CAPTAIN OF THE GUARD
It was getting late, the 6PM bell would toll soon, and the Lunar Guard would have to start its patrols. Already the Solar Guard was becoming scarce. Sable brushed some of the annoying fur out of his eyes. His fur was just the exact length required by standard, which was a little bit longer than he'd like given the choice. But standards like rules were absolute in his mind.
It just made things simple. There was no gray, just black, and white; Wrong, and right. Unlike the tainted gray of his own race. Ever since he was a pup, he could remember the stories and myths of his father and mother, and of his grandfather and grandmother. It was the traditional way his tribe remembered their history. There was a certain beauty in it, but it was also inaccurate as he would later discover. Prone to changes and flights of fancy.
If you had listened to just the stories, you'd think the wolves were noble creatures, unburdened by the same sins of the dark races. Yet, the eleven history books, the official history books of the land painted a far different picture. Like most of the beast kin, the wolf tribes were unaligned in the great war, tens of millennia ago. They were considered a gray race, between the good of the light lead by the elves and evil of the dark pulled further down by humans and the utterly irredeemable Ahuizotls.
The mere thought of that last race brought a shiver to his spine. Sable still couldn't believe the insult of having a human under him. He could forgive people of the dark races, even the demonic ones, but not those last two. There was a reason why humans and Ahuizotls had no magic. It was their sin in the great wat that burned it out of them. But, humans unlike the Ahuizotls were forgiven by the first queen, and allowed to live in peace in Illania. Forgiveness was not the same as absolution though, and it didn't absolve their sin.
The day he had read that book, and found out the truth of his own heritage, he felt burned inside. Like someone had lite all that he thought he was, asunder. How could he see himself as good, when his blood wasn't? How could he reason about what was good when his soul was tainted by the indecision of his ancestors? Rules, and strict adherence to them were the answer. If he couldn't trust his soul’s ability to reason, he could at least trust those better than him. The elves, dwarves, lions and other races of light.
Thoughts of good and evil aside he began looking over his own squad, he was missing a few members. Teuta was here, he was often earlier than Sable was. Something about ensuring paperwork was done by the Morning Guards. The captain never questioned it, the dark elf got things done and was good at the extra responsibility thrust on him. To be fair the dark elf had volunteered for those extra responsibilities.
Toss Carraige on the other hand, was later than Sable expected. It was unusual for his 3rd in command to not already be here. That dwarf was often earlier than even Teuta, visiting his friends and allies in the Solar Guard. It was a very rare to have a dwarf in the Lunar Guard, they were a proud race. Prouder than even the elves, and Toss was no different.
Of course, it wasn't exactly his choice to be here, as he would frequently remind the captain. Punishment for some major infraction when he was in the Solar Guard. Sable wasn't privy to the details, and when general Torrent tells you to do something you do it without question. Toss was too proud to quit, so he stuck it out, perhaps hoping one day to move back to the morning or maybe even off somewhere else. Even the Common Guard would be an upgrade to working with the Lunar Guard.
In the distances Sable could see Delibis, slowly, walking in. The elf had several minutes before the bell tolled, Sable mused to himself if he'd make it to formation in time or not. With a shake of his head said to himself 'No', it wasn't right to think that it wasn't fair to the elf. He'd have to make amends for that thought later. It wasn't Delibis' fault he was slow and sickly; he was still an elf and in Sable's mind the elf’s soul was cleaner than his own.
The light elf was an interesting addition to Sable's squad, unofficially he almost considered him his 4th in line and both Teuta and Toss would leave him in charge of things from time to time. The elf was very weak and frail, but he had a strong heart and desire to fight for good, he was also fairly competent with magics when the time called for it. Sable could remember being given the choice of the elf two years ago when he was given the choice. It was either his squad, or no ones. The Lunar Guard was his only hope for service, and his impassioned speech to the selection committee was enough to give him one chance at the Lunar Guard.
Toss Carraige quickly turned a corner and gave the elf a light tap on the back as he walked past him. The feeble force threatened to drop the elf where he stood.
Hastam and Somnum were both here on time and stood in formation. The other wolf of the squad, Hastam was nothing special, though he did have some decorum about him. He was often sent to Luna directly. Unofficially he was becoming her personal attendant and guard.
