"Gaheris is a good man with a strong sense of duty. I hate even thinking about taking him away from his family he cares so deeply for, but he would never forgive us if we didn't allow him to make the choice, either way it goes." Percival spoke in hushed tone toward Ryker.

"He'll come through for us. He's surprisingly level-headed for the aloof jester he comes off as." Galahad included.

"In the kitchen." Brenna pointed back toward it from where she sat, still reading her book.

"In the kitchen!" Gene called from said location within the house, waving to Gendry. "Got a good deal on meat at the market today in a work trade, so I'm-" Gene stopped mid-sentence as he noticed the look on his brother's face, as though something was really upsetting him but he didn't want to talk about it. He had seen that face many times before. "Something wrong?"

"Strongest guy I know. Just don't ask me to swing a sword. I'm uh, not very good at that apparently." Camus replied with a laugh. "Tried joining the city guard, but my coordination with a weapon is surprisingly bad."

Alyssa asked her new found partner "What do you think of their majesties?"

Doctor sighed "Veronica, you know I love you, but understand something. This is not a journey I can assist you with." which caused Veronica to blink. "I've been worried about this for a while. You're more sheltered then even the Princess of Elodus as she's never left the Castle."

Veronica said "That's not true."

"Name one time you have done anything without anyone's help" Doctor said harshly but Veronica understood he meant it out of a place of love.

Grim said "We were held prisoner as the Captain began to try and make us break and reveal where the Enforcer base was. They were oddly gentle with me, but the King...they were so harsh with him. However, he never broke...no matter how much they tormented him."

"That's what they said," Gendry huffed. "That they have news to share? I guess?" he said. "Gene.." he looked at his brother. "We just got you back," he whispered, a little desperation creeping into his voice.

"Better put the time in, given you can only summon one right now," Suzanne said. "And he looks like he could fall apart in a strong gust of wind, the poor thing."

Gene let out a sigh, looking to his brother and then to his girlfriend, carrying an apologetic look to both. "I know." He looked back to Gendry. "I won't leave again unless I have to. I promise." He walked past his brother toward the door.

"Are you sure you need to speak with them?" Brenna asked, causing Gene to stop. He turned to look at her, not speaking yet. "Maybe it's better for them, too. If they came here to try again, maybe they'll just go home and live full lives when they get turned away."

Gene looked down to the floor for a moment, contemplating her words, before looking back up to her. "If it really is Percival and Galahad, they won't. Not without me convincing them to."

Brenna could feel the knot in her stomach loosen, not entirely gone, but relieved of some of the immense stress that had begun to pile up on her. "Then do what you need to do." He spoke. And with that, Gene smiled and nodded before looking to his brother one more time.

"Yeah, that's why I won't give the guy sentience, already had a few different spells explode. Turns out necrotic armor barriers are uh, hard to get right the first few times." Camus explained.

"Not a lot, just that he's the personal assassin of the royal family. If we were in different times I would say he's a relic that needs to be left behind, but we aren't past that age of bloodshed yet. As long as Elodus remains a threat to us, we still need people like him. Warmongering as he is." Farlen replied.

Doctor stated "Veronica, I love your like my own but you have to become stronger on your own. If you must ask the other Council Members, do so. However they are merely going to say the same thing I just did." 

Veronica blinked a bit "Uncle Marshall! You read my mind!" scolding him. "You nosy lich!" 

"I did it because I care" Doctor said motioning to the door. "Go on." 

Veronica rolled her eyes and left and decided to ignore Doctor's advice. There are four council members. They can't all just say the same thing Marshall did. Like Uncle Fenier, he's a warrior, he'd understand. 

"Warmongering?" Alyssa said in confusion. "I understand the hatred of Elodus," more than Farlen would ever know, ",but what do you mean by warmongering?" 

Grim leaned back a bit as Bair asked "Grim, how did you get so fast?" 

Grim sighed "Like you, in a way." 

Bair looked at him confused as Grim stated "I was sort of forced to learn." He leaned his head back a bit. "I don't like talking about it, Bair. Please respect that." 

"of...Of course, Master" Bair said quietly knowing that pain in his voice. 

Gendry reached over and put a hand over Brenna's, looking in the same direction.

"Ryker Dare," he answered, shaking the man's hand with a firm grip.

"Well at least you have him to practice with," Suzanne said. "Anti-life shell, is it purely to protect necromantic summons?" she asked.

Gene shook Ryker's hand with a similarly firm grip, knowing from the looks of this man he was more than strong enough to share a firm handshake. "So what brings you three here?"

"A couple of reasons, but first and foremost is to see if you were aware of what happened with Lamorak." Percival began.

