laneys.info Beware of Yankees, drunks, and loose women.

In the dim light of morning, a cloaked figure quickly padded down the street and passed apartment and shop alike on their dreaded task. Smaller of frame, they melted easily between the circles of torchlight cast from perches near doors or corners of the tightly packed buildings which rose two and three stories into the dark sky.
Soon, they neared a wooden door whose weathered wood had seen better days. This appointment should never have been called for as they softly knocked. Being early, she knew the occupant hadn't slept well in many months already and was probably waiting on her call.

Within, she heard the hesitant footsteps approach and the slide of the wooden bolt, then the creak of an opening door revealing the worried look on the middle-aged face. He had served the duke and kingdom well over the years.

"It's time to go," she whispered. The fear in his eyes as they widened gave her a moment of pause as they both expected the worst. He nodded, grabbed the backpack near the door and shouldered it as he stepped out. He was expecting her. Sighing, Alfred strode out into the cool night and closed the door, an accused man now on his way to judgement as he quietly walked with her, his once proud visage now defeated.

"Will she be alright," he finally asked.

"It's not for me to say, you know that." The barking of a dog interrupted her train of thought as she mentally glanced into a second story window to see the snarling guardian in a window.

"I know. I was just hoping...."

She felt no remorse at this point, however he was a fellow servant and that point reminded her of her own mortality. "How could you have let this happen," she pressed, trying to keep her voice down.

"It just happened. I can't explain how or why," he defended and trailed off in thought. "She's so beautiful."

"And married," she reminded. "We're not to get involved, you know this. The mandate when you were promoted stated to keep your attentions on the duchy, not your own desires. These lands are full of those who would give anything to see it's destruction and I can't have my agents distracted."

He nodded in defeat, head hung low as they continued their trek through the quiet town that would be waking soon. "You're right, of course. Forgive me," he glanced to her. "I never meant for it to get this far. You have to believe me."

She sighed and kept her pace. They were waiting for him and she couldn't give them any reasons to turn their attention on her, not now. "She'll give birth soon. So, you'll live on in that respect," her voice trailed off as his emotions welled. Desperation poured from the man who was undoubtedly living out his last day, seeing his last sunrise. Remembering their last kiss.

"Then for that, I'm happy." As they moved through the market square, he turned to her. "She will live on? The child?"

Cloaked head turned to him, "Again, that's not for me to say. If they deem the child is not a threat then she will live a normal life." A tear coursed down his ruddy cheek and disappeared into a greying beard and he bit his lip, then turned towards the far gate with a renewed determination in his eyes.

"It's in their hands then." He nodded, "Yes, she will live a long, happy life. I'm certain of this." For his sake, she hoped so and in a small way, admired him for that. "I never meant to disgrace you either, milady. I need you to know this."

"I know," she nodded and turned her attention back towards the gatehouse whose dark stone was beginning to shimmer and lighten as they approached. She slowed her pace and allowed him to go on into the portal opened for the Biasca, now retired from his position here in Polgar. "Goodbye," she whispered as his tall, portly frame disappeared into the nether. Pulsating blue lines and cracks then faded into the shadows within the nieghboring buildings and alleyways.

A cacophony of voices soon permeated her being, "You will find a replacement and ensure this one knows the rules."

"I will."

"We can't afford any more mistakes like this one, Galena. Ensure that it doesn't happen again. A Jura must keep her agents in the shadows, the enemy is still prominent in this world."

"I promise that it won't happen again," she mentally replied as their overwhelming presence then evanesced from her. Now to interview a replacement.