One Duty ( Kwars )

Perhaps they knew her name.

Perhaps they knew some reputation she may have gleaned during her tenure in Shalonesti, in Verminasia.

Or perhaps someone had told them who she had been and what she had become, for when she stepped up to the line of archers, all dressed and arrayed in armor befitting New Thalosian troops, not one held her gaze. Not one moved beyond what it took to breathe air into their lungs and expel it.

There was a time when she might have been chastened by such behavior, set
aback even, but the storm was coming and fear was her ally. Leniency had
proven a tactic to be used sparingly and in her case, had led to the most
profound betrayal she couldn't have conceived of.

There would be no mercy for any of these men and women if they failed. She
had one duty; to protect the royal family. Their failure would be her
failure - and that was unacceptable.

She did little more then walk through their tight formation, taking in their
armor, their expressions. She spoke no words, she told them at a glance
what her intentions were, what they were there to do until she deemed
otherwise.

And when she was certain that the tension had strung itself tight enough to
break, she stopped at the head of the columns to face the men and women of
the Fourth Thalosian Archers.

"You have one duty." She said in a quiet tone, devoid of any warmth,
gazing hard over the archers before her. "One. Duty. Tell me what it is."

"To protect the royal family."

The cacophony of their voices rising together to proclaim the only thing she
had asked to hear, was pleasing.

"Good." She whispered softly, falling silent in the wake of remembered
words she had already spoken to the Sultana.

..I won't fail you..

Tilting her head back to gaze up at the night's canopy and the myriad stars
that dotted the sky like tiny diamonds, she could only pray that she was
truly up to the task. That these men and women could take their task as
seriously as they needed to, should the worst befall the Desert Jewel.

'Lord...let it be so.'