Fable - Ask The Tide Turns[Historical]

[Clarissa Vansire]

"Fel'Innes," Clarissa offered without hesitation. "It's a city of trees and a supply depot."

Though in truth she had no idea what their next movement would be. Her brother and the other Anirian Generals were crafty, they could have some sort of strategy they'd kept secret and planned out. Or it was even possible that how seizure of Ealin went dictated their next actions.

"Mighty confident. You've been speaking with your older brother?"

Gideon's open grin revealed his yellowed teeth and forced a frown to touch her lips. "Not at all. It's simply what I would do," she took a sip from the sweet tasting mead and finished her thought, "but there are those better suited to making those decisions than me in charge."

Avoiding the issue of nepotism altogether was her only real choice here. She'd earned her place as a Dreadlord but idiots like Gideon would likely tease her in relation to her brother's station for the entirety of her career.

 

[Rhea]

Rhea sipped at her mead and picked up a nearby stick as the others discussed. Leo had named a few good next targets but she couldn't help but wonder if they were too... big. Today had gone well but they had had the element of surprise on their side; they might not be so lucky next time. She began to draw out the memories of maps her father had made her study from as old as she could walk.

"I think we will be heading to Fel'Lothwell," she decided after a long consideration. She had marked several cities that lay nearby including those already in discussion. "Fel'Innes is too close to Fel'Addas just yet. I imagine the generals will want to test out their new weapons a bit more before shitting on the elves literal front door step," Anirian's were not stupid even when they grew arrogant and this victory would become worthless if they were to make a mistake.

"Plus, if we take Fel'Lothwell we'll be able to cut off their trades coming from the sea."

 

[Leoric Virak]

Leoric looked to Gideon for a serious answer, the hulk of a man only rolling his shoulders in a shrug as though he had no clue at all.

"Anirius made my hands for smashing, not my brain for thinkin'."​

A frown touched Leoric's lips almost instantly as the other man invoked the ancient god that had been denounced for a generation now. His head shaking as the fool did it right in front of the great granddaughter of the man who had decreed it.

It was not as though he would be thrown in the stocks, but the fopaux was enough to make Leoric cringe. "I think you're all wrong."

He said, hoping to catch the conversation before it could spiral into an argument.

"I think we're going to draw them into battle." Leoric said confidently. "Break their backs before they ever have a chance."

Why stand for siege after siege when you could catch your foe entirely unaware? Why let them learn. "They'll send the Guard in first, use them as bait. Then when the Elves come to send the 'intruders' home, they'll find us waiting on their flank."

 

[Clarissa Vansire]

Clarissa couldn't stop herself from raising a brow at Gideon's comment about Anirius. Perhaps he was trying, once again, to insult the trio given Rhea's presence.

She followed Leoric's lead however and didn't bother addressing it. "Fel'Lothwell could make sense." A nod of agreement followed as the Dreadlord continued sipping at the mead. It forced a warmth to flow through her chest and torso as she drank it.

"Surely they wouldn't use the Guard as bait?" Claire had to gulp down the last sip quickly to respond as the theory came as a shock to her. She couldn't argue with the logic, it made sense, but the idea of using the Guard as bait seemed barbaric to her.

Sure, they had to win. Her family had been ruined after the elves burned down her House's vineyards. She'd grown up practically malnourished because of the first war. But to use their own people as expendable bait just so the Dreadlords could have the element of surprise. "No chance that's the plan."

Her words were just as confident. She couldn't imagine her brother devising such a strategy.

 

[Rhea]

Unfortunately, Rhea had no such issues imagining her relatives coming up with such an idea. In fact, her father had expressed the idea himself more than a few times. It had led to several arguments between the King and his Heir. Her face betrayed just how likely she thought the strategy would be and she took another, longer, drag of the bottle she held in her hands.

"I'm sure the Generals will do what they think is best," she said with a touch of dryness. Briefly she caught Leo's gaze and then looked away. "There's no sense in thinking about the next fight, tonight is about celebrating this victory," she forced some sense of joy and energy into her voice and offered Clarissa a smile then stood up.

"Come on, I bet the others have found something fun to do," the Dreadlords always seemed to find a way to have fun wherever they were.

