Fable - Ask The 44th

[Felix Nevarre]

And look at this guy blushing from ear to ear, what a wolf in sheep's clothing. Felix walked over with Rory, a smile on his face.

"Hey, Arn-"

His words were cut off as his brain actually began to register Arn's introduction. He perked up at the title of Lieutenant, as she was an officer, but then the word Dreadlord seemed to sour his mood slightly. Was she like Vittoria and King, or was she more like Rhidian?

He glanced at Rhory to see what her reaction to all this would be as she was bound to be able to handle this better than he or Arn. Wait, was she a magical healer? Fuck.

"Um, nice to meet you ma'am. Looking forward to working together."

That was ok, right? He looked at Arn and quickly looked away from his bug eyes as that wasn't going to help him at all.

 

[Rhory Grimmere]

She was used to the boys stumbling on their manners, overthinking and underthinking.

Rhory stepped forward, offering a hand and a smile. "An honour, Lieutenant." Her eyes stayed on the taller young woman's gaze, noting that the name Pirian was a highly esteemed one. "Do we have the pleasure of having you at our sides on the battlefield?"

All Arn and Felix had to do was talk normally. She could see it in Kristen's demeanour she was no prissy noble, in fact, she looked kind and not at all like the other older Dreadlords the Guard have had to work with. So Kristen would have to be young and graduated during the Revolution... a kinder soul.

Someone Arn and Felix will soon find they can relax around.

"I'm off to the Commander's Tent. Want to witness them chop off my head because I took too long in bringing these maps to them?" She asked cheerily to the others, not at all put off by the ire of the Commander. Rhory was simply a cartographer. She would love nothing more than to lose the position and be sent out into the front lines again.

 

[Kristen Pirian]

Arn introduced her, and Felix spoke first. Then came Rhory, less stiff than her companion, and Kristen took Rhory's offered hand and shook it; though she was reminded how much of a shame it was that her right hand was her artificial, that porcelain and adamantine would always be the first to grace her interlocutor in a handshake, instead of meeting them in kind with the human touch of flesh and warm blood beneath.

"Yes, and that very pleasure is mine as well, to join my blade with yours. I am to be with Sergeant Arn's squad for the duration."

Or until "priorities changed", and new orders superseded the old, and Dreadlord Kristen Pirian was assigned elsewhere in the war; all this likely massaged by the influences of Garron Banick, who saw in the greater movements of his country a chance to finish what he started so long ago with the Battle of the Blades. It was his intent that Kristen, the Darling Daughter of House Pirian, go into Cortos and never return, to die an ignoble death in that forsaken land, swept under the grim tide of war like Arn or Felix or Rhory or any other foot soldier Vel Anir expended so freely. But all this, these shadowy machinations, she did not know.

Rhory asked her next question, and it was answered before Kristen could speak (though she was somewhat taken aback by the severe expression of having one's head chopped off, goodness, was it that serious?).

Arn Felix Nevarre Rhory Grimmere

 

[Arn]

Rigid, tense, and entirely without a clue of what to do next Arn practically jumped at the chance to head towards the Command tent. "YES!"

The young Sergeant said, probably a bit too loudly.

Not that Arn seemed to notice as he quickly turned and grabbed Rhory so as to push her forward in stride with himself. Leaving Felix and Kristen briefly behind. The giant of a guardsmen leaning over to his most competent companion and quickly whispering.

"She's a bloody PIRIAN!" He said in hushed tones. "What the heck is she doing here?! Why is she with us?! Rho what to we DO?! It's basically like having Elise Virak around!"

The panic he was feeling was more than evident as he whispered. His stature getting them more than enough of amusement as they made their way through camp once more. Cutting through the central line and moving quickly through towards the center where the Command Tent sat.

Tent flaps already stood open, two Guardsmen at the door. Inside one could see the Commander of the 44th, but also the 106th, and 23rd as well as the General Varok Blackforge. His huge stature towering over the other three men as they all peered over the map upon the table.

