Re: Dedication (Nina / BlueSlime)
Doing what she was used to, Iliana was the one to adress their sudden visitor. There was little hostility to be detected in her voice, though the mistress seemed to be a bit on the edge as well, not quite sure what to make of this Ethelinda person just yet. The two of them exchanged the usual greetings and introductions, though there was no handshakes or such, and Valkenhayn remained between the two of them. Still, he was not intruding upon the visual contact and remained a bit to the side so he would be able to intervene if something was about to happen. Still, it was not a certainty how much he would be able to do, as Nina had not seen the butler in any sort of combat situation. He was still a buddy of a known hero, and probably did have some sort of training in combat.
"While I have been coming after you people in order to kill a certain one from your group..." the stalker girl began her talk, the remark clearly aimed at Iliana. "...that is not the case anymore. My now former employers didn't have the patience and allow me to play with you as I wanted, so they pulled out from the contract we had. Now that I've been denied my fun and reward, I thought it might be a thing to poke back at them with what information I could glean from their agents. Those poor saps..." she carried on, a brief look of pondering coming over her. From her words, it was most likely not a good thing to the mentioned agents. "But yes. What they said was that the renegade elements in the desert kingdom's leaders have taken control of the country and the army over there, and overthrown the rightful lord. Since I was not fast enough for them in my assassination, they have decided to rouse the army and are most likely already marching towards this town at full force. If I were you people, there should be action towards a defense effort, because war will be knocking at your doors soon. It might only be a matter of a few days if they push the troops."
This revelation seemed to be a shock to all the people familiar with the town, especially the Lady herself. Isane was not as affected, since she was not intimately familiar with the place, but still showed concern quite visibly. She too had most likely experienced war on some scale in the past.