The young man with green eyes did not look at any of the small audience directly but he did drop his gaze a little when Cris shifted in his seat. His bearing, tone of voice and accent all shouted to Cris of a noble-born but higher status than himself. If not for the fact that he had been previously growling and crouched like an animal then with a quick change of clothing of noble attire he could have passed for one of the sons of one of the few remaining nobles left in the city.

  ‘Hello, I need to apologise for my earlier behaviour. My name is Ricther. Or at least surname is Ricther and I would prefer to be referred using that name. My father was a man who made a choice to save my life and he succeeded in a way. None of you truly know what it means to become an augmented, the failures and the process meant that most died. I do not know if you are aware of the ones called Fallen Angels but I was told that the experiments which produced us was similar in nature. Amongt you may be those who are aware of the pain we suffered and the truth of our existence. I will make it short as you can surmise that for the present I remain coherent I will succumb to baser instincts soon enough. Captain Agnes who deserves our respect explained what we are. In another sense I can surmise us in five words. We were built to die. As you can tell from my accent I was raised as a noble until a sickness came upon me and I was...volunteered to the church of light and purity as a footsoldier for the Goddess. Thank you.’ said the young man called Richter as he gave those watching a courtly bow and took the arm of Sergeant Marley as the two of them walked over to the Captain, crouching down next to her and gently prying her cloak away.

  The marble room became silent as those who sat or stood waited for another to approach the platform. The scene with the augmented hadn’t given Cris any more information beyond that they were changed to be more or less than human in service to the goddess.

  Cris was the only one amongst them who had yet to go up and talk but he truthfully wasn’t certain what he could explain about himself. The fact that his mother was a noble from another country who had fled and he hadn’t known his father, or the fact that she had remarried and abandoned him to be raised by a House Servant who had turned out to be an old assassin.

  Standing up he decided to tackle it in his own way. Before he could move to the front of the room and speak he was stopped as a hand grabbed onto his elbow as High Priest Schmid smiled and gently shook his head.

  ‘My boy, you will have your turn but I believe that the Lady who arranged all this has her own conclusions to draw. All that is asked for is your patience and understanding. You are the key you see. Ah, I’m saying a little too much it appears. Let us sit back down and listen for a little further, and between you and me this whole affair is getting a bit boring. We all need a good feed up after this and some stronger drinks than butter milk. Or in your case weaker wine. Please sit Cristophen.’

  said High Priest Schmid.

  Turning his attention to his side he saw that the construct Ren remained by the doorway but stood there with arms at his sides and hands flexing and closing.

  [Release him. Maxton Ge, you will fulfil your duty and protect designate: Cristophen. No harm will come to the young Master. I repeat. Release your grasp old man. Your intervention is not necessary for your former student.] said Ren as the construct took a single step forward onto the marble drawing attention from the augmented and especially Ricther who turned his green eyed gaze before the foot touched the floor.

  The Lady Joanne Dee Mawr raised a hand and spoke a word

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  As before Cris was aware that he had been set apart for specific protection but he still had no clue why. A part of him deep down wanted to command, to control those around him but he considered it as his noble heritage and lessons knocked into him. The entire time he had been inside this decorated marble room the one person who should have been sitting next to him had entirely ignored his presence. Not even turned back to acknowledge him once.

  His earlier warning for them not to trust the Lady Joanne Dee Mawr and to leave her presence had been entirely forgotten. In action, Cris had walked inside the building with Ren but aside from that he had kept his distance from Cris. Not even sharing a single word with him.

  What are you up to old man? Alessandro the Head Servant. Alessandro the retired assassin. Which one are you? Alessandro the grandfather.

  High Priest Schmid released his grip on the elbow of Cris and sat down as he patted his white robes before pulling out a similar flask which he had given earlier and took a deep swig before putting it back in a hidden pocket.

  ‘No harm done. I’d say that inside this room this young man is one of the most protected people inside the city outside of the Six Lords and Ladies, the Queen and the King-Consort himself. And he doesn’t know the reason why he’s even here, I was trying to reassure him a little. No harm done eh?’ said High Priest Schmid as he moved to another bench a short distance away.

  Despite the apparent closeness of the small audience there remained an edge of wariness and most of it revolved around him.

  ‘Those among you who have worked out exactly what I’m planning can congratulate yourselves. For the rest, we have four goals. The first is to recruit a team of specialists who can survive across the waste which is the desolate countryside, the broken war zones of the last battle and then the final stronghold of the Dark Lord itself. The second goal is to actually traverse that much land and terrain without dying and attracting unwanted attention we need an army. Yes, an actual army and no the Queen barely has enough soldiers to spare to even protect this city and occasionally maintain border patrols. The King-Consort is an exception. He has a dozen trained soldiers mixed with volunteers and sparse noble support. Don’t expect anything from him. Third, we need to find resources to equip, feed the army and ourselves for what ideally is a two way journey. Unless of course, you all die during the journey or on arrival. The fourth goal doesn’t leave this room. In fact I’m going to spend every single minute of my day working out a way to kill the first person who spreads that fact outside of this room. We need to destroy, contain or remove the magical item that is causing all of this. To finish with I have good news and bad news. Which would you prefer?’ said Lady Joanne Dee Mawr.

  When none of the assembled answered she asked for Alessandro to come to the front.

  The man had signs of wear and tear on his black leather armour but was otherwise standing clear and straighter than Cris had seen him before. He stood there rigid but glanced at Cris with a sad smile on his face as he slowly shook his head.

  ‘Cris. This involves you as well so we might as well get it over with. You fit all the conditions and out of every candidate I’ve tried you’re the only one left. I’ll explain our purpose once you stand here with me. You’ll need to present yourselves to this little group of ours. Others can be briefed privately so we don’t need to go over all of this again. Time as ever remains elusive. You’ve heard the powers of the Goddess Aliza have reached their limits, other areas have as well.’ said Lady Joanne as she gestured for Cris to come onto the platform.

  The statue of the Goddess Aliza behind them emitted a soft glow inside the room as there was an audible crack in the stone.

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