[color=A0A0A0][h2]Fleuri Jodeau[/h2][/color]

Fleuri kept his distance from the prisoners during the return trip, instead riding closely to the rescued captives.  His armor was   He didn't like looking at the broken expressions and defeated postures of soon to be executed brigands.  The knight instead preferred to focus his attention on the people that had been rescued, a deed that not only felt more spiritually fulfilling, but also helped lend meaning and justification to their grim task of ferrying the bandits to their eventual executions.  Just as Reon and Mayon were inseparably connected, the Reonite duty of bringing justice to the guilty was interwoven with the Mayonite duty of protecting and aiding the innocent.

[i]Even in our darkest duties, it is comforting to look upon the real reasons we fight, to know that we make a difference to the people of Thaln...[/i]

From beneath his helmet, Fleuri glanced at the child that he and Dame Verenna had rescued, still wrapped in the Reonite knight's white cape.  He had no intention of asking for it back, letting the boy keep it was the least he could do.  Perhaps it might even inspire the child to aspire join the Iron Roses someday, he thought.

There was one other matter on his mind- the death of Sir Rickart.  While the death of one knight may seem minor especially compared to the number of brigands they had slain in turn, the loss of any Iron Rose was always a tragic affair to the Order.  This was a dangerous line of work and it was expected that knights would perish from time to time, but such assurances provided little comfort.  Fleuri wondered how Fanilly would handle it.  To his knowledge, was the first death under Fanilly's command, and no matter how adept a commander she may prove herself to be, it would not likely be her last.  He didn't envy the burden that her station as Commander carried.

The knights made their way through the capital city of Aimlenn like a grim parade consisting of blood-stained knights, wounded and rescued men and women, and carts of doomed criminals.  While Fleuri was no longer the glory hound he once was, the awe and approval of the common folk was a welcome relief to him.  It was an even greater relief when the prisoners were handed over, their fates now out of the Iron Roses' hands.

When the knights returned to Candaeln, there were a number of things Fleuri needed to do.  He would need to remove his armor and get the bloodstains washed out.  He also needed to thoroughly inspect his arms and armor for damage sustained during the battle.  Lastly, he needed to get some rest.  The first thing Fleuri did, however, was walk along the hall looking upon the weapons and portraits of past knights.  [i]I wonder if Sir Rickart will be honored here[/i], he wondered.  His gaze eventually came to a [url=https://i.imgur.com/W8j2zwj.png]specific portrait[/url], a painting of his ancestor Armand Jodeau, the first of the family to dedicate himself to Reon, and supposedly one of the first Reonites to join the Iron Roses.  There was no display case for his armaments, for they had not been seen since the day he ventured out on by himself on a quest that he never returned from.  The Jodeau family had at times sought to find out what happened to Armand and even constructed a place of honor in the family crypt in hopes of someday properly interring his mortal remains, but they lacked the wealth to fund a thorough search, and to this day no Jodeau knight had managed to pick up his trail.

[i]I know I've made some bad mistakes, but wherever you are, I hope I have managed to live up to your example.[/i]

Down the hallway, Dame Radistirin, the First and Youngest, was standing in front of Elionne's legendary sword, speaking to it as if she was conversing with the Starlight Saint herself.  Fleuri could not discern what she was saying, but he had no desire to butt in.  Even further down the hallway, he could see two of the other knights speaking to a visitor.  Unwilling to approach the new arrival in his blood-stained armor, he headed to his quarters to clean himself up.