Admiral Sevirius laughed, draining another shot of Galam Honey Ale. Ahh, sweet. He had gotten the taste from one of Lady Alanis's fabulous parties. He wondered how that gal was getting on...and wished he had the courage to court the girl when he had the chance...ahh, pining over lost opportunity? He really was getting old.
Usually, he was in fashionable silken bandanna (his trademark), pressed shirt, shiny buttons, clean military slacks. Ah, now look at me, he thinks-nothing but an open shirt and dirty slacks, though he kept the bandanna for hilarity's sake.
Admiral of a fleet consisting of a single vessel, serving a deposed Queen who probably won't be able to afford my wages come this year next. Ligoria had been robbed of his service, in his own estimation, and now he couldn't even go home and see his kids without getting strung up in a drumhead court martial.
He wished he could have told them-how, when Laythe had battered her way to his ship from a city in chaos, he was just following orders-get the the Queen to safety.
No one had told him about the bloody rebellion! He might joined them if they asked.
By the time he gathered what had happened, they were sailing to ports unknown, and he was essentially an unwilling accomplice in the Queens flight. Couldn't go home, couldn't tell the Ex-Queen to bugger off and throw her overboard-she had more soldiers in her retinue than his entire crew, and more battle hardened and equipped besides. So, he decided that he had no choice but to follow her orders...
Then, you ask, why was he still here? Something akin to house arrest, yes. Laythe couldn't leave. And they were not letting him leave either-or perhaps that was just the Queens way of keeping him from sailing away in the dead of night.
He had given thought to it-becoming a merchant, or more likely a pirate. It would be a marked decrease in his life expectancy, to be sure.
Still, when the Queen unexpectedly entered the cool sky-lit annex he had occupied to drink, he stood up groggily, saluting proudly-pride was all he had left.
"My Queen. Forgive me my...uh, state. Was there something you needed to discuss with me?"