[IC] Orcs and War[rivaan&Valcyrie]

[rivaan]

Chalsea and her mercenary group rode fast through the steppes. It’s been four days since they received a message that the White Stone city was under attack from orcs of all things. Chalsea hated those ugly bastards with passion. She was born into the nomad tribes that wandered the steppes which bordered between civilized and orc territories and as such she grew up in a constant battle with their raiding parties. Now she was a grown up woman and a leader of her own mercenary group- 200 warriors and each of them worthy of at least 2 standard soldiers from a regular army.

Her long blond hair was blowing in the wind as the horses raced through the endless fields until she saw the familiar silhouette of the scouts she send ahead.” Report!” She ordered as she and the rest of her army came to a halt.

“Captain, reports were true. The city is really under attack. The battle is vicious and bloody. The walls are holding, but the orcs seem to have the upper hand via sheer numbers.” The scout reported and took back his place into the army.

It was still noon and Chalsea quickly gathered her thoughts. There were still hours and hours of riding until they reach the city. If they maintain their current speed they would arrive at sunset, but their horses were already tired form the overnight ride they did last night. Her men were also in need of rest.” Form a camp! Raise rug walls to cover the camp fires! We rest until midnight. I want us at the White Stone City at dawn! Also call the witches to me!” She commanded as she swung her right arm.

All the men and women in her army spread out with trained precision. Spears were stuck in the ground to serve as poles on which sturdy rugs were made as walls to cover the campires and not let out much light just in case. Patrols were immediately assigned and provisions were distributed. Tonight it was just bread, dried meat and fruits. They had massive amounts of wine, but none of the soldiers drank any of their own choice. They knew that they wouldn’t be able to rest properly if they did.

Chalsea was sitting outside the area lit by the camp fires with only the light of the moon to light the surroundings. Tonight the weather was good and she could easily see even in the distance.

“You called, Chalsea?” 2 women, no girls, probably around 15 years of age asked unison. They were dressed with long black dresses adorned with raven feathers. Their surprisingly white hairs were made into complex hairstyles also adorned with black feathers and shiny colored stones.” What can we do… for you?” One of them asked first and the second finished the sentence.

“Good, you two came. Vala, Sala, I need you two to made me some of the glowing in the dark red paint and also glittering dust to mark my horse. We shall be riding during the night later and I want the troops to follow me easily.” She explained and the girls started giggling. Then they just nodded and walked away, returning about 15 minutes alter with 2 bottles. One glowed red and the other glittered with silver color under the moonlight. Then one of the girls pulled a raven feather from her hair and tied it into Chalsea’s hair.

“To see in the dark better.” The girls giggled and ran away back into the camp. Most of her soldiers were already asleep. Only those who were on guard duty were left up.

Chalsea relaxed backwards and leaned on her horse who was also resting behind her.” I’ve heard stories of the queen who rules that city. Hope those were true… otherwise there won’t be anything left to save by sunrise… The loot will be good if we were to decimate the looting orcs though..” She mumbled to herself and closed her eyes.

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Dawn on the next day
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The White Stone City was already in sight for Chalsea’s army. They had used the cover of the night to arrive undetected from possible orc scouts and killed every one they saw on the way here. There were still minutes until the sun showed. The reinforcements were already near and some of the orcs seemed to notice something was happening. They would stop and look about, wondering what the rumbling was.

The first thing they would see in the distance was a strange red glowing haze. As a wraith that was speeding towards them. Then as the first light of the morning sun appeared they saw the approaching army, but it was already too late.” KILL THEM ALL!” Chalsea shouted, pulling her giant battle axe in one hand as her cavalry army smashed into the back of the orc siege.” SWEEP!” She shouted as her troops split in two once already inside the orc army outside the walls, stopping them from forming any internal battle lines and now attacking sideways, with the intend of making a full circle around the city with both parties meeting on the other side where one of the city gates were.

[Valchyrie]

The banners of the Orcs were standing firmly in the ground around the White Stone city, and they were towering high up into the air. Skulls were pinned on the top of the banners sharp end, to strike fear into the heart of those that the Orcs attacked. However, it seemed they had underestimated the bravery of the soldiers that lived in the White Stone city, as the banners affected none of them. What they were affected by, was the lack of sleep and food, and it was starting to wear on the soldiers heavily. They also had a few witches and wizards that were shooting out fire and lightning, however they were running out of energy as well. The walls were still holding up and the gate was closed. There was only one gate into the city, and it was the same gate that functioned as the exit of the city, which meant only one way in and one way out. It was amazing that they had held their ground for this long, but two more days, and they would be forced to abandon the city and it’s inhabitants. Queen Adalia didn’t want to see that happen, but she knew that it would be better to stay alive and fight another day, than die for nothing and have no way of reclaiming the city, should it be lost.

Queen Adalia was fighting with her soldiers. She used two blades that looked rather strange. They were like short swords, with a handle that had two dark glowing purple gems inside them. Her armor didn’t consist of much and her hair was long, thick and white. She was covered in blood at the moment, from the orcs. It was night, close to sunrise. While she was said to be immortal and have a lot more stamina than a normal human being, she was starting to feel tired too, but she gave it her all. One of her soldiers were close to her, holding his sword tightly “There’s no way we can win like this. Are you sure we can’t use the reserve shards for the witches? It would help us a lot.” Queen Adalia looked at him “I wish we could, but we have to hold onto them for when it really matters. This fight is only about our city, not a large scale war. We have to hold our territory with what we have.” She then ran towards the orc crowd that was in front of her, letting out a battle cry as she started to fight through the orc crowd. It was amazing to see the Queen fight; she was dancing through the air and while moving, slicing with her short swords as if they weighted nothing. Her hair swirled around at the same time and she didn’t get one scratch on her body. Instead, she just got covered in more blood from the orcs, their nasty black blood.

While she did that, she thought back on the days before the orcs had arrived, where everything had seemed like such a peaceful life. She had not had any reason to fight another city or nation for a many centuries and it had been wonderful to live in peace. Though she wasn’t a naïve person, she knew that there would come a day where she would have to fight again and for that reason, she made sure that she had warriors and witches that were trained for combat. It had proven to be a valid strategy, since it had kept them alive for the last few days. But she was angry that orcs had come to her city to try and take it from her. As far as she knew, this was the first larger city that the orcs had tried to take over, and they still hadn’t shown a reason to why they had suddenly started to want to expand their territory. Orcs wanted to kill and eat and inflict darkness upon the world as a general fact, but they had kept to their own borders for so many years, and then out of nowhere, without so much as a sign, they had started to attack. They had formed groups, commanders, rally points and so on, which had never been seen before in an orc army. More intelligent orcs had come to life as well, orcs that were capable of strategy. But to launch an attack on such a large scale, there had to be something more behind the orcs, something much more intelligent that could manipulate the orcs to do it’s bidding. Whether it was a human or some other dark creature was impossible to say, but there was something, Adalia was sure about it.

As she snapped out of her thought, she noticed that many of the orcs had stopped moving and turned their heads. The sun was almost rising and before she realized herself what was happening, one of her archers shouted from the wall of the city “Reinforcements! Fucking reinforcements! Archers! Show them that the city hasn’t fallen yet!” there was a rumbling loud roar from the city and all the soldiers, showing that their morale had just been boosted impressively. Queen Adalia sighed relieved, she didn’t know who had to come to their rescue, but she didn’t much care about that, the fact was that someone had answered their plead for help. “Drive the orcs from our lands! Show them that the White City will not fall that easily!” she shouted out, and then she noticed the warrior that had called out before as well, a woman with a large battle-axe. That woman had no fear in her, at least that’s what it seemed like and her attacks were heavy, which was quite the opposite of what Adalia was working with. Adalia had short range, but moved swiftly and fast, where the woman with the axe used more heavy attacks because of the size of the axe. However, she was surprisingly fast compared to the weapon she was wielding, so Adalia wasn’t quite sure what kind of warrior this woman was. She didn’t have long to think about it though, she saw a sword swinging towards her from the right, and managed to dodge under it, turn around and stab the orc in the head.

Then one of her soldiers pointed to the middle of the battlefield and shouted “Mountain Troll!!!!” a giant troll with a club made of iron had appeared. These were the orcs most brutal weapons and they were one of the most dangerous close combat creatures you could find. Adalia looked behind her “Everyone! Stay focused on the orcs! This one is mine!” she shouted out, and before any of her soldiers could stop her, she carved her way through the orcs, running towards the troll. The troll was a grey thick-skinned being that had no intelligence what so ever. The only thing it knew was to eat and sleep, unless it had been tortured to do the bidding of the orcs, like this one had. While Adalia was running towards it, the soldiers of the White Stone city start to form a long line in front of the city. It was an impressive sight, 300+ soldiers in completely white armor were guarding the city and pushing the orcs backwards. Adalia in the meantime, was busy with the troll. She had arrived at it now and had slid between its legs. She cut the left leg just below the knee and besides a roar of pain, nothing happened with the troll. It flung it’s club backwards and Adalia dodged it, stabbing it’s right leg as much as she could, managed to stab it twenty times before she had to dodge again. Then she ran to the other leg and did the same there. The troll still didn’t fall, but it’s movements had slowed down. When it then flung it’s club again, she grabbed onto it. The troll then raised the club fast upwards and Adalia let go of the club, flying high above the troll. She then dived down with her two short-swords ready. The purple gems glowed more dark and as she stabbed both of the short-swords into the Troll’s head, a force wave came out from the impact, knocking down the orcs that were close by. The troll fell to the ground, and Adalia breathed heavily.

She now turned around and hurried back to her soldiers. The orcs were retreating now, and she could see how the group that had arrived to help them had really taken down a very large number of the orcs. Without them, it would have been impossible to win this battle. It seemed that the reinforcements, along with the dead troll, had changed the orcs fighting spirit. They were running away from the city as fast as they could, but Adalia’s archers didn’t want to let them get away that easily. They fired as many arrows as they could, taking down as many orcs as they could, before the orcs were out of range and gone. There was a very loud pleasuring roar from the people, a roar of victory and happiness. Adalia was still breathing heavily when she reached the gates of her city and looked around to see if she could find the woman with the battle-axe. When she finally saw the woman at the gate, she gave her a gentle smile. “You have my sincere gratitude. If not for you, we would have been defeated at the end of the day. I welcome you to the White Stone city. Please accept our offer of hospitality. We will give you food and water. You can take baths as well and we will provide quarters for you to rest in. If there is anything else, don’t hesitate to ask.” She smiled. Her sky blue eyes looking at the woman. “My name, is Queen Adalia.” She had now sheathed her two short-swords and had extended a hand towards the woman.

[rivaan]

“Alright, the city has not fallen yet…!” Chalsea said to herself as she noticed the arrows raining down from the walls. She was leading one of the groups of her army as the other one did the circle on the other side. The momentum of their warhorses just carried them though the sea of orcs. Using it and her long reach, with each swing of her axe, she’d take down two or even three orcs.

Then then noticed the mountain troll and just about as she was to divert people to deal with it, noticed a lone figure charging through to the beast.” Alright men, lessen the pressure on those walls!” She shouted as her group suddenly redirected into a route closer to the battle lines between the defenders and the orcs, effectively buying enough time to the defending army to regroup and reinforce their shield line. After that they continued their charge as planned until they reached the other side and regrouped with the other part of her army.

Orcs had huge numbers, but with enough pure force, it was possible to cut right through them. It was the great benefit of a cavalry over orcs, especially when you catch them before they can make spearlines to stop the charge. Once they were back in full force, they charged clockwise around the city. This is what her warband excelled at, fast devastating warfare. Once they get inside the enemy lines, they would tear it up. The momentum of her cavalry was trampled everything in front of her and she knew full well how to use that.

“Vice captain, you lead the rest of the charge!” She ordered, as she received a confirmation from her substitute who took lead of the charge and she suddenly redirected her horse in another direction, stamping and cleaving orcs on her way. She noticed something she didn’t expect to see here. An orc shaman, those magic users of sorts usually served as tribal chiefs or wisemen, rarely to leave orc territories. This one seemed to have been surrounded by a rather strong looking group of orcs.” Guess I found one of the commanders of this sorry lot…”She stated as she swung her axe, cleaving 4 orcs in front of her in two.

The guards of the shaman noticed her and all came to face her. With a eardrum shattering shout she jumped from her horse. The armored creature right away started wreaking havoc on it’s own with the normal orcs as it’s master faced the bigger orcs.

