Urgent Matters (Roland)

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Garza sat at his desk organizing his paperwork his eyes carefully scanning each scrawled quill stroke carefully. The normally composed and cool Lieutenant rubbed his eyes and sighed in frustration as he tried to go over the scenarios in his head. His job wasn't getting any easier with the current events taking place in their fine Kingdom. The papers in front him were on numerous subjects; reports of marauder attacks were increasing in remote areas, which Garza felt was due to the increased demand of a man hunt on the Fated, which he held in his hand. Another paper on his desk was a mandate pushing recruitment for more Mage Guard recruits. Garza scoffed to himself when his eyes glanced over that particular article. He had been in the guard for most of his adult life, and he had seen things that would make normal men or women cringe in disgust or revile in horror. He wasn't too confident he would find those who had the stomach for the Mage Guard itself, much less the sub unit the Blood Hounds.



His self musings were interrupted when he heard a knock at the door. He looked up the source of the noise, his irritation showing on his face at being disturbed. His voice bellowed as he addressed the poor sap at the other end of the door. "Enter!"





A young scribe entered, clearly an apprentice used to deliver messages and do the other menial taks everyone else was too busy to do. He had taken a deep breath, but it escaped him when he saw the large military officer givining him the death scowl. He stammered some, trying to get the words out. "I-um. Sorry to...that is to say I..."



Garza shook his head and grumbled, holding up his hand to motion the scribe to stop, who silenced himself at once at the gesture. "This had better be important. I was filing very important documents."



The scribe nodded, having better controlled himself. "Sir Rolland would like to see you, Sir Garza. Said it was....important."





The large lieutenant rose quickly from his chair, dropping the papers he had been scanning on his desk. "Why didn't you say so earlier?! I'm on my way. Watch my office; I want no one in here. understood?!" Garza didn't even wait for the scribe's response as he strolled out of the room hastily, slamming the door behind him as he made his way to Roland's office. When he arrived, he knocked on the door loudly enough to be heard. "Captain Roland. Lieutenant Garza, Blood Hound Unit Leader reporting sir. You sent for me?"

[Roland]

"Come on in Lieutenant." Roland calls in a gruff voice. When Garza enter Roland looks up as Garza enters. The paperwork in his office had reduced considerably since Lilith's recruitment since he'd had her do some and Aveline had been helping out a lot too. Roland's eyes still let off a dim glow as he looked at Garza and then closed them and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"Good you're here." He says in a steady voice carrying the tone of authority that good officers usually had. "I've read your reports on the Fated hunt, we've managed to log a good number in the past week. Though the ones responsible for Gallows remain at large." He says, though the praise of the Lieutenant's work was plane in his voice. In truth it was only because of officers like Garza that Roland could do his job as he was supposed to.

Roland pushes a stack of papers aside and brings his hands together on the desk. "I have received word that Princess Lucinda Noru is coming to Teair by way of the mana gorge." Roland takes a deep breath and takes a report off the stack. "I have been getting some odd reports from there and I do not want to risk her majesty's safety. We need to be discreet so you are not allowed to take a big entourage, but I would like you go head there and meet her party. Based on the rate of march I imagine if you leave by noon then you should be in time to meet them."

"If they are moving faster than we expect then I want you to find and protect the Princess, this mission takes highest priority, even above the Fated hunt." Roland instructs clearly, though as he looked Garza in the eyes he says. "Though if you happen to meet one of the Fated who attacked the Gallows on the way, I would say bringing them into custody would be a great boon to the Princesses safety." His words carried a clear meaning, bring the Princess or bring a fated from the Gallows incident.

As he finishes Roland passes a scroll to Garza. "This is one of the standard requisition orders, you're allowed to take anything you feel you need in order to complete the mission, but I don't want you taking a large force."

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Garza saluted when he entered the room, placing his hand over his chest in a clenched fist before putting himself at ease. He technically had seniority as the older of the two officers, he still showed the proper respect for rank. Roland had managed to achieve much despite his fewer years, and the older Lieutenant served him loyally, rarely questioning orders...and never disobeying them. He listened intently when Roland spoke for just that; his orders. He simply nodded when Roland praised him on the numbers involved with the Fated manhunt, personally thinking to himself that he could do better. His eyes widened visibly in surprise at the next piece of news, however.

