James
*He he stood up as the prince forged the blade. He still seemed distant, lost in his thoughts, but seeing the blade, and feeling the cold metal in his hand brought him back to reality. He traced his finger along the letters, and his fist clentched around the handle as he looked up.*

"May the Gods grant your search with succsess. And I swear to you right now. Whoever ransacked this village and kidnapped my parents will die by this blade. Surely if you can capture and convict the culprit as you are so sure you can, you can grant me that honor." *His expression remained stern, but the tone of his voice spoke volumes, and the fire of vengance would glow brightly in his eyes. This hope of justice had been restored from the most unexpected place. He doubted that the legal system could actually convict the culprit. Most likely the vile Robber Baron, bankrolled by this attack and others, was sure to have ample bribes to rig the courts. But nevertheless, the prince's discoveries would likely allow him to track down the villain himself. As he said. The villain would die by his blade. In the meantime, there were still plenty of lesser evils to combat until the Prince's investigation could yield results.*

"And one more thing" *He said as he picked up a stray plank. He held out the plank to the prince, and the image of a battle scared, but well fed nobleman appeared out of nowhere on it, his black mustache and matching well trimmed hair looking sinister.* "Take off the crown. Should any of his men still watch this place, for whatever reason, you will have more than bandits to worry about if they recognize you." *With that he started walking off into the forest, seeming to blur once obscured by the foliage until he was out of site.*
Chad
"It will be all yours, as is only right." *Astalios conceded. The matter of choosing the executioner was no large one in the eyes of the law - and if justice in his country be ever more poetic, then who was he to deny that? The final swing of the sword would belong to that man whose home had been taken from him by the actions of the convicted. Proper as well as satisfying, the way things **Should** Be. The visage of the man he was shown was a good one to memorize.* "Take care, woodsman, and keep your eyes open for real injustice."

*But as for the crown, there was no way in the heavens or the hells that it was going away. To doff it would be to hide himself and concede to the banditry that they had free reign over the area, and that they were able to threaten even the royalty of Alynthi. They could never be allowed to maintain the illusion of such power, lest they take heart. Better for them to see the crown, their greed to give them away, and for their own arrows to pierce their hearts as they loosed them intending to kill him, to take gold and armor that was never theirs. And if this person should try to assault him, then there would be reason to summarily execute him without any trial. 

It made his pulse quicken in anticipation of battle, an urge he quickly forced down.

There was only himself and Roesia left in the village clearing, besides his two rangers. He looked away from the path of the ranger, and his eyes met hers once more.*

"I don't suppose you'd like to continue hunting with me once more, would you?" *He asked, a wry grimace on his face. The humor was weak, and it was likely that she would choose to go her own way.*
Jesse
Roesia had stayed strangely quiet for the majority of the prince's and woodsman's conversation, and instead focused her attention on what was left of the village. It wasn't her place to jump in to such a political and emotional discussion, so she allowed her eyes and ears to trail off elsewhere to allow the men as much privacy as she could give them. With a gentle sigh, Roesia watched as the Wolf of Greenheart finally disappeared back into the woods, and the half-elf turned to the prince with a slight smile. "If you're still up for it, I wouldn't mind. Though if we're hunting bigger game I'm not entirely sure a dagger will cut it." Not even realizing her own joke, Roesia walked past the prince and mounted Angus once more, an invitation for Astalios to join her via Tempest. 

Without another word, Roesia wrapped her fingers around her familiar's amulet once more and her purple hawk Hera eventually appeared seemingly out of thin air. Landing on the hunter's arm, Roesia's eyes then began to glow the same color as her bird, and without another second Hera flew up from Roesia's arm and into the sky in no direction in particular. Shaking her head slightly, Roesia looked back to the prince. "Hera will find us something interesting in no time."
Chad
"Thank you for your patience. I understand that it's not every day we run into a man or a scenario such as this one." *It was a massive understatement, of course, and he knew that fact, but there was no tool quite like understating the situation to reduce focus and move on with the task at hand. It happened to be that he had quite enjoyed the experience of hunting right up until Richard had appeared. What better way to move on than to focus on happier things? The unlikeliness of his dagger to work on larger game, for one...*

"Well punned." *He chuckled for a moment.* "But the dagger isn't all I have with me, nor is it fixed into one shape, as it were. If it needs to become longer or travel faster, it can." *He spoke of it like it had a mind of its own, and wasn't directly controlled by his magic. There was something to that - every weapon was different. The way they worked and the way they felt in your hand was always a unique experience.*

"And of course, if something really large is around, I can detach a gauntlet for another spear or similar implement. I think out arsenal is quite well made. Here's hoping that Hera's sight is unerring." *He nodded.*
Jesse
Nodding in the prince's direction, the two set off in the direction Hera had flown, the only sound around them being the hoofbeats of their horses and the nature of the Greenheart Woods. Part of her mind was still with Richard and what was going to happen with him and those who harmed him, but another part was on what could be on Astalios's mind. Someone had practically defaced the name he'd worked so hard to give to his kingdom. Their true and honest nature. Roesia partially wished to ask just how the prince planned to deal with such a thing, but she opted against it and instead chose a different conversation topic as the walked along.

