Veiled Chaos

Egales cocked his head at the boy evaluating, "Firstly give me everything you know about him and his kingdom." He needed the entire story from he beginning, he only knew of Sagna. Perhaps he should find a library and read up on the world.

Tieras nodded his head slowly, thinking. He had travelled far, where should he start? Haltingly at first, Tieras began to tell the one-eyed captain about a land across the sea. It was an island called Kidash. It was a land not far from Sagna's other rival kingdom, Aldroan. Kidash, a tropical place where seafood was plentiful and palm trees grew from white sand, was the birthplace of Theoleas. Born to a family of shellfish divers, Theoleas had grand dreams of power and ambition. He longed for more than warm sand and sun. He longed for conquest and adventure, to see lands far different from his own. As a young boy, he sparred with his childhood friends with fishing spears and nets. In time, those same friends would become the trusted generals of his army. Theoleas captured nearby villages by force and swelled his ranks till the island was under one rule. Then he heard of a modest kingdom ruled by vain, selfish, and cruel sisters.

Tieras admitted he didnt know exactly why or how Theoleas and the Red Sisters began their rivalry, only that it had been some years. He shrugged and continued to brush the traveller's horse.
"Is that enough information, sir?" he asked.

A cold smile spread across Egales' face, it was almost too perfect of a set up for him to imagine. A would be King clawing together power, ambition and desire founding a kingdom to threaten Sagna. It was Beautiful, a pristine target waiting to be crumbled by Darkmin's touch. Placing a gauntlet into his outfits storage area he produced a small bag of coins. "That information is satisfactory lad. Here's some coin." Tossing the sack before the boys feet, "Work for me lad." The smile plastered on his expression.

"Work for you, sir?" Tieras asked in disbelief. He hastily picked up the sack of coins and weighed it in his hand. Tough he wasnt familiar with the local currency, he imagined it was more than enough to rent a room in the inn. Immensely preferable to sleeping in the stables.
"Thank you, sir!" he bowed three times. "What more can I assist you with?"
He beamed, but his expression fell as he thought. "Perhaps can you help me as well? There are rumors across the sea of the Red devils of Sagna. Are they really as cruel as they say?"

Egales tilted his head his expression became contemplative. "Well," He began slowly and after a time, "Not quite." Pulling up his knowledge of the sisters he began to make quick and wild calculations. "The Princess is not as cruel as the Queen who in turn is most likely not as cruel as the rumours as the imaginations of men are wild and untamed. "The Princess is generally kinder than her sister, she has her moments but overall she actually dislikes the reputation, if I met her I would be polite as is necessary with Royals but try not to look terrified of her. Her sister on the other hand I would be afraid of be polite if you meet her and get out of her way."

The boy nodded, thinking. "Thank you very much, sir. I apologize if my curiosity had gotten the better of me. If there is anything else I may assist you with, you know where I may be found." he said, bowing again. He tossed the brush aside and moved to count the coins in the bag, but the sound of horse hooves beating down the cobblestone path made him pause and look. A large man clad in furs rode up the road towards the castle, two men following behind. He recognized the two men as the soldiers who rowed him to Sagna.
"Sir, if I may ask...Who is that?" Tieras asked.

Egales turned his head to see Hamiclar, "Ah that," he began with a voice filled with respect and familiarity, "Is Hamiclar," If the boy was a spy it wouldn't hurt Darkmin for him to have the information he needed to make Sagna vulnerable, instead it would aid him in destabilizing the world. " And now I go lad," he whistled and the borwn horse from before trotted up towards him, and with that Egales was off to converse with the mayor.

Tieras watched as the captain rode off, then turned to look up the road where Hamilcar and his men rode. From where he stood, he could make out the silhouette of the castle and the eerie spikes Sevax warned him about. He thought what were the chances he could enter the castle without immediately dying. Perhaps if he was to meet the princess instead of the queen...

Hamilcar led Duro and Sevax through the Sagna castle, pushing aside the guards that tried to deter him from entering the dining hall. Haedria barely looked up from where she was idly pushing fried eggs around on her plate.
"Good morning, Hamilcar." she said dryly as the barbarian king strode up to her.
The brute paused, suddenly remembering exactly who he stood before and interrupted, rather rudely. He stammered and bowed hastily. "'Morning, Queen Haedria."
Haedria sighed and looked up, eyes half-lidded and uninterested. "What do you want? I'm not in the mood."
"It concerns Theoleas."
"And?"
"The spies have returned."

