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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Emperor Valerian" data-source="post: 1441461" data-attributes="member: 15043">An Old, Far More Dangerous Foe...”What!?” Tess cried in shock, as the other members of the party let their mouths fall agape.  “Zoe is Empress!?”Stodiana nodded her head yes... rather sadly.  The woman’s eyes seemed to reflect a distaste for the princess that long preceded her knowledge that her daughter and Zoe had gotten into a scuffle of some kind.“Unfortunately,” Stodiana sighed, “yes, she is Empress.  Considering the fact the Empire is about to march to war, we would have been far better served if Alexander was in command... he is an experienced soldier.”  The party was too focused on Stodiana’s words to notice Lucius’ eyes light up at the mention of Alexander’s name.  Stodiana continued, “But... apparently fate has seen it sufficient that the first-born of Alexius’ eldest son is a prima donna more concerned about court stations than battle stations.”“Dammit!” Siabrey spits out, before her face went red at remembering she was in front of her mother.  “Sorry mom, I didn’t...” she started to apologize, before seeing that Stodiana’s face did not reflect any reproach... instead interest was in her eyes.”I might understand your cursing if you explained to me why exactly you and Zoe got into such a feud.  To attract the ire of an Imperial family member does take... a certain amount of skill,” the older woman said dryly, as she folded her arms across her chest.“Um... well... it was over Lucius,” Siabrey began slowly.  I need to keep my temper in check she winced, trying to keep her emotions down.  Stodiana arched an eyebrow as her daughter continued, slowly, and tenatively, “...um... she was supposed to be betrothed to Lucius...” She suddenly paused, and her self control suddenly broke as the memories of the woman, how the princess had treated her, and how the vile woman had treated her beloved Lucius like chattel.  Damn her to hell!“Mom, she is nothing more than a two bit tavern wench!  She... she  threatened me and Luke, she was obstinate, a complete jackass, and she seems to put our rivalry ahead of protecting the Empire!  She treated Luke like.. like...GAH!" her coherent speech disappeared in a string of swearing, but resuming again,  "...he...he was a piece of fricking property for her to mount!  She didn’t even give a snarfing care that he loved me, and I loved him!” Siabrey’s eyes began to tear up in a rage, as her hands starting to open and clench dangerously.  “Someone that... that... damn stupid doesn’t deserve to work in a damn brothel, let alone a fricking Empress!”Stodiana looked at Lucius, whose face showed a little shock that his love was capable of such terrific outbursts of swearing.  She then looked back at the still fuming Siabrey, and her eyes filled with sympathy.  She reached out and pulled her fuming daughter close, as Siabrey’s tears turned into sobs.“Its ok,” Stodiana whispered into her ear as her daughter continued to cry.  She patted the back of her head gently, and looked over at Lucius, motioning him with a small, gentle movement of her head to come over.  He did, putting his arm around Siabrey’s shaking shoulders as Stodiana whispered in her ear, “It’ll be ok, my child.  It’ll be ok.  I am proud of you...” “You have accomplished far more mischief than I was even able to by your age,” she whispered lovingly into Siabrey’s ear, and the phrase had the desired effect, as Siabrey’s sobs mixed with at least one chuckle before the girl pulled away, her tear streaked face looking her mother in the eye.  “You really mean that?  About being proud of me?” she managed to say between sniffles.  Stodiana nodded, and gave her daughter a wry grin. “How could a mother not be proud of a daughter that has accomplished so much?”  She hen leaned closer to Siabrey, and whispered in a conspiratal tone, “and a daughter who has picked a great fool as an enemy?”   Stodiana’s quip brought another chuckle in between Siabrey’s sniffles.“Thanks, mom,” she placed Stodiana into a bearhug, whose strength even surprised the head of House Sipner.  Stodiana’s face of shock changed into a contented smile as Siabrey rested there... quiet for all of ten seconds before the older dispute came back.   ”I love you...” Siabrey said, before pulling back to look her mom in the face, “thats why I don’t want you here.  You don’t even have your katana!  I do!” Her voice reflected a mix of love, but increasingly it also held annoyance.  Stodiana’s face darkened a bit, and the party tensed as it became apparent Sipner family tempers might soon match.“Someone needs to lead the troops from our manor lands... why not me, the one with combat experience?”  Stodiana said coolly.  “Besides, I have a longsword, it will serve well as you use Kelir.”“But mother, really...” Siabrey’s voice dropped all hints of love, and grew complete with annoyance.  A couple threatened sniffs were beaten back.“Siabrey,” Tess said, touching her friend on the shoulder, “it’s not wise to question your mother’s desire and wish to defend her country and people.  It’s a decision for her to make.”  The rebuke was gentle, and Tess hoped it would stem a brewing fight.Siabrey groaned.  “Mom, we’ll talk about this later.  Right now, we need to get into the city.”  