Rauka and Craven switched off during the night and when Rauka started to lay on the floor in exhaustion after her watch, Sephira called her to sleep in the bed.

"Are you sure?" she asked with her eyes half closed.

"Yes, lay down." Sephira whispered, pulling the covers back for Rauka to get in. She was too tired to argue and laid down heavily in the bed.

When Sephira woke, she wasted no time in putting her armour back on along with her turban and mask. The sun was barely peaking over the horizon and Rauka was still asleep in the bed. She stepped out into the hall beside Craven and she ached to put her hands on him, but instead stood silently observing the empty hallway and listening for sounds of movement within the rooms. Craven looked down at her with deeper meaning in his eyes, but turned back to staring ahead when there was movement at the stairwell on the other end of the hallway. Sephira was relieved her room was placed at the corner and there was a large window outside her door which gave her a view of the courtyard and the front gate below. The morning guards were taking over while the night guards were headed back to the barracks on the lowest level of the Eastern side of the castle.

Gia and the other maids walked down the hall in a line and each scattered to stand in front of one of the doors. Gia curtsied as she stood in front of Sephira and Craven.

"We report to our charges in the morning to assist in getting dressed, then we start our daily duty of cleaning the rooms." Gia explained, seeing that Sephira was already fully armoured.

"Fetch us some food. When we report to the training grounds you may clean the room." Sephira ordered as she watched the other maids closely and they slipped into the rooms after a quick unanswered knock. "Food for three. My other guard will be joining us soon." Sephira added.

"How are we going to keep this up without getting caught?" Craven asked as he and Sephira entered the room and Rauka was hurriedly trying to get her armour on.

"I'm worried about my eyes. I thought sure those maids would notice yesterday." Rauka commented.

"Just keep your heads down. I'll try to keep eyes from sticking to you. They'll have to deal with me if they want to mess with you." Sephira announced, making Craven smile in admiration.

"You seem to have some admirers already." Rauka laughed, referring to Captain Kenai.

"It's like they've never seen a woman before." Sephira murmured.

"They've never seen anything like you. That's for sure." Craven commented darkly.

"I think he must've had a hand in getting you the better room." Rauka said, looking up at the tall ceiling and then out at the impressive view.

"What do you mean?" Sephira and Craven asked at the same time. Rauka laughed.

"You think a regular officer gets a room this nice?" She said, with raised eyebrows under her mask. Of course, two high-borns wouldn't recognize the luxury of the room as anything out of the ordinary.

"This is nice?" Craven asked, sounding unimpressed.

"Honestly, it's larger than my room at home. Most of the Valkyri don't even have rooms this nice." Rauka shook her head as she turned back to them.

"Oh, hm. I didn't notice." Sephira shrugged as she heard Gia's footsteps outside the door. She swung it open before Gia could knock, but it surprised her and she almost dropped one of the three plates she held. Sephira caught the plate and gestured for Gia to place them on the table. She could tell Gia thought it was very strange to have turned Nimbi around and looked unnerved as Craven approached the table. "Thank you, Gia. When do Officers report to the training grounds? Is this the normal time for the morning meal?" Sephira couldn't help asking.

"Yes, Ma'-Officer." Gia cringed. "Officer's report to their Lieutenants after the morning meal. Lieutenants and Officers are woken up at sunrise, then the Officers wake their Centris and they all report to their morning meal. After the morning meal, the Lieutenants make announcements in the dining hall and give the Officers their orders for the day." Sephira nodded as she schemed and realized she'd have to report to the dining hall after eating.

"Thank you, you're free to go." Sephira told her. Gia backed out of the room and Sephira closed the door behind her.

"Hopefully, she won't tell anybody how strange we are..." Craven grumbled as he took off his mask to eat.

"I'm sure all the maids already know by now." Rauka commented, making Craven and Sephira frown.

*

Sephira was able to find the dining hall where troops and Officers were all eating. The three Officers she had seen on her journey had arrived and they spotted her and her two orcs who stood protectively behind her. Some of the soldiers looked up at her curiously from their food to where she stood waiting for the Lieutenants. The Lieutenants and some Captains were eating apart from the others in a nicer room up a wide flight of stairs and separated further by a row of intricate columns.