They carried full plate armor, big tower shields and sturdy looking swords. They faced her as a wall to block her charge and did so quite effectively actually. Her mighty swing was stopped in the wall of shields. The impact caused a strong screeching sounds from the place where her battle axe was rubbing into the steel shields. Still while stopped the strike was not negated. The shields were dented, and the orcs pushed backwards. By that moment a swarm of normal orcs were already around her and she dealt with them the only way she knew how. She switched stance, swinging her sword, cleaving half of them apart and using the momentum to jump of the other half. She then drop kicked an orc under her and smashed another’s head with the side of her axe. Afterwards she swung once more at the guards of the shaman who appeared to be casting a spell of some kind. This time she redirected her swing and instead of the side of the shield she targeted down at the ground where the orc’s legs were. With the huge momentum he couldn’t keep the shield steady and it pushed it to the side, cleaving into his leg. With him down, she dashed forward, striking at another of the guards, cutting of his head, before she followed that swing at the shaman.

Another deafening impact occurred as her mighty axe stopped in some kind of energy wall. The shaman was shouting things in the orcish language, but before he could finish his next spell, he suddenly found he couldn’t talk anymore. A strong arm was gripping his throat, cutting of all air supply.” Too bad… this ring allows my left arm to pass right through almost all magic barriers!” She shouted as a purple ring suddenly was shining on her left index finger. She then raised the shaman with one hand and bringing him down onto the steel armor of one of his guards, smashing the back of his skull onto the jagged edges of the orc’s armor.

With the troll gone, one of the commanders taken care of the orc lines quickly fell apart along with their moral. The creature army quickly started a retreat and lost countless under the arrows of the city defenders. In the meantime, Chalsea’s army returned to her along with her horse who was now covered in scratches, but the mount had probably more kills than half her warriors at this point.

“Vala, Sala, did you put a tracing spell on the orcs?” The blond woman asked, wiping off orc blood from her face. She knew something was amiss with this whole region. Orcs had gotten out of control to a degree greater than anytime before. Thus the time she returned to the steppes after her mercenary company finished it’s last contract to the north.

“Yes, Chalsea. We did!” The two younger girls replied in unison and walked on both sides of her.

“Good, we will soon find out from where those guys came…” The warband leader said and slowly led her people to the gates of the city. There still was much to be done. Checking up on the city, maybe buying supplies in preparation to venture out again and then there was of course the matter about getting paid.

“Pleasure to meet you Queen Adalia. I’ve heard many stories of your strength and it’s refreshing to know they weren’t exaggerated.” Chalsea stated as the queen introduced herself and took her hand.” My name is Chalsea, I’m the leader of the Black Ravens Mecernaries.” She then introduced herself and her people.” We’d love to enjoy some civilized hospitality for a change. We’ve been on the move for days, rushing to arrive in time.” Chalsea explained and gave a gesture with her left hand. At the sight of it, all her troops suddenly relaxed. Her giving them that signal, meant battle was over.

“Also I’d love a bath… I hate the smell of orc blood almost as much as I hate orcs themselves.” She stated, the glowing paint still in effect across her skin. Then she turned to her vice captain.” Alright, you know the drill. I don’t want to hear about any troubles on our side! Also send out the scouts once more! I want to be sure there are no orc reinforcements within half a day ride distance from the city!” She said and a few lightly dressed men and women on unarmored horses scattered, quickly speeding off into the distance.

“So what were you saying about a bath?” She asked, wanting to get out of the orc giblets stench.

[Valchyrie]

She let go of Chalsea’s hand after they had shaken hands. “I don’t think you will meet anyone here that welcomes the smell of orcs, most, if not all, agrees with you.” She smiled at her. “I suppose some stories are exaggerated, depends on what stories you have heard about me and the White Stone City.” She said with a small nod. She had heard the name of their mercenary band before, but she hadn’t thought they would be on these parts of the world. “It’s a pleasure to meet a skilled warrior such as yourself. It’s rare that you find someone willing to travel for so many miles as you have, on very few days.” She wondered if they weren’t used to getting hospitality since Chalsea stated it was nice with some for a change, though she didn’t want to poke around the topic, as it was none of her business. She was just glad to hear that Chalsea ordered her men not to cause any trouble. On top of what had just occurred over the last few days, the last thing she wanted was to be saved, just to find herself in another conflict with the ones that saved them. “I thank you for sending out your scouts, I know they must be tired and I’ll be sure to reward them when they return, sadly, my own scouts are too exhausted, or dead, to carry out any orders at the moment. It took a great deal of strength to stay alive, and many many casualties I’m afraid. Once I have got you and your mercenaries settled down, my men and I will gather up the bodies of our fallen and will prepare a funeral. You are more than welcome to join if you’d like, and your men as well. All that I ask is that you clean yourself up, no war paint, armor or weapons, if you wish to join. Our tradition is that we show ourselves from our most peaceful side at funerals, to be sure we send our people off into the great world beyond, peacefully.” She explained to Chalsea.

While Adalia was a tough woman and an excellent warrior, she also felt a lot of sadness and sorrow wash over her when her people died to protect her and the city. She knew they had chosen it out of their own free will, as she didn’t force anyone to join the ranks of soldiers and magic users, but it still hurt her when they fell in battle, despite knowing that battle always demanded sacrifices. She sighed a little at the thought, before she forced a smile upon her face again, they had guests and they should not show their sadness when their guests had just saved them from destruction and saved them from becoming homeless. “Yes, a bath. If you’ll follow me, I’ll show you and your men to the place you and your men can stay. I sadly can’t offer you a place at my own house, since tradition forbids anyone to sleep in the royal home, unless they are married to the Queen. But I can offer you a bath in my home, as the savior of the city, and your men can take baths at the place they will be sleeping. I will send some women to help your men and women to get clean, but please, they don’t work as pleasuring women, they are just there to help them get clean and comfortable, so make sure your men and women know that.” She said with a small bow. When she stood up again, she turned around and the gates to the city were opened.

The city was beautiful, as pure white as the armor the soldiers were wearing. It looked clean and prosperous, though the fear of the orcs could be seen on the inhabitants’ faces. They didn’t know if the conflict was over or if it was just a break, though when they saw Adalia and everyone else coming back into the city, a sigh of relief could be felt and heard throughout the city. There were small rivers running throughout the city and there were flowers and birds. It was a clean city, if you didn’t know better, it would be how many people would imagine paradise to be like. But of course it had taken years to build a city that could look like this and function like this. The crime rate was amazingly low, though there were always someone who wanted to do something bad. While the city itself wasn’t as big as the other existing kingdoms, it was amazing how many things they had managed to cultivate inside it. Shops, stables, armor smith, weapon smith, flower shops and so on. All the things the other cities and kingdoms had, they had as well, just with fewer workers in every shop. “We live quite peacefully out here, and we are not used to having that many visitors come by. We have some occasionally but it’s usually half a year to a year between visits. So if people seem a little afraid at the beginning, don’t take it personally, they just need to get accustomed to having visitors this time around.” Adalia explained as she led Chalsea and her men through the city. They crossed a small stone bridge that went out a small river and just on the other side of it, Adalia stopped. “This building here, can house up to 150 men and their horses, the building on the opposite site can house the same amount. It seems that should be enough for you right?” she asked with a smile to Chalsea. She hoped it would be, as it would be quite difficult to find other houses to let the mercenaries rest in.

“Once you have settled, you can come to the royal mansion. It will be easy to find, as it is the only real mansion in the city. I don’t really like the concept of palaces and castles, so I had the last palace that was here, demolished and used for more housing for the citizens. I then build a mansion to make sure I did have some kind of bigger housing for when there were other royals that would come to visit. I know I said that only those married to the Queen could stay in the royal house, but if the people that stay in there are already married, then it is allowed for them to stay inside.” She smiled a bit. “If you can’t find it, you can always ask people, they will help you. But please, if you can wash off your war paint it would make the citizens feel more at ease when you approach them.” She said. “I will leave you to it now, and go get cleaned up myself. I will let my people at the mansion know that you will be coming later, and if you decide not to come, then it’s okay as well. The funeral tonight is after the sun has gone down. I hope to see you later. There will be food and plenty to drink.” She then gave another bow again, and left them to get settled in. The women that would help the men would arrive thirty minutes later, and if none of the men and women wanted their help, they could tell them so and the women would leave again, but they were there if they would be needed.

In the meantime, Adalia returned to her mansion where her servants greeted her. They had already prepared her own bath and she was happy that they had. She went to the big bathroom that she had in the mansion, which contained four silver bathtubs and two large mirrors on each side of the walls. She got out of her armor and clothing, handing it all to the servants that was waiting in the bathroom with her, all women of course. “If Chalsea, the mercenary leader arrives, please show her into this room. Prepare a bath for her as well. It’s the least we can do for the savior of the city.” She said with a small smile. One of the servants nodded and prepared the bath right away, putting in some hot stones to make sure that water could stay warm until Chalsea would arrive, if she would arrive at all. With that, the servants left to clean her armor and clothing off the orc blood, and Adalia rested in the bath herself, letting her body and face get cleaned from all the orc blood she had been showered in during the battle.

[rivaan]

“Hehe, we were already on our way to these parts when the message about the impending attack reached us about 4 days ride away from here.” Chalsea explained with a dismissing wave of her hand.” Still distance doesn’t matter whenever lives are involved.” The mercenary captain added with a smile. It felt nice to arrive in time to prevent a full massacre. Back in the north where her warband usually operated, they would always be called to deal with the frost ogres. There was an unofficial war going on to the north. The human countries battled the ogres constantly and neither side really knew what for anymore. All they really knew was that the other had to die. Sadly most kingdoms to the north seemed to be in decline with corruption, treasons and rebellions being almost as constant as the ogre attacks. Chalsea’s mercenaries worked for the cities themselves, being paid by mayors and rich merchants to protect their homes while the stupid rulers fought themselves over old and crumbling forts.

“I myself will attend the funeral, maybe with a few more people, but I suspect the majority of my troops will not take part of it. A lot of them are from the north. Funeral manners there are the completely opposite to yours here. I mean it involves a lot of shouting, war gear and possibly a tournament depending on who’s the one that died.” The captain explained as they were led through the streets.

“I understand, I will treasure the chance to take a bath at thine home.” Chalsea stated with a smile, her eyes sliding across the surrounding city. It truly was a marvel to behold. Clean and beautiful! She was glad she got to see this place, the grim stone and decaying wood building of the north were getting to her.” Ahh do not worry about that, Queen Adalia. My men and women know their places… I’ve had a few incidents like that in the past and I’ve dealt with those appropriately. Since then everyone knows the repercussions of what will happen if they try something like that and no one dares to try doing it again.” She explained with a smirk. Chalsea had a rather… effective punishment for it. If a man in her company did that, she made sure he will never be able to do so again.

“Yes, thank you. Those building will more than suffice.” The captain replied with grateful voice and also bowed as the queen had to excuse herself and leave Chalsea and her troops to settle in.

“Great, faster people! I want all of you settled in within half an hour!” Chalsea called as the men and women quickly started to separate into two groups. They were granted two buildings with 150 men capacity each, but they only had 200 people. For that reason the captain quickly divided her forces into two groups of 100 for each building. That would give more space for her people and allow them a better rest. Plus no group would have less people in case of emergency.

Chelsea was just about to head out to meet Adalia when the two young witches appeared to her, now dressed into normal pair of dresses both light blue in color.” Chalsea, are you going out… to meet the queen?” The girls finished each other’s sentences again as they did a circle around her. The two younger girls tend to hang around her a lot. She thought of them as family and it seems they did so too. She nodded to their question and they giggled before spinning around her a few more times and weaving anther feather into her hair and running away down the corridor towards their room. She smiled and continued her way.

The mercenary leader left the building they were given and started walking in the destination where the mansion of the queen should be. She was not carrying her battle axe with her and also had a bundle she was holding onto with one of her hands. It didn’t really take that much long for her to locate the building. After all Adalia may not know it, but Chalsea had been in the White Stone City once before, when she was a young child in fact. Her father had taken her here to trade for supplies for their caravan also to buy his daughter a gift for her catching her first wild rabbit all on her own. She understood the real value of his present over a decade later. Her precious magical ring that negates magic barriers. She always wondered why he had sold his most treasured sword back then in order to buy a seemingly ordinary ring.

She finally tore herself away from her childhood memories when she reached the mansion and after presenting herself was led in. She politely declined the servants’ offers to carry her luggage which in this case was her cloth bundle that she carried. Finally she was led into the great bathroom and made an astonished expression. She had never been allowed to use or even enter such a gorgeous bathroom.” Queen Adalia.” She gave a slight bow as a greeting to the other woman who appeared to already be enjoying her bath.” I’m really grateful for this. I cannot even count how many times I was forced to use barrels of lukewarm water on cold northern nights out in some barn or something, right after saving a town from ogres, other humans or whomever was attacking it.” She said as she quickly placed the cloth bundle next to the bathtub and after that quickly proceeded with taking off the bloody leathers and skins she was wearing before finally entering the bathtub.

