Forum Thread

The older woman says nothing. Her smile vanishes when she notices that her desperate attempt to excuse Maddy's behavior didn't work as well as she intended. She wasn't surprised, but that didn't make this any easier for her. Their kingdom was still holding strong, but just how close were they to their breaking point? The people who were supposed to be leading this kingdom were understandably blinded by their sorrows. At this rate, the kingdom wouldn't be able to hold on for long. Sage sighs and glances out her window and stares into the distance. Hopefully they could stay strong for a little while longer...

She needed air, and something to cheer her up. The kingdom's secondary leaders may be hanging on by only a thread, but that didn't mean their people were also suffering... One could only hope. Sage waves away her personal guards and strolls along the streets. Unsurprisingly, she gets a lot of stares. She tried to keep a strong public appearance to avoid this. She was human like them afterall. But she was also a Queen, so she should expect to get surprised looks.

A few people race forward to greet her. She stays long enough for polite small talk before continuing her stroll. Her mood is quickly lifted. Life seemed to be pretty good for her citizens. She suddenly pauses, recognizing two people in the crowd. "Blossom!" She calls. "It's good to see you!" She moves closer to her and smiles politely at Hyolyn. "I do hope I'm not interrupting anything."

Thalia opened her mouth to speak but slowly turned around at the noise of gentle foot steps. She let out a small gasp, the queen, Sage! She bit back her lip feeling embarrassed, could this be thought of as an offense? No, no, probably? Maybe? Urgh, she is also just a human,...an important human! she looked back at the healer and bar owner, she awkwardly bowed towards Sage, "Er, is this okay?", "Maybe, n-no," she muttered under her breath silently. Thalia's face grew flushed, this was a rather rare thing as she typically spent er time scoffing at other rude remarks and returned the gesture with some sort of retort. The healer and bar owner were actually nice for a change, and this was well the queen. Whom was considered a big deal to most.

An amused smile rests on Sage's face. Thalia's reaction was a common one. She wanted nothing more than to assure the younger girl that it was okay to be informal with her. But the best way to do this would be to let it naturally happen. "Hello there!" She greets Thalia warmly. "Are you friends with Leaf?" She asks while turning her head to the side. It was impossible for her to remember all of her citizens but for some reason, she couldn't remember who Thalia and Hyolyn were. "What's your name?" She asks gently.

Thalia was nervous her face growing with a tint of red. "H-zhh-Hi! Er, not really, T-Thalia, Sparta," she introduced herself, this was probably a common reaction but Thalia couldn't help being excited, nervous, and honored. The queen had asked for her name, and said hello! She looked over at Hyolyn expecting a calm reaction, she hadn't known them long but had learned that they were rather calm and collected. Thalia felt flustered embarrassed at how much she had stuttered, zhh? What did that even mean?

"Booyeah! Get it!" Hyolyn laughed, pumping their fist. While they didn't need to take on another job, it was always nice to stock up on more resources in the case that something happened or they needed to leave suddenly. They were about to hash out a few details but another voice interrupted them.

"I do hope I'm not interrupting anything." An enchanting woman apologized, greeting Blossom as well. It wasn't a challenge to even guess who the speaker was, being one of the first people Hyolyn forced themself to remember after first coming into Talmar. Her majesty the Queen, Sage. Being in the presence of anyone who wasn't a commoner like them was always uncomfortable and being before the queen was just plain weird.

Shifting nervously, Hyolyn nervously bent a knee. "High'ness." They muttered, glancing away. Unfortunately it meant that they met Thalia's eyes, catching her own nervousness. Rolling their eyes, Hyolyn pat the younger on the back with a good natured huff. "It seems like Yer' Majesty's reputation has proceeded ya. Th's poor one and 'eir companion be positively shakin'. Don't be going roun'd scarn' yer subjects, mhm? We just be visitn' common'ers."

