Out With The Old

The ride to Murnic went much quicker than you expected. While you were marching slow with your entire army behind you it took just about half a day, but now since you could ride your tiger hard, only taking a handful of breaks to allow your tiger to drink and rest up, you made it from Rathkin to Murnic in even less than half the time it took for you the other way. Rushing into the front gates you realize that the handful of warriors you still have guarding the place are still doing a very good job. It looks like many of the Murnic civilians are back in their own houses, which you are happy about because forcing them to stay in that cramped Tavern is cruel. It appears most of the civilian's are living life as normal, just instead of the random Rathkin guards watching over and protecting their city, those have been replaced with Sunrider's.

You immediately make your way to the Tavern, you have one mission here and you want to get your answers as soon as possible, nothing wasn't going to stop you at the moment. You leap off your tiger almost immediately upon reaching the Tavern and push your way through the front door. The **** you pushed the doors open causes many patrons to look your way, a couple Sunrider's sprinkled in the crowds, talking and sharing drinks with the Murnic civilians but also being on guard. Your armor caused some of the civilian's to cower slightly in fear, thinking you were going to do something ungrateful towards them. You were having nothing of it though, you moved to the side to make your way up the stairs to the second floor.

Reaching the top, one Sunrider stands guard outside the door where you expected Lady Karisi to still be in. "Is she in there?" you immediately say as the Sunrider stands up to grip your forearm, welcoming you back.

"Yes, Darien. How did the war go?" she questions.

"Not now." the look of determination in your face causes her to not even second guess you, instead she steps to the side, allowing you access to the door. "Go get a drink. Leave us alone." you stop in front of the door, looking at the Sunrider. You see her swallow, nod and then leave, making her way downstairs to grab a drink below. With a deep breath, calming your emotions you turn the knob and push the door open, stepping inside the candle and window lite room.

Closing the door behind you, you notice Lady Karisi looking out the window in her room, as she hears the door clamp shut she turns, finally looking at you "Darien! You're back!" she starts to move your direction, a smile on her face "Is it over? Is the king dead?" she questions immediately.

You greet her in the middle of the room, standing a foot apart, just looking at Karisi, trying to read her expressions.

"Is something the matter, Darien?" she asks, tilting her head, her blue eyes filling with question.

"No." you almost whisper out, not saying anything else.

"No? No what?" Karisi asks again, her arm going to yours and gripping a hold of your wrist. "What's the matter?" she asks with curiosity again.

"The King isn't dead...we..." you gulp "We had to retreat."

A shocked expression fills her face as she brings her body back a step "Lost...huh? How? I mean...what happened?" you see her eyes shift to the ground before bringing them back up to greet yours.

You take a deep breath, seeing how long Karisi will hold out "The entire Rathkin **** was too much. We lost hundreds trying to break into the inner gate. Eventually we had to call the retreat."

Karisi raises an eyebrow, looking at you, staring into your eyes as if she's trying to read you "Re...Really?" she questions one more time "I mean..." her whole attitude changes immediately "I"m sorry to hear that, Darien. I knew Rathkin was strong...I just...I just figured you would outnumber them."

"Yeah...well..." you mumble out, looking down at the ground, looking at Karisi's feet.

"If there is anything I can do?" she steps closer to you "You shouldn't give up. You can win! Maybe you killed a lot of them too and they only have a few left behind the gate?" she tries to cheer you up "If you need anything..." her fingers are still trailing up and down your armor covered forearm. You watch on, looking at her fingers dancing around on the fur.

"Well..." you look up from the ground, looking Karisi in her eyes, you **** a grin to appear on your face as you reach your hand up to caress the side of her cheek. Your thumb just softly rubbing her, feeling her silky smooth skin.

"Anything, Darien..."

"Well..." you whisper to her, leaning in closer to her, holding your head just a few inches away from her ear, the entire time you continue to rub your thumb in little circles across her cheek, softly massaging her face "You could start by telling me the fucking truth." you try to stay calm but some of your words have a hint of anger in them.

Karisi steps backwards, her eyes going wide "What? What are you talking about Darien?" she brushes her long braided strand of hair behind her ear "I don't..."

"Stop fucking lying to me." you interrupt her, your hand dropping from her cheek to her shoulder, gripping down on her hard. You see her let out a slight grimace.

"I don't..." she begins again.

"STOP LYING TO ME!" you scream into her, forcing her body backwards until the two of you collide with the wall. Her body bounces off causing her to let out a whimper.

Her breathing stiffened and her eyes locked onto yours once again, she stayed speechless though, not saying a word.

"Why didn't you tell me the Rathkin army left? The city was practically abandoned. We massacred the tiny army that was there, they didn't stand a chance! I know you know they left!! So why didn't you tell me? Where did they go? What is your plan?" you snarl at her.

Karisi grabs your arm from her shoulder and forces it off her before trying to push your body away backwards, you don't budge though, "They went north."

"North?" you question her with attitude.

She swallows hard, looking down at the ground once more before raising her eyes up slowly to greet yours "To the Syndicate..."

Your heart drops as your hand raises up, you grip your forehead with your thumb and index finger and you close your eyes, trying to calm yourself with deep breaths. "No...no...no..." you mumble out.

"Darien, they are going to be okay! The Syndicate will be safe. You don't have to..."

"Why the fuck didn't you tell me." you interrupt her once more, your eyes still closed as you back away from Karisi, almost pacing around the room.

