A/N: Sorry for the late update , I know I said I would update every two weeks but life happened and I'm still employed so I may bump the updates to a month so that I may have some time to correct my spelling and check with the time line, and story line yada yada... Any who back to Red Bear In Halkeginia !
Chapter 3:Tainted Red
Louise De La Villiere
She hated her familiar , the first day he was summoned he fallowed her to her room and had the audacity to lay on her bed... HER BED!Now that wasn't the worst part, the worst part was that when she was about to punish him like the dog he was, he not only refused but he took away the whip and broke it in half and was about to walk off... before she blew him out of the room and into the hallway. He began to yell and holler in his strange language and was about to charge back into her room before she slammed her door shut . "Stay out in the cold you peasant dog!" she yelled.
She sighed and sat on the floor looking up to the ceiling a familiar warm substance trailing its way from the edge of her eyes down to her cheeks and dripping off her chin. She shuddered and asked to no one in particular "Why... Why me? Why do I have to suffer with weak magic, what have I done?" she grit her teeth as she heard a scratching sound from the window. She stood and wiped her face of any emotion and most importantly any tears.
She walked over to the window and opened it letting a crow with a note attached to its leg into the room. It let out a squawk as if mocking her as she said "Yea yea here's your treat." she went to her desk and pulled open a drawer taking out a piece of jerky and gave it to the black bird of misfortune . She then took the letter from the birds leg and opened it reading the contents and of course it was from her mother not only that but it also asked how the summoning ritual went.
Louise let out a frustrated groan.'What should I say ? That I did summon something and it disobeys me? Or should I just let them know I did summon something and buy some time for my self to try and domesticate the peasant?' she shook her head and decided that domesticating that dog was going to be as hard as doing a dot class spell.
She then went to her desk , pulled a quill from the drawer, as well as a container of ink, and began to write a letter back to her mother using an empty paper that she had on the said desk. She began to write about how her day was how she was passing the written exams and how she could be doing better at the practical areas of magic. She shuddered as she thought about how every student would constantly mock her about the explosions she would cause and how she didn't have a magic affinity. She finished the letter and took the same bow string that was sent with the crow and tied the letter to its leg, saying "Bring it to mother." it seemed to nod before it took flight out the window into the dark night.
She could only wonder what her 'Familiar' was up to at the moment.
Borislav Bojidar
Borislav looked around the long halls wondering how the hell he was going to get out of the strange Kremlin of Lala Land. He chuckled at the thought of magic people and how weird and weak they looked compared to many of the people back home... 'Home' he thought as he walked into a spacious room with a fountain in the middle. He wondered how his family was doing , little Sasha and his toy trucks , Mama with her constant bumbling and talk of Kamput recipes. His thoughts were interrupted by a couple of students , who seemed to intent on each other for his own comfort. One , a blond foppish teen was chatting up a younger looking brunette with a brown cape compared to his own black one. Borislav didn't have to understand what they were saying from the sounds of it they would be having children in nine months if they kept it up. He sighed in annoyance and walked out into a open courtyard and looked up to the strange moons above . His eyes went wide and he screamed out "OH FUCK WHERE THE HELL AM I?!" which was answered by a shushing from a young man with brown hair and a familiar red head from a third story window. Borislav thought 'If I am here where the hell are my comrades?'.
Division Commander Razboul
The division commander looked at the young purple haired princess who sat across from him the truck bounced around on the uneven road towards Tristainia . The princes gasped and straightened her hair and brushed down her dress as the bouncing of the truck caused all occupants to topple to the side a bit and straighten themselves , the Royal Guards of Tristain across from the top and most trusted guards of the division commander. Both sides were uneasy with the presence of the other except for two. "I Trust that the Treaty will be at least contemplated by your..." The well dressed Commander coughed with unease as he said "Nobility?" .The Princess Nodded and said "I believe that your army would benefit from this alliance and so will Tristan I will make sure they at least think about agreeing with our cause."
