Welcome to Gaia! ::

Sorcha bowed her head slightly with a ghost of a smile on her face. ”Any day I am away from slaver is a good day, your Majesty.” She replied, despite the look on her face, she had a rather… happy undertone to her words. It was true, she enjoyed her freedom more than anything. She was one of those Valkyries who would rather fall on her own sword that go back to her lift before the Valkyries and Dread Knights. She looked over at the Queen once more, her ghost of a smile blossomed into a full blown grin. ”You mean the reputation that Orpheus destroyed with a snap of his fingers?” She teased playfully. When the topic turned more serious, her face became stoic once more. She listened to the Queens instructions for the Shack and Orpheus’ off training duties. Sorcha gave it some thought and gave a shallow nod to the response.
”As you will your Majesty… with your permission however, I think I would like to have Lorelei help him with it, and not just locating the items. Perhaps a few other Valkyries as well… I feel that the deterioration of the shack would be too much for Orpheus along to handle before the weather changes. That and it would allow the other girls to get used to Orpheus’s presence, I think the more that we get him to intermingle with the girls, the better it will be for them.”

At the mention of Lorelei, Sorcha tipped her head slightly downwards and closed her eyes. A heavy sigh escaped her lips. ”I’m under the impression that she feels rather betrayed by the situation… but frankly, I think that this will be good for her. I find it frustrating that the girls are so closed minded towards the subject of men, it infuriates me even more when they take the side of Lumia and her mindless hatred of them. I take it rather personally, especially when they lump all men together as Lumia does, If she wasn’t a sister Valkyrie I would have run her through for the slander against his Majesty Prince Ryuu and Mayfew.” Sorcha realized her temper was getting the better of her and she took a deep breath. She looked towards the Queen once more. ”My apologies, your majesty. My temper got the better of me… as for my thoughts on the matter. I see great wisdom in what you did. I find myself already starting to become amused by Orpheus… he wears the Uniform far more proudly that a lot of the other girls so… and anyone who gets up Lumia’s nose without being aggressive or violent is alright in my books. Lorelei and many of the others need to learn to trust men, as you have said, and I truly believe this is long overdue. Though there may have been a few others that I could have thought of to take Orpheus under her wing, I think that Lorelei was a good choice, she would have been one of the ones that I would have on my list as well.” Harsh words, perhaps, but Sorcha meant every word of it, yes, there was a difference between giving the girls a safe haven and then pandering to their fear of men.

”Honestly, your Majesty… I don’t think anyone was expecting that out of Orpheus of all people. It came just as much of a surprise to all of us as it was to you. Look on the Brightside, though, you’ve been meaning to replace your armour, your Highness, Orpheus just gave you an excuse to finally get around to it.” Sorcha returned her gaze ahead of her once more as she continued to walk alongside of the Queen. ”Why not get a full armour corset? I hear they are the rage now in the more elite female circles… you could have wings that come off your shoulder guards.” Sorcha would never admit how deep she was into fashion, being a warrior she had this sort of mentality that she needed to stay away from the more girly things that she tended to enjoy. It was the reason that she also kept her feeling about Mayfew to herself and only watch from a distance. She had this image in her head of what a strong warrior was, and she often made sacrifices of herself to see to it that she kept this image alive within herself. The Queen would be able to get away with things like that because she was the Queen, Sorcha, however, was a Commander, she didn’t have that sort of freedom.
Sorcha was quiet for a few moments as she listened to the Queen. ”I’m a little more worried that they will meet a man and then choose to end his ‘suffering’ with the blade rather than try and help him out of a dire situation…” Sorcha wouldn’t put it past some of the girls, there was some real bad blood that some of them had, it was made no better by Lumia and her groupies. The walk became silent once again, Sorcha’s eyes dropped for a moment before she looked up at the Queen once more. ”I… beg your pardon, your majesty… I know this is not of my concern at the moment but… I haven’t seen his Highness the Prince lately and… to be honest I was wondering if he was alright? I know that he is prone to locking himself away or being busy with the court but… I still worry about him, and Niccolette for that matter as I haven’t seen her around the barracks as of late either. Is his Majesty alright?” Mayfew had kept a very tight lip about Ryuu leaving and he had promised that Queen that he would not tell a soul of the departure or the circumstances behind it, if things were to get out, that would be the Queen initiative and not Mayfews. It looks like he was so true to his word that he didn’t even tell Sorcha about it. Ryuu and Sorcha were close, so it was no surprised that Sorcha was worried about him, she did tend to fret over him far more than what she perhaps should, even as a friend. It was tearing her a part not knowing. She had come to Ana a few times in the more distant past, especially when she first joined the Valkyries, and asked of Ryuu’s well-being. Perhaps she was still playing the role of slave, though in a different way to a different person, or perhaps she just had some sort of separation anxiety from those whom she bonded with deeply.

