Chapter 8

Ykalon, hours after the attack on Italica

Magnus was beginning to shine his light upon Tamriel. Soldiers still on duty were relieved by their comrades to finish their night. Others didn't have this luxury.

Colt had stayed awake the entire night, unwilling to sleep ever since he heard his city was under attack. Livia had stayed up with him, trying to support him. Both were sporting dark circles under their eyes, showing their exhaustion.

It was in this state that Ivan found them. Unlike them, the Emperor didn't look tired at all. He was carrying two small bottles filled with an unknown liquid. "Greetings Lady Sartorius, Count Formal." He handed them each one bottle. "Drink this, you'll feel better."

"Greetings your Highness," Colt smiled with difficulty. "I thank you for your offer. You'll have to excuse me if I decline it. I'm afraid I don't have the best disposition for a drink right now."

Ivan paused then suddenly smiled. "Oh I see, my mistake. I forgot to tell this isn't some kind of alcoholic beverage to make you relax. This is actually an alchemical concoction that helps restore vigor. The both of you need it. Trust me when I say it is effective, I didn't take one hour of sleep and yet I am as fresh as ever!"

The two Falmartians decided to trust him and took the bottles. As they drank, they were flooded with renewed energy and found themselves rejuvenated.

"Is this… magic?" an incredulous Livia asked as she felt the effects.

Ivan shrugged. "I'm not exactly an expert. On the one hand it's just ingredients like plants mixed together, on the other hand levitation potions exist but enough with exotic beverages." His face became serious. "I am here because we have news from your city Count. One good, one bad. The good news is your city was saved and your daughter confirmed safe."

Colt could breathe again. He was almost excited. "I can't even begin to thank you and your men, your Majesty. I am deeply grateful for it."

Ivan raised his hand to stop him. "Hold on, I did say there was bad news. Although Italica was saved, its walls and some fields were damaged as well several parts of the city. We still don't know if the Daedra which colluded with the bandits and the other groups encountered are linked or not. The region might still be rife with them. Our soldiers are trying to handle the situation as we speak."

"What about my daughter? Could I see her soon?" Colt asked.

"To be entirely frank and perdon my Colovian, the situation is a huge mess. Your daughter is currently the ruler even if she doesn't wield any proper power. It's better she stays there and our soldiers are seen cooperating with her rather than assuming control directly and evacuating her. As for sending you here… matters aside, you are still our prisoner, I'm more worried about an enemy spy discovering you alive and spreading the word to your Emperor. So far, aside from the Princess and her Knights, the mercenary company cover should be still working for the rest of Falmart. If we manage to rally the vassals the situation might change. I just ask you to be patient," Ivan explained.

The Clan Formal head sadly nodded. "I… understand. You're right, Italica's security must be prioritized."

"What about the Princess?" Livia intervened. "What is her current status?"

"She has been asked to stay in the city. She complied without problem. I guess saving the city and its inhabitants was enough of a show of goodwill."

Italica

As the sun rose on the city, several Legionnaires were seen patrolling the streets while others were trying to fix the damage from the battle. A field hospital had been set up on the main place to take care of the wounded.

Black-Scales was waiting nearby. He had dropped his disguise and let his true self revealed. This didn't cause as much uproar as expected, especially given the city had an important Beastfolk (or as the locals called them "Demihuman'') population.

The people he saw were minding their own business though some were still wary of the various Tamrielian soldiers.

Jing suddenly exited the hospital. He waved at her. As she joined him she took off her helmet and rested her back against a wall, releasing a sigh. "Hey. How are you doing?"

"Fine. What about you? You seem tired," he noted.

"Mentally only. It's been a long night. For all of us." She paused, observing the townsfolk's activities. "Looking at them it's as if nothing happened."

He nodded. "Indeed. It's rather good news." He turned back to her. "Cyrus is still inside?"

"Yes. The Optio, Aviera if I remember right, Lelei the blue haired girl and her pervy master are there as well, helping."

Upon hearing it, Black-Scales frowned. "Pervy? The old man? What do you mean? Did he try something?"

