As Lucius walks out of the throne room it did not take long for him to meet one of his soldiers. That soldier turns out to be Simone Wolfpaw who is third in command of this unit. Simone is slightly less muscular than Lucius but not by much. He has long red hair tied in a braid and his skin is dark brown. His eye color is black. Although he looks strong he gives a more carfree dealing than in opposed to Lucius who looks unapproachable. He gives Lucius a friendly smile and asks: " What did the king what with you know, so soon after the war?" Lucius looks at him quietly for a while and answers: " He is forcing me to marry either his second daughter or the princess of Avilen."
Simone: " What, that bastard never gives up, so what did you choose, did you choose our princess?" Lucius looks with contempt and answers:" No, I will marry the Lone general, not that whiny and obsessive princess. I will never marry that conceited princess even if I am dying."
Simone: "What, so you choose your enemy instead, that woman is not even liked by her own people, she must have a bad personality. At least our princess loves you, unlike that woman who can kill you at any moment." He scolded him.
Lucius: " She was not the one who picked a fight with us, It is the rulers of our countries who decided that we will become enemies. She just like us was just doing her duty to her kingdom. And we don't even know her so how could we know if she is bad or not? Frankly, I prefer a woman who will kill me at evry turn anytime instead of someone from the Dyrk Royal family. I would pick deadly freedom rather than safe captivity. Besides I do get some benefits with this choice that I really like. So I am not simply throwing in a sacrificing ball. Besides I have always wanted to get a chance to fight with the lone general, but now I can settle with sparring instead. As knights, we have more in common than I and the princess. All great relationships start with common ground and I am sure of it that I can find it whit her."
Simone: " I have forgotten that you have always wanted to fight her, but I don't think that is something a couple should do. Seriously who gets married in order to fight? Also, i don't think that the guys will take this very well."
Lucius: " I know, I will speak to them and tell them that they need to be respectful towards my further wife and her servants. They don't need to like them but they are not allowed to pick a fighter bully anyone."
Simone: " Nha, I don't think that they would bully anyone after all they won't fight someone who is weak." Lucius looks at him as if saying, are you sure about that?
Simone:"..."
Simone:" Well most of them at least, I will speak with Calvest I am sure that he will keep them in check as the second in command."
Lucius: " No, I will speak with him, he won't listen to you at this is to important. Also, I am not sure if I can bring everyone and the ting will probably force me to take some of his men. I am positive that he won't let me go even if I am sent to the Harsh lands."
Simone:" Yes, that is something he... wait... DID YOU SAY THE HARSH LANDS?!"
Simone: " What, getting married to an enemy is one thing but being sent to die is another, why did you choose that? No matter how strong you are and how much you hate the princess, your life is still more important!"
Lucius:" Did I not already say that, I would rather die than marry her, besides if the queen dared to send her own sister there it must not be that bad as long as you are strong enough. Also according to the king, it is suspected that a beast tide is coming in about a year, don't feel right if I don't personally look into it."
Simone: " Be...be... beast tide, you... why are you neglecting to tell the most important information first... you give me a headache."
Lucius: " You are acting out of character, you start to sound like Calvest, where did your carefree attitude go to?"
Simone:" Dont compare me to that rigid bastard, of course, I will not be carefree when you suddenly dump bad news after another on me. This is a normal reaction."
Lucius: " If you say so." He says as he starts to walk towards the barracks where the 5th army resides. Intending to inform his men.
(Avilen Queendom, at the royal castle's side mansion.)
Maryden has just returned to the place she used to live before the war. Returning here after 9 years feels very strange to her. In the past, it was barely a home for her but now it feels like she has never lived here at all. Although it servants have kept this place clean and nothing here has changed, even the clothes that she used to wear when she was 14 are still there. The previous king has always reminded her day and night that she is an outsider and that only the charity of her sister is the reason she is able to stay there. Even though she could tell that the king did not despise her after all he did protect her when someone bad-mouthed her for being useless and he spent a lot of money to help her out. Although if it was because of pride or because he did have some familial feeling towards her although little she could never tell. So she never felt very isolated. But now returning to her home she starts to feel like an outsider. The servant here all tremble when they see her, if they did not run away to avoid her they were paralyzed and she could hear them Shing with relief when they thought she was gone. It is like they think that if they do a mistake she will kill them. Although the servants have never liked her they never treated her like a plague before.
