Snippet #2686753

Officer Warde didn't like mercenaries, never have, never will.

They'll do anything for money. Cal has seen many a simple merc turn bandit. Some were more patient than others. They would paint themselves decent folk low on coin, a skill had and a service needed. They would dutifully do their job and gauge the capabilities of their charge. When it came time for payment they would hold their employer at sword point demanding double or even all they had. Some worked with the bandits themselves, handing over the ones they were supposed to protect. Some were simple cowards who had no right to hold a sword. Every damn one of them has the worse attitude. They lacked disipline and refused to follow any chain of command without them on top. Cal didn't like mercenaries one bit.

He had already talked to the caravan leader, some grandpa who held himself with an air of importance. He seemed to respect the officer well enough and gladly told him a lengthy and boring story of how they came to be here. There were no complaints about the mercenary they called Ren, nor did it seem that he had been threatened to stay quiet about her. In fact he seemed quite inpressed with her skills, professing she did an exceptional job.

Cal wasn't fully convinced about her though. A woman merc? Something just wasn't right about that. Shouldn't a woman be the one protected not protecting? How ever did she convince them to bring her along, and feed her to boot? Warde suspected that her services were not what they claimed.

As he approached the woman, he studied her closely. As he had thought she was a rather pretty woman if a bit rough. Obviously not the typical prostitute though. This one seemed to use the face of a mercenary to cover her sins in bed. She even carried a blade with her, the costume was well executed. Officer Warde was rather impressed with the effort with which she expended in order to cover up her services. Though a mercenary would still cause suspicion asking admittance to the city, a prostitute would find herself selling her services for free to convince the city guard to let her in.

Once he arrived to where the woman stood, Warde dismounted his horse and passed the reins to one of his nearby soldiers. "I am Infantry Officer Cal Warde, commander of the men you see here, protecting the South Gate." He declared confidently. "You must be Ren, the mercenary in charge of this caravan's well being. What business do you have here in Dyrlyn City?" He couldn't help but sneer at his own cleverness. She really was quite the looker, after all Cal wasn't convinced yet that she should enter the city.