Razboul nodded and said to the second in command , a thin tall and very lanky man with white hair and blue eyes "Comrade Rubenov are you sure the print is loop hole free?" the man looked at the commander with a raised brow and said in a monotone voice "I am hurt commander, you think of me as an idiot? Of course I did , unless translating it was the problem , and even then it would be you that is shooting your own foot because you talked to the Tristanian diplomat to translate the Papers."
The commander nodded to his old friend and looked about the rear of the truck where one of his guards took out a chocolate bar and opened it holding it up to one of the Tristanian royal guards. She raised an eyebrow at the bar then the man and said "What is this?" the man clearly didn't understand a single word she said but said "Here take it I don't really fancy sweets.." the woman he who was clad in full white armor said "It looks weird and like an unpleasant substance..." she shied away from said bar of sweet candy, the man in multi camouflage gear broke of a piece and made a show at exaggerating how to eat a candy bar getting his lips covered in the brown sweetness. She sighed and took a piece of the bar and popped it into her mouth her eyes going wide at the flavor . She then took the rest of the bar much to the mans and the rest of the trucks amusement.
Razboul said to the guard with chocolate on his mouth "Wipe the shit off your face you look like you've been sticking your nose in deep shit." and chuckled as the man wiped his nose off with his sleeve. The Tristanian navigator who was sitting beside the driver said "We are near the city already !" the princess cocked an eye brow and said "Commander Razboul I knew you said that this 'truck' of yours was fast but I did not know that it was this fast it took me two days of carriage riding to get to Tarbes but it took us six hours at most!" the said man across from her only chuckled and said "It isn't the fastest vehicle we have." at that the princess and her four guards stared wide eyed at the Commander.
Through the view port to the front of the vehicle the group could see the white castle in the distance surrounded by extravagant housing areas which in turn were surrounded by smaller and more cramped areas , possibly the slums of the city. A fair distance ahead of the truck a BTR-60 lead the column where the captain of the Tristanian Royal Guard , Agnes sat facing the truck with her back against the rear of the Light Armored Vehicles rather small turret , the reason being that she knew most of Tristan like the back of her hand and proved a rather trustworthy navigator among the narrow and steep trails through the forests of Tristain.
As they neared the gates the guards of the city drew their swords albeit still worried they made their way towards the road right in front of the strange horseless and windowless carriage with some sort of chain rather than wheels, but what stopped them from charging at the object and yelling "For The Queen" was one of the royal musketeers riding the strange object. Their eyes went wide as the musketeer flashed the royal badge which basically said that one of the royal family was riding along. They sheathed their swords and saluted the passing convoy.
The crowded streets shied away from the passing vehicles as if they were loads of horse manure , which wasn't all that far off considering the political intent of the passengers. Most people of Tristan thought of politics as ramble for the rich to get richer. Alas this beneficial gathering was more than that it was the start of Tristan's independence from mercenary armies and independent contractors , most of which were nobles in Tristan forcing commoners to wage war or patrol with little to no pay. The nobles all the while sit back and keep the payment to themselves, most people knew about it but not many would dare speak against a noble.
Add to the fact that these conscripts were unmotivated and lacked discipline and you have your self the reason Tristan lost one third of its land to Germania in a month long war thirty years past. The story of how Henrietta's father and a battalion of what was left of the old royal guards marching back to the capital of Tristan replayed in the back of Razboul's head as he walked into the courtyard behind Henrietta herself who she briskly walked to a guard and said ,"Send as many messengers out as possible to gather the head of families It . Is . Urgent." She punctuated with a tone more in line of a esteemed general than a young lady.
Razboul nodded to himself and said ,"Your leadership skills are on par or better than a few of mt officers if I may say so my self , and for a young lady as your self that is very accomplishing." . Henrietta stopped in front of the double doors in front of the grand hall and entrance to the castle as two guards pushed the said doors open with a loud creak , she looked him in the eyes and said "My father was murdered and my mother is in no state to run a country even a small one such as Tristan, I have to do something right or Reconquesta would take the opportunity to rid of Tristanian royals."