 

[Leoric Virak]

Leoric stayed quiet as Clarissa offered her objections.

The cynical side of him knew that he was right. It was a good strategy, probably the best one they had. Dreadlords were a new weapon, and the Elves still wouldn't know they even existed. The slaughter here today had ensured that much.

Marching into the forest would be a fools errand, and the Elves were haughty enough to believe that humanity would try it a second time.

A grim and dour mood settled on him, and as Rhea stood he waved her off. "You go on."

He told her.

"I'll stick around here." Despite their victory, despite the joy in it, he didn't really feel much like celebrating. The days ahead would be bloody, grim. There was no avoiding the malice and anger that would breed from that.

There was no avoiding the whispers which would echo from the Well.

 

[Clarissa Vansire]

It was subtle but both Rhea's and Leoric's demeanor seemed to shift a tad. As if they didn't want to reveal some harsh reality that Clarissa was unaware of. Or perhaps she was simply second guessing herself.

Yes. That was it. Everything was fine, the armies of Vel Anir would not sacrifice their own to win a war with elves. Just like they wouldn't resort to the same barbarism the elves had. Burning food stockpiles, burning farms, surrounding their capital city for weeks (or so her grandmother had told her).

They'd win decisive victories. They'd spare civilians. They'd build a future for both Vel Anir and the elves of the Falwood.

That much was all true. But for her next part it was Rhea's words that intrigued Claire the most. "I could go for some more celebrating," she flashed a smile and took another sip of the mead, "surely there's more exotic elvish treats we've yet to find."

A frown followed her dashing smile as Leoric insisted on refraining from the merriment. "It's a good thing to celebrate a victory." It was said without judgement but more as a manner of fact. Dreadlords were still a strange commodity for the Guard. Even if one didn't feel up for it engaging in acts of camaraderie were important for the success of this campaign.

 

[Rhea]

The look Rhea gave Leoric was odder, as though she knew something she had no right to know. It was gone in a second though and an easy smile took its place instead.

"Clar is right, a victory deserves to be celebrated. Life deserves to be celebrated. Preferably by getting very drunk and dancing," she clapped the other girl on the back with a brilliant smile. Almost as if they had heard her words from deeper in the camp music sprung up. She hadn't even known there were musicians among them but the jig and the cheering, boots stomping, was enough to create music descent enough to dance to.

"Come on," she grabbed Clarissa's hand and all but dragged her towards the sound of laughter, song and merriment.

 

[Leoric Virak]

A brief smile touched Leoric's face as the girls tried to convince him, but a nonchalant wave saw them both off. The music springing to life just a few seconds later. His voice raised ever so slightly as Rhea grasped Clarissa's hand and began to drag her away.

"I'll wake you when you're too hungover to wake up for the march tomorrow!" He called after them, the smile fading from his face as both girls disappeared into the crowd.

A long breath left Leoric's chest as he turned his eyes back to the fire. The dark cloud that had settled over him slowly taking deeper root. Music sank into the encampment all around him, the sounds of cheering Dreadlords and drunken Guardsmen casting out like some demented opera.

Rhea and Clair were right of course.

It should have been a time to celebrate. To sing and dance. To commemorate the first of what would surely be a string of great victories. And yet Leoric found it almost impossible, the weight too heavy. The cheer he normally felt almost drowned.

His gaze sat upon the fire.

Black flecks floating over his eyes as he stared.

 

[Clarissa Vansire]

"This one is called oh-stars," a young man whose nose resembled a thimble said confidently. "They use these enchanted crates to keep 'em cold."

A woman from the Guard, with curly carrot-colored hair and a face filled with freckles burst into laughter. "Bannie, they're pronounced oysters." The woman plucked one of the things out, slid a thin blade into a tiny gap to pop it open, and then swallowed its contents whole. She washed the seafood down with a swig of wine, "they're not half bad."

Clarissa had gotten dragged somewhat forcefully by Rhea into this mass of humanity. She'd already met Bannie and his redhaired friend Lucille, Rhea had introduced her to a Guard everyone called One-Eyed Tom, and there'd been a dozen other names that she decided she likely wouldn't remember in the morning.

