Beedis

It would take the squire longer than expected to sneak out of the castle. Guards had been stationed in all kinds of unusual places in an effort to assure everything ran smoothly leaving most of his usual routes inaccessible. He was resourceful enough to find a way out but his good fortune would be short lived.The weather turned quickly and as soon as he made his way past the gates it began drizzling. "Perfect." he muttered to himself as he picked up the pace; there was nothing he hated more than being rained on. The Squire wouldn't get very far down the road before he spotted the company of mounted knights in the distance. He cursed his luck under his breath as he considered his options. Trying to get by the group without rousing suspicion would be difficult. He looked out of place without any official uniform or armor, but with all he had invested into leaving tonight he couldn't justify going back. With pride clouding his judgement he continued down the road despite the obvious risks. As he got closer he noticed the formation took up most of the narrow section of the road ahead, it would be impossible to slip by. Try as he may to play things off the closer he got the more wary the knights grew shooting him wayward glances as soon as he entered their line of sight. "You there halt!" One of the knights finally yelled before brandishing a weapon. A clean exit wasn't exactly an option anymore. The entourage had spread out completely blocking the way ahead, and by this point all eyes were trained on him. Delgue had little choice but to comply stopping in his tracks. Following a brief silence the same knight spoke up again "Now state your purpose!". Delgue's situation had quickly gone from bad to worse. The only thing that would get him out of this now was a bold faced lie, but that was something he could manage. "With all that has happened as of late they were beginning to get worried something had gone wrong. So they sent me ahead to assess the situation." he explained as he scanned the crowd. His gaze finally caught on the woman he thought to be the dignitary. "And you must be Lady Dollya." He continued before turning to face her. "I'm but a squire so it's an honor to meet someone of your prestige." he finished before offering her a bow. The squire acted with practiced ease never once stuttering, or breaking character. He hoped it would be enough to fool the royalty because if the plan worked he would be home free in no time.

Delgue wiped the sweat from his forehead before taking a step back from the hedges he had been fixing. "Come on pick up the pace." The senior knight barked. "Lady Dollya will be here within the hour." the knight continued. "It's one thing for them to send someone to supervise me doing chores but another thing entirely to send someone who has no appreciation for the fine art of gardening." the squire remarked whilst admiring his handiwork. "Don't make me write you up for insubordination again Delgue, just follow orders for once." he commanded. "You know somehow I think our guest has bigger things to worry about than a courtyard she might only glance at." Delgue replied before moving to work on another hedge. At this point the Knight was done humoring him and only offered indignant silence as a response. Today Drakiss was rife with activity. Word had reached the keep that a dignitary would be arriving within the next few days to act as the new regent ruler. The news had the higher ups desperate to make a good impression. So desperate in fact that they diverted all available manpower from training to tidying up. Delgue was no exception as not even the most senior of knights were spared from the chores. It didn't take long for the qquire to fix the rest of the hedges and with the task at hand finished he tossed the clippers to the knight before leaving the courtyard. "Be on your best behavior Delgue. If you cause trouble today the consequences will be dire, and change out of those soiled clothes while you're at it." he ordered. "Yeah, yeah." Delgue replied before waving the knight off as he passed him. Things had yet to calm down by the time he walked back to his quarters. The halls were still filled with the rank and file doing some last minute cleaning. Soon he reached his bunk and began digging through his belongings. With a fresh pair of clothes in hand he began to change. As much as he loved to stick it to his Superiors walking around in an outfit stained with grass, and sweat wasn't a pleasant thought. After freshening up the squire made his way to the door. There wasn't much time left but he would try to slip out into the city unnoticed. Just the thought of the goody goody ass kissers parading around the keep was enough to make his skin crawl. This plan would make everybody happy and keep him out of trouble.

Vormund smiled "Well for now you will have to take my word for it but I'm sure you'll get your chance to see more once this is all over." he explained. Her response to his anecdote made him chuckle "Yes, you know me. I can certainly be hot headed and impulsive at times." he explained before peering at his still bandaged hand. As she leaned in he closed his eyes and titled his head to reciprocate the gesture but the moment wouldn't last. A foul and unsettling wave of magic rippled through the air as Aranel pulled away from his embrace. His expression grew cloudy at the sensation. It seemed everywhere they went trouble was not far behind, at least they were able to enjoy a temporary peace. As two flustered Dwarven soldiers busted through the front doors of the library he shot up from his seat. The two confirmed his previous suspicions. The Drow had taken advantage of the situation and broken into the castle in a bid for power. He knew they were not to be trusted. If the Drow were to succeed they could ruin their only chance at peace, and they couldn't allow that to happen. "We won't let them go through with this." he assured the two Dwarves. It was then another wave of magic rippled through the city. This one more violent than the last, and violent enough to shake the city. The quake put the library in a state of disarray knocking books, and shelves down alike. He managed to keep his footing but the guards were not as fortunate. It seemed the situation was more dire than he had originally expected, they had to move now. The longer they took the more innocents could be injured. He followed the Archmage rushing outside after her. It seemed she was thinking the same way he was. In order to escort the Dwarves to safety she summoned her familiar, and with the civilians safe they wouldn't have to hold back. "Your King and Queen will come out of this unharmed don't worry." Vormund assured the two guards before taking off towards the castle as fast as he could manage. As they ran he found himself wrought with self anguish. "We never should have trusted them Aranel." he said.

"Alright, I'm still skeptical but if you think we can trust him then I'll follow your lead." he responded as they began walking towards the rear end of the village. "I hope you're right. His type must have problems with fake coin all the time." he responded. "Still I wasn't about to give up the payday I got from turning you into your mom." he joked with a cackle. "I need that money to pamper myself once this is all over." he added. "All the Drinks and Girls I can buy as soon as I get home. Maybe I'll even get a bonus for solving this mystery." he continued. They made their way out of the village and back into the surrounding woods. Soon Marlo began speeding ahead of him. She was anxious, this much was obvious and he could feel it from where he was standing but that wasn't going to stop him from being petty. "Remember I'm the one in charge here Marlo; and your stalwart leader has to conserve his energy." he replied sarcastically while keeping his pace. "And remember what I told you Marlo. We aren't after some thieves or your problematic mother this time. Calm down and remember to use that thick skull of yours." he ordered the sarcastic edge now absent from his tone. Suddenly Delgue closed the distance to Marlo grabbing her by the back of her clothing before pulling her down beside him behind a nearby tree. "Be quiet!." he commanded before peering around the trunk of the tree and into the small clearing a ways ahead of them. He could make out the silhouette of a figure awkwardly slumped down against a tree. For a minute he watched in silence. The figure didn't seem to move, in fact the figure didn't even appear to breathe. "I think they're dead." he whispered. "Damn. It seems whoever was after us picked our trail back up. They should know by now that a corpse isn't going to scare us away...if that even is a corpse." he continued. "If anything they helped lead us straight to them." he added. "I can't see anybody nearby but still, we shouldn't get anywhere near the body. It seems like a trap to me." he explained. "We should go as far around it as we can." he suggested.