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[Ardas]

"And with all due respect Captain, any man with a brain would watch his tounge when speaking to his superior. If not for Lady Tala, I would have you flogged for speaking to me like that.


Then Nikephoros turned to the queen.
I will order one of our regiments to move back 100 yards and set up a small tent. Then the messenger can be sent back with information that we are ready to parley. I beleive that Lady Tala and Baron Kathos will trust us if Her Majesty and I speak to the enemy commander?

[Dwarmin]

Tala was quite proud of Pasha at that moment-standing up to the general was very brave thing to do. She couldn't show it now, though...

"Talk of flogging each other aside, can we move past this posturing and get to business, gentlemen? There will be time for headbutting rituals later.

...Commander Dolgrouki does speak the truth, however boldly put. We can assume that Marshal Nikephoros may need someone of calmer temper to speak as mediator-two warriors only see the fight to stretch out between them, not the peace that could be made.

This assuming, any side intends to speak peace-if this is a merely to be a game of who will blink first, no deep discussion is needed on the matter-I trust Nikephoros can act as our representative in that matter.


Also, my Queen, I must request I be allowed to ride with you to the negotiation-I will not speak unless adressed, merely observe for my own eyes the dealing to be made-if this pleases your majesty."

[Taricus]

"Very well, it seems as if we've made our decision on this matter. Now Marshal, what regiment did you have in mind to set the tent up? I'll have the cavalry on standby if something goes wrong.

As for who rides with me to this negotiation... Kathos. At any rate I believe we should get everything ready, and I'll have the scouts keep an eye out for any enemy troop movements outside the walls, just incase it's a diversion."

[Ardas]

"I will have my own men do it. And as you said, cavalry can be sent at a moment's notice."

Nikephoros then turned to Kathos.
"Baron, if you don't mind, I wish to speak to you in my tent before you go..."

[Shootandrun]

Kathos was quite surprised when the queen said that he was going to ride with her - however, he managed to hide it well.

"I'll be ready to leave whenever you are, Your Grace."

He turned to Nikephoros, politely accepted to speak with the Marshal and followed him to his tent.

"What did you want to talk about, Marshal?"

[SeriousConcentrate]

On the contrary, I speak to my superiors with respect. You, on the other hand, are a mad little power-obsessed control-freak, probably thinking that you're doing it for the good of other people. I've seen the type before. That's why you're so obsessed with asserting dominance over me. You would think that a man who has spent a career in the military would learn that to get respect you give respect. He glanced over at the Queen. She would do well to watch him. On the other hand, I have no allegiance or attachment to Ligoria, so it's all the same to me if she gets stabbed in the back. I'll just drift on, as always...

"If you have no current need of me, your majesty..." he said, waiting to be dismissed. Until the fighting started, he didn't really have much to do, and the Queen had more or less cut him out of the negotiations.

[Dwarmin]

Tala didn't seem to mind. In truth, she didn't want to get in swords length of that wily bastard, the Arctic Fox.

She turned to Pasha.

"Commander Dolgrouki, we also have matters to discuss. Please, accompany me to my tent?"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A few moments later, in Talas tent...

She drew back the flap, and leaned against the arm of the couch she had brought from the capital.

Tala motioned toward him and spoke in the playful tone Pasha knew and loved.

"Really, Pasha-speaking up to Nikephoros like that.

I'm impressed. You've still got that fire in you, even after all this time...and here I was, thinking my womans touch made you soft and pliable. Quite the opposite, it seems..."

She smiled coyly. This was probably a bad time, but she was feeling fairly tense-her earlier thoughts still rumbling in her head-but trying to be brave, and not show it.

[Ardas]

"Just a brief chat before you go. I hope you will be able to handle the situation with "Arctic Fox". Ideally we want the man in our hand with no attachments. Let his men go, we should not worry about that. But make sure that Queen does not promise anything that can hurt our cause. Good luck."

Nikephoros streched out his hand to shake it with Kathos.

[Shootandrun]

Another man might have said "I know all of these things", but Kathos was quite polite.

"Understood. I think the Queen will know what to do, and hopefully I will not need to intervene, but if things start to get heated up - we both know anger is the queen's weakness - I will try to prevent her from doing anything stupid."

He shook Nikephoros' hand, and he returned to the Queen.

[SeriousConcentrate]

Pasha shrugged and sat on the couch as well, holding his helmet between his hands. "Now's not really the time. Tala." He sighed. "That man... he brings back some bad memories. Let's just say I've worked with other commanders who treat people like objects and leave it at that." He looked at her, then back down at his helmet. I don't even know what I should do once all this is said and done, assuming I'm still alive. Collect my payment and move on, I guess. I can't force Tala to stop being who she is, and I can't stay here with her while she has to do... all this. And she would never come with me. Not now.