Lumia was one of those people who usually had her gossip up to par, so she had heard about Niccolette and her predicament. Lumia was revolted, how could someone who was such a pentacle of femininity allow herself to become a boy? It was disgusting and shameful… not to mention that Lumia had felt more than a little betrayed by the slow transformation, though for whatever reason she aimed that at Niccolette and decided that it was by choice and not by force. That was the thing with Gossip, it got twisted and morphed, having Orpheus around probably wasn’t helping this mentality. First the Queen betrayed them with Orpheus and now Niccolette was a womyn traitor and becoming a man! What the hell was this world coming to? She had such respect for her too. When the cloaked figure of the Princess turning Prince came to her and started to talk with a breaking voice, Lumia put on her best, sweetest face and looked down at the womyn-traitor. ”Oh just the usual, your Majesty, making sure that the girls are doing what they are supposed to be doing and doing it in an efficient manner. Rank does have its privileges. What brings your Majesty out here, this rather chilly day?”
The sight of her just made Lumia’s blood boil. But she kept up her façade.

At Nicolette’s little admission, Lumia’s eyes seemed to shine with some sort of inner brightness and her sweet, sweet smile never left her face. She guided Nicolette towards the center of the training field in almost a dancing like fashion. Her movements were so happy, so carefree that when they got to the center of the field all eyes had gone to them. Lumia spun on her heel and raised her voice for all to hear, the honey of her tone sweetened everything around her. ”Oh Girls! Princess Nicolette has proclaimed her love for me and my answer is just… bursting inside of me, needing to get out. So, for all to bear witness I shall return my Princess’ answer with my response…” Lumia stepped forwards and placed her hands on Nicolette’s shoulders before violently tearing the cloak off of her body while Nicolette was relaxed and not expecting it, exposing her transformed state for every one of the Valkyries to bear witness. There was no denying the rumours now, they were confirmed and cemented with one gesture.
”I would NEVER have anything to do with you, you vile freak of nature! How dare you sully me by coming around here, looking like that and professing such a thing to me. If you honestly think that I would let you anywhere near me then you’re not only a god damn freak, you’re utterly insane. You filthy Womyn traitor! You’re nothing more than a perverted fiend who’s playing in between genders so that you can force yourself on others whenever you see fit. That’s what you were doing, wasn’t it? I wonder how many you tried to lure into your bed before you got caught.”
Lumia turned her attention to the other girls. ”See girls? She… no… this THING is not the Princess we all admired, instead, IT has chosen to be a filthy, lowly man. IT was only getting closer so that it could prey on our innocents.” Lumia turned to Nicolette. ”You make me sick!”
The Valkyries were starting to get restless, many of them were not sure about what to think about all of this, many who shared Lumia’s ideologies were getting whipped into a frenzy at just the thought of someone who they once trusted so deeply betraying them in such a way. Lumia’s blood was boiling at the thought of Nicolette turning male so that she could have her way with her. Just the thought made her want to run Nicolette threw with her sword. Lumia didn’t even realize that she did until she raised her blade above her head, she was so enraged at the thought of Nicolette doing this to her that she was going to ‘save her honor’ by cleansing the stain of it.
An Arrow knocked the blade out of her grasp. Lumia and her clique turned to see three Valkyries walk over to them, they were of little to no rank, the three of them. The one that had shot the arrow out of Lumia’s grasp was a half elf by the name of Nyss, she often wore a deep hooded cloak and more of a short skirted dress rather than the usual uniform. She was a mysterious girl, hardly ever said a word, but that was probably because she was out-casted for being with elven blood. The kingdom itself had a bit of a skirmish war with the elves that had been going on for some time now, being half elf, she was just as persecuted as her full blooded kin in these times of war. She had made her home here, and even managed to find a few friends who over looked her heritage. One of those girls was a huge brute of a woman with red hair and green eyes, she had a dark tanned complexion and wielded a great sword, Genie was, by all accounts, the bull in the china shop. She was a relatively new person to the Valkyries but still has some experience under her belt with fighting alongside them. Then there was the rather bright eyed and usually childish Mei, who was standing slightly being the group with her spear at ready.
”…Drawing your sword against royalty is a very serious offense, Lumia…” Nyss replied rather coldly. It was safe to say that the Nyss was not in the Lumia fan club, in fact… she was itching for a fight against her.
”Mind your own business, you filthy mudblood.”
Poor Nicolette… all she wanted was some love and she just ended up indirectly set off tensions that were rising and hidden within the ranks. It just seemed so fast and sudden, everyone picked a side and quickly started to attack the other. Poor Nicolette was standing in the middle of chaos when suddenly a pair of arms came around Nicolette and some breathing rolled along her neck.
Clap
A sound snap forced blew everyone back, knocking all the girls involved a** over tea kettle. The earth reached up and grabbed feet and hands before any more harm could be done.
Orpheus dropped Nicolettes cloak over her head, creating a blanket. Behind Nicolette and Orpheus, Annette stood with a rather stern look on her face and a glare set over her eyes. She was not happy with what she saw, and she knew that the Queen would not be happen when she got back either.
”What is the meaning of this?”