She shook her head, reassuring him. "No. Not really. I think women in armor intimidate him. It's just some "glances" and him blushing while in thought. You know… like an immature teenager."

"Hehh…" the Argonian stuck his tongue in disgust. "I thought he was a Sage. Not your typical old perverted geezer. How can his apprentice even stand him?"

"From what I saw? She seems to know how to rein him," Jing replied with a smile.

"Good, good." He looked at the sky while remaining silencious, in thoughts. "Do you know what will happen next?"

"I have no idea. Heck, I'm not even sure Caranya or Centurion Marius know. At this point I hope Commander Sejanus will step up and assume direct control," she answered.

"I hope so too. Changing subject, that's your first serious mission since… since the war. How are you feeling so far? You good?" Black-Scales asked with a concerned tone.

She was in her thoughts a moment before answering. "Yeah actually. I think I feel much better. And it's definitely more interesting than being stationed on the Battlespire doing boring archive work."

"You know we got your back, right? Me, Caranya… even Cyrus," he hesitated, "despite… well you know."

The young woman nodded. "Yeah… thank you."

"Hey, what are friends for Lady Tharn?" He joked after winking at her.

"Please don't call me that," she deadpanned.

The Argonian executed a mock reverence. "As you command… Princess."

Jing grumbled under her breath something about "stupid boys".

"In my defense, someone had to do it. You know it was bound to happen." He put his hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, you're still our pal and comrade first."

"I know," she answered.

A small blonde figure walking in the street caught the Argonian's attention. He recognized Tuka.

"Hey Tuka! Over here!" he called to her.

The young elf turned around, confusion on her face as she approached.

"Hello… how do you know my name sir?" she asked shyly.

Black-Scales facepalmed. "Right… the disguise. Forgot about that." He rapidly switched back to his "Jacques" persona. "I'm Jacques. Well actually that's my disguise to blend in with the locals." He switched back. "That's my true self and my name is actually Black-Scales. Nice to meet you."

Tuka's eyes glinted. "You're a mage! That's incredible!"

"You're not troubled? What about my appearance?" he asked incredulously.

"Not at all! I think it's great! I know myself some spirit magic! And besides I'm a Demihuman too!" she replied enthusiastically.

He smiled. "Ah yes, I heard from Caranya you successfully killed several Daedra with your magical arrows. She said she had been impressed by your capacities despite your age. Well done."

The elf blushed at the praise. "Thank you. I did what I could. I wanted to repay you for saving me and everything you did by helping."

"Well you did a fine job. I must acknowledge that," Jing added.

The poor girl became even more an embarrassed stuttering mess. "Th-thank you a-again. I mu-must excuse m-my-myself. R-rory needed my help." She departed quickly, leaving the two Battlemages there.

Black-Scales sweatdropped. "Well, the least we can say is that she's shy. But at least I'm glad she seems to be doing much better."

He looked at Jing who was still staring at the spot where Tuka had been, as if in thought.

"She's into girls."

"Perdon me," the Argonian said, not understanding what his comrade meant.

"Tuka, she likes girls," the Easterner clarified.

"And how, please, were you able to guess that?"

She shrugged. "Feminine intuition"

"Bullshit. I call bullshit. What does that have to do with anything? You girls always like to pull that one," a disillusioned Black-Scales refuted her. "You're a Sorceress, not a Seer or a Moth Priestess."

"Believe what you want," she simply said.

"Whatever…" he looked in the direction where the elf girl had disappeared. "She didn't go to the nursery… Does that mean the crazy teenage demigoddess isn't in Cyrus' shadow anymore?"

"Don't call Rory that. She's a valuable ally and an asset in treating with the locals. Besides I heard she at least can go toe to toe with Daedroth in terms of raw strength. You don't want to antagonize her," Jing stated.

"I guess you're right. It's just… the way she pines after him rubs me in the wrong way." He turned towards her. "You don't find it disturbing?"

She shook her head. "Trust me. If Caranya doesn't find anything wrong with her then we shouldn't be worried. She has shown some interest in me as well, probably because of my magic. And she's not "pining". It's probably just a mix of being fascinated and because of her position being lonely enough to befriend the first interesting individual she met. She's still a teen after all."

