There was certainly a seed of doubt inside Aleko as he saw the lanky mayor lower himself to one knee and bowing his head. The heir could only lower his head to follow the movements of the human, surprised of the man's sudden cooperation. Then, the entire crowd around him followed suit, the town center was filled with clatter of armor pieces or the rustling noises of clothes creasing. Aleko could easily notice the people not being very enthusiastic by the change of allegiance and he couldn't blame them for that. He knew that there was very little he could do right then to alleviate the fear poisoning the populace's hearts, they unfortunately had to wait for the wind of the new regime to pass over them; of course, there will be those who are unhappy with most things, Aleko knew not to pay them any mind, lest he would be bickering over the most unimportant nothings like scurvy crones. And of course, there were voices of contempt echoing through through the crowd, which the mayor quickly silenced by sending his spearmen to apprehend them; the heir had the urge to stop them from doing so, but then, he had little to no thought on how to deal with them personally. He thinned his lips as he watched the guardsmen take the agitators away.

"I understand there is doubt and fear." He replied to him. "It would be naive of me to believe that a speech alone would be enough to win the lot's hearts. I will prove my words with actions, my good man."

"You're also rather - blessed - to find yourself in a key point on the map of Avalon. You will find yourself rich yet."

But otherwise, indeed, the province of Northspark was now a part of the New Empire movement. General Ironfist was glad about the success too as he bellowed and clasped the heir's back with a heavy hand back at the newly-conquered fortress.

[b]“With this ‘ere combined outpost o’ Northspark an’ Paletower, it gon’be much easier to bring me’ forces on future assaults on this ‘ere ‘Kindom o’ tha’ North’. Har! Maybe ther’be some emperor in ye’ afterall, lad. But don’ let it get to ye’r head!”[/b]

"Do not worry, general", Aleko started, landing a palm of his own on the dwarf's shoulder, "I know my place. It's a province, aye, but it's ours. There are more to come yet."

Then, the general made his intentions more or less clear as he parted towards the town. The smiled lightly and nodded his head.

"I was about to suggest leaving a garrison in the town also. We wouldn't want civil unrest on our hands, would we?"

But the time of relaxation had finally arrived, the shepherd had the liberty to take off the plate armor and allow himself to walk only in his crimson gambeson bearing black trims, a pair of padded leggings, the pair of rather thin boots that fitted under the plate leggings and sabatons; the only bit of plate armor left on him were his gauntlets, a brand that scholars of Master Winzent GrauFell's teachings would wear at all times, denoting their exquisite swordsmanship and dueling prowess. Of course he joined the celebration with his subordinates and the helfling general, quietly sitting on his own stool with a cup of wine in his gloved hands; Bedpan and Thunder were both close to the Emperor, the same with bits of the squad under Yearling's command, sharing their happiness with the rest of the forces celebrating their first real victory in a long while. This time, the heir actually finished his cup and even asked for a refill to be able to properly toast with his comrades; once he was called for the toast, he chuckled to himself and pushed his body up to stand on the table too, his cup also raised.

[b]“To Aleko Farland Sendrakon the First! Also known as ‘Frosty’!”[/b]

"Oh, gods-"

[b][i]“To Emperor Frosty! Long may he reign!”[/i][/b]

Aleko shook his head and laughed at the choice of name, but still, he took a big gulp of the wine with the rest of the troops.

[i]Better than Emperor Winter Bunny, I suppose.[/i] He sighed and took advantage of the rather silent moment to address himself to the celebrating soldiers.

"Well fought, men, well done." He started, his voice managing to quiet the entire room. "Some may say that there's nothing to celebrate, that we're still far from accomplishment; I agree, there's a long road ahead, but today we took one, firm step forwards with our right foot. I say, let's be happy we have something to drink and whoop about, aye?" He waited for a unison reply, which did arrive.

"Let it be known that today, the first step towards the Second Unity had been taken, aye? For Avalon!" He concluded, his voice raising to a proud shout in the end.