Sorcha walked alongside the Queen in silence for a little while as she digested what was going on. Her eyes were full of hurt, though her bangs cast a shadow over them, shielding the emotion that was in them from the world around her. ”Why… didn’t he come and get me?” She asked suddenly, her hurt was in her voice despite how she wished it otherwise. ”I would have went with him without hesitation, I know that Mayfew would have went as well… why didn’t he ask us? He can be… such a selfish fool sometimes…” There was a little sniff and she brought her arm up as if she was wiping something away. She looked over at Ana after a few more moments of silence. ”I bet… he looks pretty cute as a girl.” Sorcha tried to joke a bit, though part of her was morbidly curious as to what her Prince would look like as a Princess. Part of her was hoping that he would return still as however far along he had changed into being a girl so that she could see. Was that… wrong of her? She would follow him, regardless of gender or appearance, she simply didn’t care, he would be the same Ryuu to her, whether he was male or female or even something in between. Sorcha looked back at the Queen when the arm came up again, suddenly thankful of a different topic.
”Perhaps the King is simply wanted to have his wife all to himself, and has grown tired of the other lords getting a chance to gawk at his hot wife? A man’s… generosity can only go so far after all…”

Orpheus’ attention was drawn to the glow that Nicolette had suddenly took on before bursting into a shower of golden starts. Orpheus seemed to ignore what was going on around him in his attempt to locate the Princess. Though his attempts were more or less looking around the training field in a rather dramatic and almost cartoonish fashion, admittedly Orpheus was in a bit of a loss as to where to look for her, seeing as he was new to the area that he was currently.
”I’m going to look for the Princess.” Orpheus announced before bolting off in a random direction, not taking much more though in what he was doing other than going and making sure the Princess was alright and try to offer as much comfort as he possibly could. He had no idea what was going on, but there was a young girl crying and he really didn’t care much for that.
Annette looked over in time to see Orpheus running in a random direction after she heard his intent on going to find the Princess, she could only give a hopeless smile towards the poor boy who clearly had no idea where he was going or truly where he was going to look. Her expression became far less welcoming when she turned her attention to the large number of girls whom she had caught in her Earth snare. Her look became far more harsh when she heard what had caused all of this. She looked over at Lorelei, she couldn’t drop the stern expression from her face, though it did soften a little bit when she addressed the young shapeshifter.
”Alright… I’ll take care of securing those for discipline while we wait for Sorcha and her Majesty to get back, you go and help Orpheus find the Princess please, his hearts in the right place, though he doesn’t know his way around very well, please go with him. He doesn’t bite, I promise, I spent most of the day with him.” Once more Annette focused on the Valkyries around her, most of them had a shamed face that was hung low, though more than a few of them were glaring defiantly at her, Lumia was one of them. There was going to be… a lot of girls who were going to be punished this day, easily half of the Valkyries were here and they participated in this. Poor Sorcha… Oh well, discipline was needed in the ranks, even if it was over half of the girls…