Gene's face seemed to condense into one of confusion before he spoke. "What happened to him? Don't tell me the old guy didn't make it."

"He didn't." Galahad confirmed. "He died in the retreat, making sure as many of our own as possible could escape."

Gene sighed, looking down for a moment before looking back up. "Well, he always had a lot of heart. Did uh, did his daughter make it out?"

"That we...Don't know." Percival responded this time. "We're still trying to locate everyone, and you're only the second we've found. We spoke with Lance and Serifna, who are living a quiet life up north."

"Well good for them, so they did end up being a thing, huh?" Gene smiled a bit at that, glad his intuition was right. Though it did seem kind of obvious, admittedly.

"They did, and they're not willing to reaccompany us." Percival confirmed. "Which, is the second reason why we're here. There's some new info I obtained during that day, and we need to get everyone we can back together."

Gene slapped a hand on Percival's shoulder. "Yeah I figured that out as soon as I heard you guys were at my brother's front door looking for me, but let's not worry about that yet. Can you three stay for lunch?" He asked with a raised eyebrow, though it was clear to Percival that Gene was stalling because he didn't want to make that sort of decision right now. "I've got stew almost done, and we've got enough room at the table for everyone."

"I..." Percival looked back to Galahad, who was most likely to say no. When he didn't, Percival looked back to the other knight. "I think we can, yes."

"Great, let me go see if it's okay with Brenna and Gendry." Gene turned and walked back inside, looking over to the two of them. "So, are you two okay with them joining us for lunch? I think we'll have a great time, I just know they've got some stories you'll both enjoy." He asked with a smile, though similarly to Percival, they both would be able to tell he was trying to keep the topic away from the elephant in the room a bit longer.

Camus tilted his head slightly in thought before nodding. "That's the main goal, for now. It doesn't have to be for military purposes, though I'm sure it'll end up that way eventually, I'm just thinking of practical uses like sending undead out to handle pests or do dangerous work in general, and this armor would keep them from getting destroyed."

"So, what's why I'm not his biggest fan. I'll never disrespect what he did for us, gods know many more lives would've been lost if not for his deeds, but I don't have to like his political opinions." Farlen reiterated.

Barkus, the werewolf door guard of Fenier's manner, looked over to Veronica. "Nah uh you gotta knock on it like this, so Falina hears it." He spoke, reaching over above her and knocking much more loudly with the knuckle of his finger.

Alyssa nodded saying "He reminds me of my dad." considering that was harmless information. "Action first sort of deal."

"Thank you Barkus" stated Veronica as she waited. It's been a while since she's seen Uncle Fenier, anyways. Even if Uncle Marshall was right and he's just going to say the same thing, maybe they could catch up.

Grim looked at Bair and saw his improvement. He's starting to get it. Grim could tell that without his weights, Bair will have a good speed boost however, he needs more practice before he's at his level. He let out a heavy breath and wondered if their new "friend" overheard any of the conversation.

Will at this point had taken leave of the house, heading towards to palace to go see Amelia.

Ryker stepped in, glancing around curiously, though he did nod to the others when Percival thanked them. He could feel the young man watching, Gendry.

“Not much used to magic?” He asked Ryker, who looked back to him. “Uh, no. Not really.”

“No, that’s true,” Suzanne said. “I more meant Elodus isn’t as welcoming to it.”

Percival raised an eyebrow in curiosity, looking over to Ryker. "Not used to magic in general, or magic in the sense of how this town is, well, structured, I suppose?"

"Oh that, not at all no." Camus confirmed. "I'd be in jail in seconds if I brought undead back out that way."

"Likewise, but it was always to make sure I could fight, hunt, kill, that sort of thing. Back when things were up in the air for our kind." Farlen stated. "He didn't want his son to be defenseless, after all that had happened to us."

"Oh well thank you dear, I'm doing wonderfully!" Falina stepped back to let Veronica come inside. "We picked up a wereboar a few weeks back that makes his own soaps. He normally makes them rough for his thicker hide, but he's actually very capable of making more gentle soap bars for people like me as well, and I think it's really helping out."

Veronica smiled "I should pick two up for mother and father to try."

"Talking with Bair about the old days reminded me why I became an Enforcer to begin with and why I stayed one." Grim said looking at her "It's to give people a better land then one gripped by tyrants." He sighed "And I'm not going to sugar coat it, I've been a dick to you. I haven't even so much as said "Thank you" for keeping us safe and putting up with all the noise."

"My father was a warrior." Alyssa said in bliss. "He believed in a code of honor that he maintained until the day he died. He wanted me to live by that code, and I try to...as best as I can anyways."