Intermission: Behind the scenes

After exiting the Railway, Ellie ducked into the alleyway, adjoining the bar. She pressed her back against the wall and let out a sigh.

“Good luck, John! You’ll have to forgive me, I know you can do it, and I know you’re interested because otherwise you wouldn’t have sat with her,” she muttered. She took a breath. “And if he decides that he’s not comfortable going with her, I’ll be right here for him, and we can meet with Cyn and finish our night a little quieter… after our frustration has been taken care of.”

The blonde heard the sound of the bar door opening and John’s voice followed the MILF that exited. Diane was silent and walked without a word while John followed after her.

She felt a twinge of annoyance as John’s question went unanswered, so she followed the two.

The mature woman turned around but Ellie managed to duck into another alleyway without being spotted. When she looked back at the two, she was greeted by the sight of her boyfriend and the MILF making out.

She felt both a rush of triumph, as well as a twinge of longing. She shook her head and smiled. ’I should text Cyn back, ask her if she wants to meet up,’ she thought.

The Shield Warden paced past her father's office door once again. She had lost count of how many times she’d walked back and forth in the past hour or so. Her pace had slowed and sped up multiple times as she’d tried to work up the nerve and figure out the right words to say to her father.

’I can do this... He’ll agree with me… a-and it’s just a bonus that I’ll get to spend more time with him… I wish Lorelei was here, it would be much easier to bring this up with her behind me…’ the ginger thought.

She stopped in her tracks as she stepped in front of her father’s door again. She clapped both hands across her cheeks and took a deep breath. “I can do this,” she muttered, before knocking on the door.

“Enter,” the clear and concise voice of her father called.

She turned the handle and pushed herself forward into the office. “Da-” She stopped when she saw the three knights sitting opposite her father on the couch. She cleared her throat. “I apologise for interrupting. I have something important to speak with you about. Would it be okay if I waited here until your meeting has adjourned?”

The lord gave a single nod before continuing. Moira stood to one side of the door, straightening and holding her hands behind her back. Her father and his guests’ voices faded into the background as she tried to run through what she needed to speak about.

After a time, Moira was pulled from her mind as she heard the office door to her left closing. Turning, she saw her father, and looking around the room, she realised that they were now alone.

He took a few steps towards her and smiled warmly. “Hello, my little pumpkin,” he spoke in a much softer, welcoming voice.

She smiled back at her father and threw her arms around him. “Hey, Daddy.” Moira’s voice was meek but loving.

“What can I do for you? Or did you just want to spend some time together? It’s been a while since we had some quality time,” he asked.

“It has, and I hope we can do something soon… But I do actually have something I need to speak with you about,” the Shield Warden answered.

The silvering man’s brow rose. “Oh? Then let’s get comfortable,” he suggested, putting his hand on the Warden's back and guiding her towards the lounge area of his office.

The pair sat by the fire. Lord Brighton’s posture was relaxed in a way seldom few were permitted to see him in. In contrast, Moira was rigid, both arms extended fully with her hands overlapping on her knees. Her father took note of her uncharacteristic stiffness.

“Everything alright, little pumpkin?” he asked, his voice soft and lined with concern.

The redhead shook her head and cleared her throat. “I, uhm, yes… Well, kind of… I wanted to talk to you about the boy from the other day… the one who fought with Miss Kaen.”

The lord nodded and hummed. “Yes, I remember him. Does something concern you about the boy? Did you reconsider him as a threat after all? Or do you think he might be more involved with these Red Scales than we assumed? It was at your recommendation that we didn’t send the excursors to investigate him. If you are worried, we can have a team deployed immediately to begin collecting data.”

“No! I, uhm, no, that’s not what I meant… What I mean is, well, h-he’s one of the students at Ashcroft and I believe we should offer him a title position in the Order,” the redhead suggested. Her voice was quiet and had a tinge of uncertainty, though the reason was due to nerves rather than doubt. “He refused my offer before but I’m sure that if the request came from you with a higher position, he’d agree.”

Lord Brighton looked at his daughter, a quizzical expression painted on his face. “A titled position? You think the boy has the skill to take on responsibility like that? And to entirely skip the training of a squire?”