Sorcha did giggle at the comment of Ryuu making a cute girl, for some reason, she pictured him in pig tails and a rather shy, almost helpless look on his face. Perhaps a smaller frame like Nicolette’s and smaller, perk boobs that would just add to the look, she could easily see Princes melting all over him and scrambling to please the former Prince. Sorcha’s mood lightened considerably, though she wasn’t a huge fan of Lord Tobias –he was far too lecherous for her tastes- but at least it did her heart some good to know that Ryuu wasn’t alone. Her soul chipped away at the thought of Ryuu being found alongside the road, dead and alone, she didn’t know what she would do if she was greeted to that news.
Grim thoughts and worry aside when they pair got to the Blacksmiths shop, the pair suddenly became a couple of teenage girls in a clothing store. Sorcha was quick to offer her opinions on the armour that was around them and the styles that where present… whether good or bad. She perhaps exposed her inner and secret fashionista a little too much with this trip, but she wanted the Queens armour to both look visually stunning, functional for both protection and the Queens own fighting style… as well as keep it as fashionable as they could. Offering suggestions where and when she could. Finally, after what was probably a couple of hours she looked up at Ana. ”Does her Majesty have the armour that she approves of?”

”Ah, your majesty! I would be happy to tell you about the armour. The armour is made from Mitheral imported from the Irongrim mountains, the body of the armour is divided into sections which makes for greater flexablity, though admittedly it does take longer to get on. The metal itself is lightweight but very strong…” The Smith went on about the armour, giving Ana the finer points of the armour. Even Sorcha had to admit that it was probably the best armour that was out right now, and it was obvious that the Smith took great pride in this creation as well. It was clearly his best work, and the fact that the Queen herself had noticed it told much about the craftsmanship and the work that went into it. Sorcha grinned a little bit when the Smith was finished with his selling points.
”Shall I inform the King about your affair with the armour in front of you now, or do you want to break the news to him yourself?” She teased. The armour was very lovely… and expensive, no doubt about it, but then again, Mitheral was a very rare metal out here, it must have cost a small fortune in investment to bring it out here, though judging by the look in Ana’s eyes, it was going to be a worthy investment. Sorcha gave a bit of a smile and looked around herself once more, though her eyes traveled outside of the window into the adjacent shops and the people passing through them. She seemed to be lost within her own thoughts or daydreams as the time slipped on, while the Queen was making up her mind about the armour that was there. Sorcha was still worried about the Prince, though she had to admit that she was feeling a little better after hearing about Tobias… did Annette give her a reading? Was that how she knew? It did sound like something that Annette would do, and it was one of her special talents as a Magi. She wondered how she was getting along with Orpheus… and if Orpheus was behaving himself?

