This War

It was pretty interesting how the people would step apart as you were walking towards the plateau. They could sense you were coming and made an easy path for you and your High Commanders to walk. It made you feel so well respected that all these Sicilian civilians look up to you that well that anything they can do to make it easier for you, they will attempt. Many warriors would cheer you on as you walk by, many would reach out to touch your armor, just to say they made contact with the leader or to feel the softness of the well made armor.

As you make your way up towards the edge of the mountain so you can go off on your little plateau to make your speech you come to a halt at the pathway which leads out to it, you glance over at Zoe who is dressed in her battle armor, her hair braided and in an up-do type crown fashion, it made her look extremely stylish and also a lot more mature, "Good evening, Zoe." you turn your head and look at her.

She doesn't even really want to look at you, she's staring at the ground and seems a little angry with you, "You told her." she grumbles out under her breath.

"Excuse me?" you ask

"You told Lexie about..." she still looks into the ground, not wanting to look at you, "You know what. I asked you not to tell her but you did."

"I'm worried about you Zoe." you step forward, bringing a hand out to her shoulder and she almost flinches away from you.

"Yeah well, worry about someone else. I was doing just fine!" she stomps her foot and finally breaks the look from the ground and almost glares back at you from under your hood.

It's hard to tell anymore with her whether she's really angry with you and if she's still on the drug or not. Sure you told Zoe you wouldn't tell Lexie about her Snuff problem she was going through but you needed some help and figured your Fiance would be the best person to help out. "Didn't see you here this morning for training, I missed ya."

"Uh, oh! That's because I was, long trip you know? I was sleeping! I was tired, yup!" she grins and nods her head up and down a few times, "slept allll day!"

"You weren't at your villa when I came to check up on you after I was finished training and your place was a disaster." you let out a puff of air, "But that's normal for you." you laugh, trying to lighten the mood a bit.

"Hah hah hah!" her sarcasm reeks out, "I know I know! I need to clean it up! I was probably out grabbing some breakfast and you maybe just missed me."

"It was after lunch."

"W-Well yeah, lunch too! I, I went out for both! I need food Darien!"

"Uh huh." you decide not to pry on any farther at the moment as it seems she is trying to cover up for something, "Either way, I'm glad you're here." you nod at her before making your way across the tiny platform leading out to that plateau, leaving your army behind you and your three high commanders guarding that little section of rock so nobody else can venture out with you.

As you make it out on the plateau you begin to walk around in circles, looking over the sea of Sicilian's who are standing around, talking, enjoying each others company and generally waiting for you to begin your speech. You gaze around and see Sylvius and Felix off in the distance, both of them waving at you and throwing their fists high in the air. Up by the mouth of the mountain you can make out the Queen with a handful of guards around her, it was nice that she even took the time to make it down here. As you thought, most likely the entire Syndicate population was down here at the Training Grounds besides a few guards who were ordered to stay on duty up above.

Shortly after it began to go silent as more and more voices were shushing one another as they saw you standing in place on the plateau. It was nice, you didn't have to say anything or do anything, people saw you were standing out on that piece of rock and knew you were going to talk, they were showing you respect and it made you feel extremely proud of the person you've become in life.

And then, silence. Nothing but the wind as thousands upon thousands of men and women were waiting for you to begin your speech. You close your eyes briefly, taking a few deep breaths are you try to finalize what exactly you're going to say, your mind thinks of Rathkin, to the betrayal, off around the plans for battle and the lives that will potentially be lost. Opening your eyes and taking one final long exhale you begin your speech.

"If you haven't heard by now," you begin, projecting your voice loudly across the grounds, "we were betrayed once again by the very same Kingdom we were trying to protect. That's the second time they've done this to us, behind our backs, stripping the lives of our warriors, our soldiers, our people. Just stolen from us as they were doing what they could to lend a helping hand." you hear boos from the audience, "Rathkin will pay for that, don't you all worry." boos turn to cheers, "We will be going to war, we will be marching our entire army south in a few days and we will strike with the whole Syndicate force and wipe the filth known as Rathkin out of existence!" the warriors are beginning to get a little more rowdy.

You pause, taking a few steps around the rock plateau, looking over the sea of people, watching them throwing their hands in the air and cheering. After another minute of that, they eventually start to simmer down again and allow you to continue, "But this war, it's not about Rathkin." your hand does little circles in front of you, "Well, it is, because fuck them." you laugh, causing a bunch of giggles from the audience, "But no, this war is about the Syndicate! This war is about us finally putting our foot down and showcasing to the world who the hell we are!" you move your hand horizontally across your body, "For far too long we have sat on the sidelines, helping out other kingdoms, giving aid and troops to defend and for what?" you shrug once more, "To get betrayed? To get stabbed in the back over and over again? To get brushed off and not taken seriously?"

"Yeah! Hell yeah! The Syndicate!" warriors were cheering out, agreeing with you.

"So as I said, this war isn't about Rathkin. This! War! Is! About! Us!!!" you jam your index finger into your chest over and over with each word, "The people we've lost! The warriors we've lost! The friends, the lovers, the family members..." you actually start to develop a glaze in your eyes, "In three days, we march south to Rathkin, we march south to war! And in those three days, I don't want you to think about Rathkin at all! I want you to think about the lives they took from us! The family and friends that were stolen from our grasp!" for the first time, the warriors were staying silent, thinking about your words, "Rathkin took my family from me and that is something I will never forget. It pains me to know what I've lost..." you actually feel a tear run down your cheek as you think about your family, your sister, your friends, all who were killed by Rathkin, "But even though my family was taken, the Syndicate stepped in because as I lost one family, I gained another!" you pound into your chest again, "I gained you all, I'm fighting for the Syndicate now, I'm fighting for those loved ones that were taken from us, I'm fighting for you!" you point your hand out, trailing it across all the thousands of warriors standing around, "So for these next three days, drink, fight, fuck, do whatever you want to enjoy and relax before war but the one thing I'm telling you not to do, is think of Rathkin."

You take a deep breath and have to sniffle once or twice as you're getting quite emotionally worked up over this, "This war is for our friends, it's for our loved ones and our families." you pause, looking out across the crowd who is still staying extremely quiet, "In three days I march south for the friends I've gained!" you look at Zoe and Ashe before your eyes glance off in the distance and make contact with Sylvius and Felix, then shortly up to the entrance of the mountain and you grin under your hood at Karisi, "I march south for the family I've gained!" your eyes shoot at Lexie and you can't help but smile at the sight of her, "I march south for the people I've lost!" you tilt your head backwards, looking up at the clear night sky, thinking about your sister, "I march south, for all of you!" your head pivots around the entire plateau, looking at every single warrior, "I! March! South!" you shout out those words slowly one at a time, yelling them out with your entire breath, "For! The! Syndicate!!!!!!" you burst out as loud as you can, expelling those words with all your force into the thousands of warriors around.

Another tear quickly rolls down your cheek as the roar and rumble of the thousands of voices scream back at you. It was causing the entire ground to vibrate below as everybody was going berserk with emotions. The cheers, yelps and volume leaving all the random bodies from the people was too much to handle. Your ears were ringing, your body shaking, your entire being was emotionally pushed to the brink. Your eyes glance across the grounds and you can't help but grin under your hood with complete and utter bliss. Your speech was great, your warriors were ecstatic and the war on Rathkin was ready to begin.

This was it, potentially the war to end all wars as everybody was cheering for you...

Yelling for you...

Fighting for...

The Sicilian Syndicate!!!