Meeting the Duke.

~He had received the reply to his letter from Duke Leto, and headed over to see him. On the way he stopped a pageboy and asked if he had time to run an errand in Draco. The page did, not right away but he promised it would be done before the end of the day. Tiberious simply nodded to him and handed him a few coins, telling him to go to the Academia in Draco, and head to the kitchens. There he was to ask for a man known only as 'Carmen', and to give half the coins to him. He was to give a message to 'Carmen' - Word for Word. The message was "Tiberious sends his best, and hopes he won't have to make a personal visit." Tiberious saw the page gulp as he started to wonder what he had just wrapped himself up in, and the big man kept his face blank, staring directly at the page. He told him that 'Carmen' should give the page a package, and the page was to bring that package directly to Tiberious - no one else - and the page was NOT to peek inside of it. The rest of the coins could be spent as the page saw fit.~

~He made the pageboy repeat the instructions, then sent him off with a scowl. Once he was out of sight, Tiberious smiled to himself. He didn enjoy these games he played with the hired help.~

~He made his way towards the Dukes chambers, and knocked on the door.~

"Tiberious Farstrider, as requested."

(Leto was in no mood for pleasantries, he had received disturbing reports.)

"Tiberious, please come in and have a seat."

(He motioned to a chair, and then walked over to the window, as if awaiting something.)

"We may have run out of time. Reports have reached me to suggest that the Aurorans are on the march."

~He walked into the room, dressed immaculatly as always in a crisp clean white shirt, leather trousers and shiny boots. His broadsword, hung from his belt, was pushed aside as he took the offered chair. He could see the Duke appeared nervous about something. He leaned back in the chair, but then sat bolt upright as Leto mentioned the army on the move.~

"Do you have any indication which direction they are headed?"

~His own planning had summised first strikes at Grorr or Draco. But this was all too early. The military needed to be readied and deployed ready to defend which city the Aurorans headed towards first.~

(He pulled a copy of the map of Aegis out from his desk, and unfolded it out onto the table.)

"I've been informed that Jaric's war party has moved in on Rensain's territory in the Thunderlands. I do not know if they are attacking or merely negotiating. But there is more military presence there than i would like."

(He points to several locations on the map, discussing them.)

"Marloc seems an unlikely target. And Grorr can handle itself if attacked. That leaves Meriddia and Draco in the direct line of fire."

(He points to a place on the map along the coast, where a the paths to Meriddia and Draco split off.)

"We need to keep a substantial presence on guard at Salarain to prevent a surprise flank attack. My garrison here is on high alert, and will remain so until I command otherwise. In the meantime, I have hand picked one hundred of my finest warriors to act as an ambush party. At this point, if the Aurorans march onward, they will be walking into an ambush. As we speak, my men are digging pits and concealed traps, in the hopes of slowing their progress. One hundred men will not win a fight with them, but guerilla tactics will slow them down. If all else fails, then we will kill as many of them as possible."

(He paused for breath, his eyes darkening, and his voice hardening.)

"Tiberious - the Aurorans cannot be allowed to reach the capital. We cannot rely on the King to protect us - we are but pawns to him. We must defend ourselves. I have an urgent mission for you - you cannot fail me in this."

(Leto walks over to a cupboard, opening it, and removing a satchel from it. He walks over to Tiberious, and opens it, revealing rolled up parchments inside it)

"These are letters bearing my seal. Many of the Council do not yet know of my return to the realm, but these will stand you in stead. You must reach as many of the council members as you can, and provide these letters to them. You may read them if you desire, but the letters ask for them to converge here one week from today. The council has not met in some time - but I think that should change. Seek Ralean, Jared, Amarra and Kharne if you can find them. Get a message to Rensain if you can - assuming Jaric doesn't burn him to the ground first. I don't care how you do it - but you must do this for me. Write to them if you must, but do not divulge the reason you need to meet them until you are in person. This must remain as secret as possible, not even the king can know. You answer to me in this. Do you understand?"

(He folded his arms and waited - this was a lot of information for Tiberious to digest.)

"Oh, and one last thing. Take Artimus with you if you can find him. He owes me a favour - and this job is too dangerous for you to do alone."