She did not know why but she feel like the disregard by her fellow soldiers was better than these. At least they would look her in the eye from time to time. But there is nothing she can do about it and she is used to it, she will always be used to it. Besides soon this will never be her home ever again. She ponders for a while, her sister did tell her that she should besides which knights and servants she should bring along, and she is allowed to bring anyone and her sister hoped that she would at least bring 20 peapole with her. But other than her 4 comrades she has no one. She does not want to force people who dislike her to work for her. Besides she has always been fine with just those 4 by her side. She can trust them to have her back no matter what and she is very comfortable with them. Why would she need to add another 16 people?
But now when she thinks about it before she was sent to war there was this maid who always took great care of her she wonders if she still works here and if she will still treat her the same way as when she was little. She opens the door to her bedroom and steps in. Inside she sees a middle-aged maid using a cloth to polish the magic crystals that light up the room. As the maid notices her she drops the cloth and looks at her with a teary eye. This is the maid that could care o her in the palace. Her name is Dina Cotten, she is the second daughter of a merchant who bought his way into the rank of nobility. She should be in her 40 soon and have a few wrinkles on her forehead. Other than that she looks very young with her ginger-colored hair, pale skin, and ice-blue eyes. Maryden freezes not knowing how to act, did she scare her, what should she do to calm her down? This is the only person here that she did not want to scare away.
Dina: " My...my... my lady I am so glad that you have returned safely." She cries out as she walks toward her hastily and grabs her hands. It turns out that she worried for nothing and the tears she saw were not out of fear but happiness. It makes her feel all fuzzy and warm inside. She smiles and says: " Hmm, I am glad that you still care about me."
Dina: " What nonsense are you spouting? I took care of you for 3 years and have always liked you. No matter what others say, I know that you are a sweet and caring girl. They are just blind."
Maryden: " Hmm."
Dina: " Oh my where are my manners, come sitt down I will brew your favorite tea. I am sure you have missed it after you left for the battlefield." She says as she guides Maryden to sitt on one of the fancy chairs beside the tea table. She does as she is told but when Dina is about to walk away to make some she grabs her wrist.
Maryden: "I Don't need tea right now, just sitt down I need to talk to you."
Dina: " My lady, I am just a servant..." Maryden interups her and says: " Please." Dina hesitates for a moment but even though she can't see her eyes she felt that she saw her eyes pleading so she sits down.
Dina: " So what is it, my lady?"
Maryden:"... Dina, I am getting married."
Dina: "I isn't it happy news, but why do you look so down? Could it be that you don't like him? But the queen would never stand for you to marry someone you hate."
Maryden: " N...no... how could I hate a stranger, I don't even know who it is. All I know is that this is something the queen wanted me to do."
Dina: "... You... what is this about?"
Maryden: " I... I will marry one of the generals of Dyrk and move to the Harsh lands. It... it is to solidify the peace treaty between our countries and signified as an alliance to fight against the upcoming beast tide."
Dina: " WHAT, HOW COULD THE QUEEN AGREE TO THIS, MOVE TO THE HARSH LANDS?!"
Maryden: " It is her idea, she thought that I will be safer living in the harsh lands as a married woman than to fight in the war. Besides I am a swords master, I won't die so easily."
Dina: " I suppose, she is the queen, after all, she needs to think for the betterment of all and not just her sister. That's so sad."
Maryden: " Um... I... I was wondering if you would be willing to go with me to be my maid in waiting... unless you have a family, I don't want to separate you."
Dina: " No... I don't... I got divorced soon after you left, as it turns out I can't bear children, so I never went to find someone new."
Maryden: " I am sorry."
Dina: " Dont be, I think that during the 3 years, I was taking care of you, it already filled my heart so when I heard the news I was not that sad about it, what hurt me was that my husband left me the day after he heard the news."
Maryden: " I... I see, do you need to think about my offer?"
Dina:" No."
Maryden:" Then what is your answer."
Dina: " I will go with you." Hearing this Maryden smiled, something she does not remember the last time she did, she is truly happy.