It was Lieutenant Ludov that addressed the company, causing the Officers and Troops to fade to silence. He spoke of the troops arriving that would be sorted into Centris to begin their training. He named off a few Officers to report to the training grounds as usual and Sephira noticed his eyes stray to her where she stood with her arms crossed as she listened.

"Officer Sephim, good morning." Captain Kenai said with twinkle in his eye.

"Good morning, Captain." Sephira answered, enunciating clearly as he approached.

"I will be giving you a tour of the castle grounds and then you can pick 50 men to train as half of your Centri."

"Sounds good, sir." Sephira answered, her eyes flashing at a few Officers who eyed her with slight outrage in the corners of their expressions. They turned back to their food when Kenai's gaze swept over them and then he led Sephira, followed by her two orcs out of the dining hall out into the large ground floor of the castle. He grazed by the barracks to show her where she'd have to go to wake her Centri and there was only a short walk from the barracks to the dining hall. Next he showed her a kind of throne room with a long empty head table that he explained was used by the Grey Council.

"Does the Grey Council reside here?" Sephira asked furtively.

"Most of the time. None are here currently. You will know when their dragons fly in whether they are present or not. Many of our dragons are gone apart from the breeders because we have dispatched our trained troops to aid Lord Azaesel in his mission to Eard. The rest of the Grey Council has a mission of their own, but the purpose is secret even to the Captains." Sephira nodded at the useful information and was glad Craven and Rauka were with her to hear it.

Kenai led her up to the second level and showed her the offices of the Lieutenants and his own office. She realized with a pang that she couldn't read the plaques that labelled the doors and recalled only Corsan's office and memorized where Kenai's office was as well.

Next, she was shown the stables and she found her horse looked well taken care of along with Craven and Rauka's horses on either side of him. As Kenai led her out of the impressively expansive stables, her eyes went straight to where the dragons' noises were coming from. A larger building attached to the castle with dragon-sized windows stretching up on the sides of a tall spire. Kenai seemed to notice the interest and lack of fear in her eyes.

"You've seen dragons before." He said. She found it hard not to tell him she was a dragon rider. Instead she just shrugged.

"How does one become a dragon rider?" she probed, making him smile.

"We'll see. Once you prove yourself by training a worthy Centri, perhaps you'll be granted the chance to impress a dragon." He told her, making her scowl underneath her mask.

"Do you have a dragon?" she asked, surprising him.

"All captains have dragons. You cannot become a captain if you don't have the ability to impress a dragon." He explained proudly. She pursed her lips.

"I'm sure I could impress a dragon if given the chance..." She murmured.

"Patience!" Kenai grinned, putting his hand on her back. She tried not to look annoyed and was relieved to have a mask to hide the look on her face. She could see Craven's muscles bulge as he held back from attacking. Kenai noticed to Sephira's dismay. His reddish brown eyebrows furrowed as he removed his hand slowly with a look at Craven. Craven's eyes stared him down from behind the grimacing gold mask.

"Your guards seem particularly protective of you." He commented, making Sephira shoot Craven a look to cut it out.

"They are. They've served me well. I don't really trust many... people." Sephira amended her statement, almost slipping and saying she didn't trust many humans.

"You seem to have a pull about you. Perhaps it's wise to have the turned protect you rather than an impressionable soldier." Kenai dismissed. "Although," Kenai continued, making the orcs and Sephira hold their breath. "They shouldn't be able to attack any Lightning Kingdom Subjects, especially those higher in rank."

"No? Well, I've had them with me for a long time. They heed my every command before they'd listen to anybody else." Sephira argued with a shrug. "I wouldn't want to test their loyalty. I don't know how I would explain your death." Sephira smirked, making the Captain laugh out. She could see Craven's muscles relax.

*

Thunder clouds rolled in and Sephira had to consciously quench her growing worry about meeting Azaesel and the Grey Council. She wasn't sure when she'd have to meet them, but wondered if the thunderclouds would signal their arrival. Captain Kenai led her to where twenty or so Officers were standing with five Lieutenants including Corsan and Ludov. They stood relatively quietly until dragons appeared overhead and the sound of marching and hooves were heard as if many were approaching. The sight of the forty or fifty yellow dragons reminded Sephira potently of the battle with the Grey Council member and the dragon riding Nimbi. Sephira stepped back into Craven and Rauka as the dragons got closer above them and her heart beat hard in her chest as if a battle was beginning. She struggled not to accidentally call Caius as her body reacted reflexively and she felt like a battle cry was fighting to be expelled from her throat. She took a deep quiet breath and steadied herself before glancing to see that the other officers and lieutenants and even Captain Kenai were all watching the dragons as well.

