[hider=To the Fallen]
“Do not make me repeat myself, we will not waste manpower investigating fairy tales”

“But your majesty, you must understand I too would dismiss just a claim under normal circumstances but there have been over a dozen reports all from the same area” Alex replied “I’m not saying that they saw dryads per say, but surely it might be something worth looking into”?

“More likely that after one peasant claimed to see one, all the others started doing the same” Cerlina replied “I agree with our...emperor this is not something we should concern ourselves with” Cerlina stammered a bit when she spoke Alasdair’s new title, it would take a while before she got used to the new title. The meeting had gone on for some time now and for the most part had been very boring. Most of it had been spent discussing the exodus of heretics that had left not only Nyhem but the rest of Sypius as well. There had been much that Alasdair had hoped to discuss with Lanaya though she had not shown up to the council meeting, something that was very unlike her. 

“In any case we need to discuss the reinstatement of the royal guard, using the steel fist as the backbone” Alasdair turned to face Claus “I trust you have been putting some thought into this matter”?

-”I have, and i have decided that it sounds like an excellent idea. The royal guard should be none other than the best and the Steel fist is just that...” Claus responded at first not looking at the king, accidentally proving to those who doubted his mental presence was split from his physical.
So far during the meeting he’d been mostly silent and looking around him, avoiding taking a too laid back a seat he’d settled down with his legs crossed on a footstool instead.
-”Just thought of something though, wouldn’t it be imperial guard? Since you lot decided to make this whole affair into an empire… just a thought.”

“I suppose that makes more sense” Alasdair said “However if the Imperial guard is to exceed or even match the Remonnet’s royal guard they will need their own division of mages to back up the infantry. Another thing I had hoped to discuss with Lanaya today” Alasdair said disappointedly “But no matter I am sure we can find a solution even without her. I have ordered Magister Sagard to assist you in assembling a battalion of mages fit for the steel fist”. 
At that last proposition Claus leapt into interest.
-”My plans exactly, during the last campaign i was once more reminded of the usefulness of a mage detachment and wanted one for myself. I will be looking forward to my meeting with this Sagard fella.” Having finished there was a slight pause as Alasdair got some papers from a pile and the others mostly agreeing to the logic.
Claus kept going in a inquisitive tone..
-”Where is Lanaya? I was gonna ask her of the mages myself…. And where is that Aurellia lass? Wasn’t she on the council? I sorta expected her to be here.” He figuratively looked around to empower his question, followed by a shrug as he fiddled with his left glove.

Alasdair fell silent at the mention of Aurellia. While he kept it hidden, he felt a long suppressed pain reemerge upon Claus’s mention of her.
“You don’t seem to be very well informed” Isabel, sensing her brothers discomfort, was the first to speak “Lady Vyncetta has…perished at the hands of unknown assailants, near seven months ago. Magister Dionsia has replaced her for quite some time. As for where [i]she[/i] is, I could only guess, but as his majesty says we do not need her here” Isabel said with a sly smile before adding “perhaps she is still recovering from the party, after all she did drink far more than a woman of her reputation should”. 
With genuine surprise Claus looked up from his fiddling, sat up correctly and looked around.
-”She died? That sucks... ” The bluntness of his words while aggravating to a certain degree captured perfectly what some were feeling about the whole situation.
-”As for being uninformed, i have been off fighting a war on the other side of a massive sea, scratch that, WINNING a massive war on the other side of a sea, so no, i didn’t know.” Claus realized he perhaps said a bit too much to the emperor’s sister resumed his laid back pose and spoke.
-”Anyway, why isn’t the magister here? She didn’t seem to be drinking that much seeing her at the party.”

“Yes winning with my brothers help it seems” Isabel replied bluntly “It’s clear you didn’t see her near the end of the event, something seemed to have put her in a very good mood”. 
Claus muttered silently that he could easily have won with the entire Concord army as well, but decided against mentioning it.
-”Speaking of good mood, seeing that the Steel fist is now a rather important part of this whole city, i would require a permanent location to work from. Having a tent camp in the farmers fields isn’t exactly a long term solution. So a barracks of sorts, training yard is a must and not to far from the palace itself.” Claus spoke to Alasdair in a no-nonsense kind of way, while shuffling a set of playing cards.