Black-Scales reflected a bit on what she said. "Mmm… Fair enough" before adding, "she's still creepy."

You obviously didn't see the Green Lady and her followers, Jing thought.

He turned his gaze to the Palace. It was guarded by Legionaries. "Any idea what we are gonna do with the Princess?"

She looked in the same direction. "Cooperate with her for starters. That's a given. We need all the local help to clear out this… mess. And maybe hopefully end this war so we can concentrate on why the hell Daedra suddenly showed up."

"We can only hope."

Palace of Italica, Princess Piña's apartment

The complete Order had been assembled at the Princess' demand. So far she had been reminiscing about the events which happened following the end of the battle.

Piña, Grey and Bozes were standing in the Palace Main Room alongside Countess Myui. The four "mercenaries" and what appeared to be the leader of their reinforcement were there as well.

The Princess also noted Rory, who was standing near Cyrus.

"I propose we get straight to the point, if you're willing?" Piña said.

Caranya answered for the rest. "We are. There is indeed much to do."

"Indeed," the Princess continued. "I don't know what these creatures were but you did evidently. You also hid your magic and…" she looked over the unknown man, "other things. Am I being correct in assuming you are not actually mercenaries?"

Caranya nodded affirmatively. "You are."

Her and Jacques suddenly glowed, much to the Falmartian's stupor. When the light ceased, in their places were standing two Demihumans.

Jacques was looking like a lizard man but with very dark scales, as for Caranya… She reminded Piña of an elf but taller than any of them and with a beautiful golden skin. She looked very exotic.

"This is mine and Jacques'," she turned briefly to her comrade, "or rather Black-Scales' true selves. We concealed our appearance because of the stigma associated with non-Mann… sorry, I meant Demihumans. Surely you can understand why?"

She could. The Empire was not kind to them. "I understand. But you still haven't answered the rest of my questions."

The "Elf" smiled. "I can see some on your face. You're asking yourselves what I am. I am an Altmer, though I doubt you've ever heard of my kind before and for good reason. Now listen, because what I am is the least of your concerns."

She unfolded a map of Falmart.

"A few days ago now, a portal opened around here." She pointed to Alnus.

"It was Hardy's doing," intervened Rory, "she wanted to bring new beings to the Gods' "Garden". Guess she succeeded," she grumbled.

Piña wasn't sure where this was going anymore. "I do remember it indeed. Legatus Antonius Sartorius was tasked to bring a huge part of our entire military strength to it, including Count Formal and Italica main forces. They also inexplicably vanished not long after. But what does have to do with anything?"

Caranya's golden eyes glinted. "Everything"

She continued, "they crossed the Gate after expanding it, arriving on a new world." She suddenly paused before gesturing at herself and her companions. "Our World, Nirn."

Aside from Rory, every Falmartian in the room stopped breathing.

Piña knew full well what had been the Legatus' orders as per Sadera traditions : "subjugate" the other side of the Gate. Subjugating here really meant kill, rape and enslave as much as possible to scare the others into submission.

Evidently it had failed since the Legatus' entire army had vanished and the people facing them were not here as slaves. They had every reason to enact vengeance and could very well get away with it. They had even sneaked a number of soldiers inside Italica rather easily. This was bad.

But she was still breathing because of them wasn't she? "Then what was your goal coming here? It can't have been to assassinate me."

"It wasn't," the Captain confirmed. "We didn't even expect to encounter a member of the Imperial family. Our goal was to ensure the safety of Countess Myui. As for why I cannot disclose that to you."

The so named young girl reacted to surprise at the Altmer's statement.

Piña herself didn't understand the move. "But the people or Kingdom you represent, surely they have a primary goal to accomplish?"

Caranya nodded. "Yes, we do. Peace. We want to force your Empire to sign a treaty with the following terms, non negotiables : ceasing any hostilities and renunciation of any invasion from Sadera."

No threat of enslavement or annexation? That was actually pretty reasonable. Sadly the Princess had no authority to act on the behalf of the Empire.

"Of course that was back then," the young officer added. "Before we were confronted by Daedra on this side of the Gate"

Piña blinked. She hadn't recognized that word. "What do you mean by Daedra?"

