[color=f7941d] “Hehe, we were already on our way to these parts when the message about the impending attack reached us about 4 days ride away from here.”[/color] Chalsea explained with a dismissing wave of her hand.[color=f7941d]” Still distance doesn’t matter whenever lives are involved.”[/color] The mercenary captain added with a smile. It felt nice to arrive in time to prevent a full massacre. Back in the north where her warband usually operated, they would always be called to deal with the frost ogres. There was an unofficial war going on to the north. The human countries battled the ogres constantly and neither side really knew what for anymore. All they really knew was that the other had to die. Sadly most kingdoms to the north seemed to be in decline with corruption, treasons and rebellions being almost as constant as the ogre attacks. Chalsea’s mercenaries worked for the cities themselves, being paid by mayors and rich merchants to protect their homes while the stupid rulers fought themselves over old and crumbling forts. 

[color=f7941d] “I myself will attend the funeral, maybe with a few more people, but I suspect the majority of my troops will not take part of it. A lot of them are from the north. Funeral manners there are the completely opposite to yours here. I mean it involves a lot of shouting, war gear and possibly a tournament depending on who’s the one that died.”[/color] The captain explained as they were led through the streets.

 [color=f7941d]“I understand, I will treasure the chance to take a bath at thine home.”[/color] Chalsea stated with a smile, her eyes sliding across the surrounding city. It truly was a marvel to behold. Clean and beautiful!  She was glad she got to see this place, the grim stone and decaying wood building of the north were getting to her.[color=f7941d]” Ahh do not worry about that, Queen Adalia. My men and women know their places… I’ve had a few incidents like that in the past and I’ve dealt with those appropriately. Since then everyone knows the repercussions of what will happen if they try something like that and no one dares to try doing it again.”[/color] She explained with a smirk. Chalsea had a rather… effective punishment for it. If a man in her company did that, she made sure he will never be able to do so again.

[color=f7941d] “Yes, thank you. Those building will more than suffice.”[/color] The captain replied with grateful voice and also bowed as the queen had to excuse herself and leave Chalsea and her troops to settle in.

 [color=f7941d]“Great, faster people! I want all of you settled in within half an hour!”[/color] Chalsea called as the men and women quickly started to separate into two groups. They were granted two buildings with 150 men capacity each, but they only had 200 people. For that reason the captain quickly divided her forces into two groups of 100 for each building. That would give more space for her people and allow them a better rest. Plus no group would have less people in case of emergency.

 Chelsea was just about to head out to meet Adalia when the two young witches appeared to her, now dressed into normal pair of dresses both light blue in color.” Chalsea, are you going out… to meet the queen?” The girls finished each other’s sentences again as they did a circle around her. The two younger girls tend to hang around her a lot. She thought of them as family and it seems they did so too. She nodded to their question and they giggled before spinning around her a few more times and weaving anther feather into her hair and running away down the corridor towards their room. She smiled and continued her way.

 The mercenary leader left the building they were given and started walking in the destination where the mansion of the queen should be. She was not carrying her battle axe with her and also had a bundle she was holding onto with one of her hands. It didn’t really take that much long for her to locate the building. After all Adalia may not know it, but Chalsea had been in the White Stone City once before, when she was a young child in fact. Her father had taken her here to trade for supplies for their caravan also to buy his daughter a gift for her catching her first wild rabbit all on her own. She understood the real value of his present over a decade later. Her precious magical ring that negates magic barriers. She always wondered why he had sold his most treasured sword back then in order to buy a seemingly ordinary ring.

 She finally tore herself away from her childhood memories when she reached the mansion and after presenting herself was led in. She politely declined the servants’ offers to carry her luggage which in this case was her cloth bundle that she carried. Finally she was led into the great bathroom and made an astonished expression. She had never been allowed to use or even enter such a gorgeous bathroom.[color=f7941d]” Queen Adalia.”[/color] She gave a slight bow as a greeting to the other woman who appeared to already be enjoying her bath.[color=f7941d]” I’m really grateful for this. I cannot even count how many times I was forced to use barrels of lukewarm water on cold northern nights out in some barn or something, right after saving a town from ogres, other humans or whomever was attacking it.”[/color] She said as she quickly placed the cloth bundle next to the bathtub and after that quickly proceeded with taking off the bloody leathers and skins she was wearing before finally entering the bathtub.

 Right away from the moment she entered the hot water, the red glowing paint quickly started coming off her body along with all the grime and blood that clung to her skin.[color=f7941d]” Ahhh… this is the best…” [/color]She let out a smile, enjoying the sensation of warmth across her body.