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Prince Tousa of Darinest

Tousa stepped into the armory and looked about, seeing the rows of spears, swords, bows, crossbows, sets of armor, quivers, barrels full of arrows. Target dummies, and practice pells. They were all there to be moved outside and put back in. For as common place as this Fort seemed, the amount of weapons they had stockpiled was more than enough to field double the amount of soldiers that had been seen thus far.

Tousa simply moved and grabbed a spear before going to a bow and picking it up, pulling the string back and looking at Anja for a moment before relaxing the tension and setting it down. He continued down the line of bows, repeating the process over and over again. Pick up a bow, draw the string back, look to Anja, release the tension slowly and set it back on the rack. He then moved on and picked up a crossbow and glanced to her once again, shaking his head and going back to the bows, ow rubbing his chin as he stood silently trying to select one.

Prince Tousa of Darinest

Tousa took up the first bow she touched, slinging it across his person before going and grabbing a quiver and filling it with arrows, arranging it around his waist. After that was done he simply motioned for her to follow and left the armory. "We're delivering the letter next. Come on, we haven't got all day lycan."

Tousa looked to the men that were now watching him walk out with a bow and quiver of arrows as well as a spear. "Get back to your duties soldiers." Most of them did, a few didn't. Instead they began to grumble. Tousa watched the group for a moment.

"You five, you were given an order by your prince and commanding officer. Why are you not following through? Were my orders not clear?" Tousa asked, watching them carefully.

"They were clear your grace. We just want to know why you aren't killing that monster now. She was part of the raid that killed some of the men you were leading! She's dangerous and a criminal!" One soldier stated.

Tousa took a deep breath and walked over to the group of them. "I am not killing her now because I will be killing her at the capital in front of my father. This is a punishment not only for how all of you men acted while on ceremony for an execution, but also to show the nobles the dangers you men go through. You work hard and you risk your lives against such beasts. Perhaps once they see one such creature they will stop complaining about emptying their coffers to fund your livelihood for a while. Or would you rather have nobles withdraw their support for this war and have your enemies spill over the border and kill your family? Right now, in the court, that is a very real possibility."

The soldier stared at him and then gave a very slow nod. "Now get back to work, you have your duties to attend to soldier." He glanced to the other four. That same reasoning applies to the four of you as well. I don't want a single idle hand in this barracks. Is that clear? There are always tasks that need done, and if you are resting when you are on duty, then you are allowing that risk to grow ever so slightly. Remember that. All of you."

He turned to look back at Anja. "Let's go prisoner. To the coop."

Prince Tousa of Darinest

Tousa moved up to the hunched man who took care of the birds. "Another letter." He stated to the man.

"Another one already? Doesn't have to do with the Lycan there does it your grace?" The keeper asked as they took the letter and gathered a pigeon.

"It does, but I just need the message sent to the capital again. To my father's bird keeper specifically."

"Two messages for your father in one day? That is a rarity for you Prince Tousa. Wherever you found the girl, she seems to have an influence to you already. Be wary of that Prince, you know what they say about the wiles of a woman." The keeper offered a smile and attached the letter to the bird before whispering into its ear.

If Anja was listening she would hear the language, it was an old language, forgotten by most now. The bird keeper wasn't well practiced by how crudely and slowly the words were coming out, but it was none other than the language of the Old Ones. The ones that taught Druids their secret language and one that animals recognized.

"I know what they say, and no she does not have such an effect on me, she is a prisoner and she will be treated as such throughout the journey." Tousa just watched the man do his strange whispering's before the bird was let go to fly off to his father.

"As you say Prince Tousa. Are there any other messages you wish to send out for the day or shall that be the last of them? The birds are eager to fly today after all, and I can hardly blame them with the weather that we have." The bird keeper cracked a grin showing poorly kept teeth.

"No that will be all for now Keeper, you're the only one that can send letters out anyways so if I need to, I will be back." With that Tousa turned and left, now heading towards the mess hall, which was active pretty much all day as soldiers moved in and out and were working their shifts.

Prince Tousa of Darinest

Tousa took a moment to smell to see what she was talking about, sadly his nose could only just smell meat and food in general without the specifics. "If there is bear meat it came from the local area which means that whichever group killed it are gloating over the fact they took down a bear."

Tousa entered the mess hall and didn't even pause as he made his way over to the fire, taking the carving knife and slicing off two slabs of meat and then setting them on nearby plates and walked to one of the long tables and sat down at the edge, setting both plates down, one of the plates across to him while he simply dug in without any utensils or proper eating ware. If it wasn't for his fancy clothing, armor, or way he carried himself, he would probably just look like another soldier. A very well groomed soldier, but a rank and file member nonetheless.

Prince Tousa of Darinest

"You need the nutrition and a good meal. We have a long way ahead of us and properly seasoned meals like this will be rare to come by along the way." Tousa glanced up from his meal, soldiers were certainly staring at her, but those who were not staring were gambling for fun or generally having a good time and relaxing.

"This environment is a relaxing one. Seeing the men able to spend their time like humans after they have worked hard is a reward in and of itself." Tousa stood suddenly and moved away from the table, going to grab to wooden cups and going to a barrel, filling each of them up from a tap and then going further away to gather up more food for the both of them, leaving Anja alone for a moment.

His eyes however, would glance her way, just to see what the soldiers would do and how she would act. Without him around she wasn't safe here, he knew, but how far were the soldiers willing to harass her? That was what he wanted to see. She had mentioned they acted differently when he was not around, but how far did he have to be for them to feel safe from his vision?

Prince Tousa of Darinest

Tousa watched from his position, taking a drink of the mead, many around him also watching the scene. After a moment he picked up the two bowls of soup he had gathered, and picked up the second cup in his other hand and moved his way back.

He didn't even comment, setting the bowl of soup down in front of Anja, and then the cup of mead next to it before setting his bowl down over on his side and his half finished cup next to his own food. He very calmly sat down at his food. It was only then he looked up directly at the soldier who had the knife. Still eating.

After he chewed a bite of meat he finally spoke up. "So. Whose going to explain why there is a knife to my prisoner's throat? Anyone?" Now he began looking around at every soldier that was looking at the scene. "Well, come on, someone fess up."

Prince Tousa of Darinest

Tousa looked around for a moment. "No one is putting up an argument? I see." He gave a small nod and took another bite. Then he stood up and picked up his spear, thrusting the tip through the arm that was holding the knife up, slicing through muscle with ease before twisting the spear to lock the tip firmly into the mans arm. "You're a cruel and evil man with no morals to your name. You will stand there until I say you may go."

He looked around. "What is this soldiers name? You have a minute to offer it up before I take you all outside and spar you one by one until your all flat on your asses and crippled to the point where you can no longer walk. Since you all don't seem to be willing to tell the truth, I'm going to need more than one of you to confirm this soldiers name."

Tousa's face was contorted into a snarl, a frown that did not suit the Prince's face at all, marring the once calm features and distorting what he considered a refined image. It was clear what he disliked here. Truth seemed to be the most important matter to the man and from the looks of it, hiding it was one of the worst things one could do while in his presence.