a bit more. "Finn--"

"'M fine, C'menia," I ground out, scowling and turning my face away from her. Before she could try again--and I could tell she wanted to--a shadow fell over us both.

"Finn, Carmenia." I leapt up and nearly tripped over my own feet, my movements painfully clumsy compared to Carmenia's own graceful rise. Seraph nodded to us both in his usual manner. "Have you been treated well enough?" There was concern, and a little bit of anger--though not anger at us, I'd wager--in his voice.

Carmenia nodded, her hair falling prettily, and Seraph's eyes flicked over her. "Seraph... we are safe here, aren't we? I mean, Finn and I?" Her eyes flicked concernedly towards a soldier who walked past, obviously ogling her.

Be safer if ye dinnit flaun' yer pretty face s'much, I thought, shooting her a dark glance.

"Of course you are, Carmenia," Seraph said. "Especially with Finn at your side." He looked at me, and tried to smile, though the expression was strained. "She's a woman who can take care of herself."

I nodded stiffly to acknowledge the compliment, and the corners of his mouth dipped downward almost imperceptibly.

"Thank you, Seraph..."

"Of course." He nodded again. "I suppose the others went to find food. You two should do the same." Carmenia nodded and smiled at him, and Seraph glanced at me again. His gaze lingered, and I looked up unwillingly, fully knowing that I looked like a sullen child--the fact didn't improve my mood. "You should eat, Finn." His tone was firm.

I sketched out a lazy salute. "Yessa' Gen'ral Seraph." Without waiting for a response from him or Carmenia, I turned and walked in the direction of the mess hall.

Carmenia looked after Finn, as she watched her walk towards the disgusting aroma of what humans deemed "food". It was actually something that Elves probably wouldn't even feed a stray dog.

She sighed, and smiling gratefully at Seraph tried to catch up with Finn's long, manly strides.

Had I spotted a look of jealousy? Wondered Carmenia running to catch up to Finn.

"Goodness. You certainly walk fast." Carmenia said, still having to walk quickly to keep up with her. She was met with silence. Okay, thought Carmenia, will you explain what happened over there? You were acting like pouty girl. But she didn't say any of this. She felt certain Finn was still hurting.

"Finn..." Her voice trailed off as Finn gave her an evil look.

"Why don't we get some food?" She said, gently, feeling rather stupid because that was obviously what they heading to do. It was all Carmenia could do not to throw up at the smell of the food.

Finn sniffed the air and nodded approvingly. Carmenia pressed a slender hand to her mouth, trying to cover her nose from the abominable smell that assaulted her nose without being extremely rude.

General Harris sat alone in her office. She had just sent Cicero off to the infirmary, it was convenient for both of them. She was bothered.

These mercs are going to be a major problem, she thought. They weren't going to be intimidated by her. This approach had failed catastrophically. Still, she had ways that were less direct, but might be equally effective.

She would have to work quickly if she was to salvage the discipline of her army, and maybe the discipline of the new mercs.

Some of them were disciplined, Seraph demonstrated that. Valin was something else.

A royal pain in the butt, she decided. All brawn, but no brains, or if not that, then no respect for his betters. She'd have to be careful with him, it was her mission.

Stay on task, Joan. Worry about royalty after you have done their dirty work, she frowned and began looking at the maps.

She placed her hands over it, feeling the old paper in her even older hands.

She closed her eyes and moved her hands over the paper. She saw fire...

Then she opened her eyes. A page had entered, with a plate of food.

"General? Your supper is ready."

"Leave it on that table." Then, on an afterthought, she said, "and put an extra log on the fire."

The page did as she said.

"Will that be all General?"

"No, I could use some company. What's your name?"

"William, William Price, General."

"Join me for tea William Price. Price... I believe your father is my cook," she said, pouring out of the kettle.

"Yes ma'am- I mean, General."

"Ma'am will do for informal matters William. Tell your father he has the best job in the entire army."

"He's told me that on many occasions, but I'll let him know you said that."

"You hear a lot from the other cooks?"

"Yes ma'am. We talk while we clean the pots."

"Is there a lot of food left over from the meals?"

"Ma'am?"

"William, when my men are nervous, they eat little. Do they eat little?"

"There is usually a little left over. Usually I can eat seconds," William admitted.

"Between you and me, I have no problem with that, as long as you can do your job as best as you can."

"Yes ma'am." By this time, she had finished eating.

"Before you go, I want you to pass a message to your father. I want him to trim the meals down so that we have less leftovers. I don't want to waste good food that we'll need later."

