Of Dragons and War III

[Darion McNair]

"Your blade was coming in my direction Rosaline, I defend first, ask questions later. And with the condition you were in I wasn't about to ask twenty questions while it looked like your steel was flying my way." Darion replied, his eyebrows tightly knit. After what just happened, and the rage that filled her, she needed to have her weapon relieved from her for a time.

[Swordsman]

"You'll what?" he asked, slowly drawing the Talruum sabre, and a dagger in the other hand. "Let's get a few things straight here. Rylus, you were by no means welcome in this group to begin with - do not push your luck. I will leave you tied to a tree without a second thought if necessary. Rosaline, I am your commander. You attacked another of my subordinates. Whether or not you intended to with your first stroke, you continued to fight him. By definition, you continued to try to maim or kill him. You continued your attack while he lay on the ground, unarmed. My intervention saved his life. This is not open for debate. I am ordering you to give me every weapon you have, and if you disobey, I will take them by force. And if anyone" - he looked directly at Rylus - "attempts to intervene, I will deal with them as necessary. Now give me your sword."

[Iwant2bafencer]

"Nækos, I take orders from Zelda. Last time I checked I was head of her military, not yours. Unless I was illinformed, she is my commanding officer, not you."

[Swordsman]

"My apologies, I forgot to explain." He smiled now, and it was disturbing. "When I sent Slade and Krasala back, they went with orders to take control of the Arconian throne. Which means the Strike Force is now in command of Arconia, and in turn makes you my subordinate. You all take orders from me now."

[Iwant2bafencer]

Rose shot a look at Zelda.

"You have got to be kidding me." She stated, unsure of really what to think.

[Darion McNair]

Darion's eyes widened. He wondered when on earth the Swordsman thought it right to give himself emergency martial powers. He hoped this wasn't the makings of a civil war, Aiovus against Arconia.

[Zelda]

Zeldas eyes glittered and the anger which had been simmering in her chest threatened to explode...

"You did what??" her voice was soft and icy, eyes black.

"I instructed Slade and Krasala to take control of the Arconian throne." Naekos replied.

"And why may I enquire, did you do that Naekos Servya?" the use of the swordsmans full name sent shivers down most peoples spine.

Zelda was fuming inside. This INSOLENT halfling, who had sworn allegience to her husband (usless that he may be), had simply betrayed her in a sentence. Luckily she was seated on Abercrombie who sensed her agitation and stayed very still. Any move on his part and she may have lost it.

"Rosaline, you are coming with me." It was a statement, not a question. Zelda nudged Abercrombie forward and leant down to scoop up the head of the Arconian Milatry.

[Moonitic]

As though the sudden battle within the fold hadn't unnerved Meekal, the new revelation from Nækos caused a new, creeping feeling through his mind. He stared at the Swordsman, brow furrowed. "But...Zelda put Moon in charge...& I thought that only the King or Queen could appoint someone to the throne should the need arise. How...Why?" He wasn't sure what to think of all this, but one thing was certain: His determined young bride was given a task. One that, one way or the other, she would attempt to fulfill. And in that attempt, who knows what would happen? "Oh, dear Craig! What if she attempts to do what she's told this time? Why didn't you tell us this ahead of time?" He remembered, vaguely, something Nækos said about using bodily force to subdue her, & suddenly he felt a little angry and a little more than upset. "What if they do something to her? You gave them permission!"

[Zelda]

Zelda heard Meekal talking. It sounded like words that were important. His voice suddenly came into focus..."What if they do something to her? You gave them permission!"

Stopping from scooping up Rosaline, Zelda sat upright, and spoke quietly but with venom rarely seen from the Queen.

"Yes Naekos, WHAT about Lady Moon? If anything happens to her or her child I will hold you personally responsible. I mean that, with all my heart. I trusted you Naekos, I trusted you with my life, with my country, with EVERYTHING. I told you my hopes, my fears, my deepest secrets.... How could you do what you did? Does the word respect even ENTER into your vocabulary?"

She didnt want anyone to see the tears that burnt her eyes, so she pulled up the hood of her cloak. She had trusted Naekos, believed in him, given him free rein within reason. And he does THIS.....her mind was a whirl. The tenuous trust she had with reality started slipping away...the dark shadows of memories she thought she had buried started to surface.

[Iwant2bafencer]

Rosaline shot Nækos another glare, then before another word could be spoken she turned and ran after Zelda. She pelted down the main street, then ducked into an alley way, valted herself up onto a roof and walked briskly across the large beam that remained, dropping herself back into a second alley. She repeated this patern until she was out of the main section of town and to her horse.
Talmour had stayed with Sarah, Mr. Quinith, and the other horses. His eyes narrowed as he saw the blood on her chin.

"What in the name of the gods happened to you?" He asked.

"I'll tell you about it later." She replied quickly, taking Shadowmaker's reins and swinging up into the saddles.

She pulled Shadowmaker away and then stopped next to Sarah and Buttercup.

"Talmour, if for some reason I don't rejoin the group, take Sarah and Mr. Quinith to the next town, Nækos knows where it is."

"I don't . ." He shook his head confused.

"I don't have time to explain now. Swear you'll get them there safely." She cut in hurridly.

"I swear." He replied, still confused.

"Thank you," She turned to Sarah and kissed the older woman's cheek, "Be well Sarah, should you ever need of her, Buttercup is yours." Rose nodded to Mr. Quinith and then spurred Shadowmaker after Zelda.

"Zelda," she cried catching up, "Zelda wait!" She grumbled and leaned farther of Shadowmaker's neck. When she reached Zelda, she grabbed Abercrombie's rein's, slowing the horse down. "Where are you going?"

