“Sir Zeke!” The soldier quickly dismounted and gave a hurried salute before his commander. “I bring news of the Archanean ships anchored below the Rigel Valley.”
Zeke waved a gloved hand to signal the man to stand at ease and nodded a greeting to the rest of the troop waiting several steps back. Days prior, reports of vessels flying the Archanean flag off the west coast reached the capital, and was soon followed by a pegasi vanguard requesting port south of the valley. Naturally, this arose suspicion within the capital, as Rigel - being notoriously militaristic and brutal even beyond its war with Zofia - rarely saw visitors, so King Rudolf ordered a cavalry to investigate. Zeke remained in the capital himself, but sent his men off with a number of warnings, not least of which was to “be civil.” It took them just under three days to make their trip.
“The passengers appear to be no more than visitors and refugees,” the soldier continued. “A storm blew them off course and they wish to resupply in town before making the rest of the way to their destination somewhere in Zofia.“
Zeke maintained his calm, serious composure, but internally breathed a sigh of relief. As large as the Rigelian army was, it had been stretched far too thin lately. It was doubtful that they had the manpower to stave off an invasion from Archanea, and the commander was loath to seek aid from Bishop Judas’ shamans. Zeke gave his soldier a nod.
“Good. I will report this to His Majesty. Send a small guard to keep watch,” he ordered.
“Yes, sir!” The man saluted, but then hesitated. "But… Sir, there is one more thing. We apprehended one of the passengers—”
Zeke narrowed his eyes. “I explicitly forbade taking any prisoners.”
“Yes, sir. But not even the others seemed particularly comfortable around this… person.”
The raise of his eyebrows was nearly imperceptible, but Zeke did not allow his voice to lose its hardness.
“Bring him forth then.”
The soldiers in the back parted to make room for another who guided their captive to the front. The sight of such an unusual hair color sent what felt like a lightning bolt through Zeke’s head and he noticeably hesitated. Those feathers seemed awfully familiar...
But the feeling disappeared just as quickly as it had come.
Zeke blinked himself back to reality but directed his incredulity to his men.
“What could have possibly provoked you to capture a young boy, despite my orders?” he asked coldly, and the soldier shrunk back.
“He isn’t human. … or so the passengers say.”
"And?"
When the soldier could not think of a suitable response, Zeke turned to the stranger.
"You will be released and recompensed for this misunderstanding, but first: what business have you on Valentia?"
