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[Shootandrun]

Raeric rolled his eyes in a fairly obvious manner, and when he spoke again his voice was dripping with annoyance.

"You wished to test the quality of the king's Wardens, so you sent an armed spy into his chambers while my men were present? You're lucky nobody ended up dead! My troops have the order to kill any assassin on sight if he cannot be captured! And you didn't do just that, you also failed to inform us that there was no assassin running around the castle until I found you out. What would you have done, had I not discovered this? Would have we been forced to put our men on watch for an assassin within the king's own court until the end of our monarch's life?"

He shook his head.

"Do you wish me to punish them, Your Highness, or shall I let this idiocy pass?"

[Alexandria]

Of course not, I intended to allow you to investigate the attempt to discover if your men were capable of discovering it for themselves, it is possible that in future one of the court may indeed make attempt on the kings life and it was necessary to know how your men would respond to that eventuality.

And marshal, I did not send an armed spy into his chambers, I performed the test myself. No commander is fit to lead if he or she does not face the dangers of his or her command, I have always shared the dangers of my sisters and shall continue to do so until it kills me, if your men had struck me down it would simply have proven that I am not capable of performing my duty anymore and that your men were ready to replace me.

As it stands I discovered both that your men can protect the king and that I am still capable of performing my duty as a Blade, you of all people must be able to understand why I would deem it necessary to know if those who would stand beside me in defence of the king can be trusted.

If you have not considered the very same thing then you are not the man I believe you to be.

I should also point out that upon your arrival your first action after being appointed was to take control of the kings security, a role which the blades had been in for some time and you did not so much as introduce yourself to my mistress before doing so, if you had been forced aside by somebody you do not know without a single world of explanation would you simply accept it? Or would you not seek to ensure the kings continued safety.

[Shootandrun]

"Only a fool sets a field on fire to see if the farmer can react quickly enough to stop the flames, Blade. Everything went well now, and you are lucky it did - but that may not have been the case. Risking your life was both irresponsible towards yourself and your king - the risk of wasting of such a resource only in order to do something you could have done without any risk with a little imagination is a crime by itself if you ask me.

The next time you invent a walking catastrophe and name it a plan, I would appreciate if you could inform me preemptively of your idea. Had I known about this, I could have given the Wardens blunted blades for the night, and I wouldn't have needed to wake the entire palace up by raising the alarm when one of my guardsmen woke me up shouting about an assassin in the castle ground!"

Raeric spat on the ground, and muttered something foreign - though it took little imagination to guess it wasn't a compliment.

"The question still stands, Your Highness. Shall I carry out a punishment? I personally think a few weeks of latrine duty wouldn't hurt our brilliant spy here one little bit."

[Alexandria]

To give them blunt weapons would of warned them that they were being tested and altered how they reacted, informing you of the test would have removed the point of the test, it was a test for you as much as your men, knowing that your men are skilled but knowing nothing of the man who leads them would not have answered the question I had to answer.

What use would a test have been if you and your men knew it was a test before it even began?

You may of course have me imprisoned or have myself and the blades banished from your lands lord, but we are not a part of your military and as such are not subject to military regulation or military punishment.

[GreatWyrmGold]

When Grewie heard of the incident that occurred, he considered the implications.

Alexandra claimed she was testing the Wardens...but was it a test, or was all as it at first seemed? Regardless, Grewie was less confident than ever about the loyalties of the Blades. He considered this for a moment, then brought his proposal to the king.

"My liege, I have a request regarding the escort I have been assigned to travel through the wilderness. Firstly, I have been made aware that the Blades will have other tasks once they have finished escorting me, as is independently indicated by the large number being sent with me. However, I suspect that raiders and bandits will be a danger to me beyond wherever our paths must part as well as on the journey home. Secondly, the Blades are spies first and warriors second; I would sleep more soundly if I knew some who devoted their lives to excellence on the battlefield were guarding over me than if only several glorified spies were. Thirdly, I may still face dangers in the enemy nation, and therefore must be protected; but if I was protected only by the Blades, who you may have noticed are all women, they would think much less of me and, by extension, you and our kingdom.
"The solution to all three of these issues is simple and the same: Send some soldiers along with me as an escort. I do not require many--you may remember that I protested that ten blades were too many for my singular person back when they were initially assigned--but such guards would assuage these issues, increasing the security and certainty of the success of this mission."

[Shootandrun]

This time, the glare Raeric gave the blade was positively furious.

"Do you take me for an idiot, Blade, or is your mind naturally this blunt? I would not have informed them of the plan! The Wardens do not have the habit of killing a few men each night or practicing with actual weaponry before guarding the king's chamber, they would not have know the blades given to them at the beginning of their shifts were harmless!