Rory answered her. "The creatures you saw back there. From what I was told, they don't truly die even with their bodies destroyed. As the Apostle of Emroy, God of Death, I was able to sense it."

Jing advanced herself to explain further. "Daedra are from what we call Oblivion. To make it simple it's a dimension containing several worlds or "planes" where they originate from. Once a Daedra's corporal form is slain, his spirit is sent to the Void of Oblivion before being reborn on their home plane."

And the Princess' familiar headache was coming back. Could the situation get any worse?

"Those Daedra had apparently struck a deal of some kind with the Bandit leader. We still don't know the nature of it. We also learnt from our sources that other groups of Daedra were roaming the region. Whether those are all connected or not is currently unknown. We are still investigating the cause," Caranya summarized.

Fantastic. Piña recomposed herself. "That's... indeed worrying but I'll ask about the present situation. What is going to happen to my Knights and I?"

"Yes, you are right about that," the Altmer replied. "You understand we are technically at war? We can't let you go free. Let alone for your own safety as we explained. Of course you have no reason to believe us yet we insist on it. For your protection we will allow you and your followers to keep your weapons but you'll have to keep your word you won't try to escape the city walls. Do those conditions satisfy you?"

The Falmartians looked at the Nirnians surprised. Those were generous conditions, far beyond what they would have expected.

"We don't really have a choice anyway, you control the city now," the Princess said. She sighed. "Our life is in your hands."

Caranya smiled. "Thank you for cooperating. You'll be assigned a few guards for protection. You can go whenever you want in the city of course. Now if you'll excuse us your Highness, we understand you must be tired after tonight's events" they all bowed, "but we need to prepare for the city in case of an attack and tend to its people." She turned to the young countess. "Could you be present? As the ruler of the city we would like to have your advice and permission to set up a field hospital."

Myui face illuminated with joy. "Of course, with pleasure! It is I who must thank you! Near the Palace should be perfect!"

Piña and her companions had departed soon after that to rest a few hours. The meeting had been called minutes after they awoke.

"...if I'm understanding this right Italica is occupied by an enemy force, we are all prisoners but treated as guests and they are currently to protect against another enemy?" an incredulous Panache asked.

Piña sighed. "Yes, that's pretty much it."

The Knights began to get agitated.

"We need to do something! The city's inhabitants are probably enslaved as we speak!" one of the girls yelled.

"No"

She turned towards the source to see Norma. "What do you mean "no"?"

"As a man I slept in the barracks with Grey, remember? When we came here we saw the inhabitants going about their usual chores. As if nothing had changed."

"It's true," Grey continued, "they had set up a big tent for their "hospital" just outside the Palace."

"A-are you two on our side, or did they buy your loyalty?"

"Enough!" Bozes intervened. "If they had wanted slaves they would have taken us as well. Instead they… treated our wounded."

She looked at Piña. The Princess had a faraway look, as if she was lost in thought.

"It doesn't change anything," a short dark haired girl said, "we need to send a message to Sadera to bring reinforcements to take back the city."

"And how do you propose we do that, Beefeater?" Bozes replied, "they have soldiers watching us."

"I'm sure we can find a way. They made the mistake of not putting us in chains."

"And what about those "daedra"?" Her friend argued.

"Who is to say they weren't behind it? Wake up! They are the enemy!"

Someone clapping hands interrupted their argument. They turned to see Grey smiling.

"So, if I am to understand this right, you believe that they made up everything, thus have not only the power to summon more than a hundred soldiers in a mere instant… But they can also summon hordes of creatures that look like they escaped from the Underworld, right? And all this so they can look like our saviors." He paused. "And yet you still want to wage war on them?"

Beefeater blushed, realizing how stupid her reasoning was.

"Maybe… but we cannot let them do as they please! It will take time to assemble an army if we go to the capital first, but Prince Zorzal has his own legion already assembled on the border, maybe if…"

A loud slamming sound resonated. Everyone jumped in place. They turned towards the source to see Piña who looked… displeased to say the least.

"Zorzal? You want to ask Zorzal?"