"Corsan," Kenai addressed him, getting his attention. "Make sure Officer Sephim has first choice of the new recruits. I'm going to speak with the dragon riders about making preparations for Lord Azaesel's arrival." Sephira was watching him furtively as he strode away before a large amber-colored dragon landed in front of him with its black claws digging into the compacted dirt of the courtyard. It had a red leather saddle affixed to the base of his neck and iron armor plates along his breast. Kenai took a moment to mount him and Sephira watched as he took his saddle and spoke a command before the dragon took off towards the dragon tower. She turned to Corsan who had been watching the Captain as well. He looked disgruntled when he turned back to Sephira.

"I suppose he'll let you have a dragon without doing any work too." Corsan hissed at Sephira with his lips pulled back showing his large white teeth. Sephira raised an eyebrow.

"I already asked." Sephira told Corsan, making him look more surprised than angry for a moment before he turned back to his other four Officers.

"She's a Nimbish! Why does she get to choose first?" One of the officers asked sounding outraged as Sephira stood facing the ranks of new recruits who stood lined up in rows and columns in front of the Officers and Lieutenants. None of the new recruits had armor and they stood in whatever clothes they had from home, some with bags and coats, others with only tattered clothes on their backs. 'Nimbish', Sephira realized, was the slang term they used to refer to the new recruits and was meant to be an insult when used in reference to her.

"Shut up." Corsan growled. "Those are orders from the Captain. You will be the last to choose, Kibor!"

Sephira was bid to go down the lines of the Lightning Kingdom Subjects and choose the fifty soldiers she wanted. She chose based on the look in their eyes and not their size or age. She preferred smarter soldiers willing to learn rather than stronger soldiers with larger bodies. Some of the Officers waiting to choose insulted her choices and laughed when she chose a young boy with determined green eyes. His curious eyes reminded her of Isolde's and the corners of his mouth pulled up when she chose him. She had all her senses alert as she felt the many eyes on her movements and as she walked smoothly down the columns she saw an older man look down at her feet as she started to walk by him. He stuck his foot out at the last second and Sephira avoided it with rage rising in her. She used the back of her foot to hook his outstretched leg and pull him off balance before she shoved him down flat on his back knocking the wind out of him. The man was in shock and there were surprised noises from some of the other recruits.

"You will join my Centri. We'll see how long you last!" Sephira called in a dark voice, as she left him on his back and continued down the lines. The other officers had grown quiet after Sephira's stunt and Craven worried she moved too fast like a Duvendis and might be found out if she had to defend herself too much. He watched the man struggle to breathe as he was helped up and then he moved to join the others she had chosen.

*

She started her new recruits the way she would've started Duvendis children and taught them a simple form that taught them how to move, strike, and breathe correctly. Some of the men in her Centri scoffed when she showed them the beginning of the form and told them where to breathe. She spun, abandoning her stance to stand tall and straight in front of them.

"You have a problem, already?" she asked, her hands behind her back. They just laughed and shook their heads. "Do what I say and maybe you won't die in battle." She said stonily.

"You're a woman. What would you know about battle?" one of them challenged.

"If you're so good and don't need training, then prove it." She said. "Try to kill me." She said simply. Craven could hear the smile in her voice and she removed her curved Nimbi sword and tossed it handle first at the man. He barely caught it with a smile spreading across his face. Only one of the other 49 in the Centri spoke up.

"Niko, maybe you should just listen to her..." he warned his friend quietly. Sephira stepped back and the man followed with the sword, before he started to circle. The movement of Sephira and Niko circling drew the attention of the Lieutenants who were overseeing the training on the balcony. Craven's heart was beating hard as he gripped the handle of his dagger. The man raised the sword as he started an obvious attack and even at his fastest, Sephira's speed was no match and she stepped easily out of the way before kicking him in the back hard. He landed face-first into the dirt and a wave of laughter went through Sephira's Centri. The man came at Sephira again, swinging his arm back with the sword whistling as it cut through the air. Sephira stepped close behind him, grabbing his hand and twisting it, making him drop the sword. He screamed in pain as she pulled his twisted hand up behind his back as she restrained him from behind.