Orpheus jumped a little bit when he saw Lorelei turn into a wolf. Now that was an interesting and really cool ability. Before he could collect himself, his appointed partner bolting away, causing him to call after to her wait up and run as fast as his legs could carry him. It must have been a rather interesting sight for the cleaning staff… a young man in the wrappings of a Valkyrie chasing after a wolf all the way to the Princess’ room. When they got there Orpheus raised his hand to knock on the door but paused, he looked down at Lorelei with a bit of a quirked eyebrow. ”Psst, hey… your wolf form is cool and all but do you have anything a little more… cuddly? I mean, if she is in there and she opens the door for us and see’s you she’s going to have panic attack. So can you maybe change into something more… cute and cuddly so that you could provide some means of relief for her, a puppy or a kitten maybe?” When Lorelei gave him a response or change Orpheus raised his hand again and knocked on the door. His tone was gentle and understanding, he did have some experience comforting girls, after all. His sister could be such a cry baby when they were younger. ”Hey… Princess… are you in there? If you are, could you at least let us know that you’re alright. We’re… really worried about you…” Well, maybe ‘alright’ was a strong term, he didn’t get the whole thing but if it was regarding Lumia then the poor thing probably got it pretty good. Hell, he was still new and she had torn strips out of him for no reason other than he was alive and breathing.

Orpheus’s eyes shot open and he looked around frantically to see if there was someone nearby as his partner opened the door and just walked in uninvited into the room. ”H-hey! What are you doing? We can’t just barge into someone’s private chambers like this, are you trying to get us killed?” Orpheus half whispered, clearly uncomfortable with the idea, but reluctantly went with it anyway, perhaps they could find a clue? While Lorelei was sniffing around Orpheus took a look at some of the things that were decorating the walls. It looked like the Princess loved to paint, he smiled a bit and took in the scenes that were being painted and noticed something… odd… he looked a little closer at them. Now, he was no expert painter but everything looked like it was coming from the same vantage point. He looked at a few more and noted they all seemed to be distant landscapes, but they were all from a singular point, in fact, there were a few rock formations not far off from her the painter that were in a lot of the same paintings.
”Hey… Lorelei… Do you know where these paintings may have been done at? It looks like they are from the same location. Why don’t we try there? The Princess looks to have used this spot a lot, why not try looking there for her, maybe it holds a special place for her?”
It was worth a try, it was hard to tell if Lorelei was just humouring him or if she thought he was onto something, but she did lead him to the direction of what looked like a small goat trail that twisted and turned up the mountain that the castle seemed to be built into, it was a bit of a hike to the cliffs that were used for the vantage point of the paintings. Orpheus was trying to as quietly as he could so that he could listen for any signs of the Princess. He imaged that, after what happened, that she would probably still be crying. That last cry really sounded painful, he hoped that Nicolette was alright.

Sorcha looked at the Queen for a moment before looking out the window, then back at the Queen, honestly… she was wanting to take a look at the fashion district to see what was going on there, but… she did have a lot of duties to do back at the Valkyries Head Quarters, and if she didn’t get them done today they would only be there tomorrow, with the same pile up of work for her to do again. No, putting off duties when you were a commander only served to screw you over in the end. Sorcha shook her head gently. ”No your Majesty, I don’t have anything that I particularly want to do in town. I should get back to my duties and arrange for Orpheus’ shed to be delivered to a spot next to the Valkyries Barracks. I appreciate the offer though. Shall we?” There was no rest for the wicked, it seemed. Annette would often tell Sorcha that it wasn’t good for her to be so overworked, but honestly, Sorcha didn’t mind. It gave her something to focus on and keep distracted with… especially when she was worried, as she was about Ryuu.

Orpheus… wasn’t really sure what to do, the only thing that he could thing of doing was sitting down next to Nicolette, touching the bottoms of his feet together, and watching the landscape that was below them. He rubbed Nicolette’s shoulder in a comforting way, very much like he used to do with his sister when she was upset like this. Man, it was almost like he was with his sister again, though there were a lot of differences, he still had that nostalgic feeling doing this. He was sure that Lorelei was going to bite his arm off or something for doing this, but he wanted to help try and comfort too. He would let Nicolette calm down a little more before he would try and distract her with casual talk that deflected from the recent tragedy. Right now though, he thought that it might be best if she just let everything out and be done with it, apparently it made girls feel better doing that, so he would very much honor that sort of logic. Orpheus had a thought though. ”Hey, do you think we should tell the others that we found the Princess, you know, so they don’t worry?”