Right away from the moment she entered the hot water, the red glowing paint quickly started coming off her body along with all the grime and blood that clung to her skin.” Ahhh… this is the best…” She let out a smile, enjoying the sensation of warmth across her body.

[Valchyrie]

Well that would have explained why they could have come to their aid that fast. If they were already on the way to the steppes, then they would have ran into the messenger that had been sent out to gather help, it at least had saved them time, and their lives in the end of it. The fact that they valued lives that high meant that even though they were mercenaries, they were still following some kind of code during their travels. “I’m glad you arrived that fast and I’m happy that you value lives as highly as you do, that was the reason we were saved today. As for the funeral, I understand. We will be happy to have you there with those of your men that wishes to join, but there will be no tournament or shouting. Instead, there will be stories shared over the food and there will be soft playing music from the bards that live in the city.” She said while they were still at the houses for the soldiers. “And thank you for making sure no one touches the women, I’m very glad they won’t do anything to them.” She smiled. After that, she had gone to the mansion.

Now that she was in the bathroom, she heard the door open and she turned her head to see Chalsea come into the bathroom. Soap in the bathtub covered Adalia’s naked body completely, so she had no reason to be shy. “Welcome to the bathroom. You don’t have to be grateful for this, it’s the least I can do. Sadly, I cannot offer the same to your men, but they won’t be forced to taking baths in barrels, we do have bathtub for them as well, and my women will make sure they know that.” She smiled at her. As Chalsea dropped her clothing, Adalia took a look at the body the woman had, and was quite drawn to the muscular body Chalsea had, though it was not muscular as many men, but muscular while being feminine. Adalia didn’t really show any muscle on her body, she wasn’t sure whether that was because she didn’t age and that had something to do with her body structure, or if it was because she used light and fast weapons and movements instead of heavy weapons. She then watched as she got into the bathtub and smiled at how Chalsea reacted to the bath. “It is the best. I agree with you on that.” She smiled softly. “Well, I have fought Ogres before, but not that much so my experience with them are rather small I’m afraid. But I can understand your displeased feelings for having to bath in barrels after having fought those brutes. I guess our culture is rather different from each other.” She smiled gently.

While they were both in the bathtub, the voices of soldiers going around on the streets could be heard. They were cheerful and happy and already telling stories of the battle, they had just finished. Some people would find it weird that stories were already being made from a battle that had only just ended, but Adalia understood their need to share stories. It was a way of bonding and a way of forgetting the more horrifying scenes that the battle had shown them. “I hope your men are as happy about stories and storytelling as my soldiers are, if so, they should have a lot of interesting stories to share with each other.” She said, looking over to Chalsea that was next to her. Their bathtub was rather close to each other, only half an arms-length away. She wasn’t sure how Chalsea herself felt about stories and battling in general, but it seemed like she was accustomed to the feeling. Adalia felt like she would never get accustomed to the feeling of killing and fighting, maybe besides the trolls, as they didn’t seem to have any intelligence what so ever. But when it came to orcs, she did feel bad. If the stories were true, then the orcs had once been other kind of races, tortured and changed into these blood-thirsty beasts, which meant she could have been killing her own kind every time she killed an orc and that thought didn’t please her one bit.

She sighed a little as she laid her head back in the bathtub and let her water fall all the way into the water, wetting it all. “I don’t know how you can live the life you do. Fighting for money and killing as if it’s nothing. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not judging you. If anything, I envy you for your ability to ignore the killing you do.” She said, relaxing in the shower. “You seem to enjoy it when you fight, at least that’s what you looked like on the battlefield and I can understand your feeling. From what I understand, your culture enjoys fighting a lot and takes pleasure and honor in killing the beasts of darkness. And I should be able to feel like that as well, but I can’t help but think about the stories about the orcs.” She explained, opening her eyes and looking over to Chalsea again. “I don’t know if you have heard the stories, but if it’s to be believed, orcs were once other races of the world, tortured and changed through dark methods. I just don’t like to think that I might be killing someone who didn’t willingly get turned into such a blood-thirsty beast.” She sat up now, the water and the soap just covering her breasts, though only barely. “If you have a secret to ignore those thoughts, I would like you to teach them to me and my men, so that we might be able to fight with more strength when we have too.” She smiled at Chalsea softly, hoping she would agree to do it.

She wasn’t sure what else she could do, but she had to sharpen her own skills and her men’s skills if they were to survive another charge of the orcs like the one they had survived this time. “If you have the time, I will pay with what I have for you and your men to train us. I will use all the gold coins I have to pay you and make sure you are treated almost like royals during your stay here. If there’s any more I can do, I will try to make it happen for you and your men. But it would mean a lot to me if you could teach us your way of fighting.” She nodded. Maybe Adalia and her men could even teach something back to Chalsea and her mercenary band, if they thought they had something worth learning from the White Stone city. “Again, I don’t have much to offer, but I can offer you all my gold and I can offer you the hospitality and our cultural traditions of course.” She smiled gently. “But as you can see, I will do anything I can to make sure I won’t lose the city to the orcs and that I won’t lose any men to any enemy that might come around. I will defend this city with my life if I have too.” She sighed a little and hoped she didn’t seem like she was rambling too much to Chalsea.

[rivaan]

“Ogres… hmmm ogres are almost like orcs in a way. In a way at least. They are completely barbaric race who’s only goal is the destruction or enslavement of those around them. They posses intelligence equaling that of humans and their strength is generally greater than an average human.” Chalsea explained, rubbing her arms with soap to get rid of the paint and grime.” Generally they have lesser numbers, but are non the less extremely dangerous. Imagine a cavalry charge of ogres who are 2 times as tall as humans and at least 3-4 as wide. All of them riding big mammoths… Gosh that was one hell of a nightmarish battle. Happened two years ago, near one of the northern capitals. My warband used to be 350 people at the time. We lost nearly 250 and are still recovering from those loses.” The mercenary leader explained.

“Well it’s not really that different, I had to take baths like that because my warband was denied access to cities… Basically the situation to the north is a political nightmare.” She explained as she had just finished scrubbing off all paint from her arms and torso.” In simple terms… corruption, distrust, political games, treason… the north is ripe with those. Most rulers to whom we fought didn’t allow us access to their cities. We were forced to camp outside the walls because they feared someone would pay us more and we would turn on them. Needless to say I wouldn’t do that, but there are cases of that happening back there with other warbands. It's because of people who forsake their honor for money that we get called dogs of war.” She recalled and started cleaning her very long blond hair which looked almost ashen at the moment from all the dust and blood.

“Stories are the lifeblood of any northern warriors. They rulers may be stupid and corrupt, but the warriors still hold true. My warriors would welcome any chance to boast with their past accomplishments, just don’t give them breakable tableware… only metal or wooden mugs for their drinks and metal or wooden plates for their meals. Nords get very cheery when they start boasting and drinking. Lots of hitting their cups at the ground when they down it in one go happen. They know not to do that when on the job, but currently they are off duty so if the drinking get’s out of hand one or two barfights may happen.” The blond woman laughed, still cleaning her hair which now had started to return it’s original almost pale golden color.

“Queen Adalia I think there may be some misunderstanding here.” Chalsea said with a smile, relaxing down into the bathtub, allowing the water to cover her up to her neck, which admittedly her knees showed a little.” I myself am not from the north. I was born a nomad here from the steppes. In fact my tribe used to wander the edges of your kingdom and the orc territories long before the orcs territory even reached this land. For that I do know all the stories about orcs… my mother used to scare me with them every night to make sure I never wander far from the tribe alone.” She explained, recalling those times.” Anyhow… point is… whatever orcs once were, that was generations ago. The current orcs were born orcs and they do not care about humans or elves or any race. They would pillage, rape and destroy everything in their paths. Because of that there is no need to feel anything like that for them.” She stated as she finally finished cleaning most of her hair, revealing it’s splendid color.

“As for the secret on the battlefield… it’s rather simple really. You just get used to it if you do it enough. At least that was for me, aside the throwing up in my first battle, I’ve never had problems since. Guess it means I’m a little touched in the head…” She stated with a smile.” Still the more veteran soldier would say you this - on the battlefield it’s you or the enemy. You just have to accept that once you enter the battle someone is going to die. The big problem is that very first time. I’ve noticed that after their first battle, soldiers tend to start accepting enemy death a lot easier.” The mercenary leader stated. People who lived on the battlefields like herself tended to think a lot differently from those who lived ordinary lives most of the time.

“Hmmm….” She made a sound indicating she was thinking through Adalia’s request. To stay and train the queen’s armies now that was a job that while would help White Stone City a lot, wouldn’t be exactly easy to pull off. First of all, Chalsea’s mercenaries were a little bit on the big numbers side. That meant at least 200 more mouths to feed for days maybe even weeks. Not to mention there was also the factor about payment.” This is a possible request. We can stay and train your troops, but won’t be exactly easy. My soldiers would need proper meals and not to mention even payment for their services. There’s also the case my soldiers would expect some payment for aiding your town today. We are mercenaries after all… Hmmm…” She explained, still thinking things through.” Alright how does this sound, I shall give you a token price for this battle today. That way I can pay my troops and please them. After that I would grand them some… vacation. They aren’t exactly without money, after all we just arrive from the north. While the majority of my troops are on break, living in the housing your provided us today. They would be paying for their own expenses otherwise. In the meantime, I will gather some volunteers to train your soldiers, free of charge. That way, some welcomed income would arrive in your city after the orc attack, my troops will get the chance to relax a little bit and we will still be able to train your soldiers.” She explained her plan. Frankly she also liked the idea of staying for a while. It would give them enough time to gather information on the orcs, using the tracker magic the witch girls used. She didn't like the fact how organized orcs were getting.

[Valchyrie]

Adalia listened to everything that Chalsea explained about the ogres, storing the information in her mind. If she ever got up against one of those again, she would have learned a valuable lesson from Chalsea just from talking with her. “They sound more dangerous than the orcs, as you rightfully claim they are. If they fight just to enslave, but doing so with an intelligent mind, then they have a goal, and that makes them dangerous. The orcs are not dangerous in themselves, as you know, they are not the brightest of creatures, but to form groups and ranks as they did in this battle, suggest that something is behind the orcs armies.” She said with a small shrug, not liking that thought one bit. “I’m sorry for your loss though, two-hundred and fifty men is a lot to lose to a battle. But I’m glad that you and your men survived the battle, it means you can live on with the fallen in your memories, fighting to honor their spirits in the afterlife.” She smiled at Chalsea a bit, thoroughly believing that there was indeed an afterlife. Though it was still sad that she had lost two-hundred and fifty men to ogres, from what Adalia had seen in the battle this day, Chalsea could certainly hold her own ground, as could her men. A few years is a long time, but if Chalsea was just half as skilled a warrior as she was on the battlefield this day, the ogres most really have been a force to be scared of, not like the two ogres she had had the chance of fighting herself.

She then listened to why Chalsea’s warband had been left out of the cities after they had completed jobs. For Adalia, it seemed very unfair that someone who gave their life to protect someone else should be denied even simple pleasures as a shower or a place to sleep. Even if they did take money for doing a protective job, they should still be allowed to get some rest and clean themselves after a bloody battle. She shrugged at the thought, wondering for a moment what she would have done herself if someone had refused shelter to her, if she had helped him or her out in a tough situation. Though her mind was taken away from that again as she was explained how the political life was in the northern regions. “I don’t understand why someone is able to be corrupted. If you are a leader you should put your people first and yourself as a second, at least that’s what I believe in. It might be naïve to think like that, but our city, and it is not my city, it is indeed our city, has only prospered the way it has, because we have built the city on that foundation. Everyone is equal here. Of course I am a Queen, and as such, I am treated differently, but people don’t mind that, and they do want to have a leader, they just want to have the right leader and not a self-righteous one.” She shrugged a bit again. “You can be called dogs of war, you can be called assassins, what’s important is that you don’t let it get to you. You do what you want to do, and it’s a choice you have made. And I actually understand that choice. From what you explain, it sounds like the best choice in a region where everything could be turned against in a second.” The door suddenly opened, though slowly, and a maid came into the bathroom. “Is everything okay Miladies?” she asked. Adalia turned her head to look at her “Yes, thank you Malis. But please bring us something to drink.” Malis bowed and went out again.

