Audience with the Queen

Audience with the queen (Bhurtok rp)

Termus made his way onto the warship Demigod. He pushed his way past sailors and soldiers towards the queen’s chamber. The queen had commandeered the captain’s cabin to serve as her own chambers while the Bhurtok created fortifications on land. Termus arrived at the captain’s cabin, but two men stood between him and an audience with the queen.

Th...e two soldiers standing guard seemed different than the rest of the soldiers that Termus had seen in service to the queen. Both stood in ornate leather armor which was covered in thin white webs and had spiders etched into them. Their helms were also made of leather and covered in webbing but it was impossible to see the face beneath the helmet.

The pair stood unnaturally still even as the boat bobbed in the water. They both carried a sword and dagger. As Termus stepped forward the soldiers crossed their swords over the door and pointed their long daggers at the brute. One of them finally spoke. “The queen has not sent for anyone Termus.”

Termus sighed; he was a bit unnerved that he couldn’t tell which of them was speaking even as close as he was. “I need to speak with her,” he said as he took another step toward the door.

The guards also took a step forward prodding Termus with the point of their daggers forcing him to take a step back. “What do you wish to speak with her about?” again they spoke with Termus was unable to decide which of them was the speaker.

The brute’s temper flared, he gritted his teeth and held back his rage for the moment, “First I want to talk about her choice of soldiers,” he snarled. “And second I want to warn her about the two dead guards outside of her room.” He pulled his axes from his hip and pointed them at the guards.

Both guards took a step back and hissed, all blades pointed back to the brute. Two extra arms ending in sharp points unfolded from each of their sides and aimed their wicked ends at Termus.

The brute examined the creatures, they now each sported eight limbs, 6 of which ended in some kind of point. Termus stepped back and readied himself for an assault on all sides. Instead of assaulting him though they stood and waited, patiently guarding the door and daring the brute to step forward.

As they stood in stalemate the door to the queen’s chamber cracked open. The guards took notice and stepped back, extra arms folding back to their sides. One of the guards nodded, “Follow me Termus,” he hissed.

Termus followed the creature into the queen’s lair. The guard stopped at the door and gestured for Termus to continue inside. The brute peered into the room, it was dimly lit and he could not yet see the queen. As Termus continued inside he noted the webbing that clung to the walls and the people sized cocoons that lay on the floor.

A few steps into the room and the queen’s voice called out to him, “I am surprised you made your way here Lord Termus, I thought I made my decision abundantly clear.” Her voice was smooth as silk, and turned Termus attention toward the end of the room, where she sat lighting a lantern so the brute could find his way around the room.

Termus made his way toward her “Your guards are assholes,” he grumbled as he stepped past furniture and more webbing.

The queen chuckled, “They are not there to make friends, only to defend me Lord Termus.”

Termus sighed, “Please don’t call me Lord my queen I do not recognize that title of mine any longer.” Termus arrived to what he deemed acceptable distance to the queen for speaking and bowed.

Queen Rayne Cadena sat behind a desk with a map of the island laid out before her. She wore her typical red in black clothing adorned with the symbol of Bhurtok, the wolf. She was a very beautiful woman, long dark hair, lightly tanned skin with hint of elvish in her facial features and an unnatural penetration to her gaze. In one hand she played with strands of webbing with her finger nails the other rested upon the guard of her sword which had been stabbed into the floor.

“Why abandon your rightfully earned title?” she asked. Termus said nothing, hoping his silence would stand for his refusal to answer to the question. She nodded, making a note to herself to come back to the question at another time. “Very well, tell me of our soldiers.”

“Queen Rayne our army is strong, and getting stronger with sailors who are arming themselves as warriors. Hopefully we will be able to find a village or a stronghold that still stands and gain even more people to reclaim the island.”

The ball of webbing seemed to be getting thinker in Queen Rayne’s hands as she toyed with it, “Who among them stand with the greatest skill or potential?” she asked.

Termus shrugged, “Greatest skill? Well I know you are well aware of High lord Jinkin Rosewater and Warlord Brett. The warlord being a self-described badass that looks badass and acts badass and the high lord a battle loving warrior that has taken the responsibility of training our soldiers.”

Queen Rayne nodded, “Indeed, who else do we have?”

Termus continued, “High lord Squire Ashram Shadowfall has pledged his allegiance to you and Jinkin. You also may know of Juki, he is an assassin that was once in the employ of Bhurtok.”

The queen sighed, she knew of all of these people already she was hoping to hear about newer soldiers that had distinguished themselves on the field, “Yes I am well aware of them, I am especially excited to be fighting with Juki again it has been too long. Though I am very interested in all the old faces of Bhurtok fighting on my side again I was hoping to hear more about new soldiers with great potential today.”

The brute scratched his head, “There is a soldier known as Jonos often referred to as Wakasashi among our warriors and two others…” Termus’ words trailed off as he searched for the correct words to use.

The queen smiled revealing her neat white teeth, “Ah the magic that has come to our aid, you want to argue your point further.”

Termus gathered himself and spoke as calmly and orderly as he could. “Both the druid Holden of Thornhill and priestess of uh… the east Ophelia the Reborn are great assets to our army and I would gladly fight side by side with either of them, but I do not wish to put my faith in too much magic. I have seen magic fail time and again putting more at risk than what it has saved. I-” The queen stood and raised her hand cutting the brutes speech short.

“Your arguments do not fall on deaf ears Termus; I understand your hesitation and respect your opinion. Now I tell you to understand and respect my opinion. We have tested them both as you wished, and they both performed admirably. Would you ask them to undergo an endless battery of trials until one emerges victorious or would you rather use those energies against the scaled beast that we must rid this island of? If it was two plain soldiers what would you have them do?”

Termus nodded, he knew that there would be no other course than to have both of them alongside him in battle. “My information on the rest of the soldiers is incomplete, there are many more who have distinguished themselves but my calls for information of them have gone unanswered.”

“Very well,” the queen said. Her attention turned to the ball of webbing she had formed in her hand. The ball was solid. She casually tossed the ball at the wall of cabin, when it struck it exploded into a vast net that clung to the wall.

Termus watched the ordeal and stared at thick sheet of webbing that clung to the wall. He turned to walk away and started to laugh to himself, “I’ll let the soldiers know that you will be leading the first strike into reptilian territory.”

Queen Rayne smiled and looked to one of the cocoons that lay on the floor. She could not help think about how hungry practicing her webbing had made her.