All of them were discussing something, moving figures upon the board as the Guardsmen and their new Dreadlord companion approached.

 

[Felix Nevarre]

"Well, if you would have stopped by my tent earlier you wouldn't be..."

Felix never gets to finish his sentence as Rhory is dragged away by Arn, leaving him with the new Dreadlord. What was he, chopped liver?

He awkwardly walked beside the armored woman who, at least, seemed to be a bit better temperament than any of the other Dreadlords he had met before.

"I'm Felix, and...It will be nice to have a Dreadlord on our side..." The silence stretched for a minute or two before Felix could come up with the only question that would pop into his mind.

"So, what do you do? Are you a healer? Do you shoot flames? Do you see dead people?" Please not the first one, anything but the first one.

Kristen Pirian

 

[Rhory Grimmere]

Rhory, firstly, glared at Arn and swatted at his grip. She was still healing, and she had wished the boys would stop finding all her sore spots when they needed her attention. "Ow. And so what, Arn? She isn't wearing a sneer nor is she walking around like she owns the place. I think Pirian is here to fight alongside us. Besides," she successfully freed her arm from his grip with a wince, "did you not hear she went to Salesia to help those in the seige? She is no Elise Virak."

But glaring up at Arn was futile when he towered above her. Rhory looked ahead, shrugging at her friend as if to say and that's that.

Because Felix had not whispered as Arn had done, she could hear him ask the Dreadlord about her magic. She still wore her wince, remembering Dreadlords once got quite defensive over such a question, but hoped her gut about this Pirian Dreadlord was right and Felix would not be tending to his own wounds.

 

[Kristen Pirian]

Kristen started at Sergeant Arn's...overly?...enthusiastic reply to Rhory. Was...there some unspoken strife going on in the squad, such that Arn would delight so fervently in the witnessing of Rhory's figurative beheading? Kristen hoped not. Whatever truly was the case, Arn sped off ahead with Rhory and, so far as Kristen could see, assailed her ear with equally enthusiastic whispers.

That left Kristen with Felix, and together they walked in Arn's wake.

"I am pleased to meet you, Felix. And surely, in short enough time, our boots will again tread on Anirian soil." A swift war, and a swift victory, would be good for every Guardsmen here at the camp. And though Kristen was eager to do her duty and, in one sense, "prove" herself, the idea of an extended campaign blighted her mood. She wasn't too keen after Mount Dincia to be away from her homeland for a long stretch of time again. Why, on this very issue, she had sent Alistair Krixus a letter, hoping that he might come in time to the camp, such that they might meet before Kristen had to depart for war. She looked forward to the reunion!

Then came Felix's inquiry of Kristen's magic. She had not internalized the guardedness common of Initiates and Dreadlords pre-Revolution, and so thought little of openly speaking of it.

It wasn't as easy as saying she could "shoot flames", like Zael might be able to say. But Kristen summarized her gift thus: "I call upon Conjurations, both debilitating and deadly, and Curses. I believe the Cortosi will find it difficult to do battle if their swords turn to rust, if they are frozen in fear, or if they are crushed by the weight of their own armor."

And the Command Tent was before them, the highest officers of the army busy inside, and one figure among them loomed large, not merely for his physical stature alone. He was the General Varok Blackforge, and though Kristen had never before seen him, his adornments told the tale of his rank and power.

Arn Felix Nevarre Rhory Grimmere

 

[Arn]

A frown touched the farmboy's face as Rho's advice boiled down to 'so what?'.

The casual attitude of his friend seemed almost entirely insane. Didn't she know that this was a proper Lady? Someone who in the old days had been...well...he didn't actually know what Ladies did but she was important! They were just supposed to act like she wasn't?

Like this was normal?

Maybe they did that sort of thing in Vel Cirak, but back home-

"What do you mean? Elise Vi-" Arn tried to object for a moment. Prepared to defend the head of House Virak who had for so long protected his home. But before he could expound the virtues of the Great Lady of Viret, Arn and the others found themselves standing directly before the command tent.

