SangRoyal ~ A Story of Passion, Politics, and Betrayal ~

Aahra made it back to camp with little trouble on the road. Though she did have to dispose a few "bandits" some idiots who thought they were tough enough to rob her since she was a woman traveling alone. She didn't bother trying to teach them a lesson. She wasn't in the mood. Normally she would have reveled in their failure, and mocked them, proving to them on every level possible that not only was she better than they were, but she was a woman, and they should never make the mistake of underestimating one again. Today however, she was busy. She had a war to get back to, and she would be heading off to do what she did best. She didn't have time to waste dealing with idiotic men. So she cut them down, leaving them to die. She didn't much care whether or not they actually died, she was only concerned with the fact that they were now out of her way.

She arrived at camp, hopping off her mount, and patting the horse gently. "You've done well, rest now, we will have a much harsher road ahead." The horse was already preparing for sleep as Aahra spoke the words, and Aahra knew that the mount was just as excited about the coming battle as she was. Aahra however, did not have the pleasure of resting just yet. There were things she had to take care of first. "Okay men! I will be taking four troops with me in the morning. We will be heading West, and taking back what cites we have lost! You may discuss amongst yourselves who will be joining me, but there will be four troops, no more, no less. I expect you to be ready by morning! If you are not, punishment shall be had! If there are less than four troops ready in the morning I will take that as to mean you have no intention of fighting this war any longer, and have thus betrayed your country! I am not shy about killing traitors!" She spoke loudly, and harshly, gaining the attention of all the troops still residing at the camp. There were ten. She was going to be taking a good portion of them with her, but there would still be enough men there to hold the camp. She marched into the tent for the generals and higher ranking officers.

"I have gotten expressed permission from the queen to go take back what we have lost. But given that they have taken it from us before, I will have to make sure their forces are severely crippled. I expect at least three of our spies to be contacted by the time I get there. Tell them to have information ready about where their war generals are and any other valuable information about food supply, weapon supply, and backup. I intend to end this as quickly as possible."

One general stood up, looking disgusted, while the other simply looked frightened of her booming voice, and obvious power. The man who stood crossed the room to stand nearer to her, but kept a slight distance, he was not that foolish. "You cannot mean you intend to cut off their food supply. That's just cruel. And to cut off their weapon supply would make them unarmed men. You cannot be serious about going to war with unarmed men."

Aahra smiled at him, a wicked smile. "No, I intend to slaughter starving unarmed men. Those who are not dead from starvation already, will live only to be killed horribly. This war is not a joke. I do not have time to deal with petty men who cannot see their inferiority. So, let them be slaughtered! It will teach them to take what is not theirs to have!"

The general was growing more bold as the anger rose within him. "We took it from them first! It was not ours to have! What you are purposing is cruel! There is no need to resort to such savagery! What would your father think!?!?"

Aahra hissed from deep within her throat. It was a sound she had not intended to make, but the anger grew within her, until it began to bubble out, in the form of a hiss. She drew a sword and put it to the protesting man's throat, her anger a living entity, dancing around them, putting on a show for all who watched, and threatening the man who had inspired it. "You misunderstand." She said in a low growl. "It is not theirs to have because they have not the power to keep it. They will not take it back again, they won't be alive to do so."

One of the frightened men in the back of the tent spoke then. "How do you purpose we cut off their weapon supply?" He said his voice frightened, and strangely high pitched.

Aahra looked at him, not moving her sword from the other general's neck. "They have just fought a battle. I have hope that at least some of their equipment has been destroyed, otherwise, I'll deal with that when the time comes. There is no way to be sure they have no weapons at all, but we can prevent them from getting repaired or new weapons, which gives us an advantage. They must be getting their weapons from their home country, which means there must be a caravan or something of the sort bringing it to them, we take it for ourselves, earning us free weapons, and cutting them off. Understand?"

The small voice whimpered slightly but continued. "I understand why you would want to try, but... they will not be unarmed, they will be able to stand and fight you. It may be a slaughter, but I wouldn't be so bold as to assume they will be harmless."

"Let them be armed." Aahra said, her voice still booming in anger. "I am prepared to fight. They shall be prepared to die." With that Aahra lunged her sword forward, removing the bold general's head. The disembodied head was tossed into the air with the motion, and Aahra quickly drew a second sword, and caught the head with it, stabbing it through the eye, blood was dripping everywhere. She turned back to all those left in the room. "Let this be a lesson. Do not question me. She removed the head from her sword with her foot. Her eyes glowing in anger. "And do not speak as though you know my father." She stomped out of the tent and headed for her own, to get some rest. Once she had left one of the cowering men turned to another.