~He stood up as the map was unfurled, his frown creasing as Leto showed him where the ambush was to happen. He was never happy with throwing the first punch; he much prefered to let someone else start the fight and he finish it. But he could see the value of slowing them down and wasn't going to argue with a Duke.~

~He sat back down as Leto took the satchel and explained what needed doing. Tiberious kept his face emotionless as always when he was on duty. He stood up and nodded to Leto, extending his hand.~

"I will do my best to deliver these to the council. The last I heard, Artimus had gone to Draco to see his wife, so I shall go there first. Who knows, Maybe Duchess Amarra might actually be in her city for once."

(He shook his hand as Tiberious extended it.)

"Thank you Lieutenant. I know that you can get this done. Once you've found who you can, you should come back here as well. You are also invited to the meeting - it's only fair after you will be doing the hard work to bring everyone together."

~He shook the Duke's hand and then took the bag, adjusting the strap slightly and putting on his shoulder.~

"I shall do my best for you, My Lord. I just need to pack a few things and then be on my way."

(Leto nodded approvingly.)

"Godspeed to you Tiberious. Move swiftly, and be back soon."

~He turned for the door.~

"I will." ~He spoke calmly with little emotion in his voice, and opened the door and left the office. He walked out into the grounds of the keep with the bag on his shoulder and pointed to a servant walking past. He told them to inform the stables that he wanted his horse ready in one hours time, then he went to his chambers where he started to pack a few things.~

~she had been going thru a few things in one of the side rooms when she hear someone come in. She raised and eyebrow and peeked her head out and caught him going up to there room.~

She spoke outloud to herself.."That can't be good."

~she made her way up the stairs and leaned against the doorframe.~

"Ok so who pissed you off and where are you going?"

~she started to move closer to him~

~Now he was alone - so to speak - his emotionless expression had dropped. He had walked in to the main sitting room and picked up a peice of waxed paper from one of the drawers in the dresser. The last one in there for the time being. He unrolled the paper and took the candy stick from inside as he walked into the bedroom and put the satchel given to him by the Duke onto the bed. He stuck the candy stick between his teeth, took one of his travelling bags and began to pick a shirt up and put it into the bag. He spun around as he heard Jade enter.~

"Damn and blasted Dukes. If I'm not having to be a babysitter for their evil spawn, they're making me become a blasted messenger!"

~He spoke with that stick hanging out of his mouth, almost as if it was held there by magic, or it didn't dare anger him by daring to fall out. He didn't elobarate on his mission, just turned back to the bag, grabbing another shirt and stuffing it into the bag.~

"Is your Father still at Draco? If he comes back here, tell him to get over to Draco as fast as his stupid horse can carry him, and find me. This is important."

~He finished filling the travelling bag with a few clothes, and threw the bag onto one shoulder, then picked up the Dukes satchel and put it on the other. Finally he took a deep breath and looked back at her. His voice calmed very softly. He put his hands on her shoulders.~

"I've got to go for a few days. I'll be back soon."

~she watched him closely as he gathered things.~

"Yes he should be still there. I will tell him if he comes while your gone."

~she watched him more keeping her eyes on him. As he gathered the rest of his things for his trip. As he came over and placed his hands on her shoulders she looked right at him. She nodded.~

"Ok. Be safe. And try not to kill father when you see him."

~she made herself softly smile. She acted casual like it was no big deal. Hiding what her real feeling where. She knew he wouldn't want to deal with her if she let the best of her emotions get her.~

~He kissed her softly ont he forehead, despite his mannerisms only a few seconds ago.~

"I won't kill him, I need him for this."

~He gripped her shoulders tightly.~

"I promise you, I'll look after him."

~he gave her another kiss then headed for the door.~

~she smiled softly and as he held her shoulders tightly she was fighting to hold herself together.~

"You better. And you better both come back." ~she called after him as he headed for the door.~

~she ran after him and spun him around grabbing him and kissing him deeply. She wanted to let him know how much she would miss him.~

~He knew she would miss him. And he was going to cold at night He kissed her back for a moment then broke the kiss.~

"Promise." ~he said solemnly, and took another step towards the stairs.~

~she softly~

"I love you Tib..."

~she didn't know if he would hear her or not. she just watched him leave. taking a deep shakey breath.~

~He didn't hear her, but he knew it deep in his heart.~

~The candy stick perched in his teeth, he strode to the stables. His black stallion was already saddled and ready to go, so he fastened his travelling bag onto the saddle, adjusted the satchel to make it more comfortable and check his sword. Then he mounted and gave a small word of thanks to the stablemaster and stableboys. Then he was gone, through the keep gates, through the city streets and off onto the road to Draco.~