Annette was rather happy that Sorcha and the Queen had come back when they did, their timing was rather perfect. She took a deep breath, her stern expression still on her face, though having softened considerably when she turned to address the Queen and her inquiry. ”It seems, your Majesty, that Princess Nicolette decided to confess her love for Lumia and Lumia chose to humiliate her in kind… It has also been brought to my attention that Lumia also raised a sword to the Princess and a small war seemed to have broken out between our sisters regarding the stance of things. The Princess had disappeared, Orpheus took off to find her and I sent Lorelei with him to make sure that he didn’t get lost in his search.”

”And pray tell, why was there need for humiliation and conflict?” Sorcha asked sternly, walking more or less in front of the Queen, she had a funny feeling that she knew what was going on but wanted some confirmation beforehand.

Annette closed her eyes and sighed heavily… she knew that Sorcha was not going to like this, not one bit… she couldn’t imagine how the Queen would react either. ”…because Princess Nicolette is changing into a male…”

”She was trying to seduce me so that she could have her way with me! All men are…”

Lumia didn’t finish her sentence before a bunch of girls threw their verbal attacks on Lumia, only to have a bunch of the girls throw insults back. Chaos once again erupted throughout the ranks. Ana wouldn’t have to do much, she would probably feel Sorcha reaching her boiling point with this, Sorcha was one of those girls who had gone to the Queen in frustration about this, time and time again, and now… everything was coming to a head. The trapped girls were so busy squabbling among themselves that they didn’t see the rage that was contorting Sorcha’s face. Even Annette, who was more or less standing in front of her was too distracted with all of this to notice Sorcha’s silently starting to lose what she usually had under firm control.

Here it comes….
…wait for it….

”Everyone, shut the hell up! If I hear so much as a mouse fart around here before I give anyone permission to speak, I swear by God and the Sunny Goddess that I will send you all to the infirmary! Do I make myself perfectly clear! First of all, this Female misogynistic bullshit ends here and now, from this point forwards, if I hear any man bashing, any hatred or intolerance towards members of the male sex, I will personally cut out your tongues and present them to the King and Prince of this Kingdom! You’re all acting like a bunch of goddamn children, grow the hell up already. Not all men are bad, just like not all women are good, so it’s time you stop this right now and pull your heads out of your asses. We are a military unit that is supposed to be safeguarding ALL of the population of this kingdom, that includes males as well, so drop this superiority right now, or there will be negative consequences for it, I’ll be putting you through hell month with the members of the Dread knights, there you will learn to trust and work with men or you will die. Second, as of right now, every girl who is caught in Annette’s earth snare, has been demoted to Neonate, your ranks and privileges are now stripped away. If you cannot act like a respectable member of the Valkyries and lead a good example for those who just joined up and are under your tutelage, then quite frankly, you are not worthy of being a full fledge Valkyrie. When you all prove to me that you are responsible enough to carry the privileged title and honor of being a Sister Valkyrie, then I will allow you to earn your ranks back. Annette! Take these girls to solitary confinement, I will get their sides of the story at my leasure, you will be in solitary for as long as I see fit, during this time, you will reflect on what it means to be here, on our beliefs and the foundations on which her Majesty has based the principles of the Valkyries on. Your rations will be minimal, and your work load will be confined to supervised working hours in the stables and fields… Lumia… you’re going to be escorted to the dungeons. I have half a mind to call in some favours from the Inquisition for this.”
Sorcha took a deep breath and looked over at a rather shocked looking Annette. ”Follow through with your orders. Once we talk to everyone then we will decide each individual punishment for the girls in addition to what I have said.”