"Princess… I was merely…" Beefeater began to explain.

Piña cut her. "I know." She sighed once again. "I know… this is a mess. There is no other word. But I would rather be a prisoner here than calling Zorzal to help."

She turned back to look at the sky from one of the windows.

"It's not a secret there is little love lost between Zorzal and the rest of his siblings. Among the Senate, he isn't the favorite heir by far. There's even been a rumor about me being the next ruler. That's how much politically the eldest Imperial Prince is despised." She turned back to Beefeater. "Zorzal is only good at one thing, waging wars of near extermination. What do you think he would do, if he had an opportunity like this to get rid of me?"

Her friend's face became horrified.

"Oh he would weep for me, telling everyone how he was too late to save my and my female Knights from being raped and killed by those invaders, even showing my desecrated corpse as a proof. After all he is such a loving brother."

The entire room became silent.

Finally Panache took up the courage to speak. "Are you saying it's better to cooperate with these "Nirnians"?"

"But we won the Arctic War before!" a petite brown haired and green eyed girl exclaimed. "We can win this war as well!'

"Hamilton," Grey began, " the losses sustained in the Arctic War had nothing to do with the enemy we fought at the time but the harsh and cold climate. Had you read the centuries old military report you would know that. As for the enemy living there… nothing more than peaceful hunters and their families. It was never a fight."

"Yes and here it's clear it wasn't the climate but their soldiers being effective," Piña said. "They even have mages… you saw them in action right? Who knows how long they were holding the city on their own…" she grumbled. "I don't understand them. Not at all. I keep trying but nothing. They helped willingly a bunch of farmers to escape a Flame Dragon and won the favor of Rory Mercury for that. They saved my life and Bozes… me, as a Princess I can understand as a political hostage but her… if not as a slave then what?"

She kept thinking about it until her face illuminated. "Of course! I know. First off all I want everyone to cooperate as best as they can with the soldiers. Well, barring sexual favors, of course. Second…" she looked at Bozes with a mischievous smile. "You and I have two people to thank."

Field hospital of Italica

Cyrus had worked for the rest of the night to treat the wounded, mostly the inhabitants of Italica taken prisoners. They hadn't been numerous as the majority of the population had fled to the circus arena but were still in the hundreds.

Jing had helped him at first, before focusing on the upkeep of the enchanted material. The Optio, Aviera, had then been sent as she indicated she was skilled in Restoration. Lelei and Cato had also informed them they had some medical knowledge to help them.

The wounded had been divided between them by the seriousness of their injuries, the more severely wounded were sent to Cyrus, the more mildly injured to Jing and later Aviera and those whose wounds were very light to Cato and his student.

A few of the maids of the countess were assisting the healers as nurses. The Tamrielians couldn't help but notice how strange some seemed. They were all of different races (apparently) and part animal. The only ones who seemed familiar enough were the cat-women. They looked like Ohmes-raht, the mannish-looking Khajiit furstock, with the exception they had more cat-like properties than the tail, such as their ears.

The rest was heteroclite, part-rabbit and... snake-hair? Yet they were all looking like young mannish or merish girls. Cyrus had briefly wondered about how their biology worked.

Only a few people remained. A maid with rabbit ears called him to a bedridden young girl. "Sir Cyrus, this one might need your help too."

He nodded. "I'm coming immediately. Thank you, Miss Mamina."

The maid-turned-nurse reassured the girl as Cyrus began casting a healing spell before inspecting her to see how severe the remaining wounds were. He noticed like the others the Daedra had taken care not to rough up their victims more than was necessary. Some older wounds, indicated by scars , didn't escape him either.

Just like the others.

"That should be enough," he said as Mamina put the girl back to bed.

Then as he looked around, "She was the last it seems. Tell your coworkers to go rest, you all deserve it."

The rabbit-girl bowed. "Thank you sir."

He then joined Aviera who also finished with her last patient. She turned towards him as she approached.

"Optio, there was something I wanted you to ask. It might be delicate however."

"What is it, Battlemage?" she asked.

"Did you happen to notice some particular old wounds on your female patients?"