"It's a good thing Leoric offered to wake us up in the morning," another swig of a newly opened bottle of mead coated her throat as she offered that tidbit to Rhea. "Not sure if I'm going to be able to march after tonight though."

The variety of food and drink the elves stored here was beyond impressive. And Clarissa's uncanny ability to lose at every game of cards they'd tried their hand out so far had resulted in more alcohol consumption than she'd initially planned on. "Wanna go play more cards?" The smirk on her rose-colored face was practically infectious.

 

[Rhea]

This was the part of soldiering that Rhea loved the most; the comradery. It did not matter about what rank she held outside these parts, and Dreadlords whilst looked at with a bit of wonder, were soon seen as the rest were once a few drinks were inside of everyone. It was how they had ended up filled with mead, port, wine and delicious parcels of roasted meat that had just come off the spit when they had arrived. Rhea had a large helping wrapped in warm flat bread in her hands when Clarissa spoke.

"Sure," she grinned and took another bite with a grateful moan. "Then, afterwards more dancing," she nodded. She'd been attempting to make her way to the dancefloor for over an hour but they had been called to from different groups and hadn't wanted to seem rude in ignoring them. But she did so want to dance.

Heading over to a new table where cards were being played, Rhea soon realised it was not a game being played but fortune telling.

"Want to know what your futures hold ladies?" the red-haired guard said with a crooked smile.

 

[Clarissa Vansire]

"Oh, definitely more dancing afterwards," she agreed without hesitating while they waltzed over towards the card table and the tilted smile of the flame-haired Guardsman.

Their futures? Clarissa wasn't entirely certain what sort of card game this was. Certainly one she'd never gotten a chance to play but most of the card games in the Anirian Guard tended to be straightforward enough. It was only as she got a closer look did she realize he wasn't holding the standard set of playing cards but instead something entirely different.

Her lips scrunched and her brow furrowed. "Our fortunes?"

"Yes. You interested in knowing your fates?"

Were these some sort of weird elvish charms or a child's game? It was impossible for her to tell. "Sure, dole me out a reading." A shuffle of the strange cards followed as he cut the deck and then placed four cards down, flipping them over one-by-one.

 

[Rhea]

First came Death.

The guard paused and glanced up at the two women with an easy smile.

"Not to worry, Death actually represents a spiritual change, perhaps your change to Dreadlords, eh?"

The came the Queen of Swords with a noose around her neck.

"Well... you're both ladies with swords..."He offered, the smile faltering.

Next came the Poisoned Cup. The upturned dead rat seemed pretty explanatory.

"Sometimes that means the... the..."

Finally came the Hangman, a figure swinging in a lonely tree upon a hill.

The guards words died up in his throat entirely.

 

[Clarissa Vansire]

Not many things sobered one up quicker than a fortune teller revealing that death, death, and more death awaited you.

Clarissa laughed nervously, more out of habit than because anything was particularly funny about what had just happened. "Well, I suppose we are at war. There's lots of death in war, right?" Surely these cards didn't refer to their personal lives and it wasn't a stretch to suggest that both girls would be surrounded by death in the days, weeks, and likely months to come.

Members of the Guard would die beside them. Elves would die. It was just a fact of war.

"Huh... um... yes, I suppose that's it," the fortune teller said in an uneasy tone clearly unconvinced by the logic but not wishing to alarm Clarissa or Rhea. "Must just be... the whole uhhh, war, thing."

"Right," she said while tugging at Rhea's arm, "we're going to go hit the dance floor now." Literally anything to clear her mind of that awful sight would be preferable. Only after they were far enough from the fortune teller did she say in a low voice, "just some dumb kid's game and an asshole trying to ruin out night."

That was it. That was all it was.

 

[Rhea]

Rhea couldn't tear her eyes off the four cards. It was as though dice had been bouncing off the inside of her skull and now they had gone quiet. This was her future. It was a fact she knew with such intensity it shocked her and rooted her in place. How only a few hours ago she had felt invincible and now... now she felt oh so very human. Fragile. Death crooked his finger at her and smiled knowing every step took her closer to his embrace. Her mind went to her family first, the Dreadlords second. What would happen to her Kingdom when she died?