And as for you questioning my competence, there are ways around that. I served Pelagius for most of my life and I am the youngest Commander of the Wardens to ever achieve that honor, as well as the first to share the title with that of Marshal of the Realm! I fought in the Ankers raids, and I stood strong on the day Commander Leslam was killed and Beslyn took the post! Do you think it so likely that I survived wars and climbed through the ranks by luck that you must risk your own life and cause a ruckus through the palace just to make sure I am not an incompetent fool put in the position by mistake? Bah!"

He spat again.

[Alexandria]

Staring at the man in shock for a moment she then laughed.

Your men stand guard over the king without bothering to check that they have serviceable equipment? So for all your men know when they are needed to fight for real they might find the blade they carry completely useless.
What soldier in his right mind does not check his own equipment?

I make my own judgements, a string of words of past successes does not tell me what kind of marshal you are now, the fact that you won a great battle 10 years ago does not mean that you would win the same battle again now, a lot can change in a short time.
What you have done is impressive but to rely on your past to tell me how you will react in the present would be foolish in the extreme and we have not served the king for 10 years with a perfect record of success by being foolish and taking risks.

[Ardas]

Arcadius was sic of the spitting and arguing.

All of you, silence! I trust that blades had their reaons for trying to test my security but they were foolish to do so without consent or prior information. Next time I expect my agents and guards to cooperate. I am however displaesd by the general attitude displayed here. No punishment will be exacted but you will do well next time before arguing in my presence."

He then turned to Grewie.
"My soldiers are busy training and organising war effort against hillmen. Take blades or take no one. I expect that you will get there and buy us time either way. However, it is not necessary for so many to escort you, thats quite right. If blades were to escort you with a smaller entourage, it would be eaiser for you to get to your target faster. approaching with troop of bodyguards would raise suspicions among hillfolk."

[GreatWyrmGold]

"As you wish, m'lord. I will gladly accept the reduced compliment of Blades."

[Alexandria]

Yes Lord, in that case I shall instruct 5 of my blades to escort the mage openly and 5 to remain concealed nearby, as he rightly pointed out my blades are spies, they know how to avoid being seen.

Mage are you ready yet? My blades have waited for a day already, once you have been delivered my blades will go about the remaining task and then wait for you to escort you back, if you are finished before they return it is up to you if you return alone or wait for them.

5 blades are to escort Grewie, 5 are to form an outer cordon around them concealed and 5 more are to track the group from a discreet distance, these 5 are not to reveal themselves until the mage has been delivered safely and the full 15 can regroup or until the mages group are in danger.

Taking her weapons back from her sister Alexis 2.0 placed them back into her armour before turning back to the king.

I believe you have a visitor lord or soon will, a young woman should be arriving around now.
Stopping for a moment then as a blade brushed passed the gathered guard to whisper briefly in her ear she nodded her thanks.
Additional guests have arrived, I do not know who they are but they wait outside the throne room, blades are monitoring them.


Looking back towards the marshal for a moment then she stepped closer and held one hand out before her.

We both have our roles in the kings defence, we need to learn to co-operate, and would you mind pointing out the guards who were able to best me? A reward has been made ready for them and my sisters will escort them to it.

[GreatWyrmGold]

"Might I point out that having half the retinue hiding will slow us down even more than if all ten were not?"

[Alexandria]

Laughing quietly she set off towards the throne room as she responded.

Allow those who are concealed to worry about that mage, you wanted a smaller guard and one way or the other you will have it, either through half of them being unseen as you travel, or half of them being unable to keep pace.

But I should not expect that to happen, my blades are far faster then your average person even when remaining concealed, loyalty, speed and precision are the tenants of a blade.

[GreatWyrmGold]

"...Alright. But before I go, I must see if the king is accepting towards this...non-reduced guard."

[Alexandria]

By all means, they will be going either way as they have a job to do in the same place and dividing the forces to send them to the same place simply doubles the risk that something will go wrong.

Your more then welcome to set the pace of travel, my blades would enjoy the chance to make you look bad, in fact.

Turning to one of the blades around the king she spoke quickly.

The sisters know what they need to do, inform them to set out in the arranged formation, if the mage wants an escort he will have to catch up with them on the road otherwise he can face the wilds and the dangers that it hides on his own, I'm sure they are as tired of these constant delays as I am. Our mistress faces the enemy alone and we do not abandon our own. Go now.

15 blades set out for the town Alexis is in, 5 take the road directly and 2 groups of 5 conceal themselves to either flank, they are to remain hidden unless any group is attacked in which case all groups are to converge on the attackers and bring them down, attempt to take prisoners if possible but only if it can be done without risk to them.

If you want your escort you'd best move swiftly mage.

[ansontan2000]

"Robert! It has been quite the while. I would like to ask you for a list of all the guilds which have a presence in Meridon."

Then leaving the palace for the town center in order to meet with his advisors, Anders thought, 'I should procure a detailed list of all the districts and markets in Meridon that are involved in the economy of the city to present to the king.'

Get a list of all the districts and markets in the city, and what they earn.