Chapter 84: Call to Action

The next morning started fairly normally. They woke, Annita and Rosalyn early, Kat taking her time and needing some prodding. Ann had put on her new gauntlets and worked through a few of the drills Remmi had shown her to practice her balance and strikes. Shit, she’d missed yesterday’s training after the whole Guild fiasco. She’d have to apologise later. She worked up a bit of a sweat while Kat rolled and protested in the sheets. Rosalyn, meanwhile, had given up on teasing Kat and moved to a plush armchair, leafing through her book on Warped Zidane had sent to her.

The only odd, well, oddest thing was that they were all naked for this. The more time they spent together, the less they’d started caring about clothes while alone. Honestly, Ann would probably be naked all the time if she was alone, but having stuff on if she needed to go at any moment was nice.

Finishing up her drills and wiping off with a soft towel, she made a nuisance of herself, burrowing up between Rosalyn and her book. She planted a kiss onto her Druid’s lips, stealing away that sweet breath, before shifting so Rosalyn sat in her lap.

Rosalyn sighed, but didn’t protest as she returned to her reading. It was one of the things that could distract her from Ann’s deviant wiles. The woman’s fascination with the Warped trumped all else. It was good. They were going to need all the information they could get if they wanted to figure out what was at the heart of the malevolent force.

Ann thought back to the last Seed. That whispered voice she thought she’d heard? What had it said? Damnit, she couldn’t remember. Every time she thought she was close, it slipped away like a fish in her hands. Had to be important, but it wasn’t very productive to worry about things you couldn’t remember.

Instead, she spent her time just enjoying Rosalyn’s naked form snuggled up to her, reading idly over her shoulder. It was an in depth anatomical analysis of Twinwolf biology. Currently, she was going through how the nervous system seemed to work, with its branching network in the neck leading to each head, operating individually.

Ann understood it more than she expected, but eventually lost it around the time it was talking about fine motor function relating to parallel processing in the two brains, or something like that.

Thankfully, Kat finally rolled out of bed and worked through her dopey half asleep routine. She sat on the edge of the bed, drooping, then stumbled off to the bath. After a few minutes of washing, she brushed her teeth and returned with a towel over her hair. Somehow, her eyes were still closed as she made her way back to the bed and dried off. Once she did, she worked through a series of stretches, push ups, squats, crunches, arm suspensions and other exercises. The woman was built for strength and all the movements looked incredibly natural to her.

Eventually, they dressed and made their way to breakfast. For the first time, one of Kat’s siblings was present. Kierran, the fifth in line, toddled through the doors, rubbing her eyes.

“Hey there, little ‘un,” Kat waved her over. “Ye sleep in today?”

“Uh huh,” the little girl mumbled. “Regina didn’t wake me up. So I slept late. It was nice.”

She was small, and Ann guessed she’d be around twelve, maybe ten? Cute, curly blonde hair framed a chubby face full of freckles. Ears, not quite as long as Kat’s poked out between those curls. She had Kat’s regal nose and fierce eyebrows, though the effect was dulled by her being so small.

“Kie, I want ye tae meet me girlfriends,” Kat said with a goofy grin, kneeling down beside her sister. “This is Annita, or Ann, and this is Rosalyn. We’ve been travelin’ together fer a bit now.”

“Ann and Rowsa—Rowsalen,” Kierran stumbled over the words, still looking half asleep. “Nice ta meet you.” She even spoke with the uncertainty of a child, and Ann was beside herself with how cute it all was.

“Hey, Kierran. Nice to meet you. How old are you?”

“Um… twenty?”

“Ye’re twenty-one, sleepyhead,” Kat laughed, ruffling her hair.

“Wait, she’s as old as me?”

“A year younger, but, aye.”

“How? She looks so,” Ann stammered.

“Right, tha’, ye’re still not used tae it. Remember, Alfhindur mature slowly. Longer life, longer adolescence, an’ all tha’.”

“Shit, right, sorry Kierran. I’m from way up north. Didn’t know anyone that didn’t look like me, so I’m still getting used to things,” Ann lied, extending a hand.

The girl looked at it confused, then took it. Ann shook it gently before letting go. “You’re weird,” she giggled. “But you seem nice. So does she. She’s fluffy.”

“Yeah, she is,” Ann laughed as the girl ran over to Rosalyn and started pestering her about her hair. “Gives the best hugs too!”

“She’s adorable,” Ann sighed as she watched the little girl practically climb Rosalyn to sit in her lap and badger her with questions.

“Aye. Bit much if ye’re the only one she has tae focus on, but she’s li’l.”

They ate, constantly entertained by Kierran. The precocious little girl turned her attention to Annita soon after and started asking about her tail, the fur, her ears, and legs. Mostly stuff like how soft it was, how she brushed it, and if she wanted bows. Ann gave her a maybe on the last one, absolutely intending to let the little one play makeup with her later, when they had some time.

Kremdol appeared, but Orlana was absent, and the king only had time to greet his daughters, grab a quick and easily carried piece of bread with some meat and lettuce, and leave again. Kierran pouted for a minute, but then shrugged and continued eating her porridge.