Every vein in Lumia’s head was bulging right now, how dare this, this lowly slave talk to her in such a fashion! Lumia didn’t take kindly to the threats, and with a burst of electrical energy she escaped earth snare and charged at Sorcha. She was livid.
Then again, so was Sorcha.
Sorcha glared at Lumia as she brandished a sword, picked from someone scabbard and made her way to Sorcha… Sorcha was fine with this, actually she had been waiting for this opportunity for some time now.
”Reequip.” Seven swords appeared around Sorcha, she tossed them into the air, the first two were held in the hinge joint of her right and left arm, another between her shoulder blade and neck, one in her mouth, under her left armpit, another between the hip joint of her right, raised leg and the back leg of the same raised leg, this odd stance was almost comical to those who had never seen the style… those who had often never lived to tell the tale. Instead of striking right away though, Sorcha moved in while Lumia had raised he swords to strike, flipping the girl over her shoulder and twisting her body around in an elegant moment, the swords that had once graced her body in that odd assortment, were in the air. Sorcha grabbed Lumia’s hands and impaled a sword through her over lapping palms, she then lept into the air and threw the rest of the blades down, puncturing through her elbows, knees, right shoulder. The last blade landed in her hand and she was about to bring it down to sever Lumia’s head from her body, that was until a delicate but firm hand stopped her. Sorcha looked over and saw Annette, her face almost pleading with her friend.
”Please… let the Queen decide.” Lumia was rightfully screaming out in agony as Sorcha straightened herself up and held the blade parallel to her body, ready for the order to be given.

Orpheus let Nicolette calm down a little more, still doing what he could to comfort her while she nursed her obliterated heart back to whatever wholeness it was going to be back to. When it seemed that she finally calmed down, at least enough for conversation he gave a bit of a smile, looking out at the amazing view that was sprawled out in front of them. ”Man… this view is something else, how on earth did you find this place? Where you, like, just walking around and just stumbled upon it one day?” Orpheus knew better than to talk about what happened so soon after it happened, it would probably be really raw for a while so he decided to take the route of topics that were away from the heart ache, if she wanted to talk about it, he was all ears, for his part though, he would try and bring her some more pleasant and happier thoughts. Perhaps that could get her a little bit past the point of heartbreaking depression, even just for a little while.

Poor Annette, after the incident and the orders that were carried out on poor Lumia, she was running around like a chicken with its head cut off. Sorcha took on the responsibilities of re-appointing the new recruits, so at least that was one thing she didn’t have to worry about, what she was having to do, however, was calm the rest of the girls, especially the newest additions, she gave them what assurance she could and promised that the overall structure of the Valkyries wasn’t going to change, though there would likely be some rules that would be far more heavily enforced from now on. After that soothing, she ran around to make sure that the Valkyries who weren’t involved were caught up in the situation and briefed them of what was likely going to come, and the new rules established, some of them were less than thrilled over it, but at the same… after what the Queen and Sorcha had done, there was nobody going to step a foot out of line for a while. Next, came Orpheus’ arrangements, the ramshackle shack was brought closer to the Valkyries barracks, it was up to Orpheus from this point on. Speaking of which… she would make a note to herself to check in on Nicolette when she got the chance, right now though, there was an angry mother bear that needed to be soothed and relaxed once more. Hopefully she had some time to cool off a bit before Annette interfered once more, but she did kind of doubt it, after all, it was the most furious that she had seen the Queen. It seemed to be a day of firsts, but that was something they could joke around about later, right now, the serious stuff needed to be done.
Annette had pulled aside one of the maids and asked for a tea tray and some sweets that Ana favoured, along with some more relaxing teas for the both of them to enjoy together. When it was all said and done, Annette swiftly located Ana and knocked, announced herself and more or less came in, the tea tray in her grasp. She offered her Queen and friend a sympathetic smile.
”Goodness… what a morning.” Annette started and placed the tea tray down and then took a seat. ”Come and talk with me a while, Ana. You have a bad habit of holding things inside and it would do you no good to still be in a fury when Princess Nicolette comes to see you.”