"Okay! Okay!" he cried, before she let go and he fell to his knees, cradling his arm. She picked up the sword and replaced it in its sheath.

There was no more resistance from any of her soldiers even when the other new recruits were given swords and Sephira made them practice drills using no weapons for the remainder of the day.

*

Sephira sent her troops to dinner and Craven and Rauka stood on either side of her as the sun set. "Come on." She murmured, striding to the stables. "Tack your horses. We're going on a ride." She said, to their delight. They tacked quickly, but not quickly enough.

"I heard you did well with your new recruits today." She heard Kenai's voice, cringing before turning away from her horse to face him.

"They have a lot to learn." She insisted darkly.

"Where are you headed?" Kenai asked, as Sephira mounted her horse, which seemed connected with her energy as it reared slightly in anticipation.

"Just going for a ride." Sephira shrugged. "You want to join us?" She asked, hoping that he'd say no and feeling Craven and Rauka's opposition.

"I would if I could." Kenai said, to Sephira's relief. "I have to ready the Dragon-Lair for Lord Azaesel's dragons. He will be here in a few days." He said.

"Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow." Sephira bowed her head before letting her horse blast out of the stable. Craven and Rauka joined her at a gallop and she was relieved one of the two doors to the inner wall had been left open. She galloped through and only slowed down slightly when they had to dodge a few slow carriages in the street. She was relieved to feel the speed and power of the horse beneath her and missed her dragon and feeling the wind in her hair and the exhilaration of dropping through the air in flight. She originally thought they might ride to go see the others and reached out to feel their location, but it was too far to get to in an hour on horseback. They ran East along the farmland and Sephira had fun galloping in the wide open fields. It was much easier than riding in the crowded woods and she felt like she could let her horse go all out as fast as he could.

"I was hoping we'd get to see the dragons." Rauka said as she and Craven trotted on either side of Sephira's horse as she let him slow to catch his breath.

"Me too, but they're too far. I've reached out to Sorin to let him know about Azaesel coming in a few days." Sephira told them.

"What did he say?"

"He's being difficult, just as I expected..." Sephira sighed in exasperation. "He wants to come here and attack when Azaesel gets here, which is stupid because we know nothing about him. It makes more sense to see what kind of security he has and we don't even know how many dragons he has. I assumed he had one like an idiot, and now we've learned he has more than one." Sephira babbled, going quiet when she saw a few figures in the fields they were nearing. Their reflective eyes must've startled the farmers they passed because one of the women gasped aloud. Sephira spun her horse around and started back at a smooth canter. Despite the horse's malnourishment from living in the desert, he had superior gaits and seemed to enjoy running in the fields as much as his rider.

*

"How is she allowed a personal guard, anyway?" Sephira heard one of the Officers ask another before she rounded the corner. She stopped dead and so did Rauka and Craven behind her.

"I don't know. She does seem to have strong fighting skills though, maybe she's fought with the Grey Council in orc territory and they granted her a personal guard?" the other officer answered. Sephira recognized his voice as one of the ones she passed on the way to Thule. She took that moment to round the corner in a hurry to wake her Centri. The other two Officers froze at the sight of them and Craven and Rauka stopped at the doorway as Sephira strode into the barracks. Several men exclaimed at the sight of her and covered their half-naked bodies when she walked by.

"Get up!" She called, clapping her hands. A fully naked man came walking out from behind the wall to the bathing room and he gasped and covered his privates as he jumped back behind the wall.

"What are you doing in here, woman?!" he cried with his face flushing.

"I'm an Officer." She crossed her arms in authority. Her Centri started leaping out of bed and getting dressed and the younger boys had their eyes on her nervously.

"This is no place for a woman." One of the larger men said, stepping out of the bathing room with his hairy naked body proudly on display. He stepped too close for comfort towards Sephira, but the cocky look on his face disappeared when Craven was behind him with a dagger to his throat. Sephira tilted her head to the side as she looked up at the man's bearded face.