Alasdair was still upset, not only over the mention of Aurelia but also over how bluntly Claus had shrugged off her death. Though he could hardly blame him, after all he had barely known the woman.

“Finding a vacant building of that size will be difficult. I would normally suggest building it within the Field district but as you pointed out that would be too far from the palace” Alasdair remained silent as he considered his options “From what my sister tells me a merchant by the name of William Flin has started to renovate buildings within the slums. Perhaps we could follow in suite, after all there will be plenty of abandoned manors near the fringe of the slums that could be renovated into a barracks. After all no noble wants to neighbour a slum”.

After a short thought about it Claus considered the problems with the slums, but in the end he decided. He has access to highly trained heavily armed and armoured mercenaries. Slum dregs won’t be too much of a problem and being on the outskirts won’t be that bad anyway.

-”That sounds like a great idea boss… erm, my emperor... Just need a local who knows a good place and of course a fancy paper that say i can nab whatever house i want.” He stopped shuffling the deck and looked at the ceiling momentarily when he realised his severe lack of etiquette but resumed shortly.

Alasdair had become increasingly annoyed by Claus’s antics throughout this meeting. What had his brother seen in this man? He hoped Claus proved to be effective in creating the imperial guard otherwise his future as a council member would be called into question.

“If you are looking for someone who knows the area then you have my permission to borrow Alenius, so long as if you provide two of your own to guard me in the meantime. As for the ‘property right appropriation document’” Alasdair emphasized the name in a effort to correct Claus “Cerlina will be able to procure the document for you”.

-”Excellent, i’ll call in the guys that escorted me here and then talk to Cerlina.” He nodded to Alasdair and made a slight smirk. He then spotted a bottle of brandy, began to pour up two servings of it while listening to the meeting.

“In which case that concludes this meeting” Alasdair announced as he stood up from his seat, not wishing to watch Claus drink two glasses of brandy as he assumed he was about to “Our next meeting will take place a fortnight from now. Dismissed” Alasdair said as he and his council members made for the door.

Claus just finished pouring his glasses as the group began to exit through the door. He stood up, put one of the glasses opposite himself and raised the other for a toast. Ignoring the council and turned towards the empty seat with the drink in front of it.
He spoke calmly and rather solemnly for being him.
-”Too bad i didn’t get to meet you again miss Aurelia, would have loved to hear the full story of the Orog wine...” He paused for a moment and raised his glass.
-”To the fallen!” He drank the serving in a single swipe and exhaled, before putting down the glass and begin to leave the room.

As the other council members filed out the door Alasdair paused for a moment as he watched Claus raise a toast to Aurelia. It was something that Alasdair had not expected from Claus, yet he couldn’t help but be thankful for it. Outside of himself and Lanaya, no one had paid much mind to the death of Aurelia and for many had gone unnoticed until Lanaya replaced her. He was glad that there was someone else who cared about her, if only a little. In reponse Alasdair gave Claus quick nod, a gesture of approval.


Claus noticed the emperors nod and responded.
-”If you wonder what that was about, it’s a tradition within the fist. Final toast to the fallen, a way to remember. One drink is left for the one in question, at times someone close drinks it for them, sometimes it’s taken by someone later who just wants a drink or it’s simply cleaned up next morning… i have a few more drinks to share later with the boys.” He nodded to Alasdair and left the room.
-”I’ll shout the guards over to replace Alenius.” With that he shouted loudly to summon his fellow corps-men, who quickly took their sides at the side of the king, with some sort of good manners.

Alasdair stared at the glass that Claus had placed in front of the chair that once was Aurelia’s, reflecting on what Claus had said. Before the steel fist soldiers entered the room Alasdair grabbed the glass before downing the contents. Despite burning his throat he did his best to stifle a cough, before finally leaving the room with Claus’s men following closely behind.

[/hider]

By [@TheDuncanMorgan]&[@Klomster]