Idly running her fingers through Angus's man, Roesia looked over to Astalios and gestured toward him. "So you can control anything metal? So if there were a statue made of metal, could you animate it?" Roesia didn't wish to be nosy, but she was genuinely curious as she had never seen anything like his magic before. Especially given he was limited to *Only* That. Reaching back into one of her horse's pouches, she pulled out what looked to be a jerky of some kind before taking a piece for herself and tossing the other over to the prince without asking if he wanted any in the first place.
Chad
"As a matter of fact, I was hoping that the man we met would give me some kind of imagery I could forge into a statue in memory of his village. So, yes, I can animate anything made of metal, I suppose - although I cannot give it life. I have been trying to see what I can do with metal spells, but so far, my contingencies are one of the few more structured spells I can perform." *He explained, briefly holding up his hand. His gauntlet slid off, crawled itself up onto his palm, and tapped its fingers in a wavelike fashion. It then lifted into the air, waved to Roesia, and re-attached itself to the rest of his garb.*

*The rangers followed behind, searching for anything overtly dangerous to the Prince's health.*

*He caught the jerky deftly and tossed it into his mouth. It reminded him of the days on the road. He had always eaten the same meals as his men, though the officer's mess was of course set apart from the common soldiery. An officer was to be touched by grace, and invincible in the face of fire... So he could not be mortal and talk with the men.*

"Thank you." *He surveyed the forest, looking ahead for the bird.*
Jesse
Roesia smiled when the prince's gauntlet seemingly moved on its own, causing her to giggle a bit. "Its truly fascinating, your power." Glancing back at the escorts, Roesia peered ahead, hoping Hera would contact her sooner rather than later. Angus nickered quietly, and the half-elf idly chewed on her own jerky before swallowing with a sigh. "I only know a few basic things, like speaking with animals or calming them. Basic enchantment, I suppose. Though I have wanted to see how I can learn more. *If,* I can learn more that is."

Nodding at his thank you, almost as if out of nowhere, Roesia's eyes began to glow purple once again. Her expression dimmed a bit, as if her consciousness were elsewhere but Angus walked along as if nothing had changed. A moment passed and then Roesia snapped out of her stupor, her eyes darting over to the prince with a smile. "Hera's spotted a herd of elk to the north, not too far at all. I only saw a single stag, but I suppose it'll just have to go to whoever lands the killing blow, hm?" Roesia offered a wink, and without warning slapped the reigns on Angus and the two bolted off, taunting the prince to catch up as she did so.
Chad
"Indeed. I am at a loss as to where it comes from, but it is lucky, I suppose, that I have it." *He agreed, urging on Tempest as they continued through the forest with a gentle hand. There was much to enjoy about the forest if there was no immediate issue of justice to be resolved.* "For my part, I cannot begin to know what Tempest thinks of me. He may simply cooperate out of a sense of duty - after all, he's not exactly a pet of mine, he's a warhorse." *He mused, wondering what the horse could say if he was of the mind to speak.*

"Of course." *He snapped the reins briefly, and Tempest raced off after Angus, though he was slowed down by the brush and the trees in a way that the more practiced Clydesdale was not. As a consequence, the prince closed his eyes and concentrated, focusing on the iron on the bottom of Tempest's horseshoes. After a few moments, they began to lift in the air, the destrier running as if up a hill as the horseshoes found resistance from the magic of his rider. They broke the canopy and galloped forward as if on the open field, but they did have quite a bit of ground to make up.*

"I hope you don't mind if I cheat!" *He called ahead.*
Jesse
Looking behind her, Roesia was sure she had lost the prince, but hearing him call out from *Above her* No less caused her cheeks to puff out with frustration. Urging Angus to go faster, Roesia let out a laugh and called out to the flying prince. "Is that what they teach you in that castle of yours?" It would be a good mile before they would need to both slow and quiet down so as not to scare the elk they planned to hunt, which for now gave them plenty of time to race and put one another to the test. Though, with the prince both cheating and riding on what is most likely a faster horse, he would inevitably pass Roesia in the long run. Clydesdale's weren't exactly built for speed, although Roesia refused to give up as long as Angus wasn't growing tired.

She had eventually lost sight of the prince, prompting her to call out above her once more, "At some point you'll have to come back down you know!" A part of Roesia wished she were up there with him, seeing the forest from a point of view she probably never would. Flying like Hera through the sky, through clouds and over fields of trees and grain. Was this something the prince did often? If so, she'd have to convince him at some point to take her with him on a ride through the sky.
Chad
"At some point, yes!" *He called back, a smile gracing his face as he and his horse flew through the skies, looking forward to the feeling of the wind in his hair. Tempest seemed to like this well enough, though the first few times he had done this, the horse had panicked, and he had been forced to propel himself off of the destrier to calm him down. Eventually, it had become a part of the routine to the warhorse, and he had adjusted fairly well.*

*There was not much like the sensation of hurtling through the skies, whether it be in his armor or on his horse. Steel sabaton boots and iron horseshoes were a wonderful thing, for there was never a moment that the prince was denied a small escape to the sky.*

*She had quite the lead, however, and he wasn't going to push Tempest too hard in order to catch up for something like this hunt. It was supposed to be slow, wasn't it? Careful stalking of the prey, making sure you were undetected. He was doing a spectacularly bad job of keeping himself under wraps in this case...

And as they raced towards their goal, he was quite enjoying himself.*