When we arrived at the Citadel, the two of us were ambushed by most of our friends. Way in the back, I saw a quick flash of relief come over Hailey's face before she headed inside with Mei and the other elves.
Well, at the very least she doesn't hate me completely.
Luke rushed over to hear about the encounter, jotting the details down in some quasi-notepad that probably contained every important report about the city.
A mop of blue hair amongst the crowd signaled the return of our new battle-junkie. It looked like Julius assigned his two adjutants to keep watch over her, as both Alistaire and Soren were glued to her side.
She ribbed her arm into my side, "Hey, little sis. What was up with that teleporting person? How come all your people were making a ruckus?"
"Another weird companion. Maybe. And the reason the alarm was raised it because we weren't sure what was going on, better be safe than sorry."
"Hmmm, I guess so." She mused. "Let me know if you want me to do anything in future. I'm pretty quick, being able to fly around and all."
"I will keep that in mind."
I signaled Luke back over, and told him to put a request in for Dori or my sister to get another communirune made for Ikki.
Eventually I managed to corral the noisy group through the hall and towards Command for another meeting.
-✵-
A second, third, and fourth meeting went by, and my muscles had long since started to ache. Even with ample time between each to move around, I was at my limit.
Even with divine regeneration, my body still gets sore from sitting? I'd like to file a complaint to whomever created this body. Hello? Goddess Virgo? Yes, please fix humanity—thank you.
All of our officially scheduled meetings were over, and the command room was now being occupied by our core military officers and key individuals from Umbraedomis.
I checked in with a few people to ensure my plans would proceed without issue, then took my place at the head of the room.
An older looking man I barely recognized as one of Julius' newer OSW underlings was already up there calling out to everyone in a thick accent, "Fall in at attention, les'go! Hurry up! Roll call will be conducted by the Scarlet Wing Commander. Ya' better hurry up if ya' know what's good for ya'."
Julius confirmed everyone we wanted had arrived, and the doors were secured with sound-proofing magick courtesy of Archmagus Sara—whose official title was reinstated just last meeting.
My exhaustion had caught up with me and I desperately wanted to wrap the last meeting up to retire for the day.
I began the meeting with no real decorum whatsoever.
"Alright, here's the deal. Bashir's failed insurrection was just the start. Renault will keep prodding us, because they currently think we're weak. Luckily enough, his favored assassination tool seems to be lashing back at him, but there is no guarantee that luck will hold out."
I motioned for Hanna and Luke to come up to me.
"So," I continued, "We must be vigilant and show our strength. We don't have any leeway for foolish posturing. We've found a great ally with the elves, but we need to become more formidable ourselves."
I turned to the two, "I've given it some thought, and I want you two to lead a new order. It'll be functionally similar to the Scarlet Wing but with different fundamentals. Luke, you've been handling many of the affairs of the OSW on Julius' behalf already so I'd like you to take official positions in both."
Similarly to when I'd declared the OSW's formation, there was a stir in the crowd, but only amongst the former Republic officers.
One such officer in the group stood up.
"The Scarlet Wing was formed to combat the Renaultians already, was it not?" He questioned my declaration with a loud voice. "They've been successful in policing the city, it was their order who sniffed out the conspiracy with the disgraced minister. What benefit could another such organization have for us?"
I waved my hand at him dismissively, "It is precisely because the OSW was created like a policing force, that we need additional oversight and a governing body to make level-headed judgments. Hanna and Luke will fill half of that role, and I've invited the leaders of the Church to act as the other."
At my mention, and as I motioned towards the back of the room, Primarch Karina came into view along with a small group of robed clergy members.
As she made her way towards me I continued to explain my reasoning.
"My official stance is: that which is without the blessing of the Goddesses will be purged from this world and all realms beyond. I hereby decree the beginning of an everlasting crusade against any and all agents of the Void. The expungement of the Renaultian Crown's influence in Tolin is our first priority. Primarch Karina will have the authority to hold court and investigate any persons suspected of conspiring with enemy forces. The Church will be a fair and impartial judge, so that the OSW, the new order, nor our military forces appear to be overextending their reach against the civilians."
Karina stood at my side, her bright smile easing some of my tensions. Her soft-spoken voice quieted the mumbling within the crowd.
"Many of our followers were disturbed by the actions taken by the former minister and his cohorts. They confided in the Church and requested that we alert our military forces when malicious intent became apparent. I is the belief of the Church that our people should rally behind the Brilliant Sun chosen by our Goddess, and we graciously accept our role as arbiter."
Karina bowed elegantly, her body bent slightly forward, her head held high, and left arm held against her chest—an action reserved for imperial archnobles.
"Under the direction of the Church." I lifted my left hand towards Karina. "And the eyes of the Crimson Seekers." I lifted my right hand towards Hanna and Luke. "The members of the Scarlet Wing will root out whatever evils remain with the city as we prepare to head to war."
Hailey came towards us, stopping just before she was front and center. She brought a board up to her face and began to read off of it.
"Attention to orders. Hanna Vynn, is hereby commissioned as an officer in service to the Vanixian Empire, and promoted to the permanent rank of Grand-Paladin, effective immediately. Under the direct authority of the Empire's Sun, Grand-Paladin Hanna Vynn will assume command of the newly formed Crimson Seekers."
"Grand-Paladin Vynn, you are hereby recognized by the Brilliant Sun of the Empire." I removed Hanna's silver sun insignia from her uniform.
Julius stepped forward and handed me a small box before stepping back.
I leaned in and whispered in a low voice to Hanna, "We almost couldn't find the proper pins anywhere in storage. I was a little worried you'd be stuck in a mismatched pair of insignia. This jump in rank may seem a tad overboard but, for someone who's been practically running an entire Division on her own, it's warranted."