[Swordsman]

"THEN TRUST ME NOW!!" he shouted at her. "You said yourself you did not wish to be the queen - so I have taken that burden from you! I do not trust Moon to run the country for a moment, and so I will not allow her. I gave my men permission to physically restrain her if necessary, which should do nothing but further guarantee her protection should she get it in her impetuous head to do something stupid AGAIN, a habit of hers you cannot deny. They are still, however, my people, whom I trust with my life!" He paused briefly for a quick breath. "You wish to speak of respect? You are losing quickly. Look at yourself, Zelda. You run from your kingdom in secrecy, attempting to deceive me. You lie to me, then beg me not to send you back to where you might not have such fun, have to exercise responsibility - is that word included in your vocabulary? You wish to come with me to hunt dragons, because you are so adventuresome and strong, and yet HERE YOU SIT AND WEEP!!"

[Zelda]

"I did not ask you to relieve me of that duty Naekos. And I weep from memories, not fear." This was all said as Zelda turned Abercrombie and headed back towards the forest.

The memories were bubbling just under the surface, and the tears were pricking her eyes. "No, not now..." she said outloud, softly enough so that no one could hear, "PLEASE NOT NOW!!" these last three words were shouted, causing the birds in the trees to rise up in fright.

[Swordsman]

Nækos snarled. "McNair, Devlinn," he barked, "Do not let her get far; I want her back here inside of ten minutes!"

[Moonitic]

"Nækos..." Meekal's voice came out strained, yet leveled. "You assisted me in my rise to the throne of Muu. You assisted me in marrying Moon. If anything happens to me while we are on this expedition, she will take the power over my country. You said you don't trust her to run the country, yet that's what she would do. Tell me..." His voice clenched as his hands. "...would you take Muu from her as well? If she is so untrustworthy, why aid in making her my queen? What did you see in her that made her worthy of such a role? And don't say it's because I love her. There must be far more to it than that." He paused, barely enough time for a breath as his voice rose ever so slightly. "You knew that Zelda gave her charge of Arconia. Why didn't you tell her it wasn't necessary? Why allow her cause for worry? You know she'll try to take control. She may be impetuous at times, but she's loyal. And determined. And intelligent. If you want me to have a chance to prove myself, she needs that same chance. But now she's going to go get herself hurt in trying to do what she thinks is right. Why couldn't you have said something?"

His breathing came heavy, his eyes were wide. He stared at Nækos, afraid that for a fleeting time, he wanted to hit the one whom he considered a friend. What if they considered her attempt to take control "impetuous" & did restrain her?

Meekal, in that moment, wondered if he should go back to Arconia to put an end to this.

[Darion McNair]

Darion nodded a response. "As you command." he replied. Senyik did the same and soon the two of them kicked their mounts into a gallop. They weaved their way through the trees, hot on the trail of the emotionally unstable queen. A quick hand signal from Senyik indicated to Darion to spread out. They did so as their horses emerged into a small clearing. The sun hit Darion's face and the wind whistled by his ears as he and Senyik began to catch up with the queen.

Coming up on both sides of her, the two of them could see the troubled look on the queens face. She glanced at Darion, her expression unchanging. In that split second Senyik acted, grabbing the reigns from her and slowing the horse. Darion stayed with her horse and managed to use one hand to grab both of hers as she tried to beat off Senyik's hand.

Soon, all three of the horses were slowed to a walk, thankfully without any harm coming to the queen.

"I am NOT going back there!" Zelda yelled at Senyik. "I need some time."

"I'm sorry your highness." Senyik's voice was even and insistant. "You don't have a choice." She glared at him.

"Come with us your highness, if you do not do so willingly, we will not hesitate to use force." Darion added. She sighed and soon the three of them were on their way back to the group.

[Miri Belakai]

Not far away from the power struggles, Miri helped the wounded back down from their precarious seats and continued to tend them and the babe in the nearest shelter, a small woodshed. The shouting sounded eerily like the voices she had heard so long ago, in Russland, but she was sure the content was very different. In any case, she was staying out of the conflict as long as possible.

The gypsies were of the same idea. Ame and Crin lounged next to the wounded, helping them in any way they could, the two men sat in the darker shadows of the building, murmuring about something.

After listening carefully to the shouting, Miri commented quietly, "I wouldn't have thought the Swordsman so power-hungry."

[Crin Dalmeiier]

In truth, Crin hadn't been paying much attention. She was still stung by her out-of-character actions from earlier against the Swordsman in the fight. What on earth had possessed her to try and start a fight with him, anyway? She had only elbowed him to get him to release her wrist--she fanced it in as many pieces as it was right now, not several more.

"Say what?" she asked Miri without thinking. Realizing what the elven woman had asked, she straightened up a bit. "It's actually not all that surprising. I've seen it time and again in the ranks--you're that good, you get a big head about it. You start thinking you have jurisdiction where you don't. By all rights, Zelda is the queen of Arconia, and Nækos is naught but a foreigner with a handy legion of thugs." She smiled a bit thinly at any mention of the Swordsman. All respect for him had long left her, but she would continue to follow his crazy path for dragons--for now. "Surely you've seen that in your courts, princess."

[Zelda]

"I am NOT going back....." Zelda repeated as the made their way towards to group, "I NEED time...Naekos SHOULD know why." She took Abercrombies reins and turned once again towards the forest. " IF you follow me, I will not be responsible for the consequences." She glared at the two men, her eyes filled with ice and venom.

[Miri Belakai]

"Surely you've seen that in your courts, princess."

"Aye. However, most of the time, the good ones think they're doing everyone else a favor by taking care of things."

[Crin Dalmeiier]

Crin made a noise somewhere between a snort and a chuckle at Miri's rather sardonic comment. "But didn't it always make everybody else want to poke them with a very hot stick, or gag them with their own tongue?"