---

"It's nice to meet you Thalia Sparta" Sage says while extending a hand out for Thalia to shake. She turns part of her attention to Hyolyn when she hears them speak. Sage couldn't help but laugh at their last few comments. "I will try not to" she responds with an amused smirk. "There is no need for the two of you to feel nervous around me" Sage assures them. "I swear I am not as scary as I look!" She turns the rest of her attention to Hyolyn now. "So we have Thalia, Leaf and who might you be?" She asks.

"Woah," Thalia muttered under her breath, with her palms feeling sweaty she wiped them on her pants and shook the queens trying not to seem too eager or excited. N-nice to meet me? She thought, That is the reaction of a regular person which she is, but the queen, Thalia looked over to Hyolyn again wondering how they might react to this, their past reaction was slightly surprising considering they were quite calm but then again this was the queen and people were sure to have these kinds of reaction, and she had only known them for a few minutes, Thalia had never really gone to the bar.

Savior's Place
Fallen to the Mace
Revive Your Grace
Revive Your Sullen Face

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Derek hardly noticed Gwen marching behind him, though as she caught up to him and spoke, he turned his head to listen. As he comprehended the sentence, which took very little time for the large brute, he shrugged with a might rattle of metal and leather.

"Swif mey lid mey tah hem, sence hey's weth her sestar. Thay'ell knew aech-ather's scents. Y'mey't c'm'long, ef ya'd plase, et'ed bey good t'a interedece Seyl's t'a loc'l power."

The fox leaping along beside the two had perked up upon hearing her name, though she shortly returned to playfully bounding along, often trotting to an interesting part of the area or a place where some meager sound had arisen from..

Translations:

"Swif may lead me to him, since he's with her sister. They'll know each other's scents. You might come along, if you'd please, it would be good to introduce Sylas to local power."

Blossom: Sage, it's been a while. How have you been?

How long had it been since Blossom saw Sage last? A little bit after the last war, for sure. . .but in a way it was best that Blossom saw Sage out and about rather then being helped in to be treated.

(Leaf aint here btw, she's at the house)

---

"We are both walking roughly towards the same area anyway, the main barrack isn't too far from where you and Sylas will be staying. I don't want to take up much more of your time, but I would love to meet this important client of yours." Gwen falls silent again. She chases away any negative thoughts by watching Swif bound around the area. It was definitely entertaining to say the least. For a few moments, she can forget about the crushing lost and responsibility that she is facing.

"Aish, no 'ne special." Hyolyn waved off with a laugh. "'m jus' a barmaid fer now." It was weird how a queen was so interested in commoners, memorizing others names and even taking interest in those she had never seen before. Many other royals were happy to perch on their little towers, watching the little vermin scurry around the prison they built themself. Sure, some where better than others where the cage was more gilded and covered in beautiful drapes but in the end they were all made with the intention to entrap their citizens whether through loyal nationalism or fear. But Sage seemed to actually care in some capacity. Hyolyn still didn't really trust her but still gave her their respect. Not enough to give any name, even if it was an alias.

---

"Hm, I would be inclined to disagree. Nonetheless, it's still wonderful to meet you" Sage tells Hyolyn warmly. To Blossom now, she says "Ah, you know. It's been the same. Keeping a strong relation with the surrounding towns while also keeping things well off here. Same thing, different day." A fat lie, Blossom and Leaf has always been almost like an advisor to Sage since the rule of both kingdoms. She could trust Blossom with the critical knowledge about the trouble within their ranks. But she wasn't about to voice her concerns in public.

"How about you? How is your family and shop doing? I do apologize for not taking the time to see you." She knew she couldn't openly voice the reasons why she was too busy to see them, but she hoped that Blossom could read between the lines and understand.

While she waits for Blossom to respond she decides to question both Thalia and Hyolyn. She was curious about both of them. "What bar do you work at? Perhaps I'll come visit once all my work settles down" Sage tells Hyolyn with a small smile. "And what about you?" Sage asks Thalia. "What kind of work do you do? Despite you feeling flustered around me I sense a spark of bravery within you. If you would be interested, there could be work within the castle for you- all simple things" Sage assures. There were important roles to fill. Messenger, spy- all important things that would be critical as their kingdom struggles for power. It would be easy to train her, but she wouldn't force her to do any role if she wasn't interested.

