[quote=@Odin]
[center][img]http://i61.tinypic.com/2wgx43r.jpg[/img]

[sub]Former home of Amir al-Quteb, Coedwin was taken in a holy war the Sultanate had mistakenly launched against Broacien[/sub][/center][hr][hr]

[i]“No, that passage is small and treacherous. You need to follow the path like the map says,”[/i] the commander of Coedwin had said. Hochmeister Aldwin was the current seated commander, an older man, wearing the Servant's three dots on his forehead, but also on both his hands. A sign of a truly devout man, since that meant he had not only completed his required four years, but also had performed considerable feats for the Servants that were worthy of some notion of holiness. After his death, the Monarch would likely raise him to a holy status, to be revered like a saint. 

The male quartermaster looked at the map again and shook his head. [i]“That'll take us about a day extra, and we don't have the water for that.”[/i] 

[i]“Then buy it here. We will discount you. A holy expedition deserves that much.”[/i]

[i]“That is generous. By chance, do you have more Servants to spare? Ketill has been helpful on the way here, despite some altercations with others. It'd be useful to have more pious men,”[/i]

The Hochmeister laughed and looked to the courtyard, where Ketill was talking with a former battle-companion of his. [i]“Yes, Ketill is useful. There is a reason lord Jachsen requested him. His fame supersedes him, but does not credit him enough. He is kind if you give him the time to become accustomed to you. And zealous. He would die if it meant the Maker would approve of him. But no, I have no Servants to spare. I can offer you an escort to the end of the valley. That is about a days travel, too, but then they must return. We've received reports of raiders and slavers in the area.”[/i]

[i]“Yes, yes, and you must protected the people of Redsand, I understand. Thank you for the escort, I will take what I can get. So, about that water..”[/i]

Meanwhile, Ketill had let Saina run loose. He knew it would be strange if she stayed by his side constantly, and he did not want to give the other Servants the impression that he had turned weak and let a servant take care of his needs and burdens. The castle was large, very large, almost a city by it's own right. It had formerly belonged to the Emir Amir al-Quteb, who was now deceased. He had lost the castle after foolishly sallying from the gates and losing most of his troops in a desperate escape attempt. The rest of the garrison quickly surrendered. 

The holy war would've been lost by Broacien if they had not taken Coedwin that day. For the rest of the war, the Sultanate attempted to get through the valley, but Coedwin stopped every movement they made. Coedwin more or less won the war. Ever since, the fortress stood, defending the lands of Broacien against the infidel from the Sultanate.

Likewise the original intent had been to defend the Sultanate from the exact same thing. It was a shame emir al-Quteb had been so incompetent. 

Either way, there were many Servants, townsfolk, traders, caravanmasters, slavedrivers and their accompanying slaves, as well as passer-by's present in the castle. For a spymaster like Saina, it would be like a field trip. For someone like Ketill, it was like returning home. 

[i]“Alright, I will pass on the message for you.”[/i]

[i]“Thank you, I appreciate it.”[/i]

With a simple, firm handshake Ketill ended the conversation and then returned to where he had left Saina, expecting to find her. He'd been talking for longer than an hour, so during that time, she might have found a reason to wander and look around. Though she had no money that Ketill knew of, so this particular market area would've been wholly uninteresting to her. At least, so he thought. Information had a price, but Ketill was very much unaware of it that Saina knew that.

[i]“We will be leaving in a week. The commander said we should re-stock and he insisted we stay for some time, so that he could explain some intricacies of the desert to the other commanders.”[/i] In short, he was telling her that she'd be staying here for a while. There wasn't much to be done about that he supposed, though she would probably not complain too much. After all, a roof over your head was preferable over sleeping in the desert.

Sand had a tendency to get everywhere. 

[i]“As we're not setting up camp, but sleeping in the city, I suppose you'll be staying with the other slaves. Don't stray too far, and find me every morning, in case I have things for you to do. You still have to fix my shirt, too. Don't think I forget that. For now.. just go and do something. You know escape is useless at this point.”[/i]

With that said, he turned around again and left Saina, heading off to go meet some old friends himself.
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