Egales strode towards the Town hall on his fine steed smiling and trying to keep an aura as free of intimidation as possible, which was difficult considering he was in the guise of a Sagnian guard. It was time to begin to garner support for Egales.

"How many ships?" Haedria demanded.
"At least twenty within sight of the Death's Herald, the flagship." Duro answered. Beside him, Sevax stood grim faced. "With almost a hundred men on each."
"What of Theoleas? Did you see him?"
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Haedria's eyes narrowed. Her gaze flicked between the two scouts, noticing how Sevax flinched away and Duro fixed his eyes on a spot over her right shoulder. "Describe him."
Duro blanched and swallowed dryly. Aside from Haedria's fierce gaze, he could feel Hamilcar's eyes on him. "He....He is a tall man, big as a house. Sharp grey eyes, booming voice. He was kind enough to his soldiers, and when he believed me and Sevax for his scouts, he gave us new uniforms and bid us to sleep in his cabin."
The queen's eyes widened. The oil lamps fastened to the wall around the royal's dining room flared into life on their own, casting a harsh orange light upon those assembled. "You complete, utter idiots. That was not the enemy. That was not Theoleas!" she hissed. "Get out you fools, or so help me, I will flay you alive and feed your sorry asses to Sera's hounds."
Duro and Sevax hastily bowed to the queen and to king Hamilcar before rushing out of the dining room. They decided it was better to wait with the horses.
"Not Theoleas? But he was in the flagship, giving the orders!" Hamilcar said, confused.
"So that man was. But he is not the man we need to be wary of." Haedria replied. She picked up her dagger and continued to polish it on the cloth Kerza had left. "No, Theoleas is cunning. He would not reveal himself till the time was right."
"What's he look like then?"
"Young for his age. Wise as a hermit, but still a boy."

Egales strode forth into the town hall all around there was the hustle and bustle of bodies. People were worried and keeping as busy as possible to offset that. They had never been called to serve as a militia before and that was easily apparent. The mayor stood in the centre of it all trying to keep the people well ordered, he was barking orders to his left and right, the boy beside him trying his best to hastily scribble notes down. Egales walked towards the mayor and greeted him with cheer, "Greeting Ser Mayor, how go the preparations?" The Mayor's head snapped up, "Oh Lord Captain Egales my utter apologies I did not see or hear you come in! I've been busy carrying out your instructions, the volunteers are flocking in and it's hard to get them all equipped and supplied, and training is taking its toll I've had several fainters already. Their enthusiasm is wonderful but their bodies are perhaps too unwell for this sort of exercise." The Mayor continued to ramble for a few moments, Egales nodding empathetically and giving a few quiet suggestions on how to handle the stress.

Tieras wandered the town for a little while, taking in the sights of this foreign country. At first possible chance, he decided it was wise to buy some clothes to fit in with the locals. The coins Egales had given him would probably not be enough for clothes in addition to the inn and food. As he walked, he came upon the Town Hall and all the activity around it. There was sparring and training, but for what? He saw the one-eyed captain standing to the side and talking with what was probably the mayor.
"Excuse me, good sirs, but what is going on?" he asked innocently.

The Mayor and Egales looked up from their discussion interrupted by the Boy. The Mayor had a bewildered look on his faced confused by the sudden disturbance, while Egales had a sort of confused and intrigued look upon his. The Mayor spoke up, "Boy can't you see that we are busy!? We're in the middle of a discussion, and" The Mayor quieted when he felted Egales' hand placed on his shoulder

Egales smiled to the Mayor, "Peace Mayor." He focused his eyes on the boy this time examining him much closer than he had before, "What brings you here Lad?"

"Good sir, as I have said before I've only just arrived in the town. I am not familiar yet with the culture and goings-on so I admit I was quite curious to see what all the fuss is about." Tieras answered, taking the time to look around at the buildings and up at the town hall. Curiously, a great number of the peasants were armed. "Is there also a possibility that I may be of service to you?"