There was more than what Sage was openly saying, Blossom could tell that much, though Sage used to be on the council with Blossom herself before the war happened. Things weren't the same every day, always changes. Not to mention Sage was an advisor of sorts ensuring that the strong bond would prevent history from repeating itself. . .hopefully.

Blossom: We're good. Leaf and I finally managed to upgrade our place a little, so we can treat more people now. Emi's getting bigger and dipping her feet into medical, so we're also trying to help her with that.

---

Oh so this was one of those Queens, so obsessed with tracking her citizen's movements that she just had to know every little thing. It was really, the only other real option. Hyolyn would admit, Sage played the part of a benevolent queen well, even managing to trick them into thinking for even a brief moment that she was a Queen who actually kept the citizens wellbeing with good intentions. Bravo, Your Highness. Bravo. If Hyolyn had to admit something that they did find impressive about the queen without any backhanded complements, it would be her ability to manage so many conversations at once. They supposed that always talking with stubborn old fools in the council or whatnot came in handy in these sort of situations.

"High'ness, there ain't be many taverns in yer kingdom." They pointed out in a tone that spoke of amusement more than anything. "Jus' look fer the loudes' place in town and y've found it. Be sure ta drink responsib'y, tho'. Won't do well fer High'ness ta take an audience hungo'er." Winking almost conspiratally, Hyolyn groaned internally at the horrible joke. Mother look at them, making nicities with a royal. Ugh

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Thalia almost squealed aloud like the child that remained deep in her heart, "Oh, me? I-I'm just well jeweler, a jeweler, I-I sell jewelry in a small rather run-down place," she said flustered, "my home," she whispered to herself under her breath. "Uh, wh-what kind of jobs?" Thalia asked. She had tried hard to keep down her eagerness but could sense it hadn't worked too well with all her stuttering, a spark of bravery, she thought, the queen thinks I'm brave! She went on blushing furiously with embarrassment as she spoke.

She fiddled with her necklace feeling like a fool. Sure this was the queen but at the end of the day Sage was another human and Thalia was tripping all over herself for nothing. No, this is a chance and I'll take it, she thought with a tinge of resentment, something good had happened and hopefully nothing would come down to mess it up, there was a fierce glow in Thalia's eyes making her look hostile and betrayed, almost as if she were disappointed, realizing she was probably making a face Thalia glanced at Sage dropping her head to look at the floor in a flustered manner. She looked back up at Sage trying to make eye contact to get an answer. Oh I look stupid! Like a real idiot, feeling that way she turned back and cringed at herself, "Oh geez,".

"That's all wonderful news!" Sage tells Blossom happily. "I know Emi will shine in what ever profession she ends up in, but it would be wonderful for her to follow in your footsteps. You two are amazing healers and have the potential to even teach your skills! Your skills deserve to be passed down to future generations!" Sage encourages.

She chuckles at Hyolyn, appreciating their humor, even if it was forced. Perhaps she was imagining it, but she sensed high levels of suspicion coming from them. Was there slight contempt in their gaze or was she reading into it too much? She already has had a long day, and didn't want to create unnecessary tension between her and a citizen due to a misunderstanding, so she pushes away her doubts. "The loudest tavern huh? Sounds easy enough. I'll do my best to pace myself, but sometimes you get a bit blinded by all the fun happening around you" she points out with a joking smile. Whatever it is she was reading, she liked it. Like Thalia, there was something about Hyolyn that intrigued her. Some sort of potential that she was desperate to find out. As she said earlier, she would do whatever it took to better her kingdom. The best way to do that would be to fill her ranks with capable people.