"From now on, you will be responsible for waking the men in our Centri." Sephira told the man. He swallowed, before nodding. Craven shoved him away from Sephira and followed her out.

"That's a good idea; having one of the troops wake up your Centri so you don't have to go down here to wake them yourself..." one of the Officers said, sounding dumbfounded.

*

Sephira decided since she was going to have cavalry, she would start with archery and move towards horseback archery which was a useful skill that her and her peers had learned for hunting when they were young. She had Rauka retrieve her horse and as her troops started arriving, she sent each one to the armory to retrieve a bow and arrows. Craven retrieved one for her and she told him to find one a similar size and shape as Sorin's. As Rauka arrived with her tacked horse, the other Officers seemed to be watching her out of the corner of their eyes. Her Centri, who unlike the other Centri's did not wear any armor yet, was watching her quietly with fascination as she mounted her horse and tied the reigns in a knot around his neck as Craven handed her the bow and a sheath of arrows. She had set up twenty targets along the wall and she guided her horse with a quick tug on the reigns before taking a handful of arrows and pushing him into a gallop straight at the wall. Her Centri and the other troops watching gasped as the horse sped at the wall and as she suspected turned himself to run along it. She shot arrows as he rounded the wall past the targets and she only missed one of them as she reached to grab more arrows from her sheath that she had tied to the saddle.

The clapping surprised her as she inspected the targets and saw she was losing her skills with a bow and had only hit the center of three of the twenty targets. She trotted back and ripped her arrows out of the targets as she made her way back.

"Who's shot a bow before?" she called as she trotted along her Centri that had lined up facing the targets. About eighteen of them raised their hands.

"Of those, who rides?" she asked. Five of them put their hands down. She frowned, less than half... "Who wants to try?" she asked, motioning to her horse. She saw Craven fidget and guessed he was interested in trying and it made her smile underneath her mask. Many of her Centri raised their hands and she picked one of the ones who said that they could shoot a bow and ride. He had his sheath on his back and directed the horse slowly towards the wall before picking up a trot. The horse's tail swished as it excitedly took up a gallop and the man notched his arrow and shot at the first target before struggling to grab the second arrow as the horse sped by two targets and he yanked the reigns before he hit the fourth target. He got the horse to canter the rest of the way and was able to hit a few more of the targets, but because he had to reach back for each arrow, he missed a little more than every other one.

"Good." Sephira called as he returned and dismounted with a look on his face that he wasn't satisfied with his work. She knew the look and had often seen the same look on Sorin's face growing up. She let another try who had no training and the result was a disaster. The man missed every target and fell off the horse when the horse bolted when an arrow dropped onto his haunches and spooked him. There were laughs from a few in the Centri and Sephira would've given them a look if she weren't wearing a mask. Instead, she had them gather the arrows and line up in front of each of the targets. With only two or three to each target, they were able to shoot a lot and Sephira practiced with them.

"Orcs, come. Let's see if you can hit the target." Sephira called, making Craven jog over. Rauka tried not to look excited but she walked over quickly as well. The recruits all seemed to pause as Craven took the bow from Sephira and aimed at the target. As she suspected, he was as good an archer as her. She wondered if he could shoot from a horse, but didn't want to make him try in front of all the soldiers. Rauka was just as good.

"Looks like the Fire Kingdom trains their soldiers in archery as well." Sephira commented, wondering if they trained their foot soldiers in archery or just their Valkyri.

"Are those turned orcs?" the boy with keen green eyes asked, looking closely at Craven's amber eyes with fascination.

"They're my personal guard." Sephira answered with a shrug.

She decided to be cruel when a few of the teenage boys complained about their arms hurting after a few hours of shooting at the targets. She had them put their bows back and change into the heavy gold armor that they were given the previous day. They came back with quizzical looks on their faces as they looked at each other and then to their mysterious instructor. She had them follow her in rows of three and four as she led them around the outside of the inner wall at a fast jog. It felt good to stretch her legs and she had Craven and Rauka join them to bring up the rear. Some of the men were in better shape than she expected and she asked how long they thought they could run. She was relieved when she seemed to be tiring them out at her pace as she pushed herself to go faster and faster until over half her company had stopped with pain on their faces. Even Craven and Rauka had started walking when Sephira let the remaining soldiers walk. It felt good to be tired and she made a plan to get herself back into fighting shape with her Centri because she felt like she had let herself be lazy for too long. The journey on the dragons had been like slacking for her. She hadn't been getting much regular exercise and she worried her stamina was lower than ever.