Somnum was a dark elf, and was questionable at best. However, she was very skilled with a blade. If her attitude was better, she might even make 2nd guardsman one day. As it was, those two were the current protecters of the night court's throne room. Those chosen to stand by Luna for the whole night or most of it. Not that anything ever happened. Assassinations and plots were things for the old ages, not this more refined and peaceful one.
Ivy, Aspen, and RedFern weren't here yet, though by the sounds of it they would likely be arriving soon. Even though Sable's ears weren't as good as the three bats, sable could still hear the three chatting from somewhere down the hallway. No doubt they'd pass Delibis on their way in. The three bats were interesting ones. Like the wolves the bats had stayed out of the war, but after it, for some reason the history books don't record the bat pledged their undying loyalty to the throne of Illania. Being creatures of the night that was when they served, so it only made sense the Lunar Guard would have so many of them. They were one of the few races that seemed to have any positive preference for the Lunar Guard.
Lastly, Mithril Hammer, and Neal O'Connel. The minotaur and human that gave Sable no end of grief and frustration. He had been excited when Torrent told him he'd be getting a minotaur, such a noble race was meant to serve in the High Guard or Morning Guard. Not this backwater night position. At least, that is what he thought until he met her.
The 6PM bell began to ring.
Dong.
As for Neal, even the thought of him made Sable's lips pull back in disgust.
Dong.
Sable could forgive almost any of the other race, but not humans.
Dong.
Not given what the legends say, they were as irredeemable as the ahuizotls.
Dong.
The sudden sound of running footsteps and hoof steps pounded in Sable's head.
Dong.
Was this punishment for his blood’s sins? For his tribe's sin? The two quickly ran past him and fell into proper formation, barely in time.
Dong.
It was a miracle, and not the first time this week. Sable swore they were doing to him on purpose at this point.
"Attention!" He shouted. Announcing the beginning of the night shift.
A subtle smile crossed his lips as he thought about what punishments to inflict on the two.
LOGISTICS, THAT MEANS CRATES.
Tetua sat back at his desk. He wanted to cry, but that wasn't something dark elves did. The truth was he had been there all day, coming in early to run an important errand, something he had assumed would be quick, but was turning out to be anything but.
“This has to be the work of the High Guard.” He mumbled to himself. They were always pulling crates and supplies without permission, and never signed anything out when they did. He checked his clipboard again, 22-3-470, 30-2-M4119 and 18-7-N33R6 were all reported as missing, last seen by him, three months ago. For some reason, someone, somewhere wanted whatever was in these crates and no one could find them where they were supposed to be.
Going though all the records he had, no one had signed them out, there were no indications that someone moved them either, at least not offically. They were just gone. He re-read the description for them, each containing miscellaneous items from around the castle, trinkets, old gifts to the royalty. Nothing particularly expensive or rare just old, and crate 470 was very old, he could tell that from the three-digit serial number. It looked like it was given by the Lamin… Who knows how long ago. Well before Queen Luminis and even the prior queen Votum. It used the old numbering system that was retired after they hit 10 million crates, centuries ago. Now they used a mix of letters and numbers. It made it more compact and if you knew the system you could guess what was inside. Like the 'M' and 'N' representing miscellaneous items of low value. Regardless of how they were serialized, they were missing.
He was going to have to search all the other storerooms before he formally reported them as 'missing' or worse yet 'stolen' since they could have just been moved. Oh he hoped they weren't actually stolen. The amount of paperwork that would cause would cripple his productivity for a week at least. The search would have to be done tonight, somehow. If it wasn't, he'd have to bring the Solar Guard in, and that would mean paperwork itself. To complete the search would mean going through nearly five thousand crates between the ten designated stores rooms in the castle. There were also the various closets, but it would be hard to move a crate into those tight spaces, and hopefully it would have been reported since crates were not to be stored in the closets.
All that was assuming they weren't moved to the warehouse by mistake. He’d also have to try and search there if he couldn't find them in the castle. By the gods of both void and mist, if they ended up there, he'd never find them, the idiots who ran that place certainly wouldn't know where they were even if they were there.
"There's no other choice" he whispered to himself while dropping his clipboard to the desk. He needed help.
Near the center of the castle, just outside the rarely used ‘second kitchen’ Teuta found Sable, right where he expected. As he made his request he watched as his captain's sadistic smile twisted downward. Clearly, the Captain had been looking forward to making Neal and Mithril clean out the second kitchen, but he needed help, and to be blunt about it. They were the most qualified to do menial labor.
"And if you can't find these boxes?" Sable's tone was flat, and now slightly depressed.
