Joseph
Anyanka Durkhan
Zahrada, Astoria

The afternoon had been an absolute bore. Snow had fallen over Astoria the night prior, and while she hadn't expected it to be a particularly busy day for diplomacy, she thought she might get to enjoy some of the fresh snowfall with Mikhail. But the teen was no where to be found, as per the usual these days, and she'd woken up with an unusual warmth to her. Her handmaiden had noticed the rose to her cheeks when she came to change the bedding in the Queen's chambers only to find the Queen herself still tucked within them, brow furrowed and skin pink. 

Before Anya was even fully awake, Mara was at her bedside, cold hands on her face and neck which make the woman jolt in surprise. 

"You've a fever." The elderly woman said, as if she was scolding a child for getting mud on their shoes. 

"Or perhaps it's warm in here due to the fire and the layers of furs." Anyanka protested, moving to push herself up a bit in bed, only to realize she was _still_ exhausted despite only having just woken. 

Whatever remark the woman was going to throw back was cut short by an uncertain knock on the heavy wooden doors, and both silver eyed and silver haired women turned to it. Anya gave the okay for whomever stood on the otherside to enter, and a guard cleared his throat. 

"Someone has arrived to seek an audience with her majesty-" 

"Absolutely not." Anyanka and Mara's voices said at once, and the two women moved their gaze from the guard to each other, mild amusement and annoyance on each other's features. A beat passed then the guard nodded. 

"Shall I have them wait, or return another time?" He asked, and Anya realized this wasn't one of her normal guards but one of Roberts squires, being trained for the post. 

"Who is it?" Anya asked, pushing away Mara's hand that had reached for her neck. 

"He didn't give a name, just your first." 

This made her brow raise, and she nodded. "Give me half an hour, I'll see them in the throne room."
Stephen
**Melkaire Amarth**
**Zahrada, Astoria**

The towering swordsman kept his stance at the gates. Awaiting the chain of messages to be conveyed by those whom served the queen. In his recollection of his first encounter with the woman, he found himself both skeptical and enthralled with the idea of so casually engaging with one of royalty- and if she was as she said, it would be doubtless that word would inevitably reach her about the arrival of a visitor. Undaunted by the scope of the city or the armed guards that watched him with vigilance and suspicion, Melkaire folded his arms across his barreled chest. Awaiting word if he was to be accepted or denied. 

Before long, word traveled back to the gates, where instructions to head to the throne room were given. There, he would have his audience with Anyanka, and there, she would see him as a man who kept his word. Not someone who flung around promises so carelessly. With a grunt and a nod, the Warrior pressed off of his right foot, initiating his trek that carried him across cobblestone roads. Into the heart of the city, the warrior traveled. Unhindered by the show and the chill. For a man who grew up in the mountains, this was a trivial matter, hence the layers of fur and hide that adorned his figure. 

The city's sights were taken in. The strange, new landscape was unfamiliar to him, and as such, Melkaire desired to commit all the things he beheld into memory. The architecture of the buildings that lined the sides of the roads, the lay out of the city itself, the way that the citizens carried on with their day to day activities and regarding the presence of a stranger among them. It was somewhat refreshing for the warrior, to witness indifference rather than scrutiny right off the bat.

_ _
It wouldn't be long before the warrior was led into the throne room by the accompanying guards. Heavy steps rapped against the floor, causing a subtle echo to resonate inside of it's walls. Brows lifted in surprise, having never seen the interior of a throne room before. It was majestic— as majestic as he always envisioned it to be since the days of his youth. "Fascinating." He remarked to no one in particular, content enough to just study the furniture and decoration that filled the throne room.
Edward
Lord Robert Cromwell
Knight's Landing, Astoria

Robert nodded along with what he said, understanding him. He pulled out an empty piece of parchment and dipped a quill, scribbling out a quick letter before raising it over a candle to dry the ink quicker. He folded it, took his seal, warmed the wax and sealed it. Then without hesitation wrote up a second letter, this one he actually took the time to write out his titles and sign his name in a offcial way. Then he dried and sealed it. 

"This one..." He said, "Will get you into Zahrada with an escort. The second, give to her grace. You can take a horse from our stable. You're welcome to stay here for a night or two, I'm sure the winter traveling hasn't been the best for you. We'll figure out what Anyanka wants you to do. If you were already an Eclipse Guard, I see little of what we can do to replace actual combat experience here. If Anya wishes to have me train you, she'll send you back here and I'll figure something out. If not, then she'll assign you to Eclipse. I don't want to take you and assign you tot he training the squires have. It'd be demeaning to someone who actually knows what it's like to nearly die for something. If she sends you back, I promise you won't be treated like the squires out there are treated. You'll essentially be a part of the cadre." 

Robert handed the letters over and rose from his seat. "If you wish to stay for a night or two, I'll have a squire prep a room. It won't be luxurious, but it'll be a bed and a fire. I could even give a portion of one groups barracks space, if I find it's not clean when I go down there, they'll be sleeping outside."
Joseph
Anyanka Durkhan
Zahrada, Astoria

It had taken nearly twenty minutes of her alotted half hour delay to get Mara off her back. She had risen from her bed, and gotten an earful from the healer in the process of getting dressed. 

"You understand there's a plague, your Majesty?" The asked, her voice a low hiss as Anya's fingers worked to close the buttons that held her gown in place. She didn't have time -well, she did, but she didn't like intentionally being late for things- to fuss over an outfit, so she pulled the first one from her wardrobe. 

