Snippet #2380311

Today was going to be horrible. Most days, the Guard Captain awoke much closer to noon than to dawn, relishing in the slight abuse of power magic and status had given her, but today... today was special, and required her to arise before even the sun. It was all due to this ridiculous event the Empress had planned, giving the rabble a sight of the inside of their betters' venerate home and forcing a major security and logistical nightmare upon those who would have to keep this rabble in line. The day before had seen most of the actual planning for where each guard would be stationed, what their patrols would be, when they were to be relieved, and what would happen to them if they deviated from this plan and something happened in their absence.

And so, there, in the main hall, where thousands would soon be gathering in dangerous proximity to the Empress, she stood, wearing the outdated armor she had worn for decades, with all its dents, scratches, weight, and faded colors, watching her subordinates get into their position and evaluating how effective it all seemed. When each of the guards who would be tasked with overseeing this floor were in their positions, their captain dismissed them so they could be attentive for the event. With the main floor secured, and other officers tending to most of the other major areas that were collectively being known as the greatest security risk the Empire has ever known, Meryl set to making sure that the less obvious areas were properly tended to.

There was checking each of the hallways that were to be used by the servants, each of which had a golem or a guard to ensure any harassment ended either peacefully or with a dead commoner, and the paths to the palace's depths. This is where the most annoying of orders were to be found, as the unsightly source of all this technological greatness that Meryl could outmatch over a century ago was being left open to the public. Now, she understood the concept behind today's events; the Empress wanted the people to see her as magnanimous and her governance transparent, but there were precautions that could easily be taken that no one would be bothered by. The most important of which was access to that disheveled dragon girl and her indisposed pet, something no one needs to see and something that could easily be kept out of the public mind with nothing but a locked door and any number of excuses as to why it was so. As she walked down the corridor to the place she rarely visited–for why would anyone who wasn't one of those incredibly odd Technologists ever want to see what was down there–she passed by several golems, placed there to look intimidating and indirectly keep the people away.

When she came within sight of the chamber door, she hesitated to go further; the dragon girl would be inside and the dragon girl was never one to be quiet, agreeable, and stress free. Still it wasn't like it wasn't easily understandable why she was such, what with her great beast reduced to a battery and her revered order scattered like the fools they were. And, with a heavy sigh and her hesitation overcome, Meryl took those extra few steps necessary to notice that the dark outline of the chamber doors was slightly askew. Someone, most likely one of the Technologists with his mind too consumed by thoughts of Magefire to worry about common courtesies, seemed to have left the doors open. As she moved closer to shut them so as to not attract the curious eyes that weren't discouraged by the hallway full of staring, eyeless golems, she noticed something of a more fleshy shape and color. She stopped and squinted to see who it was peering out into the empty corridor, only to see the distinctly ragged looks of the one who spent the most time in that dreary place.

She resumed her march towards the door, but slowed the pace in an attempt to not make the girl adjust her temperament to her appearance and go rabid. "What are you doing, girl?"