"Paperwork, and I don't mean the usual paperwork. Each Unit will need copies, and each unit has their own version of the form. Each form will need to be done in triplicate. Then interviews will have to be conducted, which means records and paper. And then-"
Sable held up a hand or paw. "I get the picture. Ok, this is more important than punishment, and I suppose it is punishment in its own way." Sable turned toward his two troublemakers who seemed perplex by the new lifeforms growing in the bottom of the unwashed pans.
The human’s face appeared green as he was talking in a low voice to his minotaur companion. "Mith, I think cleaning these would be genocide at this point." Neal whispered, causing sable's ears to flick in irritation.
Teuta made out the comment, and it brought a rare smile to the stoic dark elf's face. He could remember a time long ago when he also had such menial duties.
"Guardsman Mithril Hammer and Recruit Neal, I'm giving you new orders. Help Teuta with whatever he needs."
The explanation was quick and Teuta was happy that the two dim wits seemed to understand what was asked. They stopped by the closest storeroom, number 4. Inside was a modest-sized room, the smallest of the storerooms in fact. "Ok, We need to find crates 470, M4119 and N33R6. Ignore the first two numbers, they're going to be wrong."
Much to Teuta's surprise, the recruit started the search in earnest. He seemed both quick and thorough. The minotaur on the other hand was not. Minor grumbling from her grated on his nerves.
Shaking his head, he complained about her complaints. "No one likes logistics, everyone thinks it useless until-"
"Until you need something." Neal interrupted the 2nd in command who continued to stare at his clipboard, looking for more errors.
Being interrupted was annoying, but the recruit was right, "Exactly." His attention drifted from the conversation; it seemed like a sheet was missing from the clip board for this room. Maybe it was in the desk, he began rummaging through it, not expecting the human to continue.
"I'm serious, sir. You're completely right. Logistics is as important as training and as important as good soldiers, honestly it's probably even more important." Neal spoke with an odd level of passion. If the dark elf didn't know better, he'd think the human actually believed what he was saying.
Teuta let out a sigh, he didn't need people to kiss up to him. No one liked logistics or appreciated it, the recruit probably thought he'd get out of this assignment if kissed up to him. "Recruit I don't know why you're trying to blow smoke up my ass but stop." There was the paper, in the wrong drawer, which meant someone moved it and probably edited it, incorrectly. In frustration, Teuta considered if he couldn't add to their punishment later. It might make him feel better about his own lot.
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"I'm not sir, I'm being honest. There's a saying in my world's armed forces, and I'm probably going to get it wrong but 'Soldiers win battles, logistics wins wars.' It's why my country won so many of its major engagements, logics and supplies."
Suddenly the paper he was holding seemed less important and turned to face the human. "Is that really a saying where you come from?" Like most of the guards, Teuta wasn't convinced Neal was from another world. It wasn't impossible he supposed. There were other stories and myths of similar things, mainly in the time of legends before the great war.
"Yes. Like I said, I might be getting it a bit wrong but, even back to the days of Sun Tzu, logistics has been line between order and disorder."
The name was an odd one. No human would be called it, maybe a demon race?
Perhaps the recruit sensed his uncertainty, "Sorry, Sun Tzu lived thousands of years ago in a country my people call China. He was a historic general and his saying are still taught."
"Hm, maybe we should invite Sun Tzu to run this place. He can't do any worse running things." Teuta whispered that last part before realizing the recruit could probably still hear him. "Go check the crates please, I really want get back to my normal duties."
Storeroom after storeroom, nothing, all three crates were clearly missing from the castle grounds. Teuta rubbed at his temples. It was getting late, they had maybe two more hours left, no way they were going to the warehouse tonight. "By the goddess of creation, please let them be there…" He begged to a goddess who couldn't hear him.
"Do you have anything else for us to do, sir?" Neal queried.
Teuta was about to say no, but then the thought of all the paperwork hit him. Neal knew how to read and write, Mithril's literacy was more questionable, but even one extra set of hands would be better than just his own. The Dark Elf encouraged his two subordinates to follow as he left the room. "As a matter of fact…"
For a moment he paused, it looked like the shadows moved. Maybe he was finally starting to lose his mind, or more likely he needed glass. Eye strain from reading all the paperwork was getting to him. He closed the door and headed towards his main desk in the main and largest storeroom.