After about an hour of running in hot, heavy armor, she had them all line up and draw their swords. She was light on her feet as she showed them the easy but tiring striking drill she had learned as a five-year-old.

"Move your feet. Stay on your toes!" She yelled at some of her more exhausted soldiers who had sweat dripping down the side of their faces. She did many of the drills with them, stopping only to correct some of their positions. She had Craven and Rauka join the ranks too to get some exercise. She let the tired ones rest only after one of the younger boys passed out and a couple others were looking pale. She had them get water and she noticed a few more muscular men looked only about as tired as her.

"What do you do for work?" she asked a few of them as some of the others left to get water and these men got back first ready to get back to work.

"Farmer, Officer." One of them said with smirk.

"Blacksmith." Another answered gruffly.

"Horse trainer." Another said. It turned out most of them were farmers or livestock breeders. She let a few of the younger boys rest and continued with tiring drills for the others.

"Where's your whip?" Lieutenant Corsan asked as he approached Sephira and she lowered her sword and stopped kicking the air for the technique she had taught.

"My whip?" she asked, thinking she didn't hear him right.

"Yeah, aren't you going to whip them for sitting?" he asked, pointing to a few young boys who looked up with innocent nervous eyes.

"I don't have a whip. It's not the time for punishment yet." She answered, her eyes scanning the other Officers, who instead of joining their soldiers in exercises, were busy walking around the ranks to whip the ones who got tired and slowed.

"I will get you a whip for tomorrow." Corsan told her stubbornly.

"Yes, sir." Sephira shrugged. Corsan lunged toward the boys who were sitting and yelled at them to join the drills their Officer was showing them and they shrunk back and jumped to their feet.

Sephira was glad to see many tired troops dragging their feet back to the barracks when the sun started to sink close to the horizon and had already gone behind the inner wall. Craven and Rauka seemed both in a good mood as they joined her in her chambers.

"That was fun." Craven commented.

"Yeah, reminds me of when I was younger after I joined the Red Army." Rauka said, taking her mask off and smiling with nostalgia.

"I'm glad you enjoyed yourselves. You better get used to it." Sephira answered, taking her sweaty turban and mask off.

"You're going to let us join every day?" Craven asked.

"Sure, if I can. Your archery is good." Sephira remembered. Craven took his mask off and smirked and Sephira pointed her compliment at Rauka too.

"I can guard the door if you both want to wash?" Rauka said, as she pulled her mask down and started moving to the door.

"Okay." Sephira answered, as she found the folded casual clothes that the seamstress or Gia had left at the foot of the bed. "I need to wash my clothes, so I don't smell."

"Have the chamber maid do it." Craven suggested, as Rauka closed the door behind her.

"That's a good idea." Sephira murmured, moving to the bathing chamber and stripping her clothes off. Craven did too and he kissed her before he thought better of it. She laughed as she turned her attention to the bathing chamber and the rain shower that she recognized as similar to some in Duvendis and Earth Kingdom Territory castles. Craven's eyebrows furrowed when he didn't see a bathing tub. Sephira looked up before she pulled down on the metal lever that let water drip like rain from the ceiling over Craven and her head. There was a drain in the floor similar to the one at the bottom of the chamber pot and Craven watched the water dripping from his naked body wash down the drain. There was bathing soap powder that smelled like flowers and honey and towels were piled in the corner counter beside the washing basin.

Sephira knew not to waste the water by washing too long since her mother had gotten mad at her when they were on a trip to Earth Kingdom territory and she had used too much of the water saved causing a water shortage for the castle they stayed in. Craven sighed as Sephira left him alone in the bathing chamber and she stepped into the sleeping chamber to put on her casual clothes that the seamstress had made for her. She designed a tight-fitting sleeveless tunic with a squared front that fell to her knees and had a mirrored back that did the same in the back. The sides were slit up to her hips and she had the seamstress make her some loose-fitting pants to wear beneath her tunic. The tunic was in pure white with gold thread designs around the edges and the pants were a deep brown with leather on the knees and leather patches on the thighs. She was also provided some leather rain boots that she slipped on. While Craven washed his sand-colored tunic and tight pants in the wash basin, Sephira focused on hiding the tattoos that showed on her arms. She had closed her eyes as she meditated and found despite her tired limbs, she was still able to use her magick just as well. There was knock at the door and she opened it after checking that her arms were tattoo-less.

