Chapter Three
A small smile graced Eirawen's lips, the audacity her general had towards her was amusing yet also entertaining and inspiring. Out of all the people in her ranks, the former bandit leader was her favorite, Vuui proving time and time again her tenacity as a milletian and general, this time being no different than any other time she had dared to stare her, the ruler of the kingdom, down and bark orders disguised as requests. "Very well, you can keep the keeper of the Logging Camp your prisoner. Talvish will not be pleased, the situation closely revolving around his territory within the military after all, but orders are orders and if he gives you trouble feel free to send him to me," Vuui cheered internally at the small victory awarded to her, "oh and as for your request," Eirawen began to check her nails casually, already bored with the conversation at hand, "I will consider it. What you ask is no easy feat, given your station among my ranks," Vuui's heart fell, her eyes dropping towards the ground at the princess's feet, "but…. If a certain mage were to reappear," eyes snapping forward once more Vuui locked gazes with a smirking Eirawen who was now leaning forward in her throne, arms rested against her knees and hands resting beneath her chin, "I could arrange for said mage to remain off of wanted posters no matter the crime as long as they follow my orders and agree to my demands. This also calls for you to take a temporary leave of absence of course, but given the circumstances I do not see where you can refuse."
"Are you asking me to do what I think you are asking me?" Vuui croaked.
"I'm not asking Vuui," sitting straighter upon her throne Eirawen crossed her leg over her knee and placed her enclosed hands on her lap, "you asked for permission to deliver the end of this tiresome war. You dealt your hand and now I am dealing you mine; this is an offer that you cannot refuse."
Fidgeting slightly Vuui hesitated before speaking, "I am not that person any longer. I have grown, I have changed, I have worked tirelessly to erase that being from existence. What you ask comes at a price 'milady. A price that could cause more harm than good."
"Then what pray tell General do you have in mind to do instead?"
"Rally a small band of troops, find spies to go into Cessair's encampments and drive out the former Fomor alliance trapped within and- "
"That wouldn't work and you know it," Eirawen snapped, her voice an even calm as she spoke, "the troops are timid, the Alban Knights a joke, the citizens and milletians are turning against us even as we speak, siding with an enemy they have never seen with their own two eyes in order to rationalize the dangers around them, and rebelling against the leaders who are supposed to protect them and failed countless times. If the kingdom had been as it once was, when Lugh or even Nuadha ruled then your plan would work," running a hand down her haunted face she continued, "as things are, however, we have no choice. We need someone who is not the face of the government, who isn't siding with Cessair and who had once been a known martyr of the people. Who, under the guise of a criminal, did more good than bad in the grand scheme of things; who, even as the leader of one of the deadliest bandit brigades known to the land, had stuck up for the people in the absence of a leader before I was allowed to take the throne."
Seeing her reasoning Vuui slumped forward, her shoulders sagging and head bowed as she contemplated what she had to do, knowing that in the end, no matter what else happened, that this was the only way of ending this war once and for all. Looking into Eirawen's eyes once more she gave her reply, "I will do as you say; I will honor my vow to you that I had made all those years ago when I had pledged my allegiance to you on these very steps to your throne and take up my cloak once more. All I ask of you is that I may assemble a group before donning the face of the mage you wish to use."
Nodding in satisfaction the Princess relaxed, "Of course, you may pick anyone that you would like and I will pardon them from their duties in order to serve on this mission. Thank you for being compliant and understanding on this Vuui, the fate of the kingdom lies on this and this is not the first time I have given this plan thought," rising from her perch on her throne Eirawen strode confidently forward towards Vuui and placed a reassuring hand upon her shoulder, "now that we have talked shop, let's get down to business shall we…."
"What is the meaning of this?!" Andras roared against the wave of the crowd. A hundred different voices with a hundred different answers echoed after her, each one merging together and becoming indistinguishable. The rioters continued to scream and trash things around her, the presence of the spectral boney beast behind her only keeping them at bay for a moment before the resurgence of their efforts seemed to multiply at recognizing who had landed before them. The headquarters were surrounded on all sides and Andras could only make out a few familiar faces amongst the throbbing violent crowd. Pointing to a soldier who was apprehending a citizen who repeatedly kicked them in the shin and ushering them to her with a quirk of her finger she grabbed the citizen - who screamed obscenities at her about being a 'soldier swine' and 'the true enemy' - before pushing the soldier into the headquarters, making sure Nightmare stayed close behind and made it inside as well, and bolted the door only to be greeted with the sniveling and terrified faces of what was supposed to be her troops. "Explanations NOW! And I want them quick!" When no one immediately responded she slammed her fist against the wall, causing it to shake and rattle from the impact and repeated her question. Still, no one answered.
"That's it," grabbing the soldier that she had dragged inside by his collar of her armor and lifting him up into the air she growled, "answer the question now Private or I am throwing you back to the wolves," the Private in question nodded hurriedly in freight but that wasn't good enough, "answer me Private!"
"Yes, Ma'am! I will answer your question, Ma'am!" Placing the Private back onto his feet Andras crossed her arms and waited for him to continue, making sure to look him straight in the eyes as he fidgeted and gulped before her.
"I'm waiting Private." Andras calmly retorted, Nightmare growling from behind her to add on to the effect of her words.
Gulping the Private got into attention then began to stammer, "i-i-i-it's from t-t-t-the fliers from t-t-t-this morning, Ma'am! The p-p-p-people- "
"Get on with it Private!"
"The people started t-t-t-talking, they started questioning us. T-t-t-they were ganging up on us i-i-i-in huge numbers, twisting our words and saying crazy things, l-l-l-like how we are the true enemy. That we are bringing the demons upon them, that the g-g-g-gods have betrayed us because of the rule of Princess Eirawen and her Swine! Th-that Cessair is their real protector. They started rioting and revolting, aiming for our blood!" Panic laced his voice as he began to ramble in freight, "What are we going to do! Captain what are we going to do! They've killed so many of us Captain! Captain! Captain! Cap- "
Not letting him continue Andras slammed her hand against his mouth to quiet his tirade then whispered a quick spell in order to make the Private fall asleep, gently laying the man on the ground of the Headquarters and slipping off her cloak in order to wrap it around him. She may be hard to her troops but she still cared about their well-being. What the Private told her was troubling, she had feared something like this may happen, having held off of speaking upon the matter with General Vuui thinking that the people wouldn't react this way just yet, that they would be too busy celebrating the new recruits of the Alban Knights like everyone else in the country was today to not even notice the fliers fully. She had been wrong, and now paranoia and panic ran rampant throughout the streets of Taillteann like a disease. Infecting everyone it touches and causing hysteria in its wake.
Seeing no other choice Andras pinched the bridge of her nose and eyes and growled in frustration. She should have gotten rid of those fliers as soon as she had seen them, if she had, this wouldn't have been happening right now and they wouldn't be stuck in this situation. Pulling out a spare piece of paper from her pouch at her belt along with a stick of coal she quickly scribbled down a message for Vuui and the Princess, knowing that they would be discussing matters together at the moment, and tied it around Nightmare's neck with the ribbon from around her head. "Go, bring help, we are going to need it." With that she patted the beast's head and watched as the familiar turned into smoke before her and *POOFED* out of the building, leaving her and her weakened frightened troops behind to wait out the storm….