GO TOSS ROCKS
In a hallway, on the other side of the castle, Toss Carraige was just about finished telling Delibis one of his frequent long-winded speeches against the dark races. "…Aye, and that's why you cannot trust the Oni feckers."
"Yes, sir." Delibis nodded in an agreement he didn't really have. His legs had been bothering him for hours, and wished he was allowed to sit. Of course, he couldn't. Guards had to stand and walk. It was a burden he was grateful to have, and maybe, just maybe he was getting stronger from it. A sudden bout of coughing suggested otherwise though.
Unlike Toss, Delibis was quite happy to be in the Lunar Guard, even if it was hard on him. Not just getting up at night, and staying awake at night, but also the lack of sun light. Still, it was an honor to serve and a miracle he was even allowed to. His family had been convinced he would never be allowed, and yet here he was. His physical strength would always be inferior, but his mind and his mana were both strong.
"Aye, you ok elf?" Toss stood above the elf.
Sure, he was. This was more embarrassing than anything else. Something was tickling at the back of his throat. This wasn't the normal congestion he faced. It was like something was in the air, maybe a perfume or some kind of alchemical nonsense. He had an oddly strong sensitivity to that stuff.
A subtle shadow moved above him as Toss' arm appeared. With a sigh of defeat Delibis reached up to grab it. Dwarfs and Elves didn't get along that well, Elves were proud and quiet, Dwarfs were proud and loud. It made for a grating encounter on both races' behalf.
A fact made more evidence as Toss continued his diatribe on the dark races, focusing on humans now.
"Eh, that fecker human. I swear to the gods… Sable is a good captain, fine and noble for a gray race, but if he makes me command that human, that human be wishing for death by the time he's done."
Delibis couldn't really understand Sable and Toss' hatred of the man. Sure, he was one of the dark races, and no one believed his story of coming from another world. But he did his job, and he chose to be here. He deserved a modicum of honor and respect, at least the same amount that all of them did. "Sir, if I may, he does his job. I don't think it's fair to be so hard on him just for being born human."
Silence.
For a moment Delibis was content with it. It was exactly what he wanted on his patrol, a nice and quiet reflection as he patrolled the halls. A quiet that would make it possible to detect anything unusual. But eventually, even the silence got to him. A quite Dwarf was an angry Dwarf, as the saying went.
"Toss. I understand why you don't like humans. But I think Neal is different. He chose to work with the royal guard, with the Lunar Guard." Why was he doing this? He didn't like the humans either. It was frustrating defending them, but some part of him felt it was part of his own code, his own honor asked that he stick up for others.
"Bah!" Was Toss' only response, at first. "A dark race who feel sorry for themselves. Fecker can go back to the void they came from. You know I…" He paused as if lost in thought before throwing his hand up in disgust or defeat. "Eh, what do you know." With that Toss powered walked well ahead of the tired Elf.
There was no way he'd be able to catch up to him, since he was already out of breath. The dwarfs were far too easy to antagonize, maybe he should have just kept his mouth shut. But, at least now there was some silence.
BATTY
"I'm telling you I heard something." The brown bat, RedFern had doused his torch a while ago and was wandering though the dark hallway, using his ears as eyes.
Subtle echoes and sound waves created a picture in his mind. His own words would bounce back and draw shapes, subtle and fuzzy, with no color. A small silhouette of movement and unusual sound drew pictures, like spheres with jagged surfaces. A small one, likely coming from a rodent behind the walls. A sharp one, from water dripping from somewhere. A fuzzy outline came from a nearby wall way, two overlapping fronts, two sets of feat. Maybe, a very subtle hint of a third? At least until everything became cloudy, with the sounds of his companion complaining.
"Red, I didn't hear anything, and my ears are better than yours." Ivy's voice was high pitched, at a distance it would dissipate, but when it was right next to him it killed his ability to 'see'.
Shaking his head, he lost it. Bats had this ability, but it was hard to use. It took time to build up the image, to open his ears as eyes, and one single word was enough to drown it out. He dropped his head in defeat, "Thanks Ivy."
"Don't mention it." It was clear she didn't believe him, and maybe there was good reason for that. She did have better ears than he did. Though she couldn't 'see' as well as he could. That was a different skill.
"I mean, I thought I heard something too. Sounded like footsteps, two or three sets of them." Aspen, was fairly new to the group. She liked to follow Ivy around, and was uncertain about this new squad. But her ears were solid.