Egales eyed the boy wearily, new to town, from the sea, goes to centre of village government and immediacy tries throwing himself into the centre of its workings. It was familiar. Darkmin immediately recognized the strategy as his own, the very one he was employing now. It was easily possible that this boy was a spy for the enemy. In fact Darkmin was sure of it. "Well lad, if you want to help then I suppose you can. You can start by staying within sight at all times." Egales' eyes narrowed.

"Within sight, sir?" Tieras repeated slowly, his mind racing. The guard was onto him, he was sure. Admittedly he was too obvious and eager, but with the fleet not too far away and the men itching for battle, he had to undermine the Sagnian forces as quickly as possible. He smiled wide and innocently, and bowed three times.
"If it pleases you sir."

"A boy....y'say?" Hamilcar swallowed thickly, his eyes on Haedria's dagger.
The queen nodded, staring far past the barbarian king and lost in thought. "Across the sea, the island nation of Kidash was founded by a fisherman with ambition. His name was Theoleas. He united the islanders and formed them into a kingdom. This was at least a hundred or so years ago. Theoleas's descendants have gone on to name their firstborns after him to continue the royal line and name. This current thorn in my side should be a year younger than Sera is now, and the 10th of his line." she said.
"A boy just younger than the princess?" Hamilcar asked again. Haedria noticed and raised a sharp eyebrow.
"Yes, a boy. Why do you ask, Hamilcar?"
The brute closed his eyes and breathed deeply, steeling himself. "The....The scouts brought back a slave boy from the flagship."
The leather wrappings of the black dagger's hilt creaked under it's owner's sudden grip. "Your men brought him here?" she hissed. The barbarian king nodded.

Egales smirked, the boy was creaking under the pressure, he had caught him. "It would please me very much." He gave the Mayor a wry look, "Well then Ser Mayor I suppose you should begin implementing what we have already talked about. I will see to this boy." A thought had crossed his mind, perhaps he should let the boy roam free and cause trouble? No that left the boy free to interfere if accidentally to his own plans, the other option was to bring him to the Castle and imprison him for storage until he would be later useful. Though the guards may be more wary now that the prison break had occurred.

Hamilcar rushed out of the castle as if pursued by the princess's bloodthirsty hounds. He thanked what gods would listen as he mounted his horse, quickly waving to his boys to get on theirs. The queen had let him off with his life. Her eyes had begun to cloud over with an otherworldly, slick sheen as she hissed for him to leave and find the boy.
"Find the boy, bring him to me", she had said. The barbarian king had cowered under Haedria's stare.

Tieras watched with interest as the town mayor scurried off, barking orders to the other townsfolk. Idly, he looked up to the castle on the hill and saw the three horses from before running back down towards the town, rather quickly, in a noticeable hurry. Casting a glance to Egales, the boy edged closer to a narrow gap between the town hall and the adjacent building, hiding out of sight as Hamilcar and the scouts barreled past.

As Hamiclar and his men approached Egales noted the boy trying to squeeze himself into a crack, "Where I can see you lad." he muttered aloud as a reminder of his previous orders, and the boys position in the coming situation. Egales turned to face Hamiclar bowing respectfully at the King's approach, maintaining his blind eye on the boy.

The boy nodded but stayed where he was. Hamilcar slowed his horse when he say the one-eyed guardsman.
"Ho there, guard!" he called, maneuvering his horse up to Egales. Duro and Sevax looked frantically through the crowd of training peasants at the town hall, searching for Tieras. "Alert the other guards would'ye? Look for a boy from the sea; Tieras be his name I think. Queen's orders, he's to be brought before her." he said gruffly and spurned his horse on, turning his back on the captain. Tieras stared hard at the back of Egale's head, shaking his head slowly.

Egales smirked, "There's a boy from the sea hiding in that there crack between the buildings. He's probably the one you're looking for your Majesty." Gesturing his hand towards Tieras. "He's to be brought before the Queen you say? What excellent timing I had him figured for a spy myself."

Tieras cursed under his breath and slipped behind the crack of the buildings. He stripped off his top as he walked, briskly slipping past barrels and people. He swiped clothes hanging out to dry and shrugged them on as he walked, losing himself in the crowd before Hamilcar managed to find what crack between which buildings Egales was talking about.
The boy, now dressed in a roughspun cloak and farmer's trousers, pulled a dragger from his boot and slashed at his hair. The dark hair that fell to his shoulders came now to his jawline. His eyes darted often to the gaps between the buildings, watching for Hamilcar and his scouts. Curse that guard for ratting him out so quickly! But then, good guards do their jobs.

