* * *
Telnia, First in line for Matriarch of Soonesia, woke in the morning brimming with angry energy. While she was unaware, her staff were quite a bit more anxious, hiding behind her and regularly muting themselves from her awareness. The butler stayed immediately behind her, careful to keep many of the younger staff far from her eyes. She stalked through the streets, stomping towards the walls where her master supposedly awaited her. Her anger simmered, frustration bubbling throughout her the whole morning. Arriving at the gate amongst the peons of the city only soured her mood more, but not enough to expose her anger. The butler quickly, with little noise and no speaking, directed her staff to flutter round the main yard inside the city gate and restrain the public, keeping them far from her although most were hiding in homes or safe bunkers.
When she arrived, the yard was almost empty except for several late adventurers running to climb the walls, whom she tried to call.
“Hey, you! You with the ugly brown shield! You…” Telnia broke off, angry muttering growing alarmingly violent when the butler came forward with an obsequious bow.
“Madam. Your master is likely a guard on the wall, if you wish to speak with him.”
Telnia grimaced, clenching teeth before turning, “And I must climb the stairs?”
The butler immediately shook his head, “Of course not, madam. I wish to find the eccentric upon the walls while you rest, then I shall be able to lead you to him.”
Her anger cooled at that, but did little to reduce the abuse as she snapped, “Then why am I still waiting here?”
He quickly bowed, saying, “Apologies, madam. I will go immediately,” before fleeing quickly towards the stairs. He climbed them quickly both to escape her anger before she could strike him and to find the eccentric as quickly as possible before her anger spilled on to the other staff. The stairs were long and high, and he was quickly exhausted even before reaching the top, but he had no option to rest simply because he was still in sight of his mistress and he had no wish to increase her ire for lateness.
When he arrived at the top of the wall, the aura’s blasting from the invading monsters almost laid him low, and he could do little but hope that he could find the master eccentric before a monster strong enough could kill him. He glanced up and down the line, seeking out any who could offer him some information but found nothing but a line of adventurers gamely defending the line even as beasts climbed the walls and scrambled over the edge. It seemed the city was in luck as there were no wall borers.
His eyes scanned the immediate area and struggled to hold in his dismay as he did not see the eccentric anywhere, and he could be anywhere along the massive stretch of the wall. His glance, however, did note a group of members on the back line seemingly huddled together with runners coming and going. An excellent source of possible answers, but the distance was extreme and would leave him open to the attacks of any aura or spirit, let alone any magical attacks. He shuffled his feet a few moments before screwing up his courage and sprinting the distance as quickly as he could.
He’d only made it a little over half way when the crowd seemed to notice him and look over. He waved to call their attention, continuing his run when the apparent leader of the group suddenly grimaced and waved a woman towards him. He was too far to hear the command, but she quickly arrived by his side before instantly beginning to berate him.
“Are you a fool? You could die with little more than a thought! Why are you on this wall!”
The butler did not stop, continuing his way towards the group but did speak, “Apologies, ma’am. My mistress, Telnia, First in Line for Matriarch of Soonesia, demands to know where her master is, the eccentric Joe.”
The woman blinked at that, shrugging. Her anger seemed to still slightly, or at least possibly redirect, the butler did not know, “Ah. Uh… yes. I do not know, but perhaps the commander might.”
The two quickly made it to the group and the discussion started off rather poorly.
“Who are you? And why do you interrupt the defenses?!” the commander barked with harsh anger.
The butler quickly bowed, quite deeply, as he knew he was disrupting a major defense and breaking protocol very badly but with his mistress far from home and her father, there were few who could constrain her.
“I deeply apologize, commander. My mistress, Telnia, First in Line for Matriarch of Soonesia, demands to know the location of her master, the eccentric Joe McConnell.”
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The commander actually seemed a bit surprised by the request, but his anger also cooled quite quickly, “The eccentric adventurer, Joe McConnell, holds the line at the Matriarch’s whim. You would have to seek out the clan Galgandar if you wish to know his whereabouts.”
The butler actually looked up in shock, quite surprised that the commander would know so readily and the man seemed to understand the butler’s surprise.
“Your mistress is quite lucky to have gained his apprenticeship. He and his happenings are well known in this city, even to the guards. Seek out the clan city for the eccentric.”
The butler immediately bowed again, “My great thanks, commander. I will leave you and your good men to their work. I apologize for the interruption.”
The commander’s anger had long cooled, and something approaching piteous irritation colored his reply, “You are a man following his orders. Go well.”
The butler bowed, grateful, and retreated quickly, wanting no part of any rebuke or punishment that the commander may wish to levy against his mistress. The commander seemed to understand as he said nothing, only watching him leave. He was assigned the same woman that had protected him before to help him flee the walls without harm from any aura, spirit, or other attacks.