Suddenly the sound of steps grew and this time they all heard it. All of the bats killed their torches and waited for whatever it was that would come around the corner. The first set of steps was heavy, very heavy. Like an ogre or a troll.
Each of the three's minds began to run with fear, uncertainty, and imagination at what waited them. A subtle light began to illuminate, as a small, heavy, and well armored creature turned the corner.
Toss appeared from around the corner, clearly agitated by something. He glared at the bats standing in the dark "What the devil are you winged bastards looking at? Light your torches and get back to your patrols." He ordered, but then turned and walked the other way, not waiting to see if they’d comply.
They each breathed a sigh of relief, but still the other sets of steps. They seemed to merge into each other. They waited and waited. Toss had walked the length of the hallway and already turned down another as they continued to wait. Until another very thin and frail creature turned the corner.
"Sorry… Did… Toss… Come… Through here?" The elf was clearly out of breath from his short walk. Ivy nodded and pointed down the long corridor ahead of them.
"Thank you. I'm supposed. To follow him. Tonight." He moaned and walked down the hallway towards the dwarf.
Red watched the elf as he scuffled and walked and sighed. In the right conditions, it could sound like two sets of steps.
"Told you, nothing." Ivy said smugly as she turned around and began to walk along her patrol route again. Aspen hurried after her quickly, while Red looked around one last time. He shook his head and smiled; it really did seem that he was just being paranoid.
PRINCESS OF SLEEP AND HER GAURDS
Hastam and Somnum stood watch next to the princess. She wasn't aware of it, but the two had a running bet on if the princess would fall asleep on the throne or just retire early. The nodding of her head implied Hastam would be winning the bet this evening, the reward being the first round at the Sleeping Pig.
Somnum's loud coughing put a stop to it and Luna perked up almost immediately after the noise.
"Cheater." Hastam whispered as Somnum smiled back.
"What was that guardsman?" Luna looked in his direction, unaware of the bet between the two or their awareness of her abject boredom.
"Nothing your highness, just wishing Somnum's good health" Hastam did his best to suppress his own yawn, this station was boring. At least the other guards got to walk around. They would switch out for an hour or two around midnight so they could both eat, but aside from that. It was a large amount of standing and doing nothing.
Although, it wasn’t all bad. The princess would often talk and discuss matters of state with the two of them. Unofficially of course. She would joke and call them her ‘shadow council’. She claimed that she liked getting a feel for how the average people felt about such things, but the guards both knew she was as board as they were. Thankful, for them, this posting was only temporary, Sable would rotate other guards in after a few months of this. As much as Hastam liked the princess and her company, he was looking forward to doing patrols again.
Somnum on the other hand was rare and greatly enjoyed this posting. She was going to miss it when her other duties returned. Over the years, she had perfected the techniques of sleeping with your eyes open and while standing. It was hard to tell at any time if she was awake or not. Much to the dismay of a few past Nobles who had tested her. Seeing a well dress elf dignitary, covered in gold and jewels fall backwards after having a spear pointed their way was always amusing. Like some child’s toy. Shame Sable didn’t seem to think so.
Princess Luna stood off her throne and stretched. "Perhaps a walk will clear my head. If anyone comes, please get me." With that, the princess strolled out of the throne room.
Somnum would never say this so bluntly to anyone else, but she really did like the princess. She was far more gentile and kinder then what the legends and stories told. The dark elf had no idea how much of them were true, if she was ever even possessed by a shadow nor if she had burned down those villages. All she did know was this Luna could never do that. She was just too nice, and well worth protecting. Well, when the dark elf wasn’t sleeping anyway.
Smirking, another reason crossed her own mind, the princess was also predictable. "Looks like she’s retiring early. Mmm, can't wait for a flagon mead. Think I'll do the Thistle Sisters, the bats do know their wines and mead." Over the past month she had won 9 of the 11 bets. The rest of the time it was a tie and Luna stayed till the morning.
"Doesn't count if she comes back." Hastam tried to hide his annoyance, but Somnum could still hear it in his voice. Maybe she shouldn’t have coughed and let him win this one? Nah.
THE EVENING GUARD
Dong. Dong. Dong. Dong. Dong. Dong.
The last bell of the first bells, it was 6AM.
With that, the squad was done for the week. They were only needed as long as Night Court was in session, and the princess only held it Monday thru Thursday. Even though they were 12 hour shifts, it was nice to have 3 days off. Well, ignoring the physical training Sable instead everyone participated in.