[i]Yet, how am I able to make anyone fight for a cause that I just can't make myself believe in?[/i]

After he had finished a third cup of his wine, he found himself mildly inebriated as he immediately noticed the room spin around him while he tried to stand up, so, he sat back down with the rest of the men and turned back to them.

"Whew, seems like this mutt's sitting it out a little."

The table roared with laughter at the light-weight, Thunder seemed to have brightened after he had lost one of his men, while MacFinlay didn't seem so uncomfortable around the Emperor any longer; as a matter of fact, he actually found the courage to wrap an arm around his nape as another song erupted in the hall, which Aleko did sing out with his rather lackluster voice. But after he had recovered his sense of balance, he decided to go to sleep, as he preferred to not make any poor decisions in the company of his underlings, he wasn't a simple lieutenant anymore. He heard enough tales of drunken lords to know how poorly an evening could end and the little respect they are given for being petty drunkards.

[i]I am no drunkard, no no, I am an Emperor. Har, Emperor of the smallest corner in Avalon. A little Emperor. Heh.[/i]

There was a hard thud against him, or so he perceived, as he reeled back from the impact of a female running in a bed sheet only; he blinked a few times and frowned, rather confused by the minimal choice of attire she picked to wear for that night, especially with so many drunk men around. Then, two soldiers appeared, who seemed to be adamant about catching her. All that he could do was to put his hands on his own hips and follow them run with his head, his body leaning forwards a little from the alcohol swirling in his head. He licked his lower lip and opened his mouth.

"You'll catch a cold if you keep running like that." He commented, but the trio was long gone by the time he finished the sentence. He blinked slowly and took a deep breath through his nostrils.

Aleko wanted to shake his head in disapproval, but then he remembered that if he would do so, he would most likely loose his balance again and this time, there was no stool for him to land on. Instead, he continued his way to his quarters, replaying the events of the last few days in his mind over and over; he especially enjoyed how well he acquitted himself through the brief combat he had, getting away only with the self-inflicted bruise from the drop-kick stunt he played on the war mage. Lucky him, he didn't suffer another bruise on his way to the room he claimed, from where, he could hear a female humming a certain tune; rather intrigued by such an odd situation, the shepherd walked inside the dim-lighted room carefully, noticing a familiar frame leaning though the window. He recognized her as being none other but general Bulkwyn singing a sad tune composed to wail and commemorate fallen comrades. The minor key of the tune floating in the intimate darkness of the room had pulled Aleko from his happy drunk to a more sober state as he could place the lyrics of the song into the melodic tune. In the end, he became too curious about why would she sing this ballad during a victory celebration, so he attracted her attention in the most subtle way he could by closing the door behind him. He did obtain a reaction, the woman turned around and pardoned her intrusion after she realized she stumbled into the wrong room. Her voice had changed once more, completely different from anything he had previously heard from Bulkwyn.

“This… Isn’t my room... is it? I’m… I am sorry, sire. I…” she stammered as she pushed herself away from the window and fought to keep her own balance.

"Don't need to apologize, general." He replied calmly, though there was a definite slur to his talking. Seeing her approach the door, he immediately thought of the indecent trio from before.

[i]If Bedpan's words were true, I can't let her out like this.[/i] He thought as he stepped in her way, his frame rising over hers with a half a head difference.

"I think it's best you sit down a little. You'll trip'n'fall, hell knows what happens next with these" he stifled a burp as he turned his torso to wave at the outside world "rowdy men, all to happy and rowdy. And really happy. So, sit down, I-" he removed the half-empty bottle of wine from her clutching hands and presented the bed to her "-will confiscate this for the time being." 