"There she bloody is!" Olem Three-Hand, Commander of the Forty Forth shouted as he spotted the four of them out of the corner of his eyes. "Where the hell have you been Grimmere?"

His eyes quickly darting over the others. "Did you need a Guard of Honor to deliver my bloody maps?"

As the Commander rebuked his guardsmen, General Blackforge let out a bark of a laugh. "With a response like that, I think she might have."

The man said as casually as though they were all in on the conversation.

 

[Felix Nevarre]

Curses? Oh by the gods, they stuck the 44th with a witch! Felix's smile twitched ever so slightly, but he quickly tried to get it all under control before she could see, otherwise he might wake up the next morning with warts in a place he did not even know he had.

How could Arn and Rhory do this to him? They stuck him back here with the witch? Was he supposed to be some sort of sacrifice? Owain he could believe, but him?

Felix's attempts at conversation died down after that, walking silently beside Kristen, rigid as a board and ready to run for his life at a moment's notice.

He was soon greeted with another reason to want to run for his life as the thundering presence of Olem Three-Hand slammed into them. As much as the booming voice made his own voice want to get swallowed into his throat, he forced out an explanation.

"Sorry sir, I insisted Guardwoman Grimmere be treated for some injuries and the treatment went longer than expected.

 

[Rhory Grimmere]

Upon her first day with the 44th, Rhory knew that Olem Three-Hand had crossed paths with her father once. They hadn't gotten along with one another, and that first day he met Rhory, he saw the resemblance between her and her father. It had certainly been her luck that she was the only one of the Grimmere children in service to the Guard had been stationed away from Vel Cirak, and with someone that hated her for her name.

Olem gave Felix a stare, then looked to Rhory expectantly. "You lying to me, Grimmere?" No rank titles were bestowed upon her, hells, even Rhory forgot what she even was with this regiment.

"Sir?"

He blew out hot air, straightened his spine. "You told me you were of fit health."

"That was over a week ago."

He turned pink.

"Give them here!" He snapped, rounding the tent and snatching the maps from her very shoulder. But Rhory did nothing to stop him. Not even by word nor action, she simply allowed it all to happen. It was as if she were biding her time...

Olem looked to the newly arrived Guards and Dreadlord. "You are dismissed." He sniffed, rolling out the map on the tabletop and placing weights at the corners.

Rhory cleared her throat. "I made additions to the map, sir. You see, I have amended a mix up on town names in the east, near the border."

Olem made a show of shooing them out of the tent, but Rhory remained. She waited for a few moments, hoping her friends or even the well educated Kristen Pirian to figure out that the Commander of the 44th struggled with his Cortosi. In fact, Rhory had written the map in Cortosi, having learned the names they gave the Anirian Territories and noted it on the map accordingly.

She did not need a weapon in hand to lay a blow on a foe, but she was a hell of a lot more of an asset when a sword was in hand, but this? A light, innocent ridiculing was not beneath her.

 

[Kristen Pirian]

The decapitation lacked the spectacle that Kristen dreaded. This was a good thing, of course. Olem, Commander of the 44th, possessed a curt character, and this he put on display with regard to Rhory. General Blackforge himself, to no insignificant surprise of Kristen's, was a man more relaxed than his inferior officer.

Overall, Rhory was let off quite mildly by the Commander, and swiftly were they all dismissed.

"Yes, sir," said Kristen in crisp response. Quick glances to Arn and Felix, and then Kristen faced about and departed the Command Tent nearly as soon as she had entered it.

Outside, Kristen mused, "Well. That went better than expected."


Arn Felix Nevarre Rhory Grimmere

 

[Arn]

Arn was not clever enough to notice the change in the maps, but he did notice the tension that seemed to fill the room.

Fury flickered over Commander Olem's face for just a brief second, but a man like him did not rise to his rank by mistake or foolish outburst. "It seems your injuries must have effected your hearing. I said you're dismissed."

It was the second time he'd said those words, and the third it had been implied. Arn felt a tightness in his chest, and gently reached out to grab Rho by the shoulder. He didn't quite understand what was happening, but he could tell his friend had somehow gotten to the Commander.