"Is that all?"

"No, I have some warriors that came here today. I want him to oversee the preparation of a feast for them. Any confiscated alcohol is to be present at this feast. They're the most powerful warriors on the globe and I want them to be relaxed before we use them."

"They don't look that tough."

"Looks can be deceiving. They're quite brutal. This particular group destroyed over 150 men and encountered no losses. They're representatives of the gods. They're known as "The Elite" I do not want them hungry or lifting a finger for anything that we can not provide them." She scribbled off a series of notes.

"Deliver this to the head of the pages, this one to my XO, and this one to the Elite Seraph. Do be careful delivering that last note, they're very violent. Run along now."

William Price ran out the door. General Harris sighed, lying to young men was her job, but hopefully this lie would have it's intended effect. She added another log to the fire and warmed her hands.

The flames crackled as she watched the light dance around the room.

I watched as Finn and Cermenia walked off toward the large mess tent in the center of the camp and sighed. We had refused their clothes, insulted their commander, and made a fool of one of their officers. We had a lot of making up to do if this army was to take orders from any of us. The tent had to have been packed—the noise emanating from it was LOUD.

I followed the two women, pushing the flap to the tent aside even as it swung shut behind them. What I saw made me drop my face into a gautleted hand.

There was not a single of Harris’ soldiers seated at the many empty tables sitting in the spacious tent. All of them, roughly two dozen men, were standing in the exact same position. Arms crossed, eyebrows furrowed, a look of extreme venom on their faces. I shouldered past two men who had closed off the exit as Carmenia and Finn walked past.

“Step back,” I said to them. They looked at me with that same contemptuous gaze. With hardly a thought or change of expression, I stepped up to one till my face was inches from his. I was at least half a head taller than he was.

“Stand down, Private.” I said, squaring my shoulders to make the rank insignia on my collar stand out more. He did so without furether complaint, but his expression remained angered.

At the center table, the longest in the room, likely where Harris and her officers usually dined, my party had decided to eat. Valin sat sideways in Harris’ chair, his legs draped over one of the char’s arms. He held a (yet uncorked) bottle of booze in his hand, and seemed to be taunting the soldiers with it without saying anything.

Henry, Sirloaz, and Cyrus were al sitting around Valin; Henry and Cyrus on the benches, Sirloaz sitting on the table itself. Carmenia and Finn sat at the table as well, only a bit farther down from the men. Cermenia stared at the food a moment, then tentatvivel picked up a fork and poked at the meat. Finn dug right in.

I tore my gaze away from Finn, back to my companions, who were making total fools of themselves.

I ignored Cyrus, Sirloaz, and Henry, and strode right up to Valin. He grinned and looked to me.

“Hey Seraph! Come to join us--?”

I snatched the bottle out of his hand.

“What is wrong with you?” I growled. “Look around. Can you not see these men want to kill you?”

“So what? They’re just humans.”

“I can’t get to my trooped, Valin. We have to RELY on these men to get us into the Citadel.”

“I’m a prince—I outrank them! They’ll listen to me whether they like it or not. And so will Harris.”

I almost groaned.

“Do what you will, your highness. I can’t order you around. Just between you and me, though…I think it is long past time you begin to act like the Prince you CLAIM that you are.” I shoved the bottle back into his hands. Then I whirled about to face the others.

“And YOU three. Start acting like sentient beings, rather than animals. We’re in Harris’ domain. We are guests here. She is in command. Unless I say otherwise, what she says, goes. No drink. No fights. Respect EVERYONE. You can start by cleaing up this mess. Cyrus…you’re relieved of command. You’re an embarassment to officers everywhere.” In a much quieter voice, I said to them. “You are killing any chance we have at getting the help of these men, orders from the king or no. Shape up, for all our sakes.”

With that, I stormed out of the tent.

(OOC: Sorry I took so long to post, I was busy doing stuff)

Seraph started to storm off, after chastising me in front of these humans.

Who in the nine hells did he think he was? How dare he chastise me in front of my lessers!

I grabbed his shoulder and spun him around.


"Seraph!" He turned to me, still quite perturbed looking. "Look Brother," I said, quietly, so only he would hear. "I understand what you're saying, but DONT chastise me in front of these....humans. They are my lessers, and they will respect me. Chastising me in front of them doesn't help. I will do as you ask, but not because I am submissive to them, as they will think, but rather because it is a necessary evil."

Seraph looked at me. "It was necessary. As long as it gets done, I don't care."

I was satisfied with that. I let him go, and he continued on.