"Didn't he know her father?" He asked, staring at the bloody corpse.

With a sigh, Bei'nu turned on his heel and headed toward the main gate, drawing the hood of his cloak securely over his features, masking them once more in shadow. He could smell everything; from food cooking to the people preparing it, the smell of blood filling his nostrils to a nearly unbearable state. Bei'nu had to resort to pulling a cloth over his mouth to muffle the scent of human blood coming from all directions.

The large gate swung open as Bei'nu rushed from the palace, the sound of his own blood rushing through his ears. He walked away quickly, until every last trace of human scent had left him. Collapsing, he pulled the cloth from his mouth and breathed in deeply, letting fresh air fill his lungs.

As his hunger slowly faded, Bei'nu looked around, slowly regaining control of his senses. He was in an empty field with little other than grass and sky, alone with nature. Sighing with relief even as his stomach ached with hunger, Bei’nu pulled himself to a kneeling position. Finally, finally I can subdue this hunger, this thirst--For a time, I will not have to worry about endangering those around me because of what I am.

Closing his eyes, Bei’nu focused intently on his surroundings-- the smell of the grass, the feel of the wind against his face, the distant sound of animals calling to each other. Emptying each and every thought from his head, Bei’nu let his senses fill him, let them resonate in the deepest part of his core. Smell, feeling, and sound merged in a chaotic blend of sensations that eventually gave way into a deafening silence, a harmony so complete that it could not be felt, seen, or heard. Bei’nu opened his eyes, twin pools of pitch black, windows leading to a soul conflicted with a brewing aggressiveness masked by an overpowering sense of serenity; The calm before a storm.

The gates opened again, this time to greet the general as he returned. Bei’nu strode inside, his hood drawn back. With the exception of dark crimson eyes, he looked almost human with his warm complexion and full, red lips. Making a quick stop to retrieve the most recent troops movements, he quickly headed to the noble court; stopping when he noticed Youl’ina’s other general leading a small troupe of people that he instantly recognized from his intelligence reports: The royal family of New Errachim and, even more surprisingly, their general.

He walked towards them, paying close attention to the general of New Errachim, mentally comparing what he knew of him against the man that was before him. It’s certainly him, if my intelligence is correct- He’s not tall nor particularly heavily built, but his stance is certainly that of one who knows his trade well. Every feature measures up to what I know of this Liendar, even to his ambiguous facial structure. This has to be him, but why is he here? Bei’nu picked up his pace, quickly catching up with the four, quickly recalling the names of the vizier and the child emperor so that he could greet them.

“Good day General Akaris, I hope all is well.” Bei’nu bowed his head as usual to his colleague before turning to the vizier, bowing politely. “Lady Chi’hanto, Allow me to welcome you to Youl’ina.” When Bei’nu turned to the little emperor, who if his memory served him correctly was Chen’ming, he smiled as warmly as he could, bowing low. “That goes for you as well, my young majesty.” Standing up, Bei’nu finally turned to the third and last member of the group, observing him for a moment before speaking. “And forgive me if I am mistaken, but you are General Liendar, correct? If you are, it is an honor to meet you as well; Allthough your presence here causes me worry” everything has changed so quickly-- will we be able to keep up? Bei’nu sighed, then bowed again as he came out of his thoughts. “I am General Bei’nu Je’ina, at your service.”

It was upon waiting for his Empress to respond that Liendar felt a presence behind them. A small shiver went up his spine when he discovered that the other Youl'inian general was too close for him to have whirled around and defended his sovreigns, if such had been necessary. This General Bei'nu seemed more ghost than human, almost floating rather than walking, and making as much noise as he would have had that been the case. Liendar fought to keep the surprise from his eyes, though his posture tensed in response. There was a subtle danger in the strategists of Youl'ina, which was neatly contrasted by the raw and powerful General Akaris, especially when they stood side-by-side. Liendar gave Bei'nu an unintentionally hard look. "An honor," he repeated, bowing stiffly and minimally. He kept a hand on his hilt, mistrusting of the alien look of the general's eyes.

Chen'ming, for his part, could hardly contain his excitement. While he was completely awed by the first general, all large and magnanimous presence. But there was an edge to the second, dark and mysterious, that intrigued even his young mind. He could not be perturbed by the red eyes. in fact, that only served to heighten his interest. Like a good dignitary, he bowed, looking to his mother to see if she would speak for him.