"Yes, Sir." He said with a nod of his head, beginning to lead Rhory away and out of the tent.

"Good additions." Blackforge commented almost idly, either not noticing the tension or simply continuing with the planning that had already been ongoing.

"Indeed, General." Olem agreed as Arn and Rhory stepped outside. "Perhaps we should look into transferring Grimmere to the Homeguard, I'm sure the Cartographers Hall could use her talents."

The words came as Arn and his companion stepped outside, the farmboys whispers for her benefit this time. "You need to be careful."

He said quietly. "Reeve might like us, but The Commander can cut your entire career if he wants to."

 

[Felix Nevarre]

Felix offered his own salute, not looking to get on anyone's bad side that would soon be deciding where to send the 44th. That also included not letting Rhory anger them in his stead, so he lightly guided his squadmates away this time trying not to harm her, but his eyes were pleading with her not to push it.

He thankfully looked to Arn who helped him before they were all thrown into a suicide mission, or worse, latrine duty. The young medic quickly stepped out with the rest of his group, as soon as they were a safe distance away from the tent he released a relieved sigh.

"Really Rhory, Arn's right. Nothing good will come from antagonizing a senior officer, especially not him. Forget career, he could throw us into a blood bath on the front lines and forget about us."

Felix cast his eyes on Kristen with a confused look. Really, that was better than expected? What did she expect from them?

 

[Rhory Grimmere]

Rhory and the Commander were locked in equal stares of tension, and only deigned to look away the moment Arn put his hands on her to turn her away and all four of them exited. She hadn't realised her hands were balled into fists, or that her jaw had been set so tightly, she was grinding her teeth.

She scowled, rounding on Arn and stared up at her giant friend that seemed to make her almost eye level with him. Then her ire turned to Felix, rolling her eyes, but was humbled with a wince as she attempted to cross her arms across her chest. "Front lines sound better than redrawing maps because he complains the print is too small."

Bitter, and a reckoning waiting to come. There was little that scared Rhory. Perhaps the scariest outcome would be her believing that she could take on the Commander.

But after a moment, after a few breaths, Rhory let out a loud and frustrated sigh. Then her light brown eyes fell onto Kristen. A smile, one that didn't quite reach her eyes but filled her stormy expression with a ray of sunshine. "Apologies. It is hard sometimes that no matter what you do to be the best, you are not handed the world of opportunities."

Then she looked to Felix, attempting a smile but it didn't last long on her lips. "You too. Sorry."

Rhory exhaled, steeling herself to look at Arn and hoped her glare didn't hurt his feelings. It was hard to be angry at Arn. "You guys always look out for me and all I do is complain." Even if Rhory felt justified in doing so, it was not a burden to put on her friends.

She cleared her throat, averting her gaze to the trodden down paths in the earth. "What's next? Giving the Dreadie a tour?"

 

[Kristen Pirian]

Kristen's musing seemed to be but the first strike of a pickaxe upon a deep iceberg. Each of Rhory's fellow squadmates advised her to caution, and Kristen started to sense that there was something more which had happened—or had threatened to happen—than the mere delivery of maps to a superior officer. What grievance festered unspoken?

And, if nothing else, Felix made a grim, hopefully not prescient point. The Commander of the 44th could do more than merely end Rhory's career in administrative fashion. It was the task appointed to him, indeed to any and all Commanders of armies and lesser units all the way down, to make decisions which would kill men. The fortunes of war were not at all times and in all places shared equally amongst its combatants. Commander Olem could very well take it as his pleasure, even if it were merely spite as his guide, to order Sergeant Arn's squad into a "blood bath" if he so wished; such a thought as this would have been unthinkable to Kristen before she had enrolled into the Academy, before she knew the truth about her kidnapping and the Battle of the Blades, before her encounters with Commander Vogel in Ostia Anir and at the Battle of the Banicks. Now with abashed recognition on behalf of her homeland she knew it to be possible.

