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Tranquil Waters: The Lead Crown Ch 6.6, Noriene

The missive from Julius had proven invaluable to Noriene. Although it was short and vague, what the Bear had sent her was enough for the Princess to puzzle out the rest. She sat in a non-descript canopied traveler's cart sipping distractedly at a cup of tea; in most circumstances she'd chose her royal carriage for travel as she preferred to be seen as a noble, inspiring figure but, then again, on some outings she preferred NOT to be seen.

The Wolf watched expectantly as her Handmaiden disappeared into the plain-looking building that served as the safe house of the last remnants of the Hedge Temple Sister Yvette had served. She set her teacup down; had the Ewe found Kesst? If so, it was readily apparent that the nun had attracted more attention than that of the Princess. Noriene worked hard to contain the nervous energy building up inside of her-- she knew she was getting closer to an important turning point in her hard fought campaign.

Watching the Order of Blade stream into the temple was a surprise to say the least; she had a specific set of instructions for Marcelle and she wasn't sure exactly how slaughtering potential allies against the Church would fulfill them. As the senior representative of the Order, the Marten was beholden by terms of their contract to answer to the senior member of the Mechanists in Newport... she hated to think that Marcelle was working in a gray area of the terms and conditions of that business arrangement. The large explosion that heralded a full on attack was even more concerning.

The Princess quickly set down her saucer and cup, turning her attention instead to the packages resting on the floor boards. Ever since she was little the Wolf found that she was at her best when she was able to stay busy, and she knew that she could certainly accomplish that. Noriene was carefully stacking the containers against the street-facing inside wall of the parked wagon when the strong scent of burning wood pulled her attention back to the temple; smoke was pouring out of it and fire was already starting to flicker from behind the boarded up windows.

The Wolf pulled out a collection of wire mesh and began securing the packages in place; considering the events transpiring she had a feeling that the wagon was going to get cramped and having the cargo strewn about the floor wasn't going to do anyone any good... especially with the threat of danger looming on the other side of the street. She was attaching the last wire when the door to the temple structure burst open, shattered by the impact of one of Julius' tribal Bears; he was followed by more and more of their group.

The Princess sat up straighter, craning her neck in an attempt to see what was going on. She counted everyone off, starting with the brown-furred Tribal, followed by Sanmer the Fox and Theo, the Ermine scholar. Lilian, her handmaiden came out next; Noriene's breath froze in her chest when she saw Kesst emerge after her. The Dragon was undeniably the work of a master Techlar, and was indistinguishable from a living, breathing being except for the large, open hole among his golden chest scales surrounded by a spider web of cracks.

Perhaps in part due to her focus on Kesst, it took a moment for Noriene to realize that she didn't see Julius among the group. Just then, the Professor's second Tribal companion, a huge black Bear emerged through the broken doorway carrying Julius in his arms; a moment later the group's Human stepped out onto the street as well, hand latched onto his side, which seemed to be streaming blood. The Princess did a cursory examination of her supplies; they would require healing immediately.

A shout came from a side-street, pulling Noriene's attention back to the events as they unfolded. Eight men emerged from the shadows of the alley, all drawing their swords. The assailants were undeniably members of the Order of Blades, and the Princess was about to order them to stand down, when Lilian shouted, "We are betrayed!"

The Princess knew immediately what she needed to do and, never being one to find herself unprepared, Noriene jumped into action. She drowned out the sounds of combat in the street, focusing instead on her part in resolving the issue and getting Kesst into her custody; she was so close to her goals that she wouldn't let anything stop her... least of all some overpriced mercenary band who was nowhere near as loyal as advertised.

Noriene pulled out a measured metal rod as she contemplated how beneficial it would be for the kingdom to have mercenary contracts outlawed. The recognizable voice shouting from across the street was enough to get her to pause, "Lay down your weapons-- this does not have to end in your deaths!"

The Princess growled faintly under her breath, "Marcelle..."

The Marten strolled out of the besieged structure, his light weight cloak billowing almost theatrically behind him as it was picked up and tossed about by the warm air currents of the fires within the burning building. Four more members of the Order of Blades followed him out. "There is nowhere left to run. Surrender."

Nicholas turned back to look at Marcelle as the rest of the party closed in to create a protective semi-circle around the Dragon. Even from across the street Noriene could hear the very vocal 'hock-ptui' from the Human, who launched a respectably sized ball of spittle onto the pavement, "Surrender so you can kill us when we're unarmed? Good chance a that."

Marcelle slid his sword back into its scabbard, "I am not an unreasonable man, and, as you are not part of our contract, it would save us plenty of trouble by avoiding bloodshed. Hand the Dragon over and once we have it the rest of you are free to leave."

The large black Bear rumbled something out in the Tribal tongue; Noriene didn't know it, nor did she care to learn, but she did not miss the tone in which it was spoken and she had a feeling based off of the expression on the muzzle of the brown Bear next to him that neither Tribal liked the idea. The brown Bear then spoke clearly and loudly, "Kesst is not a thing... he is a person, and you cannot have him."

The Marten's glove-covered paw returned to the hilt of his sword, "I see... and are all of you similarly like-minded?"

