Castle Marado, 3 days before the invasion of Crimea
Fiona peeked cautiously around the frame of the side door to her father's study, her blue eyes coming to rest on the two flame-red haired figures in the room. The one closest to her was a man; who paced the length of the room like a caged sub-human, ready to spring. Every so often his deep brown eyes would flit up to the ornate grandfather clock behind the desk, before returning to the floor in front of his feet. The other individual in the room was a tall female, bearing a patch over her right eye. Though the woman's posture, reclined against the desk as she was, seemed more at ease than her fellow; Fiona recognized the clear agitation visible in her single golden-amber eye. There were more signs of her unease too, a soft tapping of her right foot, the way her fingers fiddled with the end of the black coat worn under her armor, even a slight tenseness in her shoulders that gave her away to the young knight-in-training.
So caught up was she in observing the odd behavior of her father's two Captains, she had to muffle a squeak of surprise when Selwyn's deep baritone suddenly pierced the uneasy silence that seemed to have fallen over the castle. "Why's it taking so long? The General should have been back hours ago!" he asked of his companion. When her only reply was a non-committal shrug, he snapped at her "You act like it's of no goddamn concern to you that our king, our insane, bloodthirsty, psychopath of a king, suddenly demands General Lanvega's presence."
Eliora sighed heavily before responding, her voice a deep and slightly rough alto, "Of course I'm concerned, the king's bound to be unhappy that the General refused to participate in the planned Crimean invasion. Let's just be realistic here, though, what did we think King Ashnard was going to do? You really think he'd just let such insolence go unpunished? There were bound to be some sort of repercussions for refusing the King's orders." She paused a moment before continuing on, "Although, I have been wondering why we weren't called to the capital as well."
"That is exactly what worries me", Selwyn murmured; finally standing still with his eyes downcast "If he was going to mete out punishment for disobeying him, shouldn't we, as the General's seconds-in-command, been called as well?" He appeared to consider it for a moment "It just seems too suspicious that he specifically instructed him to come without an escort".
"It could just be out of courtesy," she offered, ignoring his snort of contempt as she clarified, "if he is planning on punishing a respected noble and military leader like General Lanvega, it would be in his best interests if he kept the humiliation to a minimum. He can't risk upsetting the military much more, especially after he disbanded the Great Riders and declared General Gawain a traitor right after taking the throne." Though the younger Captain's words seemed to ring with confidence, Fiona could still see the lingering doubt flit across her face. A moment later it was gone, replaced by a look of quiet determination as if she were willing her words to be true. For his part, Captain Selwyn was silently staring off into space, apparently considering her logic.
"For all our sakes, I hope you're right" his voice was reduced to nearly a whisper. "I don't even want to think about what would happen should any harm befall the General. Marado would be left in complete upheaval, not to mention the rest of the country. And there's little Lady Fiona too, she's always been close to her father, even before Lady Marlene died." Fiona barley registered the shudder that passed through his frame through the tears that had suddenly impeded her vision. She hurriedly clamped a hand over her mouth to suppress a whimper. The somber mood that had fallen was abruptly disrupted by a panicked rapping on the main door, causing the two in the room, as well as Fiona herself, to start sharply in response.
Eliora was the first to recover from the sudden shock calling out to whoever stood beyond "Who's there?" The muffled response that came through the thick oak doors was nearly impossible to decipher. "Speak up, I can't understand you!" she thundered in a voice clearly tempered by military use.
Fiona felt herself instinctively straightening in response as the, now clearer, reply came "A messenger, Ma'am, from the Capital."
The two Captains exchanged a look before she shouted "Enter!" The door creaked hesitantly open to reveal a young, jumpy looking blond boy with wide, bright grey eyes. He looked a little too scrawny to be a soldier, not to mention too young, though his frame showed promise of what he might grow into. His face was angular and his bangs hung in his eyes in apparent defiance of his attempts to brush them away. All things considered, if she'd stopped to consider it, she supposed he might have been handsome. As it was, she was too concerned by her father's absence to think of this newcomer as anything but a possible bearer of news on his fate.
"Well? What message do you bring?" Selwyn demanded of the boy, sharp eyes weighing the messenger's obvious unease.
The youth drew an envelope forth from a leather pouch on his hip, though she couldn't see it clearly from her hiding place, Fiona thought she recognized the royal seal stamped onto it. He held it out to them hesitantly "I was told to take this to Captain Eliora of Marado's Black Demon Cavalry with all haste. The sentries told me I could find you here, Ma'am." He glanced up from the envelope in his hand to the one-eyed Captain's face and back down again.
The two of them simply stared at him for a long moment before Selwyn asked him gently "And who was it who gave you this, son?"
He balked noticeably before answering the older male in a halting voice "Th-the king, sir." He gestured once again for Eliora to take the letter, wringing his hands before him when she finally did so. Another uneasy silence fell over the room as she broke the seal and read the message contained therein. Her single eye flashed across the parchment for what seemed like forever before she suddenly stiffened and stared, wide-eyed at the page.
Noting the sudden change, Selwyn jumped to her side "What, what's it say?" He demanded before beginning to hurriedly read over her shoulder. Her response was so faint that Fiona had to strain her ears to hear it:
"General Lanvega… is dead?"