"What good would that do?" she throws her hands up in the air "Were you going to turn your entire army around and march back north? How fucking stupid would that be!" she exclaims "Instead, you got exactly what your damn army wanted to do. Get **** on Rathkin."

You keep your eyes closed, your hand still gripping your head as you shake it back and forth slightly, your breathing getting more rugged.

"Think about it, Darien. The Syndicate wanted to get **** on Rathkin for their betrayal. And that's what you got! It's not like we could have just sat around in Rathkin and had fucking wine and cheese well we negotiated." she continues her rant "Now, the Syndicate got their ****, the king gone and..."

"Now you get to rule Rathkin." you say "And what of the Syndicate..."

"Rathkin is going to take control of the Syndicate. Take over the command, bring in a new ruler of the land. Our first choice would be Lord Edmin, our strongest Tactician but that's not set in stone yet, maybe we will get somebody else..." her words trail off.

"Are you fucking stupid? Do you think the people of the Syndicate will just let an entire Rathkin army take over their city and slaughter their king?"

"We won't give them a choice. If they take up arms against the Rathkin army, they will get slaughtered." she says matter of fact "You do realize, the amount of troops left at the Syndicate don't stand a chance for the army of Rathkin." she continues on "And let's be honest, most normal civilians, tradesman, slaves, whatever, they don't give a shit who is King or Queen, as long as they are treated fairly and given protection."

"How do you know the remaining Syndicate forces won't keep Rathkin at bay? How do you know how many we left behind!?" you reply.

"Darien...we have scouts, we have spies, we have people already in the Syndicate." she shakes her head at you "We've been planning this out since we knew the Syndicate was going to attack us."

"And what of my Sunriders? My Warriors? You think they will just happily march back to the Syndicate arm in arm with Rathkin soldiers?" you yell back at her.

Karisi steps forward, closing the distance between the two of you again "And that's where you come into play, Darien." she takes a breath "You are their leader. Explain to them what's happening. Explain to them that we are getting rid of the old blood. The old king that betrayed your beloved Syndicate. For far too long The King of Rathkin and The King of the Syndicate have ruled and have always followed their old ways." she informs you "But think, with me ruling Rathkin and Edmin or somebody else who we can trust is ruling the Syndicate, we will be allies once more. The two of our Kingdoms will be unstoppable. We will work together constantly, we will do what's best for our people, think of what we could accomplish, of how long we can rule for, of all the changes we will bring!"

"If you slaughter the warriors in the Syndicate, these are their friends, their families, there is no way all my warriors will agree to that." you begin thinking of Lexie now, she is a Sunrider, back at home, if she sees Rathkin coming she will most likely bare arms. "I swear to god, Karisi..."

"What other choice do they have?! What other choice do YOU have, Darien?" she questions you "Rathkin is gone. The Syndicate will be taken over soon, if it hasn't been already. Are you really going to march your entire army back north to the Syndicate, to wag war against Rathkin, inside your own city? Think of the casualties, think of the innocent civilians who will get slaughtered, think of how wrecked that city will become afterwards. Use your god damn brain, Darien, at that point nobody wins." Karisi continues to huff and puff her story out "For fuck sake Darien, for all I know maybe they will want you as the King of the Syndicate. You don't know jack shit about leading a kingdom and quite frankly your skill with politics is pathetic, but if it'll keep the peace I could potentially see it happening..."

With another deep breath, you just stare at Karisi, not saying a word, your head slightly shaking back and forth. After a few brief moments "I will get a Sunrider or two to guide you back to Rathkin." you begin, turning around to make your way to the door.

"Darien. You need to come with me, convince your army this is in their best interest, convince them how beneficial this is to us." she pleads "Once I become Queen of Rathkin I'll send word north, at that point, we can decide how to move our armies about, we'll figure something out!"

"I'm sorry, Karisi..." you begin "I can't go back to Rathkin at the moment."

"Then what Darien? Are you really going to doom both Rathkin and the Syndicate? Please use your god damn head, think of how beneficial this is, we need your help! Think of what we could become!"

"Ashe will hold Rathkin as I asked her too. She won't head north and she won't do anything rash. I trust her." you glare back at Karisi once more "I will send word with my Sunrider's to relay some messages as well. They will hold their ground in Rathkin for the time being..." you give Karisi your word "As for me, I'm heading north."

"North? What the hell is wrong with you!? Going back to the Syndicate won't do anything! You need to convince your army, you need to stay here! Don't be foolish!"

"Ya know Karisi, you fight for what you want. You wanted to become Queen of Rathkin and look at what you did, the lies, the stories, the game plan. I'll give you props, it's a smart move and you would have pulled it off flawlessly if the King of Rathkin didn't spoil it for you" you grin at Karisi "But I have something I'm fighting for too and that something is back in the Syndicate." you hesitate just briefly, thinking of Lexie "If that something isn't there when I get back, Rathkin will face the full fury of the Syndicate" you clench your fist tight "and as you said, Karisi. They need me. If they kill me they doom themselves."

"Darien, don't do this..." she asks of you.

"See you soon, Karisi." you step to the door, opening it up and stepping outside before Lady Karisi can get another word in. Your seething from within, pissed off between the lies from Karisi, the possibilities of the Syndicate getting taken over and your fear for Lexie's safety.

"To the north..." you whisper out to yourself "Here we go again..."

The last time you rode to the Syndicate by yourself you were searching for your family...it seems not much has changed.