Noriene reached over and pulled a cord on the wagon's canopy, causing the fabric to rise up as she shouted, "Lilian! NOW!"

The tender, slight Ermine woman moved with vigor and strength. She had been standing beside the two Tribal Bears but, after delivering a quick kick to the back of each of their knees, she sprang past them as they fell prone. She then sprinted two steps toward the rest of the party, tripping Kesst as she went before slamming into the rogue and scholar.

Lilian tackled Sanmer and Theo, leaving only the Human sailor standing... but he was perceptive enough to see what was going on, and he dropped prone a split second before Noriene struck the side of the wagon with the metal rod in her hand. The containers latched to the inside wall of the wagon were prepared custom at Noriene's requests, and, as the attuned glass shattered within the packages a volatile mixture of chemicals surged together, creating a powerful explosion... but only in one direction.

A huge cloud of debris was launched across the street slightly lower than head height. The shaped charges sent slag and pieces of wood through the men from the Order of Blades who had given the wagon no thought. As the cloud of smoke cleared there groans, cries, and coughing... but it took several seconds more before Noriene could get a clear view of her handiwork. In the end she was both gratified and displeased at the same time; only one Blade was left standing... and that was Marcelle.

The Marten had apparently taken the sailor's cue and dove to the ground... but he was much faster at getting up. Marcelle sprang over the Human and delivered a swift kick to Lilian's paw, which had just pulled a throwing knife free of her dress. He rotated around and followed up with another kick to the black Bear's head... only to find that the impact of his foot did nothing... nothing other than apparently making him mad.

The enormous Tribal reached up from his place on the ground with a huge paw to grab at the Marten... but was forced to withdraw it as the Blade stuck his sword right into the large Bear's palm. With the brute of a Tribal distracted, Marcelle latched onto Julius' tunic and pulled the old Professor into a sitting position as he knelt down beside him, sword blade pulled up tight against his captive's throat, "I can see we won't be able to do this the easy way."

Both of the other two bears stood, each speaking over the other in the Tribal tongue; if Noriene's explosives hadn't been enough to attract the attention of anyone in the immediate area the powerful volume of their shouts would have been sufficient. They finally quieted down as Julius raised a paw to them and spoke in a plain, straight-forward tone. Noriene didn't have the slightest idea what he said, but it had an immediate effect on both of the Tribals.

She watched the professor, trying to figure out what he was thinking and she saw his eyes look straight at her. Not many people outside of the court knew how good Noriene was at reading lips, but Julius, a fellow Mechanist, was one of them. His question was clear, "Do you have any more of those?"

In response, the Princess looked down at the bottom line of packages and held a second tuning rod close to her leg; she simply nodded. Marcelle took notice of her, "Your Highness? To what do I owe the--"

The Princess frowned, "You can dispense with the niceties, Marcelle... I'm not sure where you got the idea to double-cross me, but you made a very bad decision."

The Marten's self-assured smirk was more aggravating than she last remembered it, "On the contrary, your Highness... you have now just saved me the trouble of getting you out of the way. I doubt anyone will think twice about connecting you to the destruction of this building and the death of everyone inside."

Noriene's frown turned into a scowl, "The funny thing about plans, Marcelle... you have to survive long enough to execute them."

The Blade glanced down at Julius, "Your lackeys have already decided that I'm the only one walking out of here alive."

Out of all the things Noriene Sandoval had been required to do in her bid for a change in Lehsunia's leadership, she had never killed someone. Of course, it was a technicality that she'd ordered people killed, or bade them abandoned without care, or, most recently, used a tuning fork to unleash an explosion... but the simple, casual way with which the Marten drew his sword across the old Bear's neck shocked her to the core.

Noriene stood on the wagon for several seconds as she watched the spray of blood and Julius' wide-eyed expression as he slumped to the side, grasping at the gushing wound on his throat. The members of the retrieval party each responded in their own way: shouts, cries, screams, gasps... but the two other Bears did something surprising in and of themselves-- they each dropped to the ground, carrying Lilian, Sanmer, and Theo with them. Only then did Noriene realize that Julius had included them in on his plan.

The princess pulled her second tuning rod free and slammed it against the metal latch on the wagon. Marcelle, as before, was ready, and dove to the ground as well... but Nicholas was already waiting for him. The sailor was in a kneeling position, and grabbed hold of the Marten by the back of his tunic. With a heave and a cry of pain, the sailor pulled Marcelle into a standing position. Barely audible above the powerful hum of the rod, Noriene was just about to make out Nicholas' last words, "Go down with the ship, captain."

When the smoke cleared for a second time, no Blades remained standing; Nicholas had fallen in a crumpled heap atop the torn and shredded body of Marcelle. Noriene sat down slowly on the bench of the wagon, watching numbly as what remained of the group checked in one one another and counted their casualties. Any commander would have considered the loss of 25% of her forces compared to the total annhialation of an opposing army to be a total victory but, at that moment, Noriene didn't feel much like a commander.

She took a steadying breath and burried those emotions just like all of the other times; as usual, the day was won and there was still precious little time to waste.