Board Thread:Roleplaying/@comment-25828117-20191018075609/@comment-24510587-20191020222035

"Emile?"

The young knight glanced up from the unopened letter he had just received, to see Esmée Armion stride around the corner into his quarters' sitting room. The perky blonde woman was a lady-in-waiting to Lady Vanconne, and the daughter of Baronet Armion, a courtier to Lord Edouard Vanconne. She was also wearing nothing but a bedsheet she had wrapped around herself, and she had just come from Emile's bedroom.

"I just woke up and you weren't in the bed..." she pouted. "What's going on?"

"Oh, nothing," Emile said, holding up the letter before putting it aside on the table in front of him. "A servant just arrived to hand me this message, that's all."

"Okay..." she said, striding closer before sultrily adding, "I had a lot of fun last night."

"Me too," Emile smiled. Indeed, last night had been fun. After fooling around for a while during a court banquet, he had taken her back to his quarters. Things developed from there as one might imagine they would.

"Go ahead and get dressed, okay? I'll see you later," he said.

"Mm, or we could get back in there..." she suggested, sidling up close.

"Lady Vanconne will send people to find you if you dawdle much longer," Emile pointed out. "Wouldn't want them to find you in here, would we?"

"True," she relented, letting out a giggle as she scampered back into the bedroom. Emile, meanwhile, picked up the letter again and inspected the seal. Judging by the sea serpent and chevron, it was from Guillaume, Emile's cousin and friend who lived in Nibenay. Interesting. Guillaume did not often send letters. Emile broke the seal and flipped the vellum open to read what Guillaume had written...

Dear cousin,

''It has been some time since I last wrote. I hope everything is well in Halen; I wish I could say that things were well here.''

''I am sending this letter to let you know that I am coming to Farrun, and to ask if it is at all possible for me to stay at Halen Castle for a while when I arrive. I know your father is a busy man, and we have always gotten along, so I send this letter to you instead of him. Surely you've got enough time on your hands these days, right?''

''Unfortunately, the circumstances of my visit are not mere pleasantry. I don't know if news has reached Farrun yet, but something terrible is afoot. Strange, horrible metallic men, taking entire towns all across Cyrodiil by storm and dragging away the townsfolk. Even Skingrad They call it the Golden March. It has come for us, too; I only managed to escape fate because I was out hunting when the March arrived.''

I sincerely hope they haven't come to y-

That was as far as Emile got to read, as a servant came barrelling into his quarters, barely rushing through the appropriate courtesies.

"Sir, Lord Vanconne calls for his knights!" The scrawny, ageing fellow uttered, his panting betraying that he had ran all the way here.

"The Golden March is outside the gates!"