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Domesticated Raven

Fandom: Soul Calibur Ship(s): Hilde/Tira, Hilde/Gerhilde, Gerhilde & Tira Notes: Part 3 to my Tilde story! - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Sitting on the throne of Wolfkrone Castle, wearing her more regal armor and fur coat instead of the Silver Wolves full plate, Princess-Regent Hildegard looked an awful lot bigger, Tira noted. As much as she normally hated being in chains, Tira found hers to feel much lighter now than they did when she had tried fighting Hilde in the dungeon the night prior; had Hilde really meant what she said? The Krone family was not known for dishonesty, a rarity amongst nobles and royals of all sorts. The princess was still young, and had a lot of ideals to shatter before growing wise, which meant that she likely had no idea how hard it would be to keep her promises if she continued to make them willy-nilly.

'Would you like to truly matter?'

Hilde's voiced echoed in Tira's head, and jumbled her thoughts like the inside of her skull was being beaten like a bell. Were she to serve Soul Edge, she would matter, in a sense. Feeding the sword, and once it was able to fulfill its purpose of global destruction, she too would be consumed. She would have mattered in the sense that Soul Edge's goals would be attained. But what would she have accomplished besides her end? Her only purpose would have been to end all purpose.

But, in service to Wolfkrone... Tira would still get to feed her hunger for death. Princess-Regent Hildegard was open about the fact that Tira would be killing others in the name of the kingdom, and did not hide that it would be a necessity that the princess found no evil in committing. The malfested were immensely dangerous, and as skilled as Wolfkrone's troops may be, they were still far from unbeatable, especially with their lack of members. Food, lumber, and other resources had only just begun to trickle back into availability, and even the royals were faring little better than the peasantry. Their armies were not so fit as they could be; on the other hand, Tira would be a valuable asset. Though she was only one person, she was still an assassin, and even the elites of the Bird of Passage feared her skill in and willingness to engage in murder. Handing out gruesome deaths to key players for the sake of preserving Hilde's kingdom would turn the tide of the war in favor of all who opposed the Azure Knight and his horrific, inhuman minions. And, Hilde was also right about those Tira would undoubtedly be killing, that as malfested, they would prove especially satisfying as victims who put up a real struggle. Tira may not have been a warrior built for the battlefield, but that didn't mean she would only be taking out specific targets, letting her have a small feast of kills laid out before her. The terror in the eyes as her next victim happened upon more and more mutilated corpses of their allies never got old.

Standing at attention, Tira's aura despite her bondage was bright and chipper, her magenta eyes sparkling as they met Hilde's brown ones. Hilde's face, on the other hand, was impassive; as beloved as the princess was as ruler and warleader, she was still very young, and definitely had something to prove to make sure that she wouldn't be seen as weak. And, well, it wouldn't help to look too soft towards someone who tried to kill her twice, and so Tira could forgive Hilde's affection not being worn on her metal sleeve. A far less cheerful servant of Hilde's stood at the side of the throne, opposite the old adviser Garibrand, that being Gerhilde von Egilmar, captain of the Royal Guard. Rather than Garibrand's studious gaze or Hilde's neutral stare, Gerhilde wore a snarl of contempt, looking like a hound that was only at her master's heel because she hated the thought of being disobedient more than she hated this unwelcome intruder on her territory. Tira successfully tamped down the urge to taunt Gerhilde over feelings she knew the captain held for her princess, but it was mighty tempting.

"I have brought you here, assassin," Princess Hildegard stated loud and clear for all to hear, "because you have stated your willingness to serve me and my kingdom in light of realizing your former master's plans for you. For that, I am going to release you, return your weapon, and give you your first task to complete for the glory and prosperity of the Kingdom of Wolfkrone." She glanced at Gerhilde. "Unshackle her, Captain."

Gerhilde looked at Hilde astoundedly. "Your Highness," she loudly protested, "surely you do not trust this savage killer to follow–"

"Correct," Hilde interrupted, cocking a brow at Gerhilde. "And that is why you will take a retinue of soldiers of your choice and accompany her on her mission, to provide backup if things go astray and to make a full report on her performance."

Looking back at Tira and crossing her armored legs, Princess Hilde steepled her hands. "Might you inform the rest of the court of your name, assassin?" she asked. "So that addressing you by something other than your profession or with an insult might be done by those who are not you or I?"