As he saw her sit in front of the bed and pressing her back against it, Aleko picked up a chair and placed it in front of her, so that he could talk to the woman face-to-face. He examined the deep-green bottle and gave it a swirl with a flick of his wrist, the dark liquid sloshing against the smooth inner walls and leaving a distinctive trail of wine behind; he took a whiff, the combination of fruity aroma and the sour odor of saliva aggravated his nose, but at least he knew that the general did not poison herself with wine made for non-anthro consumption. Seeing her curl and rub her head in a rather vulnerable position, Aleko remembered that slip of hers at the mention of war-mages, not to mention her outburst and determination to slay the four mages that threatened to foil their plans. He swirled the bottle twice and lifted its bottom, his lips connecting with the lips of the bottle to allow a sip to flow against his tongue; he tasted the liquid with his entire mouth, but to his disappointment, the wine was of the same quality as the one downstairs. He put the bottle away and sighed heavily.

"We did a good one, Bulkwyn." Aleko started and muffled a hiccup. "But why sing Fate over Demise, of all the songs that can be sung after a victory? Yes, we lost men, but like I previously said, it's our first step to success. We rejoice now."

For a half-a-second, he knew that she wouldn't answer yet, he showed impatience now towards her. He nearly felt bad for it, until, she did open up to reveal her deep hatred towards magic users. It was a harrowing tale, difficult to listen to, let alone becoming the "protagonist" of such a traumatizing experience. All that the heir could do as to look away from her as to not pressure the woman into telling him all about it and half-way through the story, he picked up the bottle to take another swig. He hated it when women cried. His face, once beaming collectively with the happy group downstairs, curled downwards into the mopey mood of the room. Of course he refused offering her more of the drink, after all he was trying to make her sober up enough to be able to walk herself to her chambers. But once she was done, she stood up and invigorated herself, sniffling away at her liquefied snot. She asked for permission to leave, to which, Aleko replied with silence. He once again stowed the bottle away, stood up and started undo the small buckles holding his plated gloves on his wrists and palms; he placed the two next to the bottle with care and then placed the chair back in its place, rather meticulously if anything. It soon became evident as why he took his time with these actions as he turned back to her, walked up in front of her and clasped his hands on her shoulders, looking down at her with an empathetic expression.

"Pepper. I may not be the best person to tell you this, with you being old enough to be my mother and having the experience of a life time on your belt," he started, blinking slowly as he controlled his slur to help him deliver his message quick enough so that she could have no chance to retaliate, "but such grudges do more harm to you than they motivate you to overcome your... experience. Today feels like you have failed because men have died under the attack of war-mages, but you know what? Men would have died if there weren't any war-mages either, you see."

"I've seen you crack his neck from my side, I saw the satisfaction in your action, but think about it like this: what was his fault in what happened to you, or the 26[sup]th[/sup]? I'm not trying to downplay your suffering, Pepper, I'm trying to make you pull yourself out from it, I'm trying to have you stop beating yourself over it; because one day, you will slip because of this grudge, then you will blame yourself a thousandfold and I don't want that to happen to my favorite general." He rolled his eyes.

"I know, we've been knowing each other for a week, but yes. It's only natural that anthros root for other anthros, no? But, very seriously now, listen to my advice; if there's someone you really need to put down, then it's that one wizard who took enjoyment from it, but not even he deserves your hatred. Hate Bojor Ironfist for being a callous half-man, gods damn it." He sighed through his nostrils and rubbed his eyes in a sort of frustration.

"You've got an entire army holding your back, just as glad to sacrifice their lives to make sure you live and that the task you give. Look, even the 137[sup]th[/sup] knows about Leftenant Mousy "the Undying", we had you as an example on how determination is key to survival and efficiency. As a matter of fact, I do feel rather displeased with myself for not realizing that none other than Madame Mousy the Undying is a general in my grand army, not until you pulled your tag out." He gave her a mild shake and lowered his head so that his icicle eyes would be as the same level as hers, while keeping his snout at a comfortable, non-invading distance.

"So, for the sake of your name, for the sake of the soldiers you inspired, for the sake of a fan standing in front of you, accept the defeat and pull yourself away from the past, lest you'll drown in your sour memories."