Razboul said "If you agree with our terms we will make sure that Tristan is safe." as he finished his sentence the double doors opened to reveal a rather empty throne room , a long rectangular table sat in the middle of the room at the end was a ornate gold chair with ruby red cushions and a crown at the head of said chair. There were wooden chairs along the sides of the rectangular table leading to the throne. Henrietta called fourth a servant standing to the side of the throne room and said to him "Take this fine gentlemen and his men to the guest quarters of the castle." she perked up remembering something and turned to Razboul and said " You mentioned a feet of ships your people had ?" . he nodded and said "Four- I mean thirteen ships , yes." She said "Illget them a welcoming party. Agnes, I need you to go to the coast with your squad, I will need some of your troops as well to keep from confrontation Razboul." the commander nodded and mentioned to one of his own guard to fallow Agnes and said "Bring a truck with a few men."
The day became late afternoon and Razboul was chatting with a few of his men as a servant came in , bowed and said "Sir the negotiations are about to begin." Razboul nodded and said "Thank you." he stood and motioned with his hand for his men to fallow as he walked down the hall into the now full throne room with many nobility talking among them selves some glanced his direction but didn't seem to acknowledge him more than that. He walked to an empty seat and sat with them one of the nobles next to him scoffed and looked towards their peer on the opposite side and began to chat about how some strange dragons few over his property the other day.
A few minutes passed and the princess stood , the hall became silent as she said "As we all know Tristain is a rather small and undefended county with very few allies, her only ally is at war with its self and her neighbors are ready to carve into her as they did thirty years ago, but I present a solution." She held a hand towards Razboul as he stood , he then said "My men are ready to protect your country for an agreement , the fair treatment of our men and the civilians under your rule-" The entire hall erupted with chatter and even a few of the less 'extravagant' nobles cursed and yelled about 'filthy commoners', where as the nobles towards the princess either muttered among each other or said nothing, one pink haired noble sitting right next to the princess in particular merely raised her brow at the terms.
Henrietta stood once more and said "Silence." in a firm and controlling tone to which the banter became muttering or whispers omong small noble groups. She continued "I believe this is what our country needs , these are hard times , for all of us with the growing threat of Reconquesta and Germania, I do not believe we could trust their mercenaries any longer. I also believe that their speak of 'human treatment' is correct. Many of you have maids and butlers who have families of their own, who should be paid for their work. I am only calling you here to give you a warning, any more mistreatment of the people will be dealt with by the 'Russians' , they will also be acting as a police force, your town and homestead guards will be policed under the state. They are allowed to recruit the Tristanian people into the new army that they have planned for Tristain as well." The entire hall was silent and one noble laughed "This has to be a hoax, these commoners couldn't stand up to a mage!" Henrietta sighed and said "Every one is dismissed." the throne room flooded out with the nobility chatting among each other , only the pink haired noble , a blonde noble holding a white rose , and a another noble with a necklace seemingly made of water stayed with the princess and the commander.
The mage with a liquid necklace said to the princess ,"Your highness , I worry that your decision was rather abrupt and sudden. I believe some of the nobility will ignore your new laws, some may even begin a rebellion , similar to that of Reconquesta!" the princess said "As I have mentioned Duke Montmorency , These new people shall be our police and army, they have already given us the contract to which I have signed , our country is in good hands with these people whom I trust will keep their end of the bargain."
"And we will I assure you , you have my word Princess De Tristain." he bowed the guards behind him doing the same.