Throwing a smug grin at Gerhilde at the insinuation that Tira had already grown closer to Hilde than the captain realized right under her nose, she answered, "My name's Tira, Your Highness."

Hilde smiled as well, giving a nod. "Serve me well, and you may yet have a title to go with it, Tira," she returned.

Tira's own smile only grew. "It would be an honor, Your Highness."

Having recovered from her indignation, Gerhilde got out a key to undo the locks pinning Tira's manacles, and took the iron binds off of the assassin's wrists. Tira caught ear of Gerhilde muttering something under her breath about Hilde thinking too much with her heart and not enough with her head, and snickered at Gerhilde's expense. Apparently ignorant of Gerhilde's specific misgivings, Hilde informed, "My task for you is to eliminate one of the Azure Knight's remaining lieutenants; I have heard that they await their lord's return, and are abducting people in preparation for it. Can you confirm this?"

Tira nodded emphatically. "Yuh-huh! I know the locations of four of them, going back and forth between torturing their prisoners and bringing them ecstasy as we speak!"

"Then it is imperative that we stop them as soon as possible. Return with proof that you have defeated one, and you will have earned your freedom and your place as an operative in service to Wolfkrone. Am I clear?"

"Of course! I promise to bring back the best kind of proof that they're dealt with, you can count on it!"

~\\⚔//~

Her ring blade hanging off of her shoulder, Tira skipped merrily ahead of Gerhilde and her hand-selected soldiers, leading them eastward towards the Rhine River. "Going this direction," Gerhilde mused aloud, "I would assume that we're headed for Osthreinsburg, seeing as you were assigned to take down one of the Azure Knight's lieutenants?"

"Yep!" Tira chirped. "They're all part of a nasty group called Covenant Shield. Most of them are out and about, but there's one fellow who usually sticks around, mostly custodial business. You'd know him as Greatblade, I think?"

Gerhilde gasped. "Johan Dürer? You mean to take us right to his doorstep?"

Tira's footsteps suddenly turned from light, dance-like footwork into a firm, sharp gait. "That bastard hurt our princess, right in the heart. I'm gonna hurt him in the neck," she hissed, her voice becoming harsh and menacing.

A sway came back into Tira's hips as she walked, but there was no cheer in her steps anymore. Gerhilde asked carefully, "How do you know so much about Her Highness?" and was answered with more of Tira's malicious voice. "Greatblade likes to talk a lot. He's not as full of himself as the Sword of Cursed Flames, but he still speaks fondly of his last fight with Princess Hildegard. I think he's proud of having taught her so well that she beat him at his own game."

"And who is this Sword of Cursed Flames?"

"Sorcerer," Tira growled, "comes from the Far East. A pompous jackass if there ever was one, but he's really good at fire magic. Never stays long at Ostrheinsburg though, which I can be thankful for. Can't stand him. And even if he was there, he's not our target."

Gerhilde pondered on this new information for a moment. "Aside from Dürer and the Sword of Cursed Flames, who else is there?" she queried, and Tira grumbled in irritation. "Sword of the Inquisitor is one of the other two who are still around and able to fight," she explained in spite of her annoyance. "He usually guards the throne where the Azure Knight sits, but since the Azure Knight is gone, he's out keeping track of where the remainder of his master's power is. Still visits the castle frequently, but he still should be out for another week or so at the moment, so now's the time to kill Greatblade, while the guard dog is on its own hunt. There's also the Sword of Corruption, who's from the part of the Ottoman Empire that used to be Greece, which is where she's at right now. She's the one who came up with the idea of enriching souls through a mix pain and pleasure."

Humming thoughtfully, Gerhilde asked, her thumb and forefinger on her chin, "You mentioned there being others who are no longer there; do you have any information on them?"

"Why do you keep asking questions!?" Tira screeched, causing Gerhilde and her group to halt immediately. Tira was panting, her breath sounding bestial as it angrily went through her teeth, but she then closed her eyes and her body made a long shudder; when she opened her eyes, they were shimmering with internal mirth again, and her demeanor resumed its perkiness from earlier. "Oops! Sorry about that! Gloomy doesn't like talking much, and thinking about Greatblade is getting her really upset. Please don't bring him up around her until he's been taken care of, okay?"

"Erm, of course," Gerhilde replied, getting over the shock of Tira's sudden mood shift fast enough for her to feel accomplished about it.