Reluctantly Neal accompanied Mith to the pub. This was becoming a daily thing, and he wasn't sure if he liked it or not. The fact that he might, somehow made it worse. At least she was letting him walk this time.
The inside of the pub was nearly bursting with people of all races. Neal was aware of a few stares and a deathly glare from Toss in particular. The dwarf was not happy to see the human there, but it seemed like he could ignore him at least for this morning. It had been a good week for the dwarf, all things considered, and it was time for a drink. "Tankard of Rock Ale!" He shouted as threw his coins on the bar top.
It seemed an obvious choice for the dwarf. Around the bar, the rest of Neal's squad was present. The human still felt like the odd one out, but it was starting to warm up to the idea.
"No one treats the crates properly damn it. I mean where are they?" Teuta was moaning at the bar, nursing a drink. Next to him was the feeble Elf Delbis, who seemed to be drinking water. Either that or they had vodka here.
Neal found asking the bartender for vodka just led to disappointment.
"What's vodka, is it sweet?" The white bat Ivy overheard and asked. Both the other bats seemed rather interested as well.
"Uh, not really." He tried to think about how to explain it, but was interrupted before he could.
"Rock ale!" A tankard was slammed in front of him by Mith. It seemed like he didn't have a choice in what he was drinking.
“I was hoping for something a bit lighter Mith.” Neal took a sip of the overly strong brew, and went back to explaining Vodka.
“Oh, you mean pure spirits!” RedFern was the first to proclaim. “Yeah, you’re going to have a hard time finding them. Most bars aren’t aloud to sell them.” The bats quickly lost interested in the conversation, once they learned it didn’t involve sugar.
It was a bit of a shame, they didn’t seem afraid of Neal, or at least hid it well.
Not too far down the bar, the Dark Elf Somnum took a large swig of her own drink. Paid for by the white wolf Hastam. "Ah! Muddled mead, is there anything better?"
There was a certain something about the elf, maybe it was her long black hair or purple eyes. No human on his world had purple eyes.
"Looking at something, human?" Her voice was not a welcoming one.
He looked away trying to defuse the situation. Taking a drink from his mug, Neal suddenly felt very alone. Maybe it was because Mith wandered off to talk to Ivy and her friends. She was the one that invited him out, she could have at least humored him a bit. Perhaps, he could have tried to continue the conversation with them all? He wasn’t sure he’d be welcome though.
Looking to the side, Sable was present and glaring at him. Probably wondering why, he wasn't off cleaning something. That's what he was after all, the Evening Guard's janitor. Another sip of his drink as he began to reconsider his place here, his gaze lowered to the bar top. Maybe he should just go back to his apartment.
Between his self-pity and chatter in the bar. Neal wasn't aware of the seat pulling out next to him.
"Morning Human, you look quite down." It was not a voice he was expecting to hear, Delibis had apparently grown tired of hearing Teuta moaning about crates.
Looking over to his side again, the 2nd in command had taken their captain's ear instead, and in the back of his mind he could only think 'serves you right'.
With another sigh he took a sip of his rock ale. He'd have to try and find something less strong in the future. "No, I'm fine just… not sure why I'm here." Was his answer to the elf. He half expected him to argue that he didn't.
"You chose to be here, didn't you?"
Did he though, was a calling a choice? "I mean, it was more of a calling than a choice. I didn't know what else to do."
"So, you didn't choose to be here, your soul did."
Neal had to laugh. He was always an agnostic, the concept of a soul was a bit silly, but he guessed, "Yeah. I guess that's true."
"See, I do see where you're coming from, human. And, I know it's hard. Many of us have heard the stories of the great war, what humans did. The ancient queen forgave them, but many of us can't." The elf paused to sip his water, and seemingly catch his breath. "I'm not one of them though. Anyone that chose to fight for the Queen or her sister, and Illania is worthy of respect."
On Neal's back he could feel the subtle whisp of a light breeze as Delibis' hand tapped him. Aside from Mithril, whose attention was less than pure, this was the first time someone in the Lunar Guard showed him any respect.
"Now, if you want some advice. You should show yourself respect too. Maybe start with your armor. When was the last time you took care of it?"
Neal let out a laugh and a smile. He took another sip, finishing off his first tankard. Maybe he'd order a second. "Delibis, let me buy you something. I see you have water, how about some food?"
The elf considered the offer, while Neal considered his prior thoughts. Maybe it was high time he did take better care of himself.