Gia was standing with wide eyes as if she had been frozen with her mouth open.

"Can you wash my clothes?" Sephira asked, not breaking the human out of her trance. "I also need a set of new armor for each of my orcs..." Sephira continued, in uncertainty. She worried for a second that the girl's heart had stopped at the sight of her.

"Yes, Officer." Gia breathed, before she became frozen again at the sight of Craven's shirtless upper body. Fortunately, the room had grown dark. Sephira was satisfied that Gia had not been able to see that there was no black on his face. Sephira stood out of the way of the door and handed her sweaty clothes to the maid and guided her out with a light touch.

"I'm starving." Craven grumbled.

"Get dressed and guard the door. Rauka can wash and then we'll have her bring us food or maybe we'll all go down to get dinner together..." Sephira said.

"I don't know if that's a good idea..." Craven frowned.

"Hurry up, stupid." Sephira whispered, pulling his still half-naked body close to her in an embrace that she couldn't resist.

"Mmkah." He breathed through a kiss. She took a deep breath as she used all her restraint to pull away from him as he put his shirt on with his chest rising and falling deeply as his eyes scanned the contours of her clean gold-toned face and her perfect lips.

Sephira let Rauka wash as she stood in the tall window and watched the sun go down. The size and shape of the arched window reminded her of home where she often used her window to leap out onto Caius. She would've thought nothing of jumping from a window that far up because she always had her dragon nearby to catch her, but now as she looked out over the foreign land, she had no one to catch her. Caius was leagues away. He wouldn't be able to catch her if she fell. She closed her eyes and wobbled in the window as the warm summer breeze blew from the West. She breathed it in and then let it out slowly, careful to maintain her magick cloaking her tattoos.

Rauka got dressed quickly and Sephira didn't look right away, but heard Rauka open the door. She heard the quiet footsteps of the brunette as she entered tentatively and Sephira could feel her eyes on her back. She jumped down easily from the window and Gia curtsied reflexively as the silvery blue eyes fell on her. She presented Sephira's clean clothes and a soldier was behind her that carried two sets of Nimbi armor, but he looked confused. His mask and turban were missing from his armor, but he wore the basic Nimbi soldier armor. Sephira's eyes went to him and he became frozen not to her surprise at the strange sight of her. Gia seemed to be struggling with the same problem which made Sephira's mind up about joining the others for dinner.

"Gia, please fetch us our evening meal. We'll be eating here." She demanded sharply. Gia struggled to answer, but was able to curtsy again and she left the clean clothes on the bed before she zipped out the door. Craven took the two sets of armor from the soldier and Sephira approached when he didn't leave.

"You're in my Centri, is that right?" Sephira asked, analyzing the man's dusty brown hair and reddish brown eyes. He looked about her age and though he wasn't very toned, he had good proportions for his medium height. He was clean shaven and had a square jaw and thick brow.

"Y...yes, Officer Sephim." He stuttered in surprise. Craven could understand the man's reaction to the elf's clean face in her striking, flattering outfit and almost pitied him as he struggled to compose himself in her presence.

"What's your name?" she asked, her silvery eyes seeming to study him. He was wearing his casual loose-fitting trousers and a linen tunic that was too large on him.

"Uh, Damen." He answered. The closer she got, the less he seemed able to breathe. She stepped away from him and spun to face the window again.

"Damen... Eat well and get some sleep. I will see you in the morning." Sephira ordered. He detached his eyes from the alluring shape of her body and her hair that seemed to glitter in the candlelight.

"Yes, ma'am." He answered, before backing out of the room with a nervous glance at Craven who eyed him with bright amber eyes.

Author's Note: Hello! These two chapters still need some editing, but I'm on a roll so I thought I would just post what I have written and go back later and edit.