"So, to answer your last question, there were a few other servants the Azure Knight had before the current ones. There was Sinister Sable, a big, nasty meat golem with an axe; he's dead now, thank goodness!"

"Meat... golem...?" Gerhilde wondered, but Tira ignored her as she continued. "Dexter Purpure is a really pretty, really mean witch who uses a sword that moves like a snake! She left for some reason and hasn't returned yet, but she's still alive and very dangerous. She's also one of the servants I know the location of! London, in England. I hear it's very wet and rainy there!"

Gerhilde took a mental note of this Dexter Purpure, tucking the information away for later. Tira rocked her head side to side as she continued talking, moving to some unhearable song rattling around inside. "Finally, there's Base Vert. He's a lizardman who came with Sinister Sable, and brought a whole bunch of other lizardmen with him! He was a bit simple, but was even better than Sinister Sable at chasing down and killing single targets! Dunno what happened to him though, he just up and disappeared one day. Just like the lizard he is! Ha!"

Tira looked over her shoulder. "Got anything else you wanna know?"

"Well, you talk about these various 'Swords' and say that they are the only ones of Covenant Shield who can fight. Who are the noncombatants?" Gerhilde inquired.

"Oh, those ones? They're... I dunno how to put it. Kinda like spirits, except they can become real. Not real enough to fight, but they can still interact with people and do things like hand out shards of Soul Edge to corrupt them. They're called Attendants, and there's seven of 'em: Iska Acht, Sieben, Sechs, Fünf, Vier, Drei, and Zwei. Acht is the strongest, and is paired with the Sword of Cursed Flames back east. She gets up to a lot of shenanigans that even I don't know about! Sechs is a real chatterbox, and Vier is a really interesting one too." Tira put a hand near her mouth as though she was dramatically trying to hide her lips from some invisible voyeur, and 'whispered' loudly, "A big secret? The Sword of the Inquisitor is actually undead, reanimated by Vier using a shard of Soul Edge to power him. He's a magic Wiedergänger swordsman!"

At that, Gerhilde paled slightly. "Gottverdammich," she cursed under her breath; ghosts, revenants, vampires, and other undead creatures were ones that Gerhilde always found especially unsettling.

"Hahaha! Caught you swearing!" Tira teased. "I'm gonna tell Her Highness when we get back about your dirty mouth!"

While Gerhilde tried to clumsily protest, Tira simply laughed as they continued their journey.

~\\⚔//~

With their travel being notably slower than a forced march, so as to both preserve energy and make sure their arrival to Ostrheinsburg would be at nightfall and grant cover, the group of Wolfkrone soldiers found themselves near the edge of the large moat surrounding the castle. Thus far, they had not encountered any resistance, for which they were thankful, but were quite certain that this would not be the case for long. Despite still being in her Jolly personality, Tira was still able to speak relatively quietly. "How good are you at Plänkeltaktik-style warfare?" she asked.

"Wolfkrone soldiers are trained both for open battles and skirmishing, although the Silver Wolves shine brightest on the battlefield. This particular retinue is a good mix of troops who specialize in both. Why do you ask?" Gerhilde asked in return.

"Well, to put it bluntly... I'm gonna use you as bait!" Tira informed her cheerfully.

"What!? Are you trying to get us all killed!?" Gerhilde snapped, and Tira shook her head. "No, silly! I just need you to keep the castle guard occupied while I sneak in and bring Greatblade down. I won't be long, I promise! I'll get a couple Watchers to tell Greatblade that there are some Wolfkrone dummies getting too big for their breeches, and you keep them engaged in the woods. Make sure to be extra annoying, okay?"

Though visibly affronted at being handed orders by this uncivilized murderer, Gerhilde couldn't deny the sound logic of it. Tira was an assassin, and despite having been caught in Wolfkrone, she was likely a damn good one if she was still alive after being as active as she claimed. She would simply have to count herself very lucky to have been at Her Highness' mercy, instead of anyone else's. "Would you care to explain what these 'Watchers' are, perchance?" Gerhilde asked, and Tira answered with a simple gesture for her to observe.

Giving a sharp whistle, Tira then turned it into a croak that came from her nose as much as it did the back of her throat, and held out a hand. Seemingly from the shadows themselves swooped a large raven, except that it had a pair of eyes that glowed an angry scarlet. "So... malfested birds, it would seem?" Gerhilde wondered, getting no answer from Tira, who was occupied with the raven.

