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Prince Tousa of Darinest

"Erik Longstrom." he ripped the spear out quickly, tearing flesh away with it. "This woman is my prisoner. Not yours. A prisoner is not a toy. They are not some reward you can have and gloat over. You cannot do whatever you wish to them. She fought just like you fight. If you cannot respect her as a person, then respect her as a fellow warrior at the very least. If you were in her position I think any of you would ask for the same treatment."

He shifted the spear so the end of the shaft rested on the floor below, the tip pointing skyward. "Now go to the medical tent and get that wound patched up." Tousa waited until the man left, not caring how it happened before he looked to those who were still present. "Does anyone else have a problem with my decision? You do not have to like my decisions or even agree with them, however I do demand that you respect my decisions, and trust that I am doing this for the right reasons."

His gaze swept over the soldiers in the Mess Hall. "Speak up if you have a problem with the decision I have made. I will not strike physically unless you draw steel to try and prove your point, as Erik Longstrom tried to do just now."

Prince Tousa of Darinest

Tousa set the spear against the table and sat back down. "I see." He stated, going to eat some of the food he had gotten for the both of them. A drink of mead and he then looked at her for a moment and nodded in confirmation of some thought of his.

After a moment he reached for the spear again and lowered it till he could reach the spearhead comfortably, with that he simply began to clean the tip of it on what exposed cloth he could find under his armor. "Best not to let the blood sit and rust the edge. Spearheads are easy to make but rough to maintain at times."

Tousa just worked diligently on the spear now, no longer touching his food. "You will need some water to rinse your hair out. We'll stop by the well after this to get you cleaned up. Once that is done I'll simply be doing my work around this fort. You are not allowed to be out of sight, understand Lycan? I can't have someone else pulling a knife on you and actually going through with it. Then I would have an angry fort and an angry king demanding things of me."

Prince Tousa of Darinest

Tousa sighed. "I'm not going to let a prisoner practice their archery. Just because I am giving you certain liberties does not mean you are free. You are still a potential enemy even when you say you're not and I'm not going to risk one of my men being shot. Besides, you have motive to shoot at least a few of my men." Tousa tapped his neck with the tip of the spear as if to reference something.

After a moment he stood up and gave a nod. "Alright then, time to get you cleaned up." He moved towards the exit, leaving his meal unfinished at the table, someone else would likely eat it within the next few hours anyways. Across the courtyard and just behind a wooden building that had several entrances into it. It was a small sectioned off area by a wooden palisade as well and Tousa began to draw water from the well almost immediately.

"Pick one of the rooms to bathe in, they're all the same so it's more of a factor of choosing which one is unoccupied right now." Tousa stated with a grunt and a pull.

Prince Tousa of Darinest

Tousa just shook his head at the comment, the bucket being handed off without a second thought Once done he just sat down next to the well and waited. "To do such a thing would be inappropriate. The only time a man should see a woman naked in such a way is when they have romantic relations with one another." He gave himself a firm nod at that, and folded his arms.

After about two minutes of sitting however, he began to fidget and he sighed, standing up once more and picking up the spear he had just used to stab a man to go through his forms and stances, spinning it about in fanciful arcs that he would never use in combat. He raised a leg up every now and then, balancing on one foot with the spear in a few stances. Slow movements so the weight was continual and the movements didn't make swishing moments, the only sounds that would come from him would be the shifting of armor and cloth as well as deep controlled breaths.

Prince Tousa of Darinest

Tousa turned to face her as she first spoke about him taking a bath as well, expecting her to be appropriately dressed rather than using a towel. It took him about ten seconds to register what happened and once it had he just slowly turned away from the sight and clearing his throat.

Once she came out again, he promptly ignored the first instinct which was to turn to the person talking to him. "Are you decent?" He asked simply, having started going through more of his forms. At the very least he was diligent in his activities.

"I would also caution against such activities as what you just did now. For your own safety and for the sake of the men here. Many are married, and such vows are a sacred thing. As I stated earlier, such visions should be left to those who have romantic ties."

Prince Tousa of Darinest

Tousa paused mid-spear thrust and gave a nod, righting himself to a more relaxed stance. "Yes. Just like what I saw. I do not mean to offend you when I say this, but I would ask that you refrain from doing such a thing again, even in jest. You insult yourself by doing such a thing. Now let us go so that I may get my work done."

With that Tousa moved past Anja, using the spear much like one would use a walking stick as he moved throughout the fort. The first thing he did was check on the medical tent and go to each soldier that had been wounded in the attack the day prior. He spoke with each of them, gave a few words and if they allowed him, looked over their wounds, casting what small amount of healing magic he could, though it did little in the grand scheme of things other than ease the pain or irritation a bit. He was more or less absorbed in his work and talks to pay much attention to anything else.

Every once in a while one of the men taking care of the wounded would come by or near Tousa to tell him not to worry and he would shoo them away while he spent time with a soldier in question, listening intently to what they had to say. Every man was given the Prince's ear.

Prince Tousa of Darinest

Tousa looked up at Anja. He gave a very annoyed half-smile and stood up moving to take the snake from her slowly by the head. "Thank you for finding that, I would rather not have these men poisoned by it after all." He then looked to the man he had been talking to whom had already passed out again.

"Well, time to move on to the next task then." He muttered. He took the spear in his free hand and motioned for them to leave. Best to let the men recover in peace and quiet now.

Prince Tousa of Darinest

Tousa looked at her and then the snake. He drew an arrow out and shoved the arrow into the creature just under the head and then drew the bodkin arrow out again, handing the now bleeding and writhing snake over to her. "Just... Don't eat it in front of the men, alright?"

With that it was on to the next task which was inspecting the fort walls. Up a spiral staircase and then meeting with a few robed figures who were looking over a wooden pedestal. The prince walked straight up next to them and looked over the blueprints as well.

"A weapon like that shouldn't be assembled on the walls it should be assembled in the courtyard below if we're going to put that here. I would rather make smaller versions and line them up along the wall over there and there. Train the men to operate in three man teams for such a weapon if you design them. Let's try and keep the courtyard as clear as possible for the men to train in."

"But if we make them any smaller then they won't be useful for targeting other siege weapons mi'lord." One of the robed men stated, pointing to the chart and then back at the courtyard. "The walls would protect it down there and it would be able to fire farther. If we put it on the wall it would make an impressive display of arms as well."

"Until they build three such weapons and hit our one. Make four smaller versions, accompanied by two ballista, one north, one west. The east and south wall will get their own in time, but for now six weapons is what should be kept here at this fort, any more and we will be making this into a training academy for siege operators. We can't have that so close to the front lines."