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[color=lightgoldenrodyellow][h1][b][u]Hard Decisions[/u][/b][/h1][/color]
[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k68thGEDlx8](Mood Music)[/url]
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Auriel watched the emissary with caution. Something just didn't feel right about the cloaked woman. Why would a royal emissary commission the heroes so clandestinely? Why didn't the king just summon the heroes to the throne room to give them the quest personally? After all, it isn't beyond a king's power to order the death of mere bandits, and it also isn't beyond his power to ask the fledgling heroes to do it instead of a battalion of troops. Better yet, a public order to exterminate bandits would only improve the public's perception of his care for the common folk, and it would be a clear enforcement of his laws. It stank- no, [i]reeked[/i] of plots and schemes. Auriel waited for the emissary to leave so she could speak with the heroes in private. The topic was quickly swung to slavery. She didn't even want to think about the prospect of enslaving anybody, even if they were criminals. Auriel shook her head and drew a knife hand across the air in front of her, gesturing to end the idea there. [color=lightgoldenrodyellow][b]"No. Enslavement is not the way... Rayla has a reputation, but nobody deserves to lose their free will. I've seen what demi-humans who bear the slave mark endure, it's not right. Has killed many and ruined the lives of many more. She cannot be allowed to live and breathe the same air as the honest people of the world."[/b][/color]

Her golden eyes flicked between the two, [color=lightgoldenrodyellow][b]"The decision is ultimately yours, since my code prevents me from stopping you, but..."[/b][/color] Auriel trailed off with her thoughts and remembered the day she fell in battle. When her wings were shattered and she was dragged by chains through the mud to the feet of the horde's chieftain. She remembered the cast iron brand bearing the slave's seal, how it glowed and rippled the air with heat. Auriel was thankful for her captain and his cavalry that the brand hadn't reached her. [color=lightgoldenrodyellow][b]"If you're going to enslave her... Then you're not going to want me there to see it."[/b][/color] She spoke passionately and with conviction.

Auriel took a deep breath and closed her eyes, bringing herself back down a notch. She stepped closer to the two of them and lowered her voice, [color=lightgoldenrodyellow][b]"This isn't a task we should tread into lightly... Doesn't it seem suspicious to you that the king would send an anonymous emissary to us to kill some bandits? This sounds like a trap, not everybody wants the Cardinal Heroes in this world."[/b][/color]

Auriel looked over her shoulder and continued, [color=lightgoldenrodyellow][b]"We could be getting set up to walk into an ambush. Rayla Winters is cunning, and she knows a threat when she sees one. There's no doubt in my mind that she'd strike at you when you're both at your weakest so there'd be little effort needed. If we're going to do this, we'll need a plan, and a lot of back up plans."[/b][/color]

When Fer brought up Auriel's quest that she had gathered for them, she looked to the scroll in her hand. The quest suddenly felt so meager in comparison to what just came up. Auriel let out a sigh and pocketed the scroll, [color=lightgoldenrodyellow][b]"It's nothing. This is more important."[/b][/color] She made a promise to that farmer, and she was never one to break promises made to desperate people. Once she had the time, she'd go by herself to clear out the tunnels.

When Fer figured she'd be getting tired of taking care of them, Auriel took on a softer expression and seemed to lose that hard edge in her stance she had adopted when she arrived. [color=lightgoldenrodyellow][b]"I could never tire of being with you both. I waited my whole life for this, after all."[/b][/color] She smiled sweetly to Fer, [color=lightgoldenrodyellow][b]"I'll watch over you both for as long as I can, or until you no longer need me."[/b][/color]
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