I opened the box and revealed a pair of pins. Golden suns with four chevrons below them.
I pinned them on Hanna's uniform with a smile.
"I, Hanna Vynn, swear to defend and avenge the Empire of Light. With allegiance to the same, I shall perform the duties of my Order. By the Goddesses."
Hanna and I exchanged salutes, and she switched places with Luke.
As he stepped into place, Hailey read off her board once more.
"Attention to orders. Luke Mitchell, is hereby promoted to the permanent rank of Knight-Captain, effective immediately. Under the authority of the Vanixian Empire, Knight-Captain Luke Mitchell will assume vice-command of the Crimson Seekers and Order of the Scarlet Wing."
"Captain Mitchell, you are hereby recognized by the Empire." I swapped out the golden single-chevron insignia on Luke's for a new set of double-chevron insignia.
"I, Luke Mitchell, swear to defend and avenge the Empire of Light. With allegiance to the same, I shall perform the duties of my Order. By the Goddesses."
He and I exchanged salutes and the hastily prepared promotion ceremony ended without becoming too much of a spectacle.
As our forces prepared for war, many days passed by as a muddled mess of events.
In both eagerness to show their order could make headway and to keep me from worrying about the possibilities of more turncoats, the Crimson Seekers had swept through the populace of Tolin with breakneck speed.
Their inquisition to uproot any Renaultian collaborators resulted in the executions of seven divisionals and the imprisonment of twelve civilians. Eight of which had been within the Cahir refugee group.
This made their acceptance as a whole a big point of contention, and a major headache for me, for days.
A handful of villagers alongside Amelia, who served as a character witness since she'd known them all from her time as a waitress in the village tavern, petitioned for lesser sentences.
Taurus, our city's resident Celestial in the permanent form of a house cat, refused my requests for further details of these specific members of his village. Apparently my failure to kill, or even capture, Hikita had annoyed him and my recent meeting with her hadn't gone unnoticed by the strange God.
Ikuye believed he was just reluctant to get involved any further because of the Celestial's pact of non-interference.
Ultimately, villagers had been released with a number of stipulations following a trial headed by the Church. After an extensive review of the charges and evidence provided by the Seekers, Karina had decided that, while these people were guilty of providing information to the treasonous soldiers working under Renault, they did so under threats of harm to their families or friends that remained within Axio.
So, the risk of our plans and movements being leaked had been removed.
Supplies had been gathered up and built up in mass.
Training for siege warfare and integration with the Aestori was nearly complete.
Our troops had been outfitted with the best equipment our smiths could provide.
And most importantly, I had solidified the positions of both the Order of the Scarlet Wing and Crimson Seekers to the Aestori and former-Republic nobles.
With both those orders and the backing of the Church, any declaration to actually move on Axio couldn't be contested.
A knock came at the door to my office—a relatively new addition to the Crimson Seeker's base of operation, the grand tower which lied close to the city's center.
"It's unlocked!" I called out as the door had already been opened halfway.
Julius stepped in with a bundle of papers held against his chest. He seemed out of sorts, shifting uncomfortably in a dress shirt and slacks, rather than his typical armored uniform.
"Your Majestic-ness, I'd like to complain about the amount of paperwork I've been doing lately. I thought I was commanding an army, not moonlighting as your Head Minister."
I put down the reports I'd been reviewing, and motioned for him to approach while I adjusted myself to sit in a more comfortable position.
"You're right. You are the commander of our integrated forces, and it's Adellin who's our acting Head Minister. If you'd like, we could have you two swap offices for a day."
Julius frowned, "And why would I want to do that?"
"To see that his current administrative workload is ten times what you have. Perhaps one day in his shoes would stop your complaining."
"Haah, nevermind. I don't want to see more paperwork. I've been doing reports in my dreams."
"Then I'll probably have some great news for you this evening at tonight's call-to-orders." I held out my hand expectantly, and Julius handed me his stack of papers. He remained in my office, fidgeting on his feet. "Was there anything else?"
"Just wanted to check in and see how you were doing."
"How I'm doing? I'm fine, Julius. I swamped with work and lately people treat me like I'm some sort of Goddess, but I'm fine."
He opened his mouth to respond, but paused.
"What else?" I demanded.
"Particularly, how would you say you're doing in regards to a certain relationship…"
Now it was my turn to frown.
"If you want to ask about Hailey, just ask about her. Quit being annoying about it. We're fine.
"If that vicious expression you're wearing is what you call fine, then I—"
"Enough about this. It's gotten old—your poor attempts to subtly pry into my personal life. If you and Mei want details so badly, pester Hailey about it. She's the one who's still acting apprehensive."
"I will consider your input—"
"Don't consider it; conform to it."
Julius backed off and left with a quick salute.
Haaah.
I sighed heavily, leaning back in my chair and tossing the papers Julius gave me into a bin on the left side of my desk.
I hope she likes the gift I sent her.
My thoughts drifted to a commission I'd submitted to an elven artisan to make for Hailey. A pure-white cloak with a crimson-red border and accents stitched into the fabric, and a stylized broach in the shape of the Vanixian crest, a phoenix with its wings outstretched, to pin the cloak in place.
It had been designed in mind to fit with her uniform. A little too showy for everyday use, but more than appropriate for ceremonies and the like.
It should have arrived this morning…
I'd sent it over with a note, asking her to wear it for tonight's meeting. It's not that I was positive she wouldn't consider it, but I really wanted to show that our relationship wasn't as dire as some people though.
Especially the noisy former-Republic nobles…