Her face distorted in disgust and she spat on the ground. "Yes, I did. And too much often, may Stendarr be merciful on them."

"As I suspected…"

She grabbed a potion of vigor, downing it. "By your leave, I should report to Centurion Marius."

He answered with a silent nod as she left.

Lelei and Cato were packing things too, being finished.

"We'll be going too," he yawned loudly before Lelei threw him a magical blast.

"Cover your mouth, master," she said calmly. She seemed tired too despite her usual neutral expression being unchanged.

"The night has been quite long, the both of you need to sleep," the Battlemage stated.

The blue-haired girl shook her head. "Unlike my master, I'm not that tired. I wish to discuss your magic first. It seems very advanced and versatile. And you seem to use it with such ease…"

She was stopped when he grabbed her shoulder. She almost fell.

"You are tired. I can see it. You'll have all the time you want to discuss our magic once you're rested."

She tried to protest.

"Or else I'll put you myself to sleep with one of my spells."

She nodded, defeated. "Very well." She left, dragging the already asleep Cato behind her.

Cyrus grabbed two bottles from the supplies, one blue and one green, and downed them both. He looked around him. A few of the now healed wounded had been allowed to stay (mostly because their houses had been damaged) and were now sleeping on their cots.

As he was going to exit the tent, Caranya entered.

"Hey, how are you doing?" she said as she approached him with a smile.

"A busy night and morning I would say. The potions kept me in shape. What about you, Captain?" he answered.

"We're off duty Cyr'."

"...Cara" he corrected himself.

"Same as you I guess. We've been trying to fix the city, we can thank the engineers for that. I'm more worried about what will come next. We'll need to re-open the city to trade and feed it, relocate the villagers, fix the fields… and of course deal with the Daedra presence. Speaking of it," her face hardened, "we'll have to interrogate "him" soon."

He nodded. "Got it. It should be easy."

"We have some time before us… what would you say about a game of Legends?"

He answered her with a nod.

"I summon the Legion Praefect on my left lane. All of my other creatures gain +1/+1."

The game had been tied for a moment but Caranya had taken the upper hand. She was winning from 10 to 6.

"I attack your Dragonfire Wizard and Enraged Dragonknight with my two Imperial Legionnaires," she announced.

The Dragonknight and one Legionnaire annihilated each other while the Wizard was destroyed while inflicting some minor damages to his opponent.

"My creature's effect activates," Cyrus said. "Since my Dragonfire Wizard had two flame counters on him I now gain two life points while dealing two points of damage to the target of my choice. I choose your Legionnaire."

"Very well but he still has one point of endurance left. I conclude my turn."

The Nibenese drew a card.

"Tell me," the Altmer began, "when was the last time we played a game like that?"

As he was gonna answer here, he stopped, thinking. "I felt like it was… ages ago. Before the war."

"Pretty much. It's actually the first time since a while we've been relaxing and doing fun stuff together. I've missed that."

"You're right. I think I did too." He played a card on the left lane. "Dragon Cult Fanatic. Thanks to his special effect I can summon one Draugr Thrall on each lane with Charge. I immediately use one of them to attack your weakened Legionnaire, hereby destroying both of them. I end my turn"

"Not bad. But not good enough," the young officer said as she drew a card. Her smile widened. "Battlemage Officer, ironic isn't it? I play it on my left lane. I can inflict one point of damage per creature I control on each lane to a target. Which is you. I have three creatures, you lose 3 life points."

"Since I have now 5 life points, my last rune is destroyed allowing me to draw a card."

"I haven't finished my turn, did I?" she asked in an almost mocking tone. "I attack your Dragon Cult Fanatic with my Praefect. Your turn."

Cyrus placed his card in the cemetery upon his destruction.

"Fanatic being destroyed, I place another Draugr Thrall in his place."

He drew a card. He seemed to study his hand for a moment.

"I play Pot of the Greedy Man to draw two cards and play one of them immediately for half its cost." He drew the cards. "I now play the support card Blood Tribute to the Dragons which allows me to tribute two of my "Dragon Cult" creatures in any lane of my choice to summon another one instead of magicka."