"Her Majesty? And by the Gorge no less? Not the safest route."

Garza reached forward and picked up a copy of the report Roland was looking at, reading it over carefully while listening to Roland speak about the secondary objective. He frowned, his eyes narrowing as he read the page. The route they were taking was indeed unsafe, filled with marauders, bandits, and was far from the eyes of the larger cities. It would not be an easy assignment, and the fact his manpower was going to be limited did not aliviete any concerns the large man had. He sighed, putting the paper back on it's stack.

"It sounds like things may get hairy. I will send word to my five most trusted men. And if anyone asks, I want the answer to be a scouting mission. No need to rouse any unneeded curiosity or let anyone know."

Garza coughed into his hand, clearing his throat before reaching into his tunic with his other, cleaner hand. He produced a report and placed it onto Roland's desk carefully. The large boxer looked his superior dead in the eyes, his gaze the normal steely glare that he gave everyone passively.

"Before I depart, I'd like to address this. It seems the higher ups want to step up recruitment, particularly for my Blood Hounds. No doubt they fear the rise of Fated related incidents due to Gallows. If I am to be away for a few days, I cannot fill out this form. Still, we must placate the higher ups; I request that, if possible, you pick out candidats for me to look over for when I do return, so as they are at least satisfied."

[Roland]

“No it is not the safest route, and the fact that she is only traveling with a token force is even more worrying. That is why I need someone dependable there. You have permission to bring the five you requested, and I will now give you your orders.” Roland says simply.

“You are to scout the mana gorge and bring back anyone you deem it necessary to retrieve. I am leaving the discretion on who or what fulfills those requirements up to you.” He says making the official order one in the same with the story the two of them would tell.

Roland reaches out and takes the form that Garza hands to him and skims through it nodding. “The mage guard recruitment is going slower than I had hoped, if this keeps up I will need to start drafting students from the university, but for now I'll see what I can do on this.” He assents as he places it on one of the paper stacks, after all this was not something he could do something about right this moment, but he would have it sorted out by the time Garza came back, well either sorted out or traced back to Severine where they would butt heads again.

Damn woman, how can she be in favor of trouble and the Fated hunt and yet also throw up roadblocks for us at every turn. Roland thought bitterly as he went back to work.

“I'm trusting you with this Garza, take anything you need, I will deal with the consequences or backlash.” He assures him not wanting Garza to be stingy on some necessity for or reason or another. “You're dismissed.”

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Garza's frown notably deepened at Roland mentioning the words "token force" when describing the Princess's escort. Something seemed off about the whole affair. Why would a royal member of the family have such a small escort, much less take such a dangerous route? That question troubled him. He knew that his men would have to be well equipped to handle the mission. He only hoped there would be no casualties among his unit, or worse, the Princess herself falling victim to some nefarious plot. He also did not miss the attention to deail Roland left about identifying and arresting those he deemed threats. There was no doubt in Garza's mind that Roland expected something to happen.

When Garza heard the wor dismissed, he saluted, posing perfectly and thumping his fist against his chest over his heart. "Yes sir." He turned about face and strode off, his pace hastened so he could make it back to his office. The timid scribe was still there, standing awkwardly in the room, too afraid to poke around or leave. He jumped when Garza entered the room, who walked right past him to go into his desk drawer to grab a few items. He spoke to the young lad, not bothering to look up from what he was doing.

"I will be doing a scouting mission. I want you to find the five men in my unit described on these papers. Do not read them. Do not open them. Don't even look at them if you can avoid it." Garza quickly scribbled down the summons for each of the five men that he would be taking with him on his escort journey, scrawling their names on the side of the notes so the scribe could read them. He got up and stuffed them into the scribe's satchel before he could protest.

"I will meet them by the stables while I prepare mounts. And make sure you do not dawdle; I hate idle hands."

With that Garza lead the scribe out of his office before shutting the door and locking it firmly, making his way toward the stables. There were doubts in his mind about the circumstances surrounding his mission. One thing was for certain, however. He was a soldier, and as a soldier, the boxer would see his mission through and obey orders, or die trying.