Moira became a little more flustered and her face took on a small amount of colour. “W-well, I believe that… that I should train him… p-personally.”

Recognition flashed across the lord's face. “I see. I suppose I should have expected the day my little pumpkin finally had a boy catch her eye. With so many knights under your command, I am surprised it hadn’t happened sooner.”

The redhead's face began glowing red. “W-what? N-no! T-that’s not what I mean! I, uhm, while interviewing him, I learned that he was the one who saved me from the blue basilisk that appeared last week. The fact he was in another dragon barrier was a red flag… to begin with, but then I asked him to use the healing spell he’d used on me before…”

Moira pulled her arms close to her, holding her hands to her chest. “I hadn’t mentioned it before because I couldn’t be entirely certain… While healing me, I felt the Lady’s power, it wasn’t an imitation or a diluted form that might be expected from a knight, it was Her power wholly. I don’t know what it means, but I feel I have to support him in any way I can, which also means that I think his place in the Order is by my side so I may guide him properly… And if we can’t get him to join, at least establish some kind of support for him.”

The lord nodded as he contemplated his daughter’s words. “I see. Ideally, I would have liked to get the opinion of Lorelei on this matter. I will confer with Cornelius; the appearance of someone blessed by the Lady other than a bearer of the Blessing might be cause for concern.”

The redhead became worried and looked at her father. “What do you mean? I don’t think John is a threat,” she defended.

“Of course not, pumpkin. My concern may be unfounded, which is why I'd like to speak with Cornelius. I'd also like to ask his opinion of where in the hierarchy he might suggest positioning a person outside of the Order who has been blessed by the Lady and if it had ever happened before."

A sigh of relief came from the Warden and she donned a slight smile. “Oh, okay, good. I will organise a meeting tomorrow if that’s prudent enough for you, Daddy.”

“That’s perfect,” he said. Leaning over he pulled Moira in for a hug, rubbing her shoulder. “Regardless of the new information, I’m not blind. Your blushing betrays your protests.”

Moira opened her mouth to argue back but was shushed by her father as they hugged.

“I don’t need to hear your excuse again, Celeste,” a white-haired woman grumbled, pulling an odd set of brass owl-like goggles from her head and setting it on the table. “You requested to be allowed to remain in the barrier so that you could try killing and absorbing the life essence of the dragons inhabiting it. You failed. Not only that, you fled, leaving the barrier open for the Order to come along and investigate.

“To say you failed is an understatement, and you want to give me excuses? I don’t want to hear it!” she fumed.

“Give her a break,” a feminine voice called from just outside of the tent. “It’s not like it was that bad. Yeah, she didn’t get any kind of dragon transformations, and yeah, she left the barrier for the Order to find, but it’s not like there was anything to follow other than our dust. The barrier had been cleaned of any trace of us before Celeste was even given permission to remain and the dragons we captured had already been brought back to camp hours before that.

“If anything,” the voice continued, its owner pushing her head into the tent, revealing her bright pink hair and smirking at the white-haired woman, “being sloppy could have been a benefit. It could lead the Order or anyone else to underestimate us, thinking we’re incompetent. Doing it on purpose, we could even redirect them.”

“Will you listen, I’m not just making excuses,” Celeste complained. “There was something in that barrier more powerful than anything else. He didn’t look like a dragon and seemed to be holding back, but then… something changed, and when he attacked, my magic vanished. I couldn’t do anything, and someone with that kind of power is dangerous, I had to run. It won’t be the same next time, though…

“Listen, I saw him today. He was outside of that academy and he had the uniform on; he must be trying to blend in or something. I don’t know what it is but he’s up to something and we should find out what it is.”

“I’ve heard enough! You expect me to believe you not only came up against some kind of anti-magic dragon, but it also goes to school in Springfield? We have been grouped together because the organisation doesn’t trust us wholly and I have to try reasoning with the higher-ups already, so spare me,” the white-haired woman said, storming through one of the tent arches out of the common area.

Celeste grumbled and muttered under her breath, “I don’t need you, I’ll find out what’s going on myself.”

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