They were close to finishing when Orlana burst into the room and locked eyes with the four party members. “Meetin’. Now. outside.” Her tone was fierce, but her face melted the second she saw Kierran. “Hey little bug, sorry, gotta steal yer sister. I’ll be back, and how about we go play in the courtyard?”

“Yaay! Playtime with mommy!” Kierran cried, throwing up her hands.

Orlana spared her a doting smile before ushering the rest out of the room, down the hall, and into another unoccupied room.

“Well, yer first call tae duty is comin’ faster than we expected. We’ve got a problem and need someone tae respond fast. Someone gave false information on a Seed.”

“Feck.”

“Who? Where?” Bren asked urgently.

“Not sure. Scribes wit’ the Association’re lookin’ intae that part. East o’ here. One o’ the bigger city based Seeds. Expedition full o’ researchers, scribes, a few collectors an’ archaeologists. They took a guard, but the feckin’ place wasn’t cleared. Guardian’s still alive an’ kickin’. The Warped cut ‘em off, an’ we got reports back from the rear guard crew. Need tae get people into that Seed, find the survivors, and get them the Hells out. Rescue only. Ye can take on the Seed after if ye like, but only after the people are secured. Questions?”

“How many guards and people?” Bren asked.

“They ‘ad fifty civilians an’ ten fighters enter,” Orlana explained. “Followed procedure. Left people outside in case somethin’ like this happened tae run alerts back.”

“How long has it been?” Rosalyn asked next.

“Two days since we lost contact. Ye’re gettin’ a sledge an’ elk tae get ye there fast. Should be a day at full speed. There’s a town not far outta the way that’ll be able tae swap out yer beasts. Ye know ‘ow this works, Kat.”

Kat nodded, face grim. “An’ if we find out who did it?”

“Arrest. If they resist, disable ‘em. If ye can’t overpower ‘em, defend yerselves however ye see fit.”

She turned directly to Katlyn. “Kat, ye’re actin’ on behalf o’ the Crown. Ye are tae exercise yer full authority o’er this situation. Bring justice tae the bastard if ye can, but save as many lives as possible. They’re yer first priority.”

“Aye,” Kat said curtly, stiffening.

“Good. Get yer shit, an’ be prepared in the front courtyard within the hour. Ye leave as soon as ye’re ready.”

“Ma’am,” Ann said, standing at attention before she realized it.

They scrambled out of the room, Bren running off to his room, and the other three to Kat’s. They scrambled to pull their armour on, collect what weapons they needed, their packs and bedrolls, and bolted back to the front. Bren showed up just after them, panting. A carriage was waiting for them and they piled in at the driver’s instruction.

“Holy Hells,” Bren gasped. “What a way to start a morning. Did you all get everything? Weapons? Clothing for cold weather? Bedrolls?”

“Aye, got all o’ that. I made sure,” Kat nodded.

“Good. This could take a bit, and we don’t know what we are running into.”

“Hey, question from the person out of time,” Ann raised her hand. “The fuck is going on?”

“So, ye know that thing I talked about a while back? Wit’ the whole honour system on reportin’ clearing o’ Seeds?” Kat asked.

After Ann nodded, Bren continued the explanation. “This is what happens when that code is broken. It is a massive mess. We likely received the earliest word possible on the situation and it is still possible we arrive to no survivors. At least they had a guard with them. I shudder to imagine what it would be like without that.”

“A feckin’ bloodbath.” Kat shook her head as the carriage rumbled through the streets at full speed. The driver was yelling for people to get out of the way.

“I’ve heard of something like this happening before,” Rosalyn said, quietly. Her face was awash with nerves and she clung tight to Kat. “Rumours, stories. They get around. Wasn’t the last time bad?”

“Yeah,” Kat sighed. “Think the bastard who falsified ‘is report was sentenced tae life in prison. Considerin’ the amount o’ people in this expedition, wouldn’t be surprised if whoever made this clusterfuck gets the noose.”

"Hanging, well, yeah I guess that makes sense,” Ann said, hugging her arms around her. She hadn’t really thought about it, but this was some sort of monarchy. Partially medieval at least. Executions would absolutely be seen as a form of punishment.

“Either that or a beheading,” Bren said nonchalantly. “Likely they want to make an example of whoever it is, so it will be public.”

“Really? Public executions?” Ann gasped.

Even Rosalyn gave her a confused look at that.

“Aye. An example o’ what happens when ye violate one o’ the most important rules we ‘ave,” Kat explained, watching Ann. “People’s lives are on the line. He just murdered up tae fifty people, cost the kingdom a good portion o’ gold, an’ put our lives at risk tae save the ones still alive. All that fer the gold fer clearin’ the Seed.”

“I… shit, I guess you’re right. Still, just, surprised, I guess.”

“How did they handle things like this in your time?” Rosalyn asked, extending a hand to hold Ann’s.

“Well, prison. At least my country was all prison. No capital punishments at all. There were other places that still had it for their most heinous, but that wasn’t how where I’m from did things.”