Anya couldnt help the exasperated sigh before she turned to Mara. "I'm very aware, thank you. However, I don't have it." The redhead paused, pressing her lips together before returning to her work. 

"And even if I _did_, which I don't, wouldn't it be worse to alert the public by _fussing_ over me? I'm a public servant, not doing my job gets me and my people killed. So can we have this discussion later?" She asked, and Mara seemed to back down. 

There was a beat. "I'll take any medications you recommend, does that help?" She offered, and it did well to placate the woman. With it settled, Anya stepped from her bedroom, a vision in grey as she headed down the hall. The guards at the door fell into step behind her, accompanying her to the back entrance of the throne room. The door opened behind the throne itself, so to anyone waiting for would appear as if the woman came out of no where. It was one of her favorite illusions of the palace. 

Her guards appeared first, both moving around the wooden structure to take their posts before Anya arrived, turning the corner with an easy expression despite how tired she felt. 

She paused almost immediately upon seeing the visitor. 

"Amarth?"
Daniel
Elias watched as Cromwell wrote the letters, and he listened as the man spoke. As Elias took the letters from Cromwell's hand and placed them in the new pocket along with the metal square, he spoke. 

"I thank you for this, Sir Cromwell. The resuming of my duties has been a long time coming." Elias rose from his seat now. "It's getting later in the day, so I will take the room. Both a bed and a fire is better than some arrangements I've had over the years."

Elias walked with Cromwell once more and continued conversation as he was led to his room. "I do not know if I will or won't be sent back here. The occasional piece of caravan or small guard work has kept my skills sharp, even as I aged through the years, but it's been almost two decades since those days of formal training. Whatever happens with all this, do know I appreciate the help you've given with this. Like I said before, you've made my duties much easier to carry on."
Stephen
Melkaire Amarth
Zahrada, Astoria

All that mattered to the warrior was seeing to it that a promise made was a promise kept. To establish the fact that when Melkaire gave his word, one could expect it to be as good as done. Such was his way. All the time in the world passed him by, it mattered little. The ends justified the means as far as the wayward soul was concerned. Still, as the large, lone swordsman stood in the middle of the court, feeling eyes upon him, regarding him that the stranger he rightfully was, he continued to allow the flow of his cerulean gaze to move about the room. Finding it almost surreal that he was even in a place like this. 

The sound of approaching footsteps came at a distant echo across the expanse of the large room. Ears twitched slight, using his senses to search for the source of the sound that had his head turning this way and that. Narrowing eyes took a more closer, careful look. Each detail was taken into memory, as though he considered the possibility that another chance would not come. Eyebrows furrowed while full lips pressed and pursed. A low hum resonated from him, musing quietly. 

The two guards that circled the sides of the throne drew his focus. Eyelids narrowed over the stormy seas contained within his sights, watching carefully to see if the person that came to claim the spot on the throne was exactly who he thought— who he hoped it would be. Indeed, surely as the guards appeared, Anyanka was next to fall into his sights. A moment's passing kept them both in silence. A smirk creased at the corner of his lips as he beheld her reaction, finding it pleasing in it's own way. 

"Aye." He grunted, issuing a nod of the head, "I told you that I would come seek you out. I am a man of my word, Anyanka." -d-
Edward
Lord Robert Cromwell
Knight's Landing, Astoria

Robert walked around the desk and grabbed his cloak. "Outstanding, I'll send a squire to find you and take you to the room." He said as he openned the door and walked out of the office. "Feel free to stay in the main hall and have something to drink. Wine mead or water, I only ask you do not get drunk."

He walked away down the hall. After a moment or two, Robert's angry voice would be heard.

"Holy fuck, I thought I said _shut UP!?" His voice boomed. The sound of a wash bucket getting punted into a wall was heard and liquid spilling everywhere. 

"Restart washing my fucking floors! Then, fix that bucket _you_ broke!" He yelled, before leaving the main hall.
Daniel
**Elias Armin
Knight's Landing, Astoria**

Elias gave Cromwell a wave as he the two men parted ways. Even in the cold weather, Elias needed to drink something and so he made his way to the hall and refilled his field flask with water. 

As Elias finished his second and final cup of mead for the night a squire approached him and the lad told him that he'd show Elias to his quarters. 

Elias followed the boy and upon arriving he saw a basic room, something familiar to him. A bed, a fire, and a couple of chairs set beside. Between the time of arrival, conversation, and lounging in the main hall dark had set in and so in turn it was time for Elias to drift off. Tommorrow he would ride out early, taking the horse over the snow dusted paths between Knight's Landing and Zahrada, and there he would resume his sworn duty. 



. . .
Joseph
Anyanka Durkhan
Zahrada Astoria

It wasn't that she didn't believe the man would hold to his word, more just that she thought it would have taken longer than the few months that had passed since their meeting in Alsher. It had been brief, and she had almost expected him.To forget about her suggestion that he see Astoria in its newfound glory once enough time had passed in Araedia. 

He smirked, as if he hoped she would have thought he forgot. "So it appears." She agreed, her hands had joined before her navel, fingers of one hand wrapping nearly completely around the forefinger of the other. 

"I'm surprised to host you so soon," She looked to the guards that accompanied her to the throne room and then back to Melkaire. "Let's do better than this room, shall we? I was under the impression I was seeing a messenger, not a friend. Have you eaten?"