"Hey there, little guy! So, these idiots here"—Gerhilde interjected with a loud "Hey!" that went unacknowledged—"think they followed me to avoid traps, and are using me to break into the castle. They sure could use a good thrashing, all things considered. Have Greatblade send out a hunting party and scour the western forest, okay? I'll be back real soon to give him a detailed report of Princess Hildegard's assassination."

Her instructions given, Tira placed a gentle kiss on the Watcher's beak and launched it into the air, watching as it quickly flapped to the keep. "Better get into your positions, Captain," Tira warned ominously before darting off towards the castle in pursuit of the raven.

~\\⚔//~

Creeping through the castle halls, Tira managed to avoid the score or so of malfested that rushed past, eager for the blood of the fools that would dare to trespass. With the more active, stupid danger past, Tira could make better progress to her target.

As to where Dürer would be located, Tira could make a guess or two. The most likely place would be the so-called Hall of the Ordained, where the Azure Knight usually gathered the others for meetings, and also engaged in ritual sacrifices of those who had been prepared for such. Indeed, the crevices in the stone that could not be mopped were black and red with the dried blood of his victims; appropriate, Tira thought, for Greatblade to perish there himself. And sure enough, once Tira arrived, there stood Johan, reading over a book of some kind, probably a log of either his troops or his tasks. Or maybe a journal? In any case, it would not matter for long.

"You don't need to lurk in the shadows around me, Angel of Death," his booming voice echoed, addressing Tira without looking up. "I hear you were being tailed by Wolfkrone soldiers; were you at least able to dispatch your target?"

Tira stepped from the darkness, wearing a broad grin. "She's taken care of, yessir!" she confirmed. "Those dullards who followed me weren't able to stop me getting her, even if it took a couple of days for the opportunity to finish the job to pop up. Your own soldiers are gonna take care of 'em though, right?"

"Through sheer numbers, perhaps," Dürer said cautiously, "but I have little doubt that Wolfkrone's soldiers will put up a good fight. They are not to be underestimated, after all."

"Right, definitely," Tira affirmed with a nod. She took a couple of casual steps closer before tossing a quick "And neither am I!" and swinging her ring blade at him. Thanks to his quick reflexes, Dürer managed to avoid the blade slicing him across the throat by less than a centimeter, and he leapt back, drawing his sword. "If only you were less inept with your weapon than you are with your lies, you'd have had me right there, wouldn't you?" Dürer jibed. "At least your soul will make hearty victuals for your former master, traitor!"

~\\⚔//~

Able to spy the western gates of Ostrheinsburg, Gerhilde watched from the trees, looking for any signs of action. What could be happening? No movement at all from that side of the castle left her very nervous. She had sent two other soldiers to scout towards the north and south, hoping to get more angles of information.

And, lo and behold, there came one of them, running as fast as he could from the north. "Captain! Malfested are approaching from the north, aiming to circle around and take us from the side instead of meeting us head-on!"

Gerhilde nodded. "Even if they are savages in battle, that does not mean the malfested have no mind for strategy whatsoever." As the other scout returned, Gerhilde said, "And I would assume you have similar news, correct?" getting her a pant of confirmation. "Zangenbewegung, I see. How long until they reach us?"

"Mere minutes, if that; they move far faster than we did."

"A similar timeframe from my side as well, Captain."

"Very well. Do you recall what they were armed with?"

"Exclusively melee weapons, several of them are also moderately armored."

Gerhilde took all of this information in, and then gave her orders. "We fall back into the woods to make sure that we are not closed in on both flanks. When the two malfested units merge and have to follow us straight, crossbowmen and arquebusiers will shoot one round apiece, and then we scatter. Use the confusion and darkness to have the opportunity to take cover, reload, shoot, then run again. Do not engage in melee until their numbers have been pared down, or until I say so. Understood?"

"Understood!"

"Good. Now, move!"

~\\⚔//~

Inside the castle hall, Tira and Dürer strafed along the circumference of the space, both of them waiting for the other to make a move. "Y'know," Tira threw at Dürer, "you're one to talk about betrayal and loyalty. Before I ever met any of you, you already betrayed my princess. And for what? To be a dog with a longer chain and better slop in his trough?"