Then they continued their conversation again. “I will make sure they get plates and mugs that they can’t break. If they enjoy stories of war and battles, they should enjoy my soldiers company quite a lot. You should tell them to come to the funeral tonight then.” She smiled. “I will make sure my soldiers know that your men would like to hear their stories and share their experience on the battlefield. While we might live rather secluded out here on the steppes, we have seen our fair share of war and battle, and we do have stories to share with those that wants to listen.” She smiled. Adalia was completely cleaned from the blood now and her hair was clean as well, though she also admired the hair that Chalsea had, and now that her true hair color was starting to come through, it was looking even better. The sunlight was now coming in through the windows that were placed all around the bathroom. You could look out over the city from the bathroom and the bathtubs, when the sun finally shone through. It was a beautiful sight.

The secret of the battlefield. She didn’t like how it was presented to her through Chalsea’s mind. Though she guessed that was the truth behind the secret. To get used to it, you had to accept it, but it was so difficult to accept death and destruction when there was no reason to keep fighting. She did giggle a bit when Chalsea said she threw up in her first battle “Well, I can’t imagine you throwing up because of blood. But I guess we all had to start somewhere with our experience.” Though Adalia herself didn’t remember where she started with her experience, actually, she didn’t remember where she came from, all she could remember, was that she had lived in the White Stone city for centuries, if not longer, and had at some point become the Queen of the White Stone city. She had been on the throne for at least thirty years, and she probably was the Queen when Chalsea had been here as a child, or at least when she had been around the border of the White Stone city. “Oh I’m sorry, I thought you were from the north. It’s quite unusual to meet someone who has been around on the steppes before, and not stayed here, so I just assumed you were from the north like the rest of your warband seems to be.” She smiled a bit. “I realize that it’s me or the enemy on the battlefield, but I can’t shake the feeling that they were once something else, that orcs once shared the same love for life as the rest of the world did.” She sighed and looked out through the windows in front of them, looking out over the city. “I have killed many times, and will probably have to kill again, but I never get used to it. If you can teach my men to live with the same rules as you though, that would help a lot.”

She slowly got out of the bathtub, soap covering a bit of her body, but mostly, her slim figure could be seen, as well as her chest. Her chest wasn’t small, the armor had hidden the fact of her size rather well, and the water in the bathtub had too. Though they looked beautiful none the less on her body, as they hung nicely from her upper body. They were full and smooth. She went over to one of the windows and opened it, letting in some fresh summer air. Then she turned around and walked back to the bathtub, getting back into it. The feeling of the summer air hitting her warm body was nice. It was always a great feeling to feel the air upon your skin when you had just been warmed up from a shower or a bath. The door now went open again, and Malis came back into the bathroom, holding two crystal glasses with red wine inside it. “Here you are Miladies. As you requested.” She handed them both their glasses before she went out again and closed the door. Adalia smiled at Chalsea “Hope you don’t mind a bit of red wine while we talk and enjoy our bath.” She smiled. What the soap had covered up though, while she had been standing at the windows, had been markings, or tattoos some would think. At the moment, they were nothing special, but that was because she was relaxing and didn’t want to scare of Chalsea in any way.

She took a sip of her wine, while listening to the suggestion that Chalsea had for the training. “Oh no no, I plan to pay you fully for your help today. I will not take a discount or anything from that. Don’t worry, I will not pay with the city’s gold, I will pay from my own pocket. I have earned my gold myself, and I have enough to pay you all. The city’s gold is the city’s, I will not touch that unless it’s to repair the city or build something for the city and so on.” She smiled. “We will also offer your soldiers meals and water after every training session, even if you do it more than once every day. We can cultivate our lands fast and we have more than enough food to supply you for at least a month or two, without getting into trouble ourselves. If you want to give them vacation, you can do that, it is entirely up to you. And yes, please let your men house the housing as long as they want too, it’s their home until you decide to leave.” She smiled. She was happy with the way their negotiation was going, and it would prove to be a useful deal, if Chalsea’s men didn’t protest. “I’m glad that you want to stay for a while, I’m excited to learn about any culture you have seen that I haven’t, and share stories. If your men likes a tournament, we can also arrange that in a few days. We want to be open to other cultures and their traditions and ideas, and while you are not from the north, it seems you do share some of their traditions, so I would like to honor you and your warband by learning and experiencing your tradition, as well as your men’s’ tradition.” She smiled again. “Thank you, for all that you have done for us, Miss Chalsea.” With that, she took another sip of her wine again.

[rivaan]

“Hmm… when you live like us, losses are something that happens” Chalsea sated, relaxing in the tub with a smile.” My men always know they could die on the battlefield and for Nords that’s the only way they want to die. For them death is a mere beginning. According to northern believes after they die, their gods will take them to their realms and to their mead halls where they can drink to eternity along with the divines. So you can see why they aren’t really phased by death.” She explained with a smile.

“Well it’s just how the north is right now.” The mercenary leader stated with a shrug.” I mean do not get me wrong, while living like that isn’t exactly the best, it … teaches you a lot of things. The harsh winters and the blizzards mold a person like no other force. Besides often I would be given permission to enter cities with let’s say a couple of my troops to buy supplies and the like. Also in more than one occasion I myself was invited into the castles of the rulers of said towns. Mind you it was mostly because I’m a woman… and those rulers were men of let’s say questionable attitude and motivation for those invitation, thus I preferred to stay with my troops.” She shuddered for a moment, remembering one of her first days as a mercenary, back when she served as a common footsoldier into another warband. Her leader was invited to a castle… and he brought her along. Lucky she had her knife back then.” Well the term ‘Dogs of War’ has now stuck. It’s the official term all mercenaries are now referred to… when they are not around that is. But it doesn’t matter. My warband has it’s honor and pride. Those who know of us, know we are trustworthy and damn worth the money spend when hiring us!”

Chalsea then looked to the side as the maid entered the bathroom and was eventually given the request to bring something to drink to them. The mercenary leader smiled, she loved a good drink!” Ahhh, I will actually in fact it would happen anyway. Once the funeral is over and I’m sure your soldiers will head to the bars and pubs, mine will also be there. You simply cannot stop a soldier from going to a tavern after a battle. I’ve tried it simply doesn’t work.” She laughed and sighed in the end.” As for the funeral itself… They will not be joining. As I said earlier nords have different culture. They are obligated to send the dead in full battle gear. It comes from their believes that the messengers of their gods will come to take the souls of the fallen. Besides we too have losses from this battle. 2 of my recruits were dismounted during the charge. They got swarmed by the orcs before the cavalry could turn to help.” Chalsea stated with slightly sad voice.” They would be given proper northern funerals outside the city by the rest of the troops.” She added, knowing both the recruits. It was two brothers, barely 16 years old each. They had just joined right before the warband headed south.

“Well… don’t remind me of it…” The blond woman said and moved down into the tub again, letting the water reach her chin.” I was barely 15 at the time. It was my first official battle after I joined. In the heat of battle, you forget, you lose yourself, you kill, get wounded, do not pay attention to the surroundings until it’s over and once the rush settles down and your senses return to their proper states, you realize everything that happened. The lives you took, the slaughter around you… the stench… It was not the blood… that made me throw up actually. In fact it was not even the fact I took a life. It was the bloodbath around me. I actually kind of got knocked out in that battle and woke up in the middle of pile of corpses. If someone didn’t throw up in their first time experiencing such slaughter, I still have not met them.” The blond woman explained with a smile, as she took her leg above the water to clean it from the glowing paint. This thing was truly stubborn! Then again what did she expect from a brew made by her pair of witches. It needed to be hard to take off. After all it had to stand in rain, blizzards and even if she had to swim through a river.

“Well, there were… reasons for it. Ended up to the north without much choice.” She replied with a shrug.” Decided living as a mercenary was better than the alternative I was presented at the time. At least as a mercenary I was going to have the same rights as every soldier in a warband.” She explained, but kept most of the details of that time to herself. What had happened back then was something she never really spoke about with anyone and the few who knew in her warband, who were with her from the start dared not talk about it.” I… I can engrave it into them to fight. To make their bodies to move despite fear or doubt, but to get over the deaths will be something only they can do.”

While the queen got out of the bathtub and over to open the winds, Chalsea got a good look of her host. That was not exactly the body of a fighter. In fact it was not a body that by all right should have been capable of moving like she did out during the battle with the troll. Then again the queen was not exactly human so body physique didn’t mean much. Still she sure was a beautiful woman!

“Ahh thank you.” The blond woman said to the maid who came over to give her the glass of wine.” Of course I do not mind. A drink is best with company to be enjoyed and I do believe you are a fine company, Queen Adalia.” The mercenary replied with a smile, taking a sip from the glass. She then stopped and looked at the drink for a while.” This is… the best wine I’ve tasted to this day!” She stated in confusion. She has tried and tasted countless different wines over the years as every tavern, every town, every shop made their own and sold it, but she never tasted anything quite like this!

“Well in that case, seems my concerned were unfounded.” The mercenary leader said with a smile, hearing from the queen that the situation wasn’t as dire as she assumed. Now that she thought about it, the city itself was not breached so the damage was only contained to outside the city and the soldiers lost. Which meant no real need to repair buildings and the like which was frankly the real money sink.” In that case, I suppose we can start with the training even tomorrow. It will take a little bit of time to sort out who of my troops would volunteer for training duty, but in two days tops it should be done. Training all your soldiers at once would be difficult though. It would require a lot more open space than any barraks I’ve ever seen. It would need to be done outside the walls. Another option would be to do it in groups at the barrask yards. I will leave the choice to you, Queen Adalia. Though, I personally suggest training as big as number at once as possible. Preferably all of those who aren’t on guard duty at the time.” Chalsea said and blinked, feeing the soft warm wind across her skin. This was pretty nice actually. It reminded her of when she took baths with her mother. The nomads used rugs and skins for their portable homes. Such were also their baths. Covered on most side by rugs and skins to block view, but still allowing for the nice warm winds of the steppes to blow freely.

“Well I’ve lived for nearly 15 years there. Naturally some of the traditions sunk in, I guess.” She replied with another smile.” As for a tournament, that would be quite good actually. I’ve been meaning to hold a tournament within the warband for some time now. That’s how most of the positions within the warband are decided. For example my vice captain needs to be the second best fighter within the group as he needs to lead a charge in my absence or whenever we split the troops. It also let the troops deal with problems such as arguments easily.” She said and took a sip from the wine also.” Do not thank me yet. We will see how many if your men can stand the training. Besides I actually embrace the chance to be here for a while. I’ve had my witches put a tracing spell on the orcs. Soon we will know from where exactly they came.”

[Valchyrie]

“I suppose so. I just wish we could make sure that no one had to lose anyone to war and death.” She said with a shrug. “I guess it would be a good way of thinking, that your gods, or higher beings, would come to take you away. With that belief, you wouldn’t have to fear for your life, you might fear the pain that it would bring when you got struck by a weapon or bitten by an orc and so on, but death itself would not inflict fear upon you, it would just be, as you say, another beginning for another journey.” She said with a smile. “I like that thought, even if it’s not what the people here believe in, though maybe some of them would change their believes if they heard the stories.” She said with a small nod again, taking a sip of her red wine again. It was interesting to hear about the life that Chalsea had lived so far, also a bit sad, as she seemed to not have had the easiest life, but she was still alive and kicking and it seemed like nothing was going to bring her down. At least at the moment, it all depended on what the future would bring for them.

“Out here, we don’t get molded into living tough lives like that. What we do learn is to hunt and hide effectively. As you know and have seen, the steppes doesn’t offer much in the way of hiding and camouflage, but we have learned to use the environment to our advantage and create equipment that can let us hide from the enemy out on the steppes. Though it does take some preparations, which is why we have outposts throughout the steppes, with someone always staying at the post. Sadly though, the orcs had somehow gotten close without being noticed, which should not have been possible, but they did. Some of the outposts were destroyed in the blink of an eye, but it was thanks to another five outposts and the soldiers stationed there, that we had time to get the soldiers out of the city and engage the orcs in battle before they breached the walls. They didn’t sacrifice themselves for nothing, and for that I’m grateful.” She stated, taking another sip of her wine. “I’m not going to ask you what their intentions were, as I’m sure I can guess what they thought they could get, but I’m glad that you knew how to defend yourself and made sure that you didn’t get hurt.” She stretched her legs above the water for a moment, before moving them back into the bathtub again.