Rhory herself, in her remarks, appeared quite exasperated by the whole ordeal.

Kristen was inclined to side with Arn and Felix on the matter. You guys always look out for me, she had said, and Kristen believed wholeheartedly that they were indeed doing so now. As a Lieutenant merely attached to their squad, not truly a part of it, Kristen didn't wish to insert herself either authoritatively as an officer nor tactlessly as a soldier (being that she had known all of them only for a matter of minutes).

Yet gently would she say, "I would heed the advice of your fellows, Rhory." And this, unless some new development came to occur, would be all she would say on the matter.

What's next? Giving the Dreadie a tour?

Kristen looked among the Guardsmen. "If it does not impose, then I would quite enjoy an acquainting with our circumstances."

Arn Felix Nevarre Rhory Grimmere

 

[Arn]

If Arn had his feelings hurt, he didn't show it. Instead he smiled down at Rhory his expression akin to one worn by an Anirian Retriever. "'Course we look out for you."

The Sergeant declared.

"That's what friends do!" There was little that anyone could do to make Arn upset. Though if Rhory got herself transferred or killed he'd probably at least frown a little bit, okay, probably more than a little bit.

The encounter not forgotten, but put behind them, Arn was once again reminded that they had a new person in their presence. The color drained slightly from his face, but he tried to remember Rhory's words before they had stepped inside the tent.

His throat cleared, and he waved his hand in an awkward gesture. "Sure!"

He said, but then frowned.

"But a tour won't really do you much good for more than a day." Arn said, remembering what Reeve had told him on the hunt. "The Lieutenant told me that we're marching in a day or two, weather forgiving."

 

[Felix Nevarre]

Felix smiled at seeing his friend Arn so easily articulate what they were both thinking. They looked out because the 44th was the 44th, and it wasn't easy finding friends in the Guard.

"Besides, you wouldn't be Rhory if you did not complain just a little bit." he joked.

He was already beginning to lead the group back over in the direction they had come from, looking back to Kristen, "Our little area ain't much besides the tents you saw. If you have need to get some weapon or armor fixed up then we can show you something like that. Besides, those are the best places to show you, and they are just where we hang out when we don't have to do something."

His joyous explanation was cut short when Arn added the last bit.

"Two days? Shit, I was hoping for a few more just to make sure all the supplies were properly counted for." The unsaid worry was that two days was not a lot of time for Rhrory's wound to continue healing.

"Which reminds me, there is a guy in the 43rd claiming that he can beat anyone in this whole army in a wrestling match. He is even willing to wager two waterproof sleeping rolls...Might be worth a try Arn."

 

[Rhory Grimmere]

Two days?

The last shred of hope seeped from Rhory's body, slumping with disappointment. Her wounds would not heal in that time to participate, and Felix already made it known she was still to rest and recover.

But she would not sit back and leave Arn alone to charge the front. She would not wait as the medics would go into active battlefields to heal their numbers. Not even the idea of the Dreadlord in their midst going on ahead sat well with the Guard. She chewed on her cheek, staring between them all.

If Arn and Felix knew her well enough that complaining was part of her charm, then they would be disappointed to know that she was stubborn and determined to fight alongside them all. Two days meant she needed a desperate attempt at healing faster. "I wouldn't mind watching that go down. Suddenly I feel like watching Big Arn take on this challenger from the 43rd." And she looked to Kristen as she would have to Skyler, waggling her brows in a way that said wait until the shirts come off.

There was never any harm in looking innocently.

 

[Kristen Pirian]

Two days, at the later estimate. Goodness! Kristen hoped that Alistair would be able to make the journey in time! Fortunately, she had the prudent notion to send out her letter well before she had even come to Fort Etrich. Perhaps unfavorable weather would cause a small delay, if such a delay were needed. Time would tell.

And fine points made by Arn and Felix both. Two days made for poor justification for the acquainting Kristen had spoken of, for soon enough would their boots no longer even be on Anirian soil. The alternative, interminable waiting, was hardly appealing, and so of the two possible circumstances the swifter march seemed the more tolerable.