"And what of yourself?" Dürer shot back. "Giving up the freedom of being your lord's falcon, killing as much as you could possibly want, just so you can be a songbird in a gilded cage?"

Tira turned up her nose. "At least my princess cares about me, not just what I do for her. I matter."

"Ha! Don't make me laugh! Princess Hildegard would fold under the court's slightest pressure to do away with you the moment you become inconvenient, and you know it! We're monsters, you and I; at least as part of Covenant Shield, you had a place to revel in that much. But now, you will have nowhere, nothing, and nobody!"

Her face darkening, Tira had visibly let Gloomy rise to the surface. "I will have my princess! She'll never give me up!" Dürer, on the other hand, gave a sneer. "You cower behind her because you think she cares for your pathetic nothing of a life!"

"Du Köter!"

"Du feige Dirne!"

Tira shrieking, Dürer roaring, both warriors dashed towards each other and swung their weapons, loudly clanging together as they met. Tira may have been very strong for her stature, but Dürer was bigger and stronger still, and was able to push her to the ground with a great heave. The point of his sword, Misery, met with the stone floor when it was thrust downward, as Tira dodged it by rolling backwards onto her feet and standing again. Slouched downward, Tira responded by diving forward and sliding on the ground, rapidly twirling her ring blade vertically. The edge caught Dürer's greaves and sabatons, and though the armor kept his leg from being cut into, the repeated impacts briefly threw off his balance. Taking advantage of this, Tira made a sweeping kick at his other ankle, which was enough to drop him to the floor as well.

Jumping into the air from her low position, Tira gripped her weapon around the edge in a way that, if not for her gauntlets and tough leather gloves, would have likely cost the assassin her fingers, and brought the blade down onto Dürer. "PERISH!" she screamed, and then screeched in frustration as Dürer managed to bring his sword up in time to fend off her blow and push her away. Getting back to his feet, he readied his stance again. "Feeble and pathetic!" he barked before moving in on Tira again, his eyes glowing red and his body exuding a purple aura of dark power. A slash, and another loud clang when their weapons met once more, both fighters snarling and staring each other in the face as they pushed in a fight for dominance.

~\\⚔//~

"Fire!"

At Gerhilde's voice echoing through the darkness, there was immediate chaos as the sound of gunfire and bolts whistling through the air were followed by screams and groans of malfested being shot down. Gunsmoke was faintly illuminated in the moonlight, and wordlessly, the Wolfkrone troops fled deeper into the woods, taking advantage of the confusion to escape. Gerhilde hugged her own crossbow to her chest as she ran, weaving between the trees. Once she had enough distance between herself and the malfested, she took the time to place another bolt in the crossbow and crank it tight, her foot in the stirrup.

About thirty seconds, and she decided that it was time again, hoping that all of them were as ready as they could be. "Fire!" she ordered again, and shot her crossbow at the first malfested she could see, hitting him square in the forehead. The rest of her troops also took their shots, and judging by the plumes of smoke, they had done well in spreading out, hitting the malfested at wider angles.

Once more, her soldiers went further into the darkness of the forest, and she thanked King George for having invested a sizable amount of the coffers on modern weaponry, rather than relying entirely on the Silver Wolves and their fearsome, well-earned reputation. The paper cartridges combined with wheel lock guns made reloading and firing umpteen times faster than the old matchlocks that his grandfather had first employed.

As the third volley of bolts and bullets took down another wave of malfested, Gerhilde took a quick measure of how many were left, as well as how far apart her men were. If they kept moving out, they would soon be in danger of firing on each other as much as they did the malfested, and they would be spread far too thin. Thankfully, by the look of things, the Wolfkrone soldiers now outnumbered the malfested, and she decided it was time. Dropping her crossbow to the ground, Gerhilde drew her sword, its lustrous blade flashing in the moonlight; her troops must have seen it as well, for her own unsheathing was followed by the sound of the others' weapons being drawn. At the top of her lungs, Gerhilde bellowed out her final order of the night.

"Chaaarge!"

