Out of the pre-dawn mist, a short figure appeared. The sentries on duty saw the person right away, but didn't recognize the traveler. They were wrapped in a brown cloak, obscuring every possible identifying feature on them. The Guard Captain turned to the one in training and gestured for her to step closer, so the superior woman wouldn't have to raise her voice and risk having the sound travel down to the stranger below. "Sentry Moon, go rouse our Queen. The decision of letting this one in is her choice to make, after all. If you are stopped, say it's my orders." Sentry Moon came close to insubordination when she spoke right after her superior, but the latter let it drop because time was of the essence in this situation. "Captain-Warrior Night" Sentry Moon muttered quietly, following her superior's lead in muted speech, before dashing off without a sound. Once Captain Night's eyes couldn't pick out the subordinate's path along the castle ramparts, she turned back to the stranger. Call it an intuition, but Captain Night had a fearful foreboding about the figure from the mist.
Inside the castle, home to about one hundred female warriors handpicked by Queen Rosetta, the reigning matriarch of this land sat down with the stranger after calling for refreshments. In a deceptively soft tone, the Queen inquired to the purpose of the stranger coming here. As to her high tone, Rosetta made no apologizes to it, at least not in this situation. "Please, I wish to know what brings you here, stranger. Not many nations bother to send messengers to my nation, considering its low reputation." That triggered a response from the, until now, silent traveler. Tilting her face up to look at the Queen, the sight caused the queen's soldiers to shrink back in uncertainty. They weren't afraid, since the training they had been put through eliminated that emotion. The expression on the traveler's face became fearful, angry, and confused. The young yet mature queen turned to her soldiers and nodded at them in dismissal before turning back to the child. The queen's maternal instincts flared up unmercifully, compelling Rosetta to embrace the child reassuringly, but she knew this one wouldn't welcome the physical contact or proximity. "I am sorry for thy loss, Child of the Fallen Ancient Race. What is thy name?" Rosetta inquired, respect imbued in her tone, before subsiding in her speech and giving the verbal floor to the stranger. The tongue of the stranger held a low growl of wariness, and Rosetta put it up to the purity of her ancient blood. "Ravinia Cerberus of the Ancient Race is who I am. My heritage is the proud daughter of Sansara Cerberus and Primordain Cerberus. My half-brother, although he is missing currently, carries the name of Valiaral Phoenix-Cerberus. Valiaral is the son of my sire, Lord Primordain, and the deceased Phoenix Lady Yifira." She fell silent then, although her proud gaze never dropped from the Queen's own. In her own right, the Queen took a few minutes to ponder what Ravinia had told her about her family. "So, forgive me if I offend thee, but thy dam and sire, Lady Sansara and Lord Primordain are deceased, yes?" Ravinia's eyes became blurred, but her silent tears never fell. Under normal circumstances, Ravinia would have allowed her tears to fall, but in the company of strangers it wasn't going to happen. Nevertheless, she nodded unhappily as she stared unwaveringly and intently at the Queen. The Queen looked away for a moment before focusing her attentions one the closest knight, whom she addressed. "Soldier Leeandra, find me Generals Rivaska, Kalea, Rifanea, Vifarana, and Alanaria." Leeandra nodded and went to go do as she was bid. In the interim before the generals came, Queen Rosetta turned back to face Ravinia. The queen's expression became very intent as she spoke once again to Ravinia. "Now, I want you to answer me truthfully, Ravinia. Did anyone follow you here?" Ravinia scowled at her for assuming that she would lie, but she brushed it aside and with a clearly blank expression shook her head no. Rosetta sighed with relief and checked over her shoulder for the generals she had summoned. The five generals were lined up in a row with military precision waiting for their Queen's orders. Queen Rosetta rose up from the table and met their gazes one by one before distributing her orders. "I want riders to go out to each major village to summon the village leaders and escort them back here without revealing the truth. I'm going to divide the ten major villages between your divisions. I request you send someone who has good people skills but is discreet, although beyond that I'll leave the choice to you. Rivaska, your division will go to Kaifen and Duran. Kalea, Relafen and Dassin. Rifanea, the port towns of Vardan and Osiria. Vifarana, the northern towns of Yusalan and Volak I give to you. Alanaria, the ones on the desert outskirt are yours-Sadanth and Faexen." The generals nodded as one entity before walking to their division's barracks. Once again, Rosetta turned back to Ravinia, only to see her collapse sideways away from the table, her skin pale and with eyes closed. Rosetta jumped up and caught her before any damage could be done to Ravinia before suddenly looking up and seeing her sixth general running towards her. Healer Serapha, as she was usually known around Castle Valorth, was followed by one of her apprentices, Trainee Alira who showed the most talent and knowledge in the healing craft. Queen Rosetta sat on the floor, resting Ravinia's head in her lap as the Healer pair quickly examined Ravinia for injuries. Serapha had to remove her cloak to complete a thorough inspection, and all three women gasped in horror at the injuries, as well as Ravinia's clothing being soaked in blood. The wounds were gruesome, and even Rosetta, a hardened warrior used to battle, was disturbed by the amount of blood. In an attempt to distract herself from having to look, Rosetta locked gazes with Serapha. "Serapha, summarize her injuries and chance of survival based on your experience." Serapha nodded before turning back to Ravinia for a quick but thorough examination. "She's bleeding from multiple stab and sword wounds, leading me to believe, along with the burn scar on the right side of her face, that she was tortured. Until I take her to the hospital and examine if there's any more injuries, I won't be able to deduce for sure if she will survive. Right now...I'd say her chances were about twenty five percent, although with her ancient blood, that may be higher. I don't know...I mostly specialize in human first aid treatment." Rosetta nodded as the healer looked at her to gain permission to leave and start trying to save Ravinia from death's grasp. "Go, I don't mind staying here for now," Rosetta turned to the hesitant healer, even as she gave orders for Alira to find a wooden board to transport Ravinia safely with. The Healer General then walked quickly away to go prepare the infirmary. Rosetta looked down sadly on Ravinia`s face before raising her hand to check for a fever. Nodding to herself sadly, she discovered that the child had a burning fever, although she was cut off from further ministrations by Alira returning with the board. The girl set it down carefully and Rosetta stood up to assist the trainee in manoeuvring Ravinia`s still body on it. Simultaneously, they each grabbed one end and lifted it, pausing briefly before walking at the safest speed possible to the infirmary. When they got there, Serapha was ready and waiting for them, just setting up the last few things necessary. Once they transferred Ravinia safely onto the table, Rosetta informed the healer confidently of Ravinia`s fever. Before the healer`s could get to work on saving Ravinia, the queen caught their attention with a cough that implied she had something to say beforehand. "If she wakes up, her name is Ravinia. I'm going to stay here at her side in case she wakes up. I believe the only thing that would keep her from rampaging upon waking is a familiar face. My own. Any questions? No? Good. That will be all." The queen stayed there at Ravinia's side as the infirmary team slowly got to work putting Ravinia back together. Just for the reader's benefit, the healer's names and tanks were as follows, from left to right, Healer Rarla, Trainee Jahla, Healer Rumaka, Trainee Syarea, and Healer Serapha. Healer Rarla and Jahla were working on the burn scar, as they both were hoping to specialize in that area of injury. Healer Rumaka and Syarea were working on cleaning the blade caused injuries, since the former was the leading expert on it