“Sorry to say, but it seems we are one of those other places,” Bren said softly. “We are not barbarians. There will be a trial and a full investigation. It will take time, but justice will be heavy on the perpetrator.”

“Right. Good. At least there’s that,” Ann sighed.

She didn’t have time to keep talking on the subject as their carriage lurched to a stop. They were quickly ushered out and into the bright morning light of the outer city. Nearby, a sledge had been set up and harnessed with two massive elk, who stomped eagerly at the snow, steam blowing from their nostrils.

Quickly, Kat and Bren hauled their things onto the sledge and climbed in, helping Rosalyn and Ann afterwards. Bren took up the reins and, after a quick moment with a soldier who came sprinting up to speak with him, cracked them to get the elk into motion.

The sledge lurched as the powerful beasts charged off, but smoothed out as they took a route that was less travelled. The snow packed under the rails of their vehicle and cushioned the ride a little.

“Gods, it’s been a while since we’ve been in one o’ these, huh, Bren?” Kat chuckled, looking over the side.

“Not since we lost the last one,” he called back over the wind and noise of the Elk. “Right before we found you, Annita.”

“Right, that was part of that story, huh?” Ann called back.

“Aye. Feckin’ strange Warped took it o’er a cliff. Still not sure if that thing’s dead.”

“We never did get a chance to confirm that, did we?” Bren shouted.

“Nae. As I recall, someone was really tired!”

“As I recall,” Bren retorted with a level of sass in his voice, “someone else had a broken leg! Not to mention being beat to near death.”

“I was fine!” Kat grumbled back.

“Yes, yes, and the sun freezes all it touches,” Bren laughed back.

Kat let out a harrumph, pulled out a blanket, wrapped it around her ears, and huddled up for warmth.

Ann and Rosalyn, unaffected by the cold, took the time to sightsee. They’d seen much the same on their approach to Korvas: the fields of snow, the massive mountain, and the outer city stretched before them, but being out in the air with it all gave it a different feeling.

Ann craned her head up, looking at the peaks. She let out a whistle.

“Hard to believe we were up there a couple days ago, huh?”

“Yeah! I wonder if it’s a calmer day and the animals are out. Oh, I wish I could go and see them. So many little critters in places like that. Being so high up I doubt anything large could survive since it’s all barren of plant life. Something has to, though.” Rosalyn said.

“Maybe some kind of mice?” Ann suggested. “I know we had snow mice back in my day. Cute little things that are all chubby and round and burrowed through the snow. Think they ate grain and stuff.”

“Oooh, that does sound cute!” Rosalyn squealed. “I wish you could, wait, you were an artist! You can draw them!” As the realisation struck, Rosalyn turned with a manic glint in her eyes. “I… Ann. Please? I promise not to ask anything else of you ever ever again. I want to see some of the things like they used to be. Maybe, like, sketches or something? Doesn’t have to be good, but close enough to figure out what they did and how they lived. I’d be so so so so so grateful.”

“Ok, ok,” Ann laughed, pushing Rosalyn back from literally climbing into her lap as she gave her the cutest puppydog eyes. “I’ll do it.”

“Yaaay!” Rosalyn cheered, then leapt off and rummaged in her pack, pulling out charcoal, the journal she’d gotten, and set them in front of Ann. “Um, you know. Whenever you’re ready.”

Ann rolled her eyes at Rosalyn’s awful attempt at restraining her enthusiasm.

She set up a cushion of blankets next to Kat, tucked her tail up and under the blanket the princess was wrapped in, and pulled the journal to her. Kat gave her an appreciative grumble as she hugged the tail.

The time went smoothly. Nothing bothered them as the day went on, and the sledge raced to the Seed. As they travelled, Ann took to drawing. It wasn’t the tablet and stylus she was used to, but she could pencil sketch just fine. The only problem was the rough patches where she just had to put the whole thing down, lest she make a mess or break the charcoal accidentally.

The elk were impressive in their endurance and kept a good pace until about halfway through the day. About that time, they made their way into the town Orlana had described. Ready and waiting was a change of elk. They were tossed a meal from the local garrison, thankfully not having to dip into their own provisions, and continued on their way with Kat driving.

Ann kept herself busy drawing, but now had both Rosalyn and Bren looking over her shoulder as she did. Both of them nattered her with questions as she went through a couple of animals. Mice, some rabbits, a cat and a dog just for the hell of it.

After a while, the elk slowed down, Kat pulling on the reins.

“Runner up ahead,” she called back. “Looks like we’re ‘ere. Ann, remember yer timer. Might wanna go deal wit’ that while we talk tae them.”

“Right,” Ann nodded, looking up past her girlfriend. “Damn shame we couldn’t grab those soundproofing things.”

“I know,” Kat groaned. “Just make it quick. Don’t ‘ave time tae waste.”

As the sledge slowed to a stop, Ann unceremoniously picked up Rosalyn and leapt from the still moving vehicle. She landed, crouching low, and then pranced off toward some trees. “Gonna help me out, lambchop?”

“Definitely!” Rosalyn chirped, wrapping her arms around Ann just before she was pinned to the tree.