Jack:
"I'm thinking she wishes to remain mysterious, so I will simply say that means were arranged to bypass much of the journey. The numbers? I will arrange for something for you and others to understand our current predicament, once this business is concluded, suffice for now to know that I would not have come back if things were trending poorly," Jack explains patiently as they walk.
"Excellent, excellent!" enthuses the war-hawk. "That is highly sufficient for me for the moment, your majesty." Indeed, he's downright delighted. If he were a kid, he'd be skipping along right now.
Jack and Janessa and company emerge into a very large courtyard that they haven't been in previously, though it's clearly on the outer edge of the palace grounds. A very intense guard comes up and salutes and informs that the requested carriage will be arriving very soon. It sounds like it's going to be, seriously, less than five minutes. Must be just hitching up the horses now.
The old woman emerges from some other door, and with her are about forty guards.
They march up to Jack and Janessa. The old woman does her kinda-curtsy thing again... then gestures behind her.
Ten guards, well-armed, step forward.
One is Jaranth, the woman with the scar from earlier. Indeed, the guards assembled are pretty evenly split between male- and female-presenting. Good to know that Jack and Janessa's Shadow-doubles are equal-opportunity employers, whatever else their deal might or might not be.
Jaranth gives Jack a look. It's sort of a
please remember me... look. Very intense.
"Your majesties," says the old woman, "these are the ten I have selected."
She gestures again. Ten more step forward. "These, on the other hand, have begged me to go, as well. I have not forgotten that you said ten, and I made that clear to them, but I promised them that they could be presented to you, and that their dedication and zeal be made known to you."
Then she shrugs. "The remaining twenty merely wanted the honor of looking upon your majesties again. I will say, though, that all of those presented here are unmarried, young, extremely capable, and will lay down their lives gladly for you and your cause-- although anyone wishing to take them up on such a thing will find their lives
very hard-taken, I dare say."
There can be little doubt that the old woman will have the carriage, when it leaves, followed... But does that matter? The one thing that Jack and Janessa's Shadow-doubles will NOT be able to do will be to walk through Shadows... nor lead others through them... so... Seems good, for the moment...?
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:49, Mon 08 June 2020.