The tug on her arm slowly pulled her form her melancholy thoughts.

"Yeah..." she feigned agreement and finally tore her eyes away. "Dumb."

It didn't take them long to find the dancing and - more importantly - the rest of the alcohol stash. Rhea snatched up a bottle and took a long gulp as the music struck up a wheeling dance. A couple of guards soon wandered over with cocky grins.

"Ladies... could we offer you a dance?" Rhea set down the bottle and nodded firmly.

"Absolutely!"

Death waited for Rhea round the next bend, but he would have to wait for her to live first.

 

[Clarissa Vansire]

With all the doom and gloom behind them the only thing that awaited them now was joy.

Or at least as much joy as one could derive from dancing. Which, it turns out, was a lot.

"Ditto." She mirrored Rhea's optimism and even tried a shot of the brown liquor that Leoric had called 'bourbon' before joining the new group of Guardsmen on the dance floor. It was hard to dismiss the fortune telling incident they'd just witnessed but copious amounts of alcohol and dancing seemed like good enough remedies.

For what it was worth the Guards who picked up the lyre, flute, and drums were laying down a beat that made dancing much easier. Or it could've just been the alcohol.

Before the first vestiges of sunlight poured through the cracks in the wood Clarissa was hit by a monstrous headache. "Ugghhh," her groan was the first thing to cross her lips as she salivated from the disgusting taste of in her mouth. A night filled with alcohol apparently gave not just a headache but foul breath. "What month is it?"

 

[Leoric Virak]

"RISE AND SHINE LADY VANSIRE!" Leoric's voice rang out loudly within the mire of tents around them.

The raucous cry coming only seconds before a splash of ice cold water crashed directly over and onto Clarissa.

Leoric stood, proud and tall, the gloom from the night before utterly gone and replaced with his usual cheer and optimism. He grinned wide as he loomed above her, a bucket in both of his hands, and another sitting by his feet. "We've got Orders t receive!"

He chirped quite happily, throwing the bucket onto the ground.

"Marching to do!" Leo continued, picking up the second bucket. "Plus, I've to find a Princess..."

The first of the Dreadlords mused. "Any clue where she went? Last I heard she traipsed off with some Guardsmen but that can’t be true. She’s far too respectable."

 

[Rhea]

Several tents away Rhea stretched lazily and a male arm suddenly wound about her waist quickly followed by kisses along her neck made rough by the man's slight stubble.

"Stay wit' me instead," he tempted and for a moment the Princess considered it. Just a slight stretch of her power, one word, and she could call a halt to the movement for a few hours. But Rhea did not intend to build her rein on such blatant abuse of power. Instead she sighed and turned over to face the beautiful man who had finally tempted her into his sheets last night. Even in the morning light she had zero regrets.

"I kind of like the idea of victory sex," she murmured and the other man laughed.

"Oh aye?"

"Mhm," she stole one last long kiss then rolled to her feet. "So I suggest you get a shift on so we can win this next battle."

Not long later Rhea sauntered into the camp looking very much like a cat who had got the cream. She stole a piece of bacon from the fire and groaned.

"Why does post sex bacon always taste so much better?"

 

[Clarissa Vansire]

There was a horrible sound and then a splash of water which bolted her upwards. "What in the fu-," she blinked rapidly as blurred vision focused to reveal the face of a Virak intruding into her tent. "Has anyone ever told you that you're the absolute worst person?"

A palm came up to caress her forehead as she briefly entertained the idea of using her magic on Leoric. She refrained and also rose to her feet to avoid the second pail of water the Virak noble had prepared for her.

"She's an adult. Why would I know where she went off to?"

In truth, she'd seen precisely which tent Rhea had gone towards though Clarissa was unsure if she'd be able to point it out in the haze of a hangover. And even if she could there was no chance she was going to subject the Princess to the same fate that she'd just suffered.

As she prepared another retort about how it wouldn't be any less 'respectful' if the heiress had a bit of fun the night prior she paused and blushed as she realized she was standing in only undergarments. "Can you get the hell out of here!?" one hand reached down to pull her sheet up to cover what she could as the other began grabbing for her trousers.