“I have to admit though, that the term ‘Dogs of War’ sounds pretty intriguing. It’s a status that lets people know what you do and what you stand for. At the same time, they know that you can hold yourself in a battle, as most mercenary groups of your size would have engaged in many different battles and jobs. It gives you respect and some probably fear you as well, but it’s still intriguing.” She smiled gently at Chalsea. “But I can understand if it can be an annoyance at times. It is a branding as much as a status as well. But if you have your honor and your pride, as you say you and your warband does, then it’s all that you are required to keep a satisfied way of living.” She smiled again. Chalsea, a mercenary leader with more stories to her life than you could guess. In many ways, they were the same, at least that’s what Adalia thought. They both had pasts that were filled with different stories and experiences. The difference was that Adalia didn’t remember her past. She wasn’t exactly sure when she started remembering things, but she knew it was before she became Queen Adalia, and she knew that it was at some point while she was in the White Stone city as a citizen, or maybe not a citizen, maybe something else, but she wasn’t sure. All she knew was that she started remembering when she was in the White Stone city.

“After the funeral, we will set up long tables at the middle of the marketplace. We will move the stalls that are there, and everyone in the city is invited to come and join in. We will all gather there for drinking and eating, and don’t worry, your soldiers are more than welcome to drink there. They can also go to the bars and pubs, but the soldiers will start at the funeral before going to the bars and pubs, as they want to honor their fallen comrades before the day is over.” She stated with a nod. “I’m sorry for your loss, I didn’t have time to see if you lost any men, and I thought you didn’t take any losses. While it’s not your tradition, my men will have your two soldiers in their prayers tonight. That is not something you can take away from them.” She smiled, taking a deep breath and letting it out. Company like this was rare to come by, and it seemed that Chalsea was enjoying herself as well, which was a good thing. If Chalsea decided to stay, Adalia had a few secrets she might want to share with her, secrets that very few people in the city knew about, and that she had wanted to discuss with someone else. But for now, she would wait and see how Chalsea behaved for the next few weeks.

“Well, at least you did wake up again. But I understand that the stench and the pile of corpses probably wasn’t the best way of waking up.” She shrugged. “A bloodbath of that size would make anyone throw up I agree. The rush of battle is something everyone feels, but it’s different from person to person I believe. Some think more clearly, while others get more barbaric and doesn’t always recognize friend from foe. Luckily, my soldiers recognize each other, but we have had accidents many years ago, before the city had prospered to it’s full potential. We have made sure that would never happen again.” She sighed a little at the thought of the mistakes that had happened throughout the years before she was crowned Queen.

She nodded in understanding to those choices Chalsea had made. “Well, you won’t have to worry about that here. Everyone here is equal as I said. So you won’t have to feel like you owe something to anyone. We treat you and your men, as we would like to be treated ourselves.” She smiled at her, taking a sip of her wine glass again. It was now half-full. “As long as you are willing to try, then that’s all I can ask of you. But don’t underestimate the energy and feelings you put into my men just by training with them. Even that will make a difference in the next battle. So the fact that you train them, will already help them get better on the battlefield.” She smiled. “But I understand, and I will also make sure they train on their own to prepare themselves mentally for the death and destruction they might have to witness in the coming years. If the orcs continue their rampage and killing, then we will see many more battles in the years to come I’m afraid.”

Adalia smiled when Chalsea praised the wine that they were drinking. “Well, I’m glad you enjoy it. We make sure to get the best out of our grapes when we make the wine. Everything is measured carefully and prepared before it’s turned into wine. You are welcome to have as much of it as you would like, though just don’t empty our bottles, as it does take some time to make the wine.” She giggled a little. “We can share a bottle after the funeral if you would like. I’ll take you on a tour around the city when it’s gone quiet as well if you would like. The city has really changed over the last ten years, and it is a beautiful sight during the night. The moonlight and the starlight that shines down on the city, even if it rains, makes the white buildings look beautiful.” She smiled gently, hoping it wouldn’t rain though, but keep dry if they were going to go on a tour around the city.

“Well, I’m not sure starting training tomorrow would be a good idea, many of the men will probably be hungover from the drinking they will participate in today.” She laughed. “And I’d rather not see wobbly soldiers swing their swords, which just spells disaster from the very moment they start training.” She laughed again. “Let your soldiers and my soldiers have a few days off duty and then you can start training them. As for where to train them, I think the steppes would be a good place to train. You can also simulate real battles out there and you have a lot of room to move around. Everyone that are not on duty will be out there and train with you and your men.” She smiled with a nod. “Don’t think about it too much, for the next few days, I’d like you to relax and just enjoy life. I can see on your face and your relaxation in the bathtub that you haven’t had time to do that in a long time. I will not allow you to work in the next few days.” She smiled.

“Great! I’ll arrange a tournament then! We can have it on the second day from now, the day before you start training with my soldiers. It would be a good way for my men and your men to show off their skills before the training. You can also get an idea of what you would like to train first and so on.” She smiled. She wasn’t sure if she would participate in the tournament herself, but if it proved to be interesting she might want to. It was unusual to see a royal join a tournament, but as Adalia had proven many times already, she was one of the people in the city and she wanted to do the same thing that the people in the city were doing. This also meant joining the different games and tournaments that they did occasionally have. “We can see if your vice-captain can beat my second in command in the army. That should make for an interesting fight as well.” She smiled. “But not to the death of course, merely to one of them yields or are knocked out, and no blows to the head either if they decide that they want to fight, they might also choose another discipline if they would like.” She smiled. She then emptied the glass of wine she had and slowly got out of the bathtub again.

She went over and grabbed a towel at one of the large mirrors, wrapping it around her lower body and taking another towel, wrapping it around her upper body. Then she pulled her long thick white hair up into a bun and turned to Chalsea. Her markings were still hidden because of the towels. “Do you want to enjoy the bath a little longer or do you want to finish up now? I have a few duties I have to attend before the funeral tonight, plus the preparations for tonight as well.” She smiled. “You are more than welcome to stay here in the mansion for a while if you would like to. You can just think of it as your own while you are here, as long as you remember that you sleep in the housing with your men later on, or if you want, we can arrange for you to have the best room in one of the inns here. It’s actually a bridal suite, but it would be very comfortable for you I believe.” She smiled at her.

[rivaan]

“It’s a rather interesting religion to say the least, but it comes with it’s own catches. True enough their gods will take them after death, but that’s only if their death was with honor. They are supposedly judged and those worthy are brought to the mead halls where they await the end of the world where they will battle against the enemy of the gods. It’s a very broad religion that cannot be explained in a simple short conversation.” Chalsea said in the end with a smile.” To fully explain everything, a priest would be needed, but they stay to the north. Still I’m sure some of my people would be glad to explain however they can.”

“Well I suspect orcs had a lot of help on this one. Probably magical to boot, I personally slew an orc shaman out in the field today.” Chalsea recalled, making a not really pleased face.” Shamans rarely leave orc camps. What’s more shamans act as the defacto leaders of their groups, which makes it even stranger there were a few of those out here, for as much as orcs respect their shamans, shamans themselves actually do not like to take to the fields.” She added.” Still dangerous opponents if left unchecked. Also while it’s not really my place to tell you how to fight, I’d suggest you engage in siege warfare next time orcs attack. The city has walls and orcs can’t really use their numbers advantage when the battle is raged up on the walls instead in open fields beyond the walls.” The mercenary leader stated in the end. This was probably a bad thing to say to her host who welcomed her so well, but it just was something needed to be said. It would save a lot of lives next time. Being in siege offered a lot of defensive benefits while also having some negatives. Still if they went with a siege option when the orcs attacked, they would have had a lot less casualties.

“Well we are mercenaries after all. Sadly that’s just how it goes. In the eyes of people we just don’t count as proper people or soldiers. Many expect us to do anything we are told just because money is thrown our way.” She added.” Well those who know better, understand that mercenaries shouldn’t be underestimated or angered. Believe me last thing you need is for the mercenaries you hired a while back to return for payback while let’s say helping the enemy after your contract has ended. Well I luckily had not have had to order such actions, but that’s mostly because the last king who tried to order us to massacre a civilian village without even a militia, got his jack cracked an 2 missing teeth. Mind you we still got paid, but he kind of didn’t hire us again. Guess the information about the event spread cause no one since then tried to demand stupid actions from us!”

“No worries, it’s not exactly easy to notice 2 people casualties in a warband of 200.” Chalsea replied with a smile and nodded after hearing the queen speak.” Same with my people. It will practically be two funerals from different cultures for the same people. A thing that is quite fine in my opinion. Men and women who died with honor, defending that which they held dear, deserve respect in any form it can take.” The mercenary leader said and though about her people.

“True enough, guess I got lucky back then.” The blond woman said, recalling how close to her head there was a spear stuck.” If things went just a lil bit differently, I may not have made it out of that battlefield and who knows what would have happened today.” She stated with a smile. Things were fine as they were right now. She never regretted anything in her life and was proud with that.

“Yes I quite agree, but I meant it more like, not all of your soldiers will be able to keep up with the training I’m about to put them through. I will not make it obligatory… only those who wish will take part of it for one reason. The training will be a living nightmare, putting them through the limits of their bodies. My purpose won’t be to break them, thus only those who chose will continue with it. They will be able to stop at any point they desire and simply continue at a later time. Those who manage to go through it all, will be very different people form when they began. They will be true warriors.”

“Hmmm? Ahh… well do not worry, despite the fact how much I enjoy a good drink, I actually do not drink that much. I prefer to safe the drinking for special occasions.” The blond replied with a friendly smile.” I’d love to see it during the night. It must be gorgeous when bathed in moonlight…! Also it will not be raining, do not worry.” Chalsea added with a smirk.” I’ve grown up on the roads and among nature. I’ve learned to read the weather way, way back It will be a nice cloudless night.”

“I guess, I can take a few days of rest…” She started after hearing Adalia’s comment.” It has indeed been a good while since my people and even me got any kind of proper rest. Its been months since we last had any time off. Alright, we won’t be starting the training for a day or two. Might as well enjoy this chance before we have to eventually head out and who knows when a chance such as this one will present itself again.”

“Well my people would certainly enjoy having a bigger tournament to fight in. As for the second in commands, that could be arranged. If I manage to convince my vice captain to take part in the tournament. He kind of prefers to not bother with such things.” Chalsea said with mildly annoyed expression.” You see, he is very responsible when it comes to work, but whenever we are off duty, he loses all motivation. Last time I saw him participating in a tournament was when he got asked by a lady in waiting to win. I think you can guess from where his motivation came from.”

“No, I’m almost done with the bath myself too.” Chalsea replied as she also quickly got out of the tub and she herself too wrapped herself in a towel.” I will leave you to your duties, Queen Adalia. For I too have affairs in need to be done back with my troops. I will just dry myself, dress up and get going. Though, would it be possible to leave my battle attire here for your maids to clean up? I brought myself a change of clean clothing.” She said and picked up the cloth bundle from the floor. After untying the string and unfolding the cloth. A long clean, very high quality fur tunic was revealed. Clearly of nomad origins. This was one of the few things Chalsea owned. She paid good money for it. It wasn’t exactly easy to come across all the way to the north.

[Valchyrie]

Adalia supposed that a death with honor was an individual assessment. How could a whole group agree on what was an honorable way to die? She understood the tradition and the thought behind it when Chalsea explained it, but to die with honor, you would have to have some kind of measuring system for what is honorable and what isn’t. At least that’s how Adalia thought about it, but she supposed it was just their tradition, and traditions, like the White Stone city’s own, usually had no logic behind them as such. Traditions and religion, or beliefs, as some would call it, was impossible to prove. You could guess and you could tell other people about your own beliefs, but you would never have a way of proving what was right and what was wrong. Even magic couldn’t tell you what came after life, but many people did believe that there was something after life ended, and that gave comfort to a lot of people on their death beds, or when they had to go into battle. “I suppose that it’s a good way for them to die, even though it is very different from our beliefs.” Adalia said softly.

“You say that it teaches you a lot of things living there, but your way of evolving, is just one way of many.” Adalia explained. “You may think it was a way that led you to become a hardened survivor, but a person who has read books about the wild, studied the wild life and the nature and have lived in it, on their own free will, have evolved to be a survivor just as you. However, that person might still be as peaceful as the birds you see in the sky, whereas you have become a survivor in the sense of kill or be killed.” She was still standing with her towels around her body “You are mercenaries yes, but one that has studied the nature and the wild life might be equally dangerous as you and your men. The difference is that they might be able to poison you easier, instead of defeating you head on in battle. Don’t misunderstand me, I don’t try to offend you, I’m merely trying to explain that there is always more ways to achieve the same skills, even though the personalities might be different.” She smiled. “But I’m glad to hear that you’ve never taken a job that was about payback, in that sense anyway, it tells a lot about a person that they decide what they want to do, despite that they are mercenaries and so on.” She nodded. “Glad you got paid from that king though, whoever he was, he probably didn’t deserve his throne by the sound of it.” She giggled.

