Respect

After leaving Karisi broken on the ground in The Pit you wanted to go check up on her. As much as you were pissed off with her you still cared about her as a person so you honestly did want to make sure she was alright. Hopefully you actually putting your foot down and showing some authority would make her respect you and take your word for granted sometimes.

Walking into the Throne room you actually don't see Karisi in it at all. After asking a few of the warriors in the castle you come to the conclusion she is still in her room. Sure, it's still quite early in the morning but that is rather unlike her. You make your way to the end of the Throne Room towards the door in the back which leads to her room and give it a few gentle knocks.

After waiting many moments you get no response so you slowly start to turn the handle and find it open. As the latch clicks and you push it open and peer your head around the door to look into the dim lite room. You immediately look at the huge bed with golden posts raising to the ceiling with a maroon cloth ceiling woven into it but find nobody in the bed. Next, your eyes veer around the room to a few of the bookcases which hold many historically documents and scrolls and there she is, sitting at the table with scrolls laid out across it as she studies over them.

"Karisi?" you ask as you step inside and close the door behind you "You okay?"

She looks up at you and you can see her eyes are bloodshot and she had dark bags under them. She clearly looks quite exhausted and you are curious if she even slept at all last night. "Yeah, I"m fine." her voice still sounds somewhat weak.

You move up to the table she's sitting at and pull the second chair out and take a seat just to the side of Karisi. You lean forward and place a hand on her knee "Look..." you pause "About last night..."

She just holds her hand up in the air giving you the stop signal as she shakes her head slightly "No need, Darien. If anyone is going to say anything about last night it'll be me." you see her eyes connect with yours "We're all good. I understand why you did what you did and to be honest, if the roles were switched I don't know if I would have let you live." she forms a half-hearted smile "I was one hundred percent sure I was getting thrown into The Pit last night..."

"You look like you didn't sleep at all?" you ask curiously.

"You would be correct." her eyes clench shut and she rubs her temples with her left hand "Lot to think about, lot to do." she shakes her head slightly to regain her senses "Now, why are you here? What do you want?"

It was quite amazing. After what just happened last night it appears Karisi isn't really phased at all from it. You imagine she couldn't sleep very well due to what happened but besides her eyes showing her tiredness her whole personality is the exact same. "I want to go to Loner's Reach." you let out.

"Oh?" her eyebrows go high as she looks at you "Would that be smart?" she asks.

"Well...that coin I showed you was given to me by Shade." you reply.

"I figured as much." Karisi bluntly replies "That was obvious."

"So, I'd like to go see the area, the kingdom, the...town? I don't even know what it is, but I'd like to see the place. Meet this...Shade guy on his turf."

"To be fair, you could ride south." Karisi considers "I mean, Ashe and Rynlee are already south with some of your Sunrider's, I'm sure if you took a few more to help them out and then ventured west to Loner's Reach yourself they would appreciate it."

"You're not..." you raise an eyebrow at her "Oppose to that?"

"Listen, Darien." her palms go flat on the table in front of her "I don't know what kind of deal you made with this Shade person, but if you want to go check out the area and figure it out yourself then be my guest. As you said...not like I really have the power to control you anyway." she gives you a sly grin.

"Hah!" you let out a laugh "I still respect your opinion on the matter though. I just hate getting pushed around and taken advantage of by you. That, my Queen, is what needed to end." you snark back at her.

"Fair Enough!" she replies "Take some Sunrider's south with you then, meet up with Ashe and Rynlee at the outskirts of Rathkin villages. I'm sure a friendly face such as yourself as well as some fresh warriors to help out would be greatly appreciated. I'll keep all the Syndicate Warriors here though to defend just in case something comes up but you are the leader of the Sunrider's, take as many of them as you want."

Your hands go on top of hers and hold her gently "Hey..." your voice is soft "You're a strong women, I hope you know that. I do respect your opinion and I hope you know that you're still my Queen, no matter what."

"I know." she gives you a wicked grin "I'm the most powerful women in a world ruled by men. I'm not going to let another one knock me down with threats" she blows you a kiss. "And to be fair, I could probably still have you killed if needed. You're only alive because that was Edmin's plan in the first place. Typical men, always so headstrong and never enough brains."

"You're a piece of work, you know that?" you smile back "And honestly, I wouldn't have it any other way." you stand up from the table looking at Karisi "Thanks Karisi." you nod "I'll be here a few days before I head out but then I'll leave south. If you need anything, have any questions or just need to talk, let me know." she nods to confirm "And also, get some damn sleep, okay? You look awful!" you tease.

"Oh fuck you." she snarls back with a smile as you turn to leave the room "Oh and Darien." she begins which causes you to stop at the door and look over your shoulder back at your Queen "Thank you." her voice sounds sincere "For last night, I"m sorry about what I did. You have my word, I'll keep you in the loop going forward from now on, no matter what."

You turn back around and look at Karisi "Good!" you smile "Because I'd honestly hate to throw you into The Pit. You're strong, smart and sexy." you shrug "It'd be a waste!"

She rolls her eyes at you and let's out a soft chuckle while her head shakes back and forth "Seriously though, thank you Darien."

You return her words with a nod and then turn to exit her room.