Of new horizons and old vows

“… so, Islana, dealing with the Odonine will be less than pleasant for the two of us. Be prepared for that.”

Alexis finished her account on what she knew about the mountain clans, handing over the pearls to Boyce for safekeeping.

She looked around her friends with a smile, but a solemn air about her.

“Now I hope y’all indulge me on a personal matter. If I were still in the army or in a band, this would by all rights be a mission. And as such, a briefing would be in order. You aren’t soldiers or mercenaries, but I feel we still should have one. So please bear with me.”

She paused a moment and closed her eyes.

“It’ll take us between 7 to 10 days to reach the Fang. There are no roads to speak of as of yet. We are talking wilderness travel. Hostile wilderness, and with war on the horizon, that might mean more than wild life. We have to watch each other’s back.

We have worked together very well these past weeks. I hope we’ll continue to do so from here on out. But you’ll find, without the relative safety of the city and lacking the luxury to just fool around and experiment, dynamics will be different.
And the point I want to address is that you will have to follow my lead. If you were soldiers, that wouldn’t be much of an issue. You would be used to that, because that’s just how the system works, and it would be less of a person that issues orders, and more of a rank.
Now obviously that won’t work with us. I have no plans to order you around all the time, cause I know damn well you are good at what you do. In fact, I expect, demand, really, that you bring your expertise to the table. That is the perk of a small group. But there might come a time when you’ll just have to do what I tell you. Blindly. And that is a lot to ask.
So it’s only fair that I let you know how I handle things cause pillars know I tend to not do things the easy way.”

She chuckled a little.

“Guess you can blame my father, and his band. They were a quite peculiar lot, especially for mercenaries, at least back then. There where… some tenets we used to follow.
No lying. No stealing. No harassing the weak. In fact, turn right around and challenge those who do the harassing. Don’t hesitate to act, but don’t be stupid. Don’t let greed be your advisor. Take responsibility for what you do, so try to do the right thing.“

That had been her father’s version. A fond smile ghosted over her lips as she remembered how her mother liked to spin that tale. Not an agreement between friends. But a solemn oath as old as the menhirs. A little fairy tale about white knights, crafted by a loving wife and mother for her daughter.

To this day, she could still hear her mother‘s voice, reciting that oath.

I shall let wisdom be my guide
And fear never halt my stride

Always true my words shall be
My harshest judge shall be me

I shall never let greed take sway
Never allow it to lead me astray

To defend the weak I shall raise my shield
I shall meet evil on the battlefield

Hear my oath as I solemnly swear hereby
By these words I shall live and I shall die

She would spare her poor audience that undoubtedly a little embellished version however. They had been suffering through her monologue long enough.

“My father has kept up those values for as long as I’ve known him. They are, in my eyes, his legacy and as such I hold them close to my heart. Now with you all I actually think those may not be as much of a problem. But they have been, in the past. So I just wanted to let you know. Sorry, that was a long winded speech.”