“If there were shamans on the battlefield, then it’s just proof that they have been forced into action. Whether or not that they agree to take action, they have still chosen to do so, and they didn’t seem to be that annoyed about it. But still, the shamans are probably not too satisfied if they were forced by another race or dangerous force, to start expanding the orc territory.” She said with a small nod. She would hate to see a stronger and more intelligent race than the orcs appear. Even if the orcs weren’t that intelligent, they were still strong and one orc could easily be equal to two-three human soldiers, depending on it’s age and experience. If someone could force a brute like that, to do it’s bidding, then there was something dangerous lurking around in the dark corners of the world. “Well, we do have a few siege weapons, but the orcs were too close to us before we could put them to use. I realize we should always have them ready, but I feel like that would just be to put fear into peoples’ hearts. Out of sight out of mind you know? So by not having them standing in the city all the time, the people are more at ease. But I appreciate your thoughts about it, and I will see if there is a possible way to make it faster to deploy them, if we actually see the enemy coming the next time.” She shrugged.

“Well if you hadn’t been alive, we probably wouldn’t have been alive today either. Or we might have been, but we would have been on the run and the civilians would probably have been killed by the orcs, or possible turned into more orcs if they are still using that method.” She shrugged. “Even though I know you said most of them are born orcs now, they still have methods of turning other races into their kind, and it is probably a fast way to expand their army as well, if they are on the move. So I’d rather not see my civilians fall to their destructive nature.” She said, shrugging slightly at the thought of her civilians being tortured and turned into those, monsters.

“I think my men has seen a living nightmare before, rather literally.” She said with a shrug. “While this is a peaceful city, we do have our way of training as well, even though it’s not exactly the same kind of training as you’re talking about.” She smiled gently. “But most of them will not back down from the training, even though they at times fear death, they do not run away from danger, and they want to protect the White Stone City as much as I do, which means they will all go through it, just wait and see.” She said with a lot of confidence. She clearly had high thoughts of her soldiers, then again, they had managed to keep the orcs away from the walls of the city until reinforcement had arrived, which was rather impressive. “But I am still grateful that you are taking your time to train them and make them sharper in the battle.” She smiled.

“Well, tonight is a special occasion, funeral and a tour in the city. I’ll make sure to have a bottle for when we take a tour around the city. It’s even more beautiful to walk around when you have a bottle of wine with you. It just gives you such a nice emotional feeling.” She smiled, already feeling the emotions she always felt when she walked through the city in the moon- and starlight. “And it’s good that it won’t be raining tonight then, it will make it a more pleasuring walk and a more pleasuring funeral then. It seems you have quite some skills after all.” She said, giggling a little. “We have many cloudless nights here; almost every night is like that, despite when it rains of course. But the steppes are really home to cloudless nights, it’s rather amazing.”
It sounded like a tournament was indeed a great idea. “I’m sure we can have your second in command fight my vice-captain.” She smiled. “We can always say that if he wins over my vice-captain, he can get to fight me as his prize for winning. That should make things more interesting.” She smiled. “Though of course he won’t win, but the intrigue of it might be enough to make your second in command agree to join the tournament, and he might be getting a tougher fight than what he thinks.” She smiled. “My vice-captain is not someone who is easily beaten in combat. Obviously, or he wouldn’t be a vice-captain.” She laughed softly.

Adalia watched as Chalsea got out of the bathtub and wrapped herself in a towel as well. She then nodded to her request “Of course, I will have them clean your clothing and dry them for you. Don’t you think about any duties for the next few days, just think about relaxing and enjoy your stay here.” She smiled. She then walked over in front of her. She placed her arms around Chalsea slowly and softly, almost like a lover’s embrace, with her forehead against Chalsea’s and her eyes closed. The least she could do to Chalsea from having saved them was to give her a little gift. As she held her forehead against Chalsea’s forehead, a warm energy would move from Adalia’s body and into Chalsea’s body, which should make Chalsea feel happy and warm, like this day was just one of the best days. Adalia wasn’t human, that was for sure, but what she was, was a mystery. The feeling she was moving over into Chalsea, was almost like a soft, long, gentle and passionate kiss, though their lips never touched. She then slowly let go of Chalsea and moved her head back from her, smiling gentle as she did, and took a few steps back. “I hope you like my gift, please enjoy your day.” She said softly, smiling at her. After Chalsea had responded to her actions, if she did, Adalia would leave the bathroom and prepare for the evening.

[rivaan]

“That was my point, Queen Adalia. There was no need for siege weapons. All you’d need is your archers filling the watch towards along the city wall and your troops on top of the walls. Orcs do not have usually siege engines to storm fortified cities. All they use is ladders and frankly dealing with them that way is a lot easier as long as you can keep the few battering rams they have at bay or if the city gate is sturdy enough to withstand the punishment.” Chalsea explained.” Maybe year ago, I was forced to split my force due two tasks coming up at the same time. I took 50 men at a small castle. We defeated 250 marauders by fighting them up on the castle walls where they couldn’t form battlelines. Same works for mountain passes. There the width is limited so you can in theory hold times bigger force with much smaller numbers.”

“The corruption huh?” Chalsea muttered. Now that was a thing that many underestimated. Mostly because it was not an easy thing to do. Orcs could granted do it to create more orcs, but even they seemed to be losing their ability to do it. It took time and preparation to do it. Shamans knew how to accomplish it, but frankly it simply took time. “ Well it takes time… days… no even weeks to corrupt someone into an orc.” Chalsea stated with grim face.” The younger the person is, the easier it is… children get turned in a few days, adults can take up to 2 or 3 weeks… unless they have some kind of protection keeping them to their humanity…” She said, a finger running across the purple ring on her left index finger.

“We will see, hopefully your confidence in your soldiers is indeed spot on. Even some of my troops would crack under what I’m about to put your soldiers through. There is a reason why I will need help from some of my veterans. Beside me, only about 75 others in my warband can steadily pass through the training regiment without breaking at some point. Still consider any of your soldiers who manage to successfully do it, worthy of at least 2 people.” The nomad woman explained with a smile. Having confidence in one’s soldiers was a good thing and she really hoped all of the city’s soldiers manage to complete the training without problems. That would mean that this city would probably harbor some of the greatest fighting force in this part of the continent.

“Yeah, I know. I’m a nomad, remember? I’m used to the cloudless nights around here.” She replied, looking out the window.” I’ve missed the steppes… the grim and gloomy north gets to you after a while. Hell, there was a period of time when I actually had forgotten what the sun looked and felt like… along with warm weather.”

“Could be, if nothing else he might actually be tempted to try if nothing else because he’d get to test the Immortal Queen if he wins.” Chalsea stated and looked at Adalia.” Ohh yeah you yourself are quite the famous person to the north. Bards tend to sing ballads about you, though I have the feeling most of them are made up. Because I’m pretty darn sure my tribe never heard any of the stories about how you killed 3 dragons with a dagger, fought an ice giant bare handed, then saved a princess from an evil wizard and then went to have a drinking contest with a dwarf. Bards like to make up stories as nords tend to be attracted to strong and exceptional individuals. You are pretty strong and exceptional to begin with and as someone who is ageless, some of them consider you to have relation with the divines.” She added with a shrug. Chalsea herself didn’t actually care why Adalia was immortal. She so far liked the person and was all that mattered.

“Huh..?!” The mercenary leader made a questioning sound as the queen’s arms found their way around her in what would amount to an embrace. Her mind stopped working for a moment as their foreheads met. She couldn’t believe what was happening and completely lost her ability to think as she felt very warm and happy. Like everything was perfect. She couldn’t believe the sensations she felt, it was unreal unlike anything she had ever felt in the past. It almost felt like a kiss, but in fact maybe somewhat better actually, considering all the other sensation of happiness.

“What… was that…?” Chalsea asked as the queen had pulled away. While it felt incredibly nice, the mercenary leader never had felt so vulnerable in the past. She was not used to such things happening without her consent. For a few brief moments, her expression was that of a simple young woman who was confused on how to act.” Thank… thank you…” She replied, gathering her fragmented thoughts.

It took her a little while after Adalia had left before she was finally about to think clearly again. Chalsea felt… strange… she felt weak. She did not dislike what the queen did, but didn’t like how it made her feel either. She slapped her cheeks with her hands a few times to clear her thoughts before finally she dressed into her fur tunic. After that she finally left the mansion and headed back to the housing they were given. She went straight to her room and closed the door behind herself.” That… was … unexpected… “

[Valchyrie]

Adalia nodded to the explanation she was given about what Chalsea had meant. “Ah okay, I misunderstood you before. I apologize for that. But we can easily keep the orcs battering rams away, while the archers take out most of the orc forces before they get close to the city.” She knew that was possible, as that was a scenario they had managed to pull off before, however, when the enemy moves unseen and makes sure you can’t spot them before it’s almost too late, then it’s nearly impossible to prevent the battle before it even begins. “Your fighting experience has taught you a lot, Chalsea.” Adalia said with a soft gentle smile. “And I am happy that you will share your experience with us during the next couple of days, in the training sessions. When you have gone through a few of the exercises, you might even take a few groups of my men with you, on an exercise mission. We have some valleys and a few more narrow spaces around on the Steppes, which you could use for your exercises if you would like.” She smiled. She didn’t know if this was a good idea, as she hadn’t seen the kind of training that Chalsea had in mind, but she saw no downside to mention the possibility for Chalsea. “Holding off 250 marauders with fifty men is quite a feat, I’m sure you have stories to share with my soldiers later on.” She replied, feeling satisfied with their arrangement and their conversation so far.

Adalia nodded to what Chalsea said about the corruption. “It does take time to do it the way they normally do it I agree. But with the forces they now have behind them, there is no way of telling if they have discovered new methods of turning beings into orcs, faster. There is a reason the orcs are taking prisoners from the cities and villages that they take control of at the moment, though it is impossible to know for what reasons so far, as no one has returned from being a hostage, yet.” She shrugged. She knew what could happen for those that were captured by orcs, and she didn’t like the odds of any of the prisoners still being alive. She could always hope, but from the looks of everything, it didn’t seem like any of the taken people from the defeated villages and cities would come back again. At least not in the shape they were before. “But I hope that you are right, that they still haven’t discovered another way to fasten up their corruption and turning process. If that is true, we might be able to thin their numbers before taken them on in a big battle at some point. Though we would still need help from others, if we do take the battle to the orcs territories. But for now, let’s just focus on the training and the good times we’ve secured ourselves for now.” She smiled.

Adalia smiled at Chalsea again “With all due respect Warchief Chalsea, I am not the only being here that has extraordinary abilities.” She said. “I will present you a piece of equipment later on, which you can keep if you would like. It’s an enchanted glove, that most of my soldiers use. But the thing about the glove is, that when you have used it for a longer period of time, then you will no longer need the glove for it’s ability. It sharpens the soldiers’ senses, without taking away any of their humanity or any of their soul. Some would claim it’s like orcs, that the soldiers are no longer human. But I can assure you that they still feel love, pain, hunger, thirst and all the other things that the rest of us feels. That was why you didn’t see any of the soldiers wearing those gloves today. But you will get a feel of it yourself later on, if you wish to try it out.” She smiled. “But for that reason, I have confidence in my soldiers and their abilities to pass through your training sessions.” Adalia knew that some of the other cities saw her methods as being more demonical, than heavenly. They thought that powers or items that changed a person permanently would always come with some negative side effects, which was true in most situations. But what those human beings didn’t know, was that Adalia’s knowledge had taught her something different. It only gives you negative side effects, if you force it onto a person, or if you force a lot of changes at once onto a person. Those two scenarios could end up being more destructive than helpful, which was why Adalia hadn’t done it like that.

Adalia giggled a bit at how Chalsea explained that she had forgotten what the sun felt and looked like. “Well, then I am glad that you have a chance to relieve it’s warmth and glory here on the Steppes and in the White Stone City. I can’t promise it will be hot all the time while you are here, or that it won’t rain, but as long as you get to see the sun in all it’s glory out here, then I believe you will remember the feeling even more.” She smiled, nodding a little at the same time. “If you get a chance, you should go down to the river, about five kilometers away from here, and take a bath while the sun is out. Around 12 afternoon would be the best time, as that is when it’s hottest here on the Steppes. It feels wonderful to bath in the clear river at that time. Not that I know for sure, as I have never tried it myself, but a few people I have talked with, have told me the experience is something you really should try. So, I give their suggestion onto you and hope you will take it.” She smiled.