~\\⚔//~

Tira licked away the stream of blood that ran over her lips from her nose, Dürer having smacked her with the pommel of his sword during their last grapple. To her credit, it was him having responded in kind to her cutting him over the eyebrow, the point of her ring blade grazing him just seconds prior. Her head was swimming, her vision narrowing, and her mind throbbing; the stress of their continued battle was taking its toll, and both sides of her psyche were on the precipice of shattering then merging into their true, horrific self. As good as she was at fighting, Tira still was unaccustomed to a fight taking so long, and it was wearing down on her. Seeing this, his own strength having yet to wane nearly as far as hers, Dürer belted out a loud, booming laugh, and then he needled, "Look at you, already tiring! Some 'Angel of Death' you are! If only you had stayed with us, you too could enjoy the power of Soul Edge! But you instead sided with the weakness that is mankind!"

He swung at Tira, and she parried his blow away, but she felt it rock her through her arms. "I am yet brimming, as my reward for my loyalty to the Azure Knight!"

Tira felt her bones creak and heard the sound of the juices in her spine squeezing as her muscles contracted in anger and stress. Another blow from Dürer, this one catching Tira on the hand, and he continued his tirade. "And you will fall to my blade, dying in obscurity for the sake of your worthless princess!"

Her stomach lurching from the pain of Dürer's sword managing to pierce through her gauntlet, Tira wasn't sure if she was about to vomit blood or fire from her sheer outrage. She barely managed to block his next attack, and he followed up on her stagger with a slash at her head. "Begone!" he thundered, and Tira only just managed to get out of the way enough to not suffer a lethal hit, but it still got her in the face, leaving a gash on her cheek that was sure to scar.

It was too much. Her pain, her fury, and her loathing of both herself and the world overwhelmed her senses, and everything in her mind swirled together into one nebula of madness. "No! We... we LOVE HER! WE LOVE HER, SHE LOVES US, AND WE HATE YOU!" Tira wailed, her voice sounding less and less human and more like chaos incarnate with each half-second. Tira's body was awash with red and violet light, and blue and gold lightning danced over her ring blade as the power of her soul and her insanity was brought to bear. Dürer was brought to hesitation for only the slightest moment as he looked at her, astounded by the delirium that empowered his opponent.

And that moment was all it took.

Her weapon looped over her, Tira swung her hips in a circle, gyrating the ring blade hard enough that it bit into and ripped through Dürer's armor, and left thin red lines over the skin of her waist and stomach where the edge whirled against her. While Dürer was stunned by her sudden display of newfound strength, Tira leapt into the air, braced her feet against the inside of the ring blade, and collided into Dürer with her entire body's weight with all her might, and it sunk into the broad crevice that Dürer wore proudly in his armor where he had been struck by the Azure Knight so long ago. Both of them skidded over the ground, with Dürer's armor sparking as it scraped over the stone of the floor, and when he stopped, Tira somersaulted off of his chest, yanking her gore-stained weapon out of him. His aura had begun to fade, although the red light never left his eyes. "How...!?" he coughed out, choking on his own blood as it filled his throat. He was unable to say more when Tira stood over him, holding Eiserne Drossel in her hands and hacking back and forth at his neck, repeatedly howling out "DIE! DIE! DIE!" with each swing.

When Tira was finished, Dürer's head laid severed from his body, and the stump of his neck was ragged at the edges from the rough, brutal cuts she had inflicted upon him. The sudden quiet of the hall was disturbed only by Tira's labored breaths, and then by a gasp. Looking in the direction of the noise, Tira spied a young boy, his hair a mix of iron black and steel gray, with quicksilver eyes. Zwei, Dürer's servant boy, had witnessed his master's end. "Leave, or you're next," she gurgled menacingly, and the boy darted away, disappearing down the hall. Tira picked up Dürer's head, tightly wrapped it in his cloak, and took it with her as she too left, making her way out of the castle as the rush of her madness began to fade. It was leaving her dizzy, and she needed to get out before any of the malfested who remained inside could find her in such a weakened state.

~\\⚔//~

Her whip-sword's segmented blade wrapped around the throat of the last standing malfested, Gerhilde yarded on it until she heard the satisfying crunch of destroyed vertebrae. Weariness began to take hold once it dropped, but she knew she still had to survey the damage done to her soldiers. Two had been killed, several more had been injured, but it was still a massive victory on their end. The dead would be buried with honors when they got home, and the wounded would be allowed to heal for as long as they needed to. She leaned against a tree to steady herself and her breathing. 'Where is Tira?' she thought to herself. 'She had better not disappoint Her Highness, lest she want to be shackled again–'

Stumbling tiredly over the corpses strewn about the area was Tira, approaching with something round held in a thick cloth. "We need to go," she groaned at Gerhilde, "before any of the other Covenant Shield members get back. They'll be out for blood."