When he made the stairs, they both offered quick farewells before he quickly sprinted down the stairs, his thoughts on attempting to evaluate how to reveal this news to the mistress while also struggling to figure out her reaction. This piece of news could go either way. Happy that he’s got connections… angry for the waste of time… The butler struggled in his frustration over his inability to manage the current situation but kept his face carefully schooled, no emotions of any kind bleeding through.
He arrived at the main yard and jogged across the empty yard. He immediately bowed when he arrived.
“I have found the eccentric, mistress. He’s…”
She immediately interrupted him with a slap to his face, jarring but normal and he was able to maintain his equilibrium even as she interrupted, “Then why is he not here?!”
He replied smoothly, “Apologies for not being clear, mistress. He’s currently in the inner city, a guest of clan Galgandar. The Matriarch requested he defend the clan walls.”
This brought his mistress up short, the ramifications obviously interrupting her anger. She said nothing as he remained bowed before turning and marching back towards the inner city wall, “Excellent. We can leave this cesspit and find better accommodations.”
“Of course, mistress.”
He remained bowed as she reversed course, his staff reacting quickly and well, moving out of her way before falling in behind her. He remained bowed and silent until he was certain that she was onto other thoughts, but still walked quickly after her, tilting his head just enough that the corner of one eye could catch the edge of her long, swishing dress so he could maintain appropriate distance. After remaining bowed for a block or two, he quickly stood back up to walk behind her, silent and ready. He’d wisely tilted his head when the slap came. It was instinct by now. However, he’d still been a second or two late, the swelling of his left eye becoming ever more evident, but there was little he could do now. Telnia, First in Line for Matriarch, marched with purpose into the inner city of the Galgandar, quickly arriving at his residence and a long, long wait.
* * *
When Joe arrived, the elven woman’s beauty quickly stole his attention, his eyes drawn to her partly due to her beauty and partly due to her alien nature. He found himself almost overwhelmed by her beauty and had to struggle to tear his eyes from her to consider the rather large group of staff waiting upon her. OK… something… supernaturally beautiful kinda thing here… maybe? Or just… wow… Joe had to take a deep breath to calm himself and turned towards the staff. There was a rather severe looking man in simple but neat clothing who appeared to be a bit older standing at her side, if a bit removed. He also had a rather deep red bruise upon his cheek and a bad shiner on one of his eyes. It appeared to be the same man, a butler, who’d first come to have him meet Telnia. Ah… this must be the pushy princess?
Behind the man, a group of younger staff, some even appearing to be young teens, watched on carefully and seemed to take almost all their cues from the butler. The butler seemed to be directing them somehow, although Joe heard nothing even though several of the other staff responded or reacted to whatever the butler was saying. A silence spell… that would be pretty cool. Could be used to…
He was interrupted by a lilting beautiful voice, if a bit harsh as it was tinged with obvious anger, “Eccentric Joe?”
Joe looked up, the elven woman staring at him with an aloof expression, “Just Joe, is fine.”
She seemed to quirk an eye at that, “You are not an eccentric?”
Joe shrugged, “Many here call me so, but its meaning is unclear to me as it is likely a different meaning to what I know.”
As he spoke, Joe’s eye’s flickered over to the staff as a mass movement caught his attention. He saw all of them bowing. His eyebrow rose at that, but he didn’t allow it to distract him as he immediately returned his attention to the woman.
“You are not worthy to be my master?”
Joe shrugged, “I’m not? Excellent. We have no need to speak then. You may go.”
Something about her presence reeked of arrogance and her way of dealing with him over the last couple of days really just pushed him the wrong way and while he kept the annoyance off his face, the long day of fighting and exhaustion left him with very little energy to deal with foolishness.
The woman seemed to grow incredibly angry, her jaw clenching. Her teeth ground for a moment as she seemed to take a moment to consider before finally replying with some vitriol, “You dare insult me?”
This time, both eyebrows rose as he chuckled, “I’m not sure you’re worth it.”
Her anger warbled, spiking and floundering simultaneously as confusion seemed to leave her uncertain of how to respond. Joe didn’t let it continue and raised a hand.
“First off, who are you? You still have not introduced yourself at all. That, amongst my people, is quite rude. From what I know… it is likely rude amongst any peoples. Second, if you are who I think you are, you have insulted, belittled, and treated me and mine quite poorly. Any insult I return is well deserved. I’ll hold my judgment for any further assumptions as, again, I. DO. NOT. KNOW. YOU!” Joe ended with a firm but not overly loud statement.