When Adalia then had finished touching their foreheads and Chalsea asked what it was, she smiled gently. “It is seen as a reward, as well as a thank you for helping us. It’s something that is not often granted to people, but I do wish to grant it to those that deserve it, and I believe you do deserve it for helping us survive the orc attack.” She smiled softly. “So you don’t have to thank me, you just have to feel it and embrace it, as that is all that matters. I hope it was to your liking.” And with that, she had left the bathroom.

Later that evening, she had changed into a summer dress. It was long and tight in the right places, with shoulder straps. It clearly showed off her size of her chest and rear, and at the same time, showed that she wasn’t a lady with a lot of fat on her stomach. Again, she was rather feminine, despite being a skillful fighter and warrior on the battlefield. She walked barefoot as well, and had her hair loose. It was long, very long, almost reaching down to the ground as she walked, from her back. Her skin was nice and smooth in the evening moonlight, and she looked like she had never seen a battle before. She had a pink rose behind her right ear, and overall, she looked beautiful for the evening funeral. People had been gathered in the middle of the White Stone City, and while the bodies had already been buried at the city’s graveyard, they were still going to hold a ceremony with speeches. There were long tables throughout the marketplace, where the marketplace stalls would normally stand, which had a lot of food on them as well as drinks of different kinds. Adalia had also brought a bottle of wine, in an ice bucket for later, when Chalsea and she would go for the night stroll, as she had promised. All the soldiers were there, without their armor on. Everyone wore formal clothing, showing respect in the most peaceful manner that they could. Adalia was the one to open the speeches. “We have lost a lot of good men and women to the orcs today. But while they gave their life defending the city, I’m happy that they weren’t taken as prisoners. The fate of prisoners are not a fate our soldiers deserved. They died fighting for us, and that was what they wanted. As all of you know, I never forced any of the soldiers into the ranks of the protectors, but it still saddens my heart when we lose such good men and women. I’m sorry for the families who have lost their sons and daughters, but I was happy to fight alongside those men and women. Thank you again, everyone, for protecting us.” She gave a small bow, before she sat down at one of the long tables, where everyone else were sitting. All the tables were occupied, but there was room for Chalsea and her men as well of course. Adalia didn’t have a special chair either, she sat on the same bench as her soldiers, and if you didn’t know she was the Queen, she could have passed as a commoner.

[rivaan]

'It's not that I didn't like it...' Chalsea though at her room, thinking through the events that transpired. The Queen was indeed very gentle and kind person. She appeared as the perfect ruler that the nomad never knew actually existed. She had heard tales and stories of course, but as she said earlier to Adalia, she often believed those to be way to blown out of proportion by bards. Still she was proven wrong... Also she felt something she hadn't exactly felt for what seemed like eternity. She felt almost like a normal girl once more. A little bit of admiring, a little bit of shyness that had hit her right now and of course the slight feeling of powerlessness in front of Adalia right now, because of her stunt with what she called a reward.

“It did feel very nice...” She mumbled to herself as she sat by the mirror of her room and stared at herself for a while, wondering if she was nice looking. The nomad didn't even realize it at first, the way she was acting at this precise moment. She started to brush her hair, attempting to make herself look as best as possible for her meeting later with the queen.

“What are you doing, Chalsea!?” Vala and Sala asked in unison as they jumped from behind her, causing her to actually be startled for a moment. She was so preoccupied that she completely missed them entering.

” Just brushing my hair...” She replied as the girls started giggling before they pulled her brush away from her hands. She started giggling innocently again before nodded to each other and Sala ran out the room towards their own while the nomad warrior threw a questioning glance at the other girl.

“Don't worry Chalsea!” Vala stated as moments later Sala returned into the room, carrying a wooden box.” Leave everything to us!” Sala continued as she placed the box and opened it, pulling what appeared to be great number of make up from it. Seashells, wooden boxes, puffy feathers to be used as brushes and many other strange things that Chalsea had not actually seen or knew about before.” Just leave everything to us!”

Following that event, Chalsea actually spend the rest of the day at the room with the teen witches. They did her make up, then talked a lot, played some games and so forth. It brightened up Chalsea's mood a hell of a lot and also calmed her down. The two girls felt like sisters to her and they also treated her as a big sister all the time.

Later when the evening finally arrived, the mercenary leader was still dressed in her rather beautiful and elegant fur and leather dress, befitting her heritage and still not looking any less beautiful, elegant and noble than any dress made of silks. A truly beautiful dress suitable for a hardy culture such as the nomads. Her hair was now made into a elegant hairstyle, She had a nice light makeup done, just lightly enough to underline her beautiful face. Many of her men looked in shock at her, never have seen their leader in such a light.

She managed her and arranged for the funeral of her soldiers on the other side of the city, outside the walls to respect the local traditions. All of her soldiers who were of northern origins stood behind to pay their respects with the proper rites while her, the two witches and the few other soldiers who were free, went to pay respects to the soldiers of Adalia.

Chalsea stood among with the other people of the city as the queen was giving her speech. Once the speeches were over and the queen made her way to her seat, the nomad woman found her way( was frankly pushed quickly by the witches to a empty seat near the queen. She was just 4 seats away from Adalia! The witches looked at the queen, nodded towards Chalsea, obviously pleased of their handywork and started giggling, before playfully and childishly waved her. Finally they left to the seats they found for themselves. Chalsea's other men who were free to attend this ceremony, also scattered across the marketplace, finding places to sit and quickly making friends with the soldiers whom they came to aid.

“It.... was a beautiful speech.” Chalsea said to Adalia finally. Her cheeks were slightly flushed as she could feel the glances at herself. She wasn't used to be seen as a beautiful woman as she heard a few whispers there and there, not to mention she could read it in the eyes of people around her. It made the nomad feel another thing she wasn't used to... shyness. She had no troubles waging battles in her light leather, fur and chainmail armor, but there people saw her as a fighter worthy of respect. Her cheeks also suddenly blushed more as she realized actually she wondered what the queen think of her looks.' Take a breath, calm down... stop acting like a nervous teen in front of person she likes...' She though and did it, allowing her mind to stop working for a moment and sort her thoughts out.

“This place is lucky to have a ruler like you, and I'm sure the soldiers who sacrificed themselves thought so too. Only a very special leader could inspire people to fight the way they did. They will be famed in songs and ballads.” She added with a smile.

[Valchyrie]

Adalia smiled at Chalsea when shad had sat down and started to speak with her. “Thank you. I always want to have a chance to show respect to the families that have lost their loved ones, and the most I can do, is to have a speech, so that everyone will remember who they were and that they gave their lives to defend the rest of us.” She said with a small nod. “The families have lost everything; it’s my duty as the Queen to make sure they at least feel they get some form of closure on the situation." She shrugged a little, she wished she could do more to help the families, and even though they would give the families a fair amount of gold coins as compensation, it just felt like it wasn’t enough. Adalia knew she couldn’t do more to help the families, and the families didn’t expect her to either, they were happy just to get some kind of compensation for their loss, even though they wished they could bring their sons and daughters back to life. But there was nothing she could do about it, at least not yet. She wasn’t sure if she would ever have a chance of bringing back the dead souls that were lost on the battlefield, but as long as she was immortal, and she didn’t know where she came from, she didn’t want to rule out the possibility that you could bring someone back from the dead. For all she knew, she could have come back from the afterlife herself, which could be the reason to why she had lost her memories at some point. Though she doubted that was the case, but the thought of the possibility lightened her heart at least a little, which was good enough for now.

“I’m not sure if they are lucky to have me, or unlucky.” She said to Chalsea. “They have an immortal Queen and the rumors about my immortality sometimes bring unfortunate events with them.” She shrugged. That was partly true, though because she was immortal, she was also able to take higher risks in experimental magical research. The mana shards that she had managed to create, had been a pain to create, but they had managed it in the end, without any casualties, thankfully. But because of her ability to stay alive during hard times and experiments, rumors sometimes reached the wrong people, people that wanted to get their hands on her and the White Stone City, to use her powers for their own gain. However, because the White Stone City had such devoted soldiers to defend the city and the Queen, no one had managed to take down the city at all, or even conquer it for a brief moment. The closest they had been to losing their city, was in this Orc attack, and the only reason that had happened, was because the Orcs had been cloaked under some kind of spell, rendering them invisible to the naked eye. She had also brought the glove that she had promised to let Chalsea have a try at, but she had strapped it to her thigh under her dress, as she had nowhere else to put it. The bucket of ice with the wine inside was put down on a small table behind Adalia, which Chalsea and her could use later when they were going out for their late night stroll. She wasn’t sure what was going to happen, but she hoped that the next few days would be good. For now, she would have to enjoy the evening and the company that she and her soldiers had been given.

She then took more notice of how Chalsea looked. It was far from the barbaric look the nomad had had earlier in the day. It suited her nicely, at least that’s what Adalia thought, and it was nice to see someone who was used to the barbaric lifestyle, to relax in others company and go for a bit of a change. She wasn’t sure if Chalsea had done it out of her own free will or if she had been forced to do so, because she either thought she had too for the funeral and the party tonight, or because one of Chalsea’s own soldiers had told her to do it. Whatever the case, she thought it looked good, but she also spotted the faint hint of the blushing on Chalsea’s cheeks. She put a hand on Chalea’s arm softly, smiling at her “Don’t worry, you look beautiful as the moonlight and as fresh and divine as the sunlight.” She said, gently letting go of Chalsea’s arm again. “Be sure to eat some food and drink some wine and water, we have a few hours before we have to go anywhere.” She smiled gently. She hoped that Chalsea could find it in herself to enjoy the evening, and not be too shy, if it was indeed shyness and not just a misreading from Adalia.

The food that was presented on the tables consisted of many different kinds of meat; Cow, Pig, Chicken, Horse, Rabbit and Turtle. There was a lot of different farm food as well; Corn, Tomatoes, Cucumber, Carrots, Watermelons, Salad and a lot more. It was a funeral feast, and nothing had been spared. There was enough wine and water for everyone, in fact, there was so much that the entire city would be able to drink through two straight day and nights without running dry. Adalia was happy to see that the soldiers that had participated on the battlefield these past many days, were finally enjoying and relaxing in the company of others. Some were flirting with the Chaleas few warriors and some were flirting with other citizens of White Stone City. She couldn’t help but feel happy for those people that managed to settle down and enjoy a life together, even though she knew there was a long way from flirting to actually settle down. But to see someone having an interest, well, that was always a beautiful thing to see and experience and she knew it raised the spirits of each individual that engaged in a relationship of any kind. Once you had something more to protect, you would also be able to surpass the 100 % limit of commitment that you had before. It helped the moral of everyone, and she liked it. She hoped Chalsea was enjoying herself as well.

[rivaan]

“I suppose so.” Chalsea agreed when Adalia explained her duty towards the families of those who died. The nomad couldn’t completely say she had felt that also, but she had similar experiences. In fact too similar as she was reminded of her past, it hurt even now whenever she recalled it, as people used to say – time heals all wounds.” I’m sure they appreciate your sentiments. It will hurt for a while, but one day they will wake up and realize that life continues and they would be grateful that the queen herself paid her respect and thanks to those who laid their lives for this city.” Chalsea said softly as she was slowly noticing more and more people starting to talk, discuss and have a better time.

“Believe me, they are lucky to have you, Queen Adalia.” The mercenary stated with a smile.” For of all you are a strong fighter and leader so you provide safety and protection for those who are your subjects. Second the fact you are immortal actually means they will not have the bad luck of suddenly waking one day only to find your successor has none of your smarts or wisdom. Because that’s actually one of the causes other kingdoms periodically suffer downfalls whenever the hair of a good ruler turns out to be very…very bad.” The mercenary explained, clearly showing the benefits of Adalia’s immortality as a ruler.” Besides… if you were not here maybe this town would have been destroyed a long time ago. Orcs have been on the borders of your country for generations. My father used to say that only their fear of clashing with you kept them at bay. Though seems that’s no longer the case. In any way, we will get your troops in a complete fighting shape. There won’t be a second surprise attack like the first.” She added.

Suddenly Chalsea blushed quite very noticeably as she felt Adalia’s hand on her own and she was given quite the elegant compliments from the queen. Once more she just was not used to be talked as nicely as that and especially since the experience Adalia gave her earlier was still fresh in her mind. She couldn’t calm her heart for a moment as she looked to the side, frantically trying to think up something to reply with.” Th…t…thank … you…” She finally replied, looking down at the table, her cheeks clearly darker hues than before. She threw a look at where the witches were sitting and could see them giggling like mad, clearly amused at her situation.

“I’m... sorry for my attitude.” She eventually said to Adalia, taking a deep breath to calm down.” I’m not used to being talked and complimented quite like that, especially when dressed like this. I could feel the eyes and hear the whispers of people who look at me… My fault for great senses I gues.” She added, closing her eyes. She had clearly heard quite a few young men talk about how to approach her.” You caught my by surprise, Queen Adalia, please do not think I’m angry or something if I get quiet every now and then. I’ve just become to used to the warband camp manners… and anything like this feels new.” She added with another blushing smile.