Caranya blinked. "Not good…"

"I tribute my two Draugr Thralls to summon Nafaalilargus, Red Jewel of the Crown, in the right lane. As a result of Blood Tribute to the Dragons he gains +2/+2, being boosted to 10/10. He also possesses charge."

"Okay, I get it, I lose," the Altmer grunted, "Bullshit luck. You relied on everything you had on that right?

"It was that or losing. Without Blood Tribute to the Dragons there was no way to summon Nafaalilargus. It was everything or nothing."

"Dragon obsessed maniac," she cursed.

Cyrus suddenly fell silent and froze in place.

"Is something wrong?" Caranya asked in a concerning tone.

"Nothing… I just remembered something." He looked straight into her eyes. "Something that you won't like."

"Alright… what is it?" she said uneasily.

"When I was healing the city's folk, I saw several similar marks on numerous women. Now, I can't be 100% sure, but both Optio Aviera and myself noticed several signs and came to the same conclusion."

Caranya blinked. It was brief but he looked as if he was trying to contain himself.

"They were raped, Cara."

She had a sudden need to vomit. "What the… how many?"

"More than without. Now as I said I am not 100% sure but it's also possible those I didn't see with the marks were… you know."

"Fuck, fuck, fuck…" the Altmer kept swearing, trying to calm down. "I need to tell Centurion Marius immediately. If his men were to catch a rapist during the act, most wouldn't hesitate to cut his genitals on the spot. But we need the locals' support, any criminals will be handed to the Countess or the Princess to punish."

"I believe all of them were from the same neighborhood, the one near the Walls. I believe it is the poorest, which might explain… well you know."

"Probably." She sighed.

They stayed quiet for a moment.

Caranya looked at him, briefly hesitating by twitching her fingers before speaking. "Cyrus , there was something I wanted to talk with you about... a lot of things actually…"

A soldier entering the tent interrupted whatever she was going to say. He saluted both of them which they returned to him.

"Captain Caranya! Sorry to interrupt you, Ma'am," he turned towards Cyrus. "Battlemage Cyrus, I have someone here who asked for you. Shall I make her enter?"

The Nibenese looked at Caranya to answer.

She nodded. "Of course."

The soldier saluted them once more before exiting. A young woman, one of the Knights, appeared at the enter.

"Sir Cyrus! Captain Caranya! I am here to deliver a message from the Princess."

Caranya nodded. "We are listening lady…"

"Hamilton Uno Ror, I am the squire of Princess Piña." She turned towards Cyrus. "The Princess owes you her life and she wishes to thank you personally by inviting you to a meeting with her and Lady Bozes. Centurion Marius will also be there as he saved Lady Bozes life."

"A meeting?" Cyrus asked.

Hamilton smiled. "Yes, the Princess wishes to know more about her saviour. She would be pleased if you were to honor the invitation."

"I see… could you wait outside a bit? I must consult my superior."

She bowed before exiting the hospital. "Very well, sir!"

He turned towards Caranya. "What are your orders as my officer? Should I accept?"

"I honestly don't think it's just about thanking you."

"Neither do I. She obviously wants to ask me questions. About us, not just me," he stated.

"Yes. However… if we could have her on our side… it would facilitate us a lot of things. I hate to ask you this but… you need to go meet her. Can you manage? Not to mention you need to help Centurion Marius. He is a good soldier and leader of men but I doubt he is politically savvy enough."

He crossed his arms. "Because I am? That would be a task better suited for Jing, she is the aristocrat here."

She playfully punched his right arm. "Aren't you a proud Nibenese Battlemage? That should come up naturally to you."

He stared at her. "I think you forgot I'm more the rural bumfuck kind of Nibenese. Anyway," he walked towards the exit, "I'll do my duty as always."

He stopped, turning around. "By the way, what did you want to tell me?"

"Oh that? Nevermind, keep yourself concentrated on your task. I'll tell you later when we have time," she replied.

"As you wish. I imagine you'll have Black-Scales watching us so we keep in contact in case of a screw up?"

She nodded.

"Very well. I'll see you later."

Her face hardened as she watched him exiting the tent. She sighed.

Cyr'...

For those who were wondering, some of the cards used are made up