After a moment he put his helmet on. He didn't wear it often, but sometimes he needed to be alone with his thoughts and he knew she could read his face better than anyone. "I suppose we should get ready for battle. Do you need help with your armor?" he asked. Maybe when this is over I'll just take off, head west along the coast... just keep going. It'd be easier on the both of us. I won't have to say goodbye and she won't know I've left for a day or two. People will think our relationship was merely a working one and they will forget about me. Her reputation will remain intact and I'll... just be a name on a roster somewhere, showing I served the Queen at this point in Ligoria's history.

[Taricus]

Once Kathos had gotten back to the queen, she got off the chair she was sitting on. "Right. Now that you're ready, I'll have the messenger released back to mileth. I'd advise bringing weapons, we can't be sure if this bastard is a slippery one..."

Send the messenger back, telling the commander of the DE forces to meet her at the designated point.

[Terenos]

The messenger had returned. He was quickly questioned by the Arctic Fox, who then sauntered forth from the city to meet the Ligorian queen.

Attend the meeting, armed and armored, with no bodyguards.

"So. Queen Laythe, and..Baron Kathos. A pleasure to meet you both. I am of course, the Arctic Fox. So! To business. I seek to create an agreement for the safe passage of the noncombatants from the city, in the event of open combat between us."

[Dwarmin]

Tala sighed herself as she watched the helmet obscure his features-but she saw his eyes. Haunted. Restless. Looking past her-past Ligoria, past everything. He was looking to escape. And who was she, oh arrogance, to keep him here?

Nikephoros had tapped into something deeper, there. Pasha was never reluctant to talk about his own past, and maybe that had something to do with it.

A thought came back to her...how he was one foot out of the door. Maybe it would be better that way...he would be alive, at least-and if some distant battlefield claimed his life, she might never know..for years, maybe. Surely better than the deluge that would come from it happening now.

"Sorry...then. I always had a bad sense of timing for these things, as you know.

But...we can talk to each other honestly, Pasha. After this is all over...you can talk to me, and I'll listen. You've beared with me all these years-showed me I don't have to be so alone-and...I owe you much more than that."

She crossed the room, and took his hand in her own. She felt the telltale tremor in his hands-not fear...restlessness.

"...Help me put on my armor. We're going to come through this together. You're not saying goodbye right now...and neither am I."

The cold voice spoke, in a lecturing tone of absolute authority, once again.

This is the life you lead, Tala. No matter how much you don't want to be...you're always going to be alone. The question is, will you drag the man you love down with you? You need to let him go. Before they do it for you. Maybe it will be random fate-one of your enemies-matthew. Or maybe you'll go down, and he'll go down with you...it's only a matter of time.

Her heart answered back-a tiny, fluttering little thing, subsisting on hope instead of logic.

No, no...never...it's not going to be like that...no...

Tala's face only betrayed a hint of the despair she was feeling. They trained her well, after all.

[Ardas]

Nikephoros, still in his tent, sat down in his chair. He uncorked a bottle of Kathos' Red and poured himself a cup. He hoped for the best resolution of the situation, but could not concentrate. This boy's insolence just got to him for some reason. Little bastard thinks he is being heroic with is ideas. "free men" and all that crap. Nikephoros saw free men being cut down just because they decided that they will stand their ground, in a wrong place at a wrong time.

Heh.. standing tall. Just as he did, all these years ago. After all this time it still made him feel sick to the stomach when he thought about Ara. About how he left her. But he did not do it because he seeked glory or was bored. He did all these things for her and now... One cup of wine followed another, but it brought him no respite, only drove him deeper into the bitter memories. Everyone thinks him solid, but reserved, heartless man. He was not always like that. But after she died, he felt as a part of him, the better part, died with her. She was that better part.

What was he doing in Ligoria? He pondered that. Almost everything after her death seemed meaningless. And as he got older, it got harder and harder for him to carry on. He always had companions, wine and someone to warm up his bed when he felt like it, but Ara could not be replaced. Not by men, or women or any of the worldy wealth.
So was there any reason to commit himself to Laythe and her cause? For a soldier, marching onwards is the only way, and Nikephoros was no different. Maybe he was trying to go out with a bang, see that history remembers him, one way or another.  But when he had the chance to break away from all of this....

[Shootandrun]

Kathos spoke first. His helmet covered completely his face - the enemy general could not even see his eyes. While the other man's demand was quite honorable, it was also more dangerous than it looked - without civilians inside the city, there would be no food problems for a long time. A siege would become much harder if the Artic Fox only had his soldiers to feed. There was also the fact that the defenders would be able to send messengers with the refugees, if the civilians started to get out - carrying intelligence that could be useful for possible reinforcements.

"While it is an honorable demand, I am afraid it will not be possible in this situation. Nobody leaves the city until the siege is over, General."