She then took a sip from a cup of wine she had in front of herself as she glanced sideways to the witches again to check how they were doing. They were basically her little sisters so she couldn’t help herself, but worry about them, but it seems there was not a reason to worry, still it was nice to see their smiles.

Now that she had no one to worry about anymore and with the passing time as her heart calmed down and she got used to the situation she started to having more and more chats with people from the city, though she didn’t drink more alcohol beside her one cup of wine.

Despite how great the gathering was, eventually Chalsea felt like she needed to breath some air in a more quiet situation.” Excuse me for a moment. I will return in a little while.” She said as she stood from her place and swiftly distanced herself from the lively gathering into the dark alley not too far from it though. She calmly leaned her back on a wall and took a nice deep breath, taking a look at the sky. The moon had not changed… It was still as big and silver as she remembered it when she lived in the steppes as a child.

[Valchyrie]

Adalia wasn’t sure where Chalsea had gone off too, but she had let her do what she wanted to do. She didn’t want to go after someone who seemed to want a few minutes, or more, to herself, as that would probably be rude to do. Though it still made her slightly worried that she had gone off like that, without having said a lot. However, Adalia had to forget about it for now, and enjoy the time with her soldiers. This was after all, a funeral feast and she had to make sure that the people knew she was there, both mentally and physically. She drank wine and shared stories with her soldiers, and even some of Chalsea’s men as well. To her surprise, it seemed they were quite capable of being a bit more formal than what Chalsea had made them out to be, or else they might just be playing the part to fit more in with the funeral setting. Whatever the case may be, Adalia didn’t mind at all, as she enjoyed getting to know some of the soldiers from the mercenary group. She hadn’t seen Chalsea for some time though, and she wasn’t sure that even her men knew why she had gone off like that. It could just be that she had become shyer and wanted to regain some of her tough attitude, but otherwise, Adalia wasn’t sure what it could be.

What she knew though, was that it had been quite some time now, as people were starting to go around by themselves, either alone, with friends or with a new flirt that they would probably share the night with. Adalia and one of her female soldiers were now the only one left at the marketplace where the feast had taken place. The moonlight was shining beautifully down onto the White Stone City. “Aren’t you going to go home Milady?” the female soldier asked with a soft smile on her face. Adalia looked at her and shook her head gently “Not quite yet. I made a promise to the leader of the mercenaries that helped us; I’d like to stay for a little while longer, just to see if she comes back.” She smiled back at the soldier. “You sure she’s coming back tonight? It’s already half past midnight.” Adalia took a sip of her wine “I’m not sure, but I’ll give her another thirty minutes before I leave.” She smiled back at her. “What about you? Aren’t you going to go home?” she asked the female soldier. The female soldier looked down with a slight sadness in her eyes. “I don’t really feel like it…My brother was the only one that I lived with and had to go back too, and he was killed in the Orc attack…” Adalia felt a sharp pain shoot through her heart and she had to look down into the table herself. This was what she hated, when someone lost the ONLY person they had left to trust in. Adalia didn’t look up, but she spoke “I’m sorry I couldn’t save him. I never wanted to lose anyone in battle.” She shivered. The female soldier shook her head, turning her head to look at Adalia “Milady, it’s not your fault. He was happy to defend the city and you, as well as I am. We knew what we signed up for when we decided to become soldiers; I just don’t know what to do with myself now.” Adalia looked up from the table and turned to look at the soldier again “What’s your name sweetheart?” Adalia asked her. The female soldier looked at her “Rose Tyre, Milady.” Adalia thought she knew that name, but she wasn’t sure, it could also just be wishful thinking. “I don’t want you to be alone Rose. I’ll have a guest room in my mansion prepare as your own room. You can move in, as part of my family. You are not royal, but you will be treated like family.” She wasn’t sure why she wanted to do that for Rose, but she couldn’t think of anything else. Gold wouldn’t make the poor girl less lonely, and going home to an empty house every day and night wouldn’t help, even though she had had company the whole day. Rose looked at Adalia, surprised and stunned at the same time “I can’t possibly accept that Milady…It’s too much.” Adalia shook her head “No it’s not, if anything, it’s not even close to being enough. I will hear no protests.” She said softly. She was going to look into Rose Tyre’s serving records later on, to see how this girl had lived her life so far.

Rose didn’t know what to do, but she had to accept that offer, and frankly, she was quite happy to do so as she didn’t feel like going home alone. “I… Thank you Milady, I can’t express my gratitude. I don’t know what I would have done if I had gone home alone tonight..” she said with a sigh. The thought of her brother now burned to ashes and scattered around on the battlefield was painful, but it was better than having him buried, at least this way, she could believe he was free and not captured by the ground and forced to stay in the same place forever in the afterlife. At least that’s what she thought, and it gave her some kind of comfort. Adalia nodded at her and gave a soft smile. “Rose, go to my mansion now and tell my household that you are allowed to sleep in the guest room tonight. Tomorrow, I will have all of your things packed and send to the mansion so that you can rearrange the room as you see fit. I want you to feel as though you are part of the family and that you won’t have to feel lonely again.” She smiled. Rose had tears in her eyes, and without thinking, she threw her arms around Adalia’s neck, leaning into her and crying. She hadn’t had anyone to cry out with the whole day, and now the Queen was the one who has offered her kindness. She couldn’t keep it inside her, and she cried and sobbed for almost five whole minutes, before she stopped again. Adalia had held her arms around Rose gently, letting her cry for as long as she wanted. When she was done, Rose gently pulled back and wiped her eyes. “I will go now, I think the wine is getting to me as well as my emotions. I’m sorry Milady, for crying like that.” She stood up, her white summer dress swirling a bit around in the night air. Adalia looked at her “Don’t apologize; I understand not having anyone to cry with. Now go and I’ll talk with you tomorrow.” She smiled. Rose gave her a small smile back “I will, and take care Milady, don’t get hurt tonight when you are alone.” Adalia nodded “I won’t, I promise you.” She said with a smile and then watched as Rose went off to the mansion. If she could at least make one soul feel happy, it would be enough for tonight, she would still wait for the last twenty minutes, until the clock would strike 1 AM, to see if Chalsea would come back though.

[rivaan]

Chalsea originally planned to stay away from the party for just a little while, but as often happened plans didn’t always turn out the way one hoped to. Truth was she felt tired and left to get some fresh air away from all the commotion and the alcohol aroma in the air that was getting to her senses. Truth was that the nomad had not slept much the past week almost. It’s been over five days since she went with little no sleep. Last night she barely took 10 or so minutes with the total sleep since they started to ride towards the White Stone City being just under two hours.

As she had leaned on the wall to rest a little and clear her head, she soon found herself sitting and eventually before she realized the nomad had drifted off under the influence of the lack of sleep mostly as she barely drank any wine tonight, but then again in her tired state even half of what she actually drank would have been enough to cause her to fall asleep pretty much right away under normal circumstances.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As the crowd broke up and everyone went their way home to their families or with a date and the queen finally was left alone on the marketplace. The city was quickly turning quiet as even Chalsea’s men who held a nord funeral outside the walls had returned to their granted home for the time being, but in fact Adalia was not alone in the marketplace as she probably believed.

From one of the side alleys a pair of girls appeared clearly returning from somewhere and headed towards the housing given to Chalsea’s warband. They were giggling about something as they noticed the queen who was waiting for the nomad.

It was the two young witches from Chalsea’s mercenary band. They quickly noticed Adalia and with a happy childish giggle ran next to her. They were still young and barely reached Adalia’s shoulder in height.” You are Queen Adalia, right?” The witches asked in unison, studying the immortal from head to toe before doing a quick spin around the woman to study her from each angle. They had big bright smiles, black elegant dresses adorned with raven feathers and they faces betrayed their childish innocent(maybe for witches) personalities.

“Are you waiting… for Chalsea, your majesy?” They finished each other’s sentences as they once more stopped spinning around the queen and looked at her with innocent smiles before they started to giggle again.” Come! With us!” They suddenly called in unison again before grabbing Adalia’s hands and started to pull her with them towards one of the alleys.

“Here!” Vala said as they reached the alleyway." There!" Sala pointed deeper into the alley.” Go there, you will see her!” She added, giggling, giving Adalia urging to go and check out what was there.

Truth was that Chalsea was still sleeping there in the alley, sitting on the ground, leaned on the wall with a calm relaxed expression on her face. She was bathed in the moonlight which had turned her beautiful blond hair into a river of silver.

“She was tired!” Sala stated, placing ah and on Adalia’s back to push her to go to Chalsea.” But by now she should have rested enough!” Vala added also placing a hand to urge the queen to go to their big sister.” She appears to like you, so you go wake her up!!!” They called in unison again with smiles that right now appeared a little devilish.

[Valchyrie]

Adalia was just about to leave the marketplace to go home, not waiting any longer for Chalsea to come back to the marketplace, but then two twins, or well, they looked like twins and acted as twins, appeared and started to talk to her. Clearly, they were dressed like witches, though they seemed rather young. Adalia wasn’t sure what to think of them, usually witches at their age were dangerous and wanted to experiment with magic and their own abilities, which sometimes resulted in suicide for the witches, as some always tried to do more than they could. However, these two young ones seemed to have a fair grasp of the world around them and their own magical abilities, at least they didn’t seem worried about anything really. Adalia looked to the witches “I’ll come young ones.” She said, even though she realized she didn’t have much of a choice. The girls were pulling her and pushing her towards an alley not too far away from the marketplace, and after that, she was pushed into it. If it had been adults who had done that, and she hadn’t know them, she would have thought that something bad was going to happen, but since these witches were in Chalsea’s warband, she assumed they only wanted to help her. And just as she assumed, once they were at the alley, they told her to go into it and that she would see her further down the alley. Adalia turned her head to look at the two young witches “You have a caring leader, I wonder if you two young ones are holding onto more secrets than even your big sister knows.” She smiled. Adalia had known many witches during her life time, good and bad ones, and they usually had an aura about them that let her determine what kind of witches they were, however, with these two young twins, it was like they were in the middle, at least that’s the aura Adalia could read from them. If that was the truth, they could be enemies and allies at the same time, but she supposed that since Chalsea had them in her warband, that they were probably good witches, at least for now.

“I’ll go to her and I’ll wake her up, but I think it’s best that we all go back home and get some rest, including you two.” She smiled at the young witches. “Tomorrow I will bring you some sweets if you’d like, we have some very delicious sweets here in the White Stone City, and I think you will like them. I also have something very special that I will give to you, something you haven’t seen anywhere else, but you have to promise me one thing.” She said and then crouched down so she was at the same height as the witches. She smiled at them again, softly and sweet “The gift I’ll give to you will be our little secret; you can’t show them to Chalsea and the rest of the warband, as it’s something only those with magical abilities should touch. It's dangerous for those that don't have a high experience in handling magical items. Okay?” she said. She didn’t know if the witches would agree, or if they would keep it a secret, but the mana shards should come in handy for the witches, if they wanted to experiment with magic at some point. The abilities of the magic shards hadn’t all been clarified yet, but she knew that the young witches would be able to at least use them to enhance their own magical abilities, maybe not permanently, but during hard times.

Now she stood up normally again and turned around to look into the alley. Even though the city was a peaceful one, with very few criminals, dark alleys always looked like they held ghosts and demons, waiting for anyone who was crazy enough to enter the dark shadows. But of course that was just a way to scare yourself, there were no demons here in the White Stone City or ghosts for that matter, there was just shadow, moonlight and sunlight. She walked down the alley slowly in her dress, until she found the spot that Chalsea had fallen asleep at. She looked quite peaceful as she sat there, sleeping against the wall, and Adalia almost felt bad for having to wake her up. She crouched down again, in front of Chalsea and put a hand on her shoulders gently “Wake up Chief; it’s time to go home and sleep. It’s been a long day for you.” She said, shaking Chalsea softly. The glove that she had strapped to her thigh would have to wait, she could leave it at the night stand in Chalsea’s room, with a letter that explained everything about what the glove did, and then they could talk when they would meet the next day, but for now, she first had to get her up and going. “Chalsea, it’s now darling.” She said softly, shaking her again. She almost felt like a mother, or was it more like a sister? Perhaps it was like a lover, she wasn’t sure, but it felt like she was somehow in charge of getting Chalsea home, which was a strange feeling, as she was pretty sure that Chalsea would have been able to take care of herself, even if she had fallen asleep outside in the night air.