Not Exactly

"Are they your bodyguards?" The guard asked with a raised eyebrow,

Tarik looked back to your group and quickly shook his head, "No, I found them on the side of the road. They are Reness's soldiers, they protected me from bandits for a ride here." Tarik said simply to your anger,

The guard turned back to you and put his hand on his sword hilt, "I'm going to need you to turn over your weapons now. After we've cleared you, i'll bring you to King Tarim."

"And if we refuse." Kent asked with narrowed eyes,

The guard frowned at the question and let out a whistle. The three of you peered up and saw as five longbow men aimed down at you while the three our gate guard pulled out their weapons, "Then you die, we have orders. Either you submit or we dispose of you." He said calmly, "Now hand over your weapons."

"M-maybe we should just go." Jenessa said a bit timidly,

"Sorry miss but that's not an option either. We can't have undocumented soldiers of the Reness army running through our lands. I am going to ask one last time, please drop your weapons." The guard said firmly,

You looked over to Kent then back to Jenessa before slowly pulling out your sword. You held out your arm and handed the blade to the guard. Kent pulled out his sword and dropped it to the ground, Jenessa quickly followed putting down her bow, "We submit." You said with a small nod,

"Thank you." The guard replied as he passed your sword back to another guard, "Tarik you are clear to enter the city freely, the rest of you follow me." The guard said firmly before turning around and heading to the gate that slowly opened.

You walked forward leading Kent and Jenessa forward, you gave a cold glare to Tarik as he eagerly ran to his carriage and jumped into the driver seat. You passed the large stone walls and finally entered the flourishing town of Genus. Throughout your life you had only ever gone three times and each time had been better than the last. The city had become a hub for military production, Blacksmiths had constant work as did stable masters. On the other hand the villagers had always had available employment, leaving the homeless population fairly low. And of course you could see the multiple taverns and brothels dotting the corners of the streets.

As you continued to walk through the streets you could see the citizens giving either worried or dirty looks to your group. You reached a large set of stairs which held a large keep at the top, the guard turned to the left and stopped at a smaller building. "Follow me, we need to check you over one final time. Tarim is very cautious." The guard explained,

"Could I ask a question?" Kent asked as you three were lead in,

"You can ask." The guard replied as the other guards inside the building began to pat you down,

"Who are you? I figure you are in charge right?" Kent replied,

"You figure right. Guard Captain, Jodstr." He replied,

"Alright Captain, tell us. What are the odds of this going well for us?" Kent asked with a frown,

"Depends, if we have need and you seem trustworthy you'll be fine but if not...well, there is no middle ground here." Jodstr replied.

Kent looked back to you and gave a concerned look, "What about civilians? What happens to them?" You asked peering to Jenessa, as she technically is one,

"We push them on, we don't allow Reness's civilians inside the city. Tarim only wants men and woman who can bolster his forces." Jodstr explains,

"Well it's a good thing we're all soldiers right guys." Jenessa said with a small smile,

"Yeah..." Kent said halfheartedly as the guards finished,

Your eye caught a cute redheaded guard that walked over to Jodstr, "They are clean sir, you can take them to Tarim now." She said with a beautiful voice,

"Thank you Aera." Jodstr said with a nod, "Okay follow me, let's go see Tarim." Jodstr said as he opened the door leading you out once again.