He considered, very briefly, that turning himself in would be the best course of action. But that would deliver him straight to the mad queen and certain death before he could use his wide-eyed "innocence" to negotiate his life. No, there had to be another way to enter the castle. Hiking the cloak farther down his face, Tieras sat by the road, rubbing his palms into the dirt and looking for all the world like a beggar. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched the barbarian king charge into the crowd of peasants looking for a foreigner who wasnt there.

Egales' eyes narrowed at the distinct lack of spy between the cracks it was now time to return to the mayor, he needed to give the official several counter espionage instructions. Moving swiftly Egales whispered into the Mayor's ear that the boy he met early was an enemy spy and should anyone see suspicious activity they are to be arrested immediately. The Mayor nodded curtly, agreeing that the boy must have been a spy. Egales nodded in return heading off to his horse, Elysia's presence would presumably be missed.

(shit I have to go now)

Tieras watched in mild amusement as the palace guards began to stream down from the castle to search the town. Carts and barrels were checked, the peasants were interrogated, and patrons were pulled out of inns and bars. The Sagnian forces were certainly quick to act once the queen gave the order, but were they effective? A young guard wandered nearby, idly poking at a stack of hay with his halberd. He didnt know exactly what he was looking for, only that everyone in charge was in a flurry of panic and told him and the other new recruits to search the town. It was probably important but whatever. Tieras grinned and pulled out his dagger, flipping it so that the blade rested against his arm. The guard wandered closer and Tieras began to calculate how to kill him without splattering too much blood on the guard's padded jerkin.
"Hey. Move aside, lazy good for nothing, or you will be arrested and brought to the dungeons." the guard said once he got close to Tieras and actually noticed the homeless man. Tieras shakily stood up, his face hidden by the cloak's hood.
"My apologies, lord. My apologies." he muttered in a low tone and shambled just out of the guard's sight before turning and plunging the dagger into the man's eye. With a twist and jerk, the young guard was dead before he could make a sound. Deft fingers trained from years at the mast, Tieras undid the guard's armor before blood could pool and stain it. He swapped their clothes, and left the dead man - clad in his stolen traveling cloak - bleeding out behind an inn. Picking up the halberd, a squad of guards walked by.
"Agdar, what in the hells are you doing!" the leader said, waving at Tieras. Apparently he looked enough like the dead guard to be mistaken for him. The stolen armor helped a lot as well. "Get over here, we're to report to the castle barracks!"
Tieras quickly joined the squad and fell into step behind them, eyes open for their mannerisms and culture. He hid his smile as easily as his dagger. He was almost to the castle.

Haedria paced through the castle restlessly, and found herself in the remains of her chambers. Servants had managed to clean most of the soot from the walls and remove the burned debris, leaving the room quite empty. She could feel remnants of power here; the old uncertain flashes of power that were quickly hidden and buried with shame and guilt, only to be cautiously evoked the next night. Her spellbooks were gone, but the knowledge was still there, as much as she could remember. Haedria bit her lip. She had an idea though after Sera's outburst last night, the princess would not like it.

Egales rode the pleasant trail from yonder peasant village to looming castle of blood and stone. Such sounds anything but pleasant to the mortals of the realm yet Egales found it so, the castle was familiar the trail peaceful and the breeze enticing. Winds were always appealing the Darkmin as they in a sense represented himself, drifting from world to world. Whilst in this minor train of though he past the guards who had come to recognize the bareback riding style of One-Eye and as such offered no resistance, as he was gone quickly as he came and was favoured by the Royals. Dismounting and praising his steed for her fine work Egales marched off without so much as a glance anywhere else. Yet making sure he was not watched or followed he found himself in one of the many eyeless corners of the castle and left as Elysia, who wandered the halls as if floating on air, gracefully striding and smiling politely and kindly towards any who passed her, taking the time to learn their names and if she could assist in anyway. After many polite refusals Elysia found herself floating to Sera's room hoping to find the woman who had her flush and reminisce about girlhood fantasies.