It was an admission of tactical defeat.  You may have won the battle... but I’ll win this little war... Siabrey’s mind thought, trying hard not to imagine life if something happened to her mother.  Stodiana gave a smile and folded her arms again.“We shall discuss it then, my child.  Till then,” she dropped her triumphant pose, and gave Siabrey a hug, “take care, little one.  Your mother’s love and blessings go with you.”“You take care as well, mom,” Siabrey said quietly.  “I’ll be coming back here in a day or two to hash this out.”  I’ll take command of the troops, her mind suggested as a statement to begin the argument anew, but then rejected it.  There would be time for placing reason in her mother’s mind later.  For now... hugs of goodbye.“Now, I know where her stubbornness comes from,” Lucius leaned over and whispered into Shaun’s ear.The rogue laughed.It was an hour or so later when the party finally arrived in Irulas itself.“Now, love, I understand where some of your traits... your beauty, your humor...” Lucius began to speak to Siabrey.“Your brashness, your tactlessness,” Tess interjected with a smile, earning a courtesy swing from Siabrey, who laughed herself.  She was certainly feeling much better than before... and all knew her mother’s assurances that she would be safe, as well as her support of her daughter, had done much to help that.“Yes, I get many traits from her,” Siabrey sighed. “She is a remarkable woman... is it true that she took down two of those... um.. sandhogs by herself?” Grumki asked.  Siabrey nodded, and Grumki gave a great laugh.  “Next time I meet this Stodiana, I must give her a backslap in congratulations, as the strength of Kord requires good battle stories!”  Thankfully the half orc missed the wince given by Siabrey and several other party members at the mention of his backslap.The party shortly drew close to the Great Temple of Pelor, their former residence while in the city.  Tess had decided it might be a good idea to check in there for any notices or messages left while they had been gone for the past few weeks.  They were greeted by the acolytes by name... they were all well known to the priests by this point... and led to their old quarters.  The High Priest himself greeted them, in a far better mood than the last time they saw him, when he had admonished them for their activities within the temple.Several messages indeed had been left by various people.  The first was a short, cryptic note, written in a familiar handwriting: ”Was here to see you, but you were out.  Find us when you get a chance, we’re in Irulas.  – Hidalas and Harrapias.”The second was a note written by someone with obviously poor spelling and dubious handwriting at best.  It took a few moments to read the scrawl, before the party was able to decipher that the message stated that Mephys had been burned, but the residents had fled the city before the orc armies arrived.  They were now organizing as a unit in one of the Imperial armies, under the command of Sir Santac.  They too asked hte party to stop by if they had any time... for morale boosting.  Tess wondered aloud if the adept whose child they saved was in the troop... and the party agrees that hopefully she is.When Tess picked up the final message, she gave a groan as she saw the dragon seal that held it closed.“That, m’lady,” one of the acolytes offered, “arrived this morning.  From the Imperial Palace itself!” she said eagerly, her face dropping at seeing Siabrey’s look of digust.  Tess gingerly opened the message, and scowled.”My Lord Lucius Caladron,You are hereby ordered to appear in the Imperial Palace as soon as possible.  Her Imperial Majesty has important issues she wishes to discuss with you regarding army deployments.Zoe, Imperatrix Regina”In smaller letters, scrawled hurriedly at the bottom, appeared, ”Appear in the Imperial Throne Room as soon as possible.””Dammit!” Siabrey snarled, before turning to Lucius, a look of desperation in her eyes.  “She’s up to something!  I know she is!  She’s jealous, she’s bitter, and now she’s gotten power beyond her wildest imaginations!  She’s up to something!”“Ssshh!” Lucius cradled her frightened and angry form.  “We’ll... we’ll talk to Alexander after we talk to her.  He is the Crown Prince, her brother, army commander... and my godfather...””What!?” Siabrey pulled away from him in shock.“You didn’t know?” Luke said with a grin, “He’s my godfather!  My father and him were close... they fought together... and he is my godfather...”“How is he?  How long has it been since you’ve seen him?  Or was he a godfather in absentee?” Tess asked.  Hopefully this isn’t like most of the other political relationships we’ve seen... done for dynastic purposes that don’t concern us...”When I was nine,” Lucius replied.  “He was a fun person... insisted I call him ‘Uncle Alex.’  Took me for horseback rides and...”  Lucius’ voice trailed off, as he started remembering a life he once had.  A life that didn’t mean living on the saddle, with the prospect of fighting demons always a head.... without prospects of fighting his own mother rising to the fore...His mind snapped back to the present after a few seconds pause.“We’ll talk to him, aftewards.  He’ll fix things,” Lucius said confidently, even as his own mind had doubts.  I haven’t seen him in eight years...</blockquote>

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