 

[Leoric Virak]

"Little me? How dare you." The Virak said with a gleeful chuckle. "I have it on good authority that I'm everyone's absolute favorite."

That wasn't exactly true.

He was pretty sure that the favorite Dreadlord among them was Elthwin. Her magic was the creation of ice, but that wasn't why everyone liked her. It was mostly because she'd stumbled upon the fact that the ice she made could be flavored with various syrups, creating something she called 'slushies'.

"You were together last I saw! And I figured you didn't want a second bucket." Leoric said, sloshing the water a little bit.

His eyes rolling as she tried to shoo him away. Body swaggering ever so slightly as he took a step back and offered her a mock salute. "Because it's not like I haven't seen it before."

They'd grown up together for Kress' sake! The Academy hadn't exactly stressed modesty.

Nevertheless, Leoric pulled himself away for the tent, turning on his heel as his voice bellowed out. "Oh Princeessssss! I have a surprise for you!"

 

[Rhea]

"Watch out, he had a bucket," muttered one of the Guards - Jaird - who was carefully stirring the pot of porridge Rhea was eyeing up next.

"Did he seriously intend on throwing water over me to wake me up?" the Princess replied incredulously and snuck a sausage off the fire this time. Jaird raised his spoon in a warning and she juggled the sausage from hand to hand lest it burn her fingers.

"Something about you probably smelling of a pig sty," he commented which made Rhea snort.

"Has he smelled hims--" she cut off when Leo emerged from Clarissa's tent and slyly slid to stand behind Jaird. "You wouldn't want to ruin breakfast now would you Leo? Put the bucket down..."

 

[Clarissa Vansire]

Clarissa rolled her eyes as Leoric gave his excuses and bounded out of the tent.

They may have all grown up together but the rest of the Guard had a strange sense of modesty that had begun to rub off on her. At first it had been a bit strange but she was finding that having her own personal space was actually a pretty good thing.

Or maybe it was just a an excuse to avoid a future bucket of water.

Once she was dressed the Dreadlord secured her belongings and bounded out of the tent towards the smell of breakfast, zig-zagging through the mess of people and taking a quick detour as she spotted Leoric approaching Rhea's tent.

 

[Leoric Virak]

Leoric stood there, bucket handle in one hand, the other cupping the bottom.

A gasp escaped his lips. "My dearest Princess."

The son of House Virak shook his head. Pure disappointment flickered over his features, as though he couldn't quite believe that Rhea would say such a thing to him. His bright red hair waved back and forth, caught in a wind of his own making.

"I can't believe." A smirk fell over his features. "You would think I wouldn't trust myself."

Suddenly Leoric threw the bucket forwards.

The next few seconds seemed to slow. Water flew out of the bucket, a black speck floated over Leoric's eyes, the flow of crystal clear liquid slipping through the air. It dove perfectly over the pot of food Rhea was hiding behind. Slipping through and besides the chef, as though Leoric had aimed the splash to exact perfection.

 

[Rhea]

A shield that would have made the stain glass windows of a cathedral weep in envy suddenly materialised from the gauntlet on Rhea's forearm. The water splashed against the slightly curved surface and ricocheted off in a spray of rainbows causing the cook to curse as a few splashes went down the back of his jerkin.

"NO MAGIC IN THE CAMP!" he bellowed. There was of course, no such rule, but the cook tended to be listened to on account nobody wanted him to spit in their food. Rhea sheepishly lowered the shield, her eyes a startling hue of purple, that faded in the same moment the shield vanished.

"Sorry Jaird," she murmured and then shot Leo a glare that said she blamed him entirely. Wisely, she slunk away from the cookfire and joined her friend on the other side now he was sans bucket full of water. "Maybe if you went and got laid you would be less of a spoilsport."

 

[Clarissa Vansire]

"Leave you two alone for five minutes and you're already pissing off the cook staff," Clarissa said in a huff.

Though she arrived just in time to hear Rhea's barb about Leoric's complete lack of social skills the Vansire progeny refrained from piling on with the insults. Leo could be bad enough and her hangover was doing her wit no favors at all.

In fact, the only thing that Claire managed to mumble out was accompanied by the grumbling of her stomach, "Jaird's probably going to spit in our breakfast now..."