She practically melts upon seeing Thalia's initial reaction. "Working with jewelry is a wonderful job. People with a good eye in the arts are especially necessary to have in this kingdom, I would love to see your work if that's okay with you." Sage pauses for a moment to consider Thalia's question. "I would start you out as either a spy or messenger. Because you would be new to it, it'll all be internal work, so there will be minimal risks of danger" Sage explains. Sage did catch Thalia's second reaction, but it wasn't one that shocked her. In fact, it made her look proud. Thalia's bravery and determination was exactly what she was looking for!

Thalia grinned intently, A spy, despite there being two fine options this one stood out in her mind, "Oh, oh, yeah!", she looked closely at Sage's glistening earrings that matched her eyes perfectly, hm, "I have a totally perfect emerald necklace th-that could match your earrings!" she said scrambling to get her jewelry pouch from out of her pants pocket, she herself didn't have a stand. Thalia usually sold things at her home, she also had a semi-self-serve system, customers could place an order selecting the jewels and types of metals then and there, although she had to be cautious of thieves only there to take her valuables, places such as her room were off limits, and she had a keen eye towards those suspicious and everyone in general.

Opening up the small bag she fished out a shimmering fourteen karat yellow gold necklace with an emerald in the shape of a teardrop surrounded by small diamonds in the center. a little higher on the chain was a small emerald, there was another one on the other side that mad it look symmetrical. "Here!", Thalia exclaimed, perhaps she could strike a deal with the queen, it would certainly drum up business, there was also the job at the palace. Hopefully, the queen would like it, oh and the compliments, she had a delayed reaction to those, good eye n the arts! There was a glimmer of childlike hope in her eyes, despite being a usually solemn person every now and then she would let a bit of her inner child out, especially in exciting or humorous moments.

Reluctant Fellow
Follow the King
The Queen's Beloved
That Horrible Thing..

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Derek shrugged, not speaking much more.. That was, if anything, an invitation. Derek seemed tired, though, as though he hadn't slept for some time.. Donning his helmet at last, he completed the intimidating set of armor he wore. It was almost as though he had completely transformed, become a new man.. His voice sounded odd within the headwear as he spoke, finality ringing through the metal...

"Swif, seches Clik."

The fox perked up immediately at hearing her name, processing the order much faster than any human might. She lifted her snout towards the sky, sniffing as she walked, often following the way the wind came from.. Her name had been mentioned, and Clik's name had been mentioned.. Perhaps "seches" meant find? Or maybe smell? It would be hard to tell, since the fox was already trotting ahead, and Derek was pursuing quite quickly... The armor was heavy, but Derek seemed to know that, if he didn't keep up with the fox, she would wander out of earshot, and he wouldn't be able to call her back easily..

The proudest looking smile crosses across Sage's lips as she watches Thalia smile at one of the jobs that she mentioned. She was a bit curious about what job the girl chose, but she didn't get the chance to ask because Thalia was suddenly focused on finding a piece of jewelry for her. A stunned look appears on Sage's face when Thalia shows off the most magnificent piece of jewelry Sage has ever seen. "Wow" she breathes. "This is... amazing!" She stares at the piece of jewelry for some time with an amazed look. "Is it for sale? I would love to purchase it. I believe this would complete my appearance, wouldn't you agree?" Sage asks.
...
It caught Gwen off guard to see Derek put on his helmet and suddenly run off after Swif. She thought she understood what he said, but then again, his obvious accent proves that he usually speaks a different language. Perhaps this was one similar to her's? She races after them and easily keeps pace with Derek.

Curiously, the two were moving towards one of the kingdom's taverns rather than one of the inns. She shoots her solider a withering look before she enters the tavern with Swif and Derek. The girl just gives Gwen an embarrassed smile and shrugs. Right, her orders were to keep an eye on Sylas, not keep him locked in the inn. At least she wasn't drinking with him and was instead standing guard outside. This was the only entrance and exit anyway. "I'm assuming he is here?" Gwen asks from behind Derek. "Where is he?" She asks curiously.

Blossom: I think she is following in our footsteps. Leaf and I have seen her looking through our book for medical and editable uses.

If Blossom followed in her and Leaf's footsteps. . .that would make both of them super happy. Though, they'd support her no matter which path she goes down

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