((See! Corporal punishment works! I didn't take a year to reply again =D
go me!))
Don't die, Rizzen thought as Eirene sank to the ground. At least, don't die until the Matron decides that you're a magic user. Then she could be taken to the dungeons and hopefully the jailer would see that she was too weak to be interrogated. It was a nice thought, but if she was a mage and got this far in the castle there was an equal chance that some spectacle would be made out of her death.
The only promising thing he could see was that her story would be told as it was: A mage came to the Matron, begging for death and got it. There would be no embellishment.
It seemed like everyone in the castle was coming through this hallway. Hearing their lone footsteps drumming in the floor annoyed him - it was even more annoying when a group decided to walk through. The Matron would have an entourage, so he mistook them for Fahmida bringing the Matron, or at the very least a portion of her cronies.
Today, the Matron had a meeting with one Lady Helena Maud, who was running late. So Jinny tapped her foot against the grass of her visiting garden and watched Paris squirm in his chair and pick at his coat. Her dogs even put their heads on their paws, she didn't blame them. The rest of her work for the day was either waiting for tomorrow or had been delegated down to another person, the only thing keeping her from working in her garden for the rest of the day was this meeting with Helena.
Who was late.
A young lefteanant scrambled over to her table, saluted and told her that her visitor was on the verge of collapsing in the hallway, that she had been attacked by bandits and wanted to see her before she was taken off the infirmary. The fool. Maybe it hadn't been wise not to tell Helena why she wanted to meet with her that day. Jinny stood, her dogs jumping to their feet and Paris eying her, wondering if he was to stay or go. Whatever happened to Helena, the meeting for today would have to be postponed, so Jinny waved the boy away and ordered the young lefteanant to take her to Helena. They were joined in the hall by a woman in casual clothing, who gave her a salute. Another guard, one who probably hunted down the lefteanant so she wouldn't violate some mysterious military code about dealing with her. The code didn't seem to be violated by taking her where she needed to be, so the woman led the Matron, with her hounds trotting at her heels, to see poor hysterical Helena.
While the lefteanant slunk away once the guardswoman took over, Jinny added her secretary and General Deimos' assistant Chornal Alven to the group as they went. The secretary to take down notes about the bandits that attacked Helena and Chornal Alven because, if she knew Helena she'd appreciate having an escort she could go back and brag to her neighbors about. Chornal Alven was at least trustworthy enough not to fluster the poor woman too much.
Rizzen tried not to be excited when he heard another group of footfalls coming from the direction Fahmida ran off in. Boots and what sounded like bare skin against the floor. The group turning the corner marked the first time he'd ever been happy to see Fahmida, because she had a group with her and it was obvious, even if he hadn't seen her before, that the Matron was one of them.
The Matron wore a green and brown brocade coat with brown fur on the cuffs and the hem, which stopped at her hips, dark brown pants and ankle boots made from the same brocade as her coat. Her red hair, which was grey at the temples and streaked throughout, was in a loose knot at the base of her head and her face was lined. She stood straight, with her hands on her pockets and a bit of a frown on her face when Fahmida stopped and explained that this was her visitor.
The dogs at the Matron's heels, tall and rust red with fluffy fur, looked at Rizzen and Eirene, their ears swiveling toward them. The two people at the Matron's heels, a brown haired young woman wearing a colourful skirt and a white blouse with a satchel of writing supplies over her shoulder and a man with ash-blonde hair in an immaculate military uniform, looked nervous and unreadable respectively.
That woman lying on the ground wasn't the Lady Helena - and it looked like she'd been chased out of the infirmary by one of the patients. Jinny wasn't the type whose curiosity was piqued by strange things, now she was more annoyed that this wasn't the person she was waiting on. But, here she was and apparently the woman wanted to see her for some reason. Jinny glanced down at her dogs, who stood placidly at her heels, their eyes on the woman.
"Miss," Jinny said curtly. "Chornal Alven is going to escort you to the infirmary, I will walk with him and you will tell me why you're here to see me."
Chornal Alven began walking toward them as soon as the Matron said he would be escorting the young woman. Rizzen watched Fahmida, who looked a little confused, the secretary, who was also out of her element, and then watched Chornal Alven kneel in front of Eirene. He looked like he wouldn't have a problem carrying Eirene if she was too weak to walk, though he was extending his hands to her now, to help her stand.
((Lol~ Oh that'll be me in the next two weeks if I survive this wonderful holiday inspection. It'll be all OMG! Teh yay! *drowns in alcohol*))