Felix, then, came forward with an interesting proclamation—either a sporting wager from the 43rd Guardsman in question, or a boast meant to stroke his pride. And Kristen caught Rhory's look and found herself mildly bewildered; oh, but mayhap Rhory was quite the fan of wrestling?

But to Felix and Arn she said, "Has he cause for such a bold claim? But I suppose sight is a better judge than rumor." And to Arn specifically, "Mighty indeed would this wrestler have to be to surpass you."

Felix was quite right to posit that Arn stood the best chance against a man confident enough to issue such a challenge. His stature alone lent him great advantage.

Arn Felix Nevarre Rhory Grimmere

 

[Arn]

"O-oh..." Arn began to stutter. "Well, I don't know about that."

Truth was, he had done quite a bit of wrestling back home. In fact he was the Autumn Festival champion. He'd always said that it was because his reach was half as long as anyone else's, but his pay had insisted he had some real talent. "I know Old Porridge."

The man was quite the hulk, stout, strong. There was no doubt he'd be quite the challenge. Arn was sure that he would lose, and he didn't want to embarass himself in front of the lady. "I, don't thi-"

As they turned the corner, he began to realize that Felix might already have agreed.

A ring had been formed where there just a few minutes ago had been a small open armory. Now shields had been stacked as barricades and men flowed in a crowd as Officers busied themselves elsewhere. Keenly aware that with war coming tensions needed to be unleashed.

"Ah fuck." Arn swore, probably for the first time in his life.

 

[Felix Nevarre]

Felix could see the hesitation in Arn's eyes and quickly slipped over to reassuringly put his hands on Arn's shoulders as they rounded the corner, giving him a light shoulder massage.

"Hey, none of that. You've got this. You have gotten stronger while in our squad. Listen, you know Porridge doesn't always play fair so just be ready for it. You are younger, stronger, and faster...And we really need those bedrolls."

The entire time he gave his pep talk, Felix was guiding the large Arn over to the ring. Other bets were already being made as some cheers and jeers popped up as more of the soldiers spotted Arn arriving.

"I also talk with the medics from the 43rd a lot and Porridge has been having some trouble with that left shoulder so stay on that side if you can help it...Go get 'em."

Arn

 

[Rhory Grimmere]

Rhory was thankful for the quick change of attention now on Arn. She felt bad for the nervous guy, but Rhory wouldn't be supporting this idea if she hadn't thought he would pull through.

"He also isn't all that nimble on his feet. I think you can catch him off balance quite quickly."

She shouldered her way to the ring, beckoning the taller young Dreadlord to join her. "Probably terrible timing to reveal to Felix I have one of those bedrolls he wanted... but at least the boys get their own when Arn wins."

She sparred with him plenty of times, and liked to think she made him much quicker on his feet. Owain would have tried to lecture his way through training, and Rhory couldn't leave her friend to coast the same skill level for so long.

 

[Kristen Pirian]

If nothing else, Arn had to his credit boundless humility, such was Kristen's appraisal. He was a gentle giant, that was to be sure, but also did he serve as the direct opposite to Old Porridge in temperament; where the one proclaimed to the whole of the war camp that his skill was unrivaled, and the other spoke quietly, even doubtfully, of his prowess. And this trait of Arn's enamored Kristen to the Sergeant, and in her heart she did cheer for his triumph.

Felix and Rhory advised him on strategy. All was fair on that front, for the challenge had been invited by Guardsman Porridge himself.

Kristen followed after Rhory's lead—and it was quite good that she did. Blessed Aionus, the crowd here was thick, and rather invigorated. Yet why wouldn't it be so? Tension from the closeness of the invasion aside, soldiers surely sought entertainment when their duties ran slim, and here it was provided.

Kristen had to lean in some to hear what Rhory was saying.

"Well! It will benefit them greatly then, once Arn bests the challenge! It's the small comforts which truly assuage harsh times."

Arn Felix Nevarre Rhory Grimmere