Agnes
Agnes and her squad sat on the seats across from the foreign militants, one of them was fiddling with a big black box with weird knobs and dials similar to a complicated safe he was speaking into a black box that was much smaller and was connected to the giant black box one of her subordinates whispered to her "I don't think that man is right in the head." she smirked a bit and said "I don't think they are all quite right in the head." just as she finished her sentence she heard a voice similar to the foreign military's over the smaller black box. Her eyebrows seemed to try and migrate to the top of her forehead , the rest of her squadrons eyebrows doing the same as if in a military drill. The men across from the Tristanian musketeers chuckled and began to chat among themselves , all except the one talking into the magic box, he was listening to the voice and seeming to give instruction as he laid a map that Agnes gave to him earlier along with a compass, they approached the beach from one of the taller hills , a fleet of steel ships lined up a few hundred yards from shore , troops climbed down from rope ladders onto small boats , some of which were already heading to shore at an extremely fast pace, the troops that couldn't handle the rough ride to shore bailed their lunch and breakfast off the side of the speeding black boats. Agnes learned later that they were some sort of inflatable boat with what was called a "motor". As the troops began to come to shore the boats would go back to the ship , possibly for more of the killer cargo. The two groups greeted each other with hugs and kisses on the cheeks and began to chat among each other, superiors ordered subordinates to set up camp, tents were raised , rifles stripped and cleaned, camp fires were light and some even began to open small packages with food inside.
Mean while Agnes and her squad began to search for some one who could possibly speak their language and found him as the sun was setting on the horizon. "Hello, do you speak our language?" she asked in an impatient tone the thousandth time that day, "Why yes, I actually went to France once..." Agnes seemingly perked up and asked "What is your name?"
"You can call me Sergeant Ulitsky if you are wondering." already Agnes had the notion to fire a piece of hot lead into his head but remained resilient "If I may ask for your assistance " her eyebrows twitched as she said "Please" in a ground out tone. He nodded in understanding and said "What do I get sweet cheeks?" at that he felt a hard and painful object collide with his cheek with a loud 'THUNK 'and some jingling he was knocked back by the force and as he sat up he rubbed his cheek "Forget it lady youre some sadist with..." he took hold of the object that made a very close relationship with his cheek , realizing it was a sack of coins he opened it and closed it, opening it again and closed it, "A wonderful personality and plenty of gold coins what can I do for ya?!"
Duke Wardes
The elderly duke grumbled as he stormed out onto the streets of Tristainia along with the horde of confused and irritated nobles , this son who had similar gray beard , blue eyes , and thin form except without the wrinkles fallowed close behind "Father I suggest you calm yourself before you break something _" his sentence was interrupted by a vase shattering at the hands of said old man the younger one sighed and walked up to his elder and placed a hand on his shoulder gently. A commoner shop keeper timidly came out ftom under his sales booth to sweep up the shattered vase as the younger Wardes said to his father "Don't worry father I am the captain of the Griffin Squadron, your place by the throne will not be contested." A young lady seemingly appeared out of the shadows and said to the older man ,"Or you can become the throne and rid this country of the commoner army." The younger Wardes gave the newcomer a hard look and said "This is a talk between a father and son we dont need your-"
"She has a point Jean." The elderly man said in a whisper.
"But father what she speaks of is heres-"
"Jean! What our dear 'Leader' Is suggesting is giving commoners free reign , and bringing mages down with them, If that isn't against Brimir I don't know what is! Said the father in a low hiss, he glanced around to make sure no one heard and said "I believe we should at least hear her out before pushing away an opportunity such as this." The son relented and said "Yes father."
All the while the lady smiled politely at them with her hands crossed in front of her she said "Nothing like family right?" to which the younger o e grumbled and glanced away as his father said "Yes family..." as he gave the back of his sons head a stern glare.
The lady said "I am Marcella , pleasure to meet you." The younger Wardes rubbed his eyes as he swore he saw a set of runes on her forehead. He sighed and decided it must have been the headache his father brought him.
A/N; Again sorry for the long time between updates , I had classes and work to attend to! Also this story will be very different from the anime and manga so some arcs may or may not be there or be replaced, some will be added on as we go along so yeah...