"You'd think that they would hold off the bells since it's about two in the morning" said a wearied eyed Alanna as she walked out of her rooms dressed in a light cotton dress to go and see who was coming. As she walked down the hallway she saw other bleary eyed men and women emerging from their rooms.

When she reached the stables she saw that about fifty weathered, ruff-and-tough men entered wearing gold earrings and numerous tattoos. As she proceeded to where Stephan was, she saw that all of the men had long broadswords and the largest knives that she had ever seen in her life.

It only took a few moments for the men to all notice the women in their midst. Most of them stopped unsaddling their horses and watched this petite woman walk amongst them. Alanna didn't like all of the attention on her and decided to pick up her pace. She was almost there when someone grabbed her around the waist from behind.

"Lass, why don't weh jus' go ova' ther" her attacker said with a dirty, lustful look in his eyes. He was huge with a great scar over top of his left eye. Clearly he was the leader of all these men due to his large Captain's hat and reverence that the other men gave him.

"Let me go! Don't touch me!" The Lioness said as she swung out of his hold, slamming his head on a nearby stable door and kicked him real low. "You'll be real careful to watch your manners while you're here too or the King will hear of it!" She threatened at the cowering figure that lay at her feet. With this she ran to get out of the stables forgetting the fact that she came to talk to Stephan in order to find out who exactly these visitors were, she could already tell without even having to ask

Missing what the snarl from the large man kneeled over on the floor, "That bitch will pay."

Alanna kept running until she was back inside the palace's halls. Not noticing the crazy looks that all the couriers were giving. She kept up her pace until she knocked into someone. Cursing Alanna got up starting to apologize when she noticed that the innocent bystander was none other than Jonathan.

"Walk much?" asked the king with a little annoyance.

"I really am sorry Jon, I just… I just ran into the new delegates that were coming today. I just needed to get away, and ….I'm sorry." She finished lamely, slightly out of breathe.

"That's fine, just watch yourself next time. Maybe keep your exercise to the practice courts?" He said curtly. As he started to turn away, Alanna grabbed his arm.

"Oh no you don't!" She said with a bit of annoyance. "I just had to deal with your delegates and now you are snubbing me? What is your problem?"

"I have a lot on my mind and I need to sift through it. Please just let me go so I can go welcome our new guests. Or did you forget, that they are our guests that deserve respect and nothing less?"

With that the King turned quickly and walked in the opposite direction towards the stables. Thankful that Alanna forgot about her earlier chat with Duke Baird.

Fuming, Alanna went back to her rooms to catch what little sleep she could get. After all if she was indeed expecting she would need as much rest as she could get to be able to keep her usual schedule.

'Here I am fighting off "innocent" pirates, being Champion for an ungrateful and ignorant king, and I'm carrying a child whose father is off to who knows where. I cannot deal with this any longer. I just want to go off adventuring. This is exactly why I didn't want to be queen. I hate putting up with people that I hate.' As Alanna continued on with her rant she fell asleep to get some much needed rest.

Meanwhile as Jon walked to the stables and he could see why Alanna was looking so harassed by their visitors. Currently some of the men were gathering around a fair looking maid who presumably was on her way home. Her eyes fell upon the king and pleaded for help as tears of fright sprang from them.

"Helping my staff home?" Asked Jonathan, with an air that seemed like he was making a command, not a question.

"Ahh, the boys were just getting to know some of the locals. No harm done." Said one of the men, that could've rivaled Raoul or Gary in size any day. with a scar that ran over his left eye. As he walked up he clapped his men on the shoulder indicating that they were to back down and greet their new host. He could see why the girl that hit him earlier would threaten him with the King's wrath. He had some type of soft spot for the ladies in the palace.

Extending his hand to the king he said "It's a pleasure to meet you King Jonathan. We have heard so much about you. You may call me Captain Roger."

And with that he swept the large Captain's hat from his head to reveal a large bruise.

Shaking the large man's hand he grimaced at the bruise on his head. "Forgive my lapse in memory but I thought we were meeting with a Captain Harlen? And how did you come to get that bruise? It looks recent and if you like we have healers that can attend to you."

"Oh ye know how it is….some people think they have control of the world 'hen in reality they're the weakest bastards to sail th'entire seas. Had a bit of an uproar due to his consistent softness and forgiving ways and we're able tuh relieve him permanently of his duties." Said Roger with a bit of a smirk "As for the bruise, I'll be fine. Some chit of yours must've felt threatened by me for some reason. If her red hair was any indication she will be a real firecracker. Had the most interesting eyes too, boy would I would love to tame that…"

Roger never finished elaborating on his plan of taming the now famous redhead that caused him a great deal of pain due to the hard look the King was giving him. "If you could excuse me I would like to give the boys some sleep tonight…or rather morning. If ye could direct us tuh our rooms?" he asked with a bit of gruffness.

"Yes, that has been arranged with our quartermaster. He shall be coming to take you to your rooms. Ahhh, there he is," The king said when he spotted the tubby looking man coming their way. "I'll just leave you in his capable hands."

With that last comment King Jonathan turned to leave with all deliberate speed to find Gary and Myles to tell them of the change in plans. And to warn Alanna not to harass their guests anymore for fear of what they might do not just to them but to the country.