Gerhilde saw little reason to argue. "Pick up your things, gather the dead, and we return to Wolfkrone Castle," she commanded. "We can celebrate our victory when we get home, there is no time to waste." Once everyone was on their feet and moving, Gerhilde walked beside Tira. "Did you succeed?"

Tira laughed weakly, and wiggled the object in the cloth; though it was hard to tell, Gerhilde could see what looked like blood seeping through.

~\\⚔//~

Rather than the dungeon, Tira woke to find herself in the infirmary, with Gerhilde sitting next to her in a chair. The cut on her cheek and the stab wound in her hand had been stitched together about as well as she could have hoped for, and were slick with some kind of ointment, possibly infused with willow bark to help dull the pain. Though she still ached immensely, at least she wasn't in full agony. "Guten Morgen," Gerhilde said pleasantly, much to Tira's surprise; she had expected more jealousy and contempt, even if she had accomplished what Hilde had asked of her. "Her Highness is very proud of you, you know," informed the captain. "Even if the evidence was a bit... gruesome, to say the least."

Standing up, Gerhilde lifted the blankets and looked over Tira's body. "The strains of your battle with Dürer left many bruises all over you, especially on your limbs, and so our doctor has applied a salve of arnica where you began to bruise. It must have been quite a duel, seeing as you were asleep through the entirety of yesterday, and it is nearing high noon today."

"Yeah, it was," Tira murmured, the higher pitch of Jolly's voice shining through, even if she was not in a particularly jolly mood at the moment. "Can... can I see her?"

Gerhilde hummed in affirmation. "She asked to see you as soon as you were able to stand. Are you?"

Tira moved to roll off of the bed, and would have made a clumsy pratfall in the process if Gerhilde had not caught her around the shoulders. "Let me help you, we can go see her together." Not one to turn down an advantage that offered itself, Tira let Gerhilde hold her with an arm over the captain's shoulders for support.

The walk to the throne room felt longer than Tira would have liked, but there was little she could do to help things at that point. Once there, Tira found herself feeling very small as she limped up to the foot of the throne where Princess-Regent Hildegard sat, but at least she was able to walk on her own by then. The strength in her legs gave out on her, although she was able to make it to the throne in time, and fell into a kneel; she did her best to suppress a whine of pain as her knee hit the floor far too hard to have not hurt.

Seeing Tira knelt down, Hilde smiled warmly. "I am pleased with your performance," she stated. "You have served me and my kingdom well, and I will reward you appropriately."

Standing from her seat, the princess stepped in front of Tira, drawing her sword. Tira looked up expectantly, hoping that she had earned something other than a quick death for her service. Then, the flat of Hilde's sword touched her shoulder.

"By the power invested in me, Princess-Regent Hildegard von Krone, I hereby forgive you of all your crimes committed against me, and the sins of your past. For your valiance and loyalty, not only are you to be welcomed into the Kingdom of Wolfkrone as your new home, I extend to you the offer of knighthood, to stand by my side as a trusted warrior and servant to the throne. Do you accept your new title, and all of the privilege and responsibilities that come with it?"

Tears of joy fell down Tira's cheeks as she squealed in elation, lunging forward and throwing her arms around Hilde's middle. "I do, I do!" she cried, and Hilde's sword clattered to the ground in surprise. The looks of shock from the rest of the attendants at such behavior were of no matter to either of them; laughing heartily, Hilde picked up Tira and spun around, lifting Tira's feet from the floor. The first to get over their surprise was none other than Gerhilde, who began to clap and cheer, with the rest of the court following suit.

As the two young women stopped spinning, Hilde planted Tira on her feet. "How does it feel to matter, Tira?" she asked genially, and Tira giggled. "It feels wonderful!"

Hilde made a smirk. "Almost as wonderful as this?" she teased before planting a swift kiss to Tira's lips.

Tira froze as the world started spinning again. "Ooh..." she whimpered before falling backwards, her eyes rolling into the back of her head; lucky for her, Gerhilde was the vigilant sort, catching the newly knighted dame before she hit the ground. "At least her dreams will be pleasant ones, Your Highness," she joked before gently laying her down.

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