2407 Rab 17, Velpa

Canelis tilted her neck from left to right, the action barely relieving the tightness in her muscles. She would have dropped into a stretching regimen if not for the Attendant eyeing her from beside the Riogener's desk.

The office remained the same compared to the number of times Canelis had been here over the course of the plague-combatting she had overseen from start to finish. Before, she had merely dropped by to hand the summary of labor and resources used as an update to the Riogener as he had demanded but now, she was here because the troopers had just planted the last zenrel to close of Xai-Ren to the plague's influence. Now, it's up to the renegades to do their half of the job and drive it back to the sea.

Just as Elder Tarmis had promised.

Canelis kept her hands to her sides as the door behind the desk snapped open. The Riogener burst forth, dressed in informal garments with nothing but the Lifecatcher beside him. She had always stayed clear of that sword as it had always succeeded in giving her the shivers. Now, she clamped her jaw shut to avoid the discomfort from showing in her expression.

The Riogener settled down on the cushioned chair behind his desk, steepling his fingers atop the wooden surface. "So, it's done," he said.

"Yes, sir," Canelis answered, flicking the Attendant a look. She wouldn't slip up and call the Riogener any kinship honorific again, having barely got out of it alive the last time. "All efforts have been a success. We have driven the plague back to Ok-Sa where the renegades would do their best to push it back further to the sea, where it belonged."

The Riogener bobbed his head, his eyes scanning the documents laid out before him. More work, Canelis knew. "What do you think will happen now?" he asked. He wasn't really looking for an answer. Rather, he was letting Canelis state all that she wanted to happen so all he would do was to approve or disapprove it. Smart man.

Canelis didn't mind though. It's a soldier's duty to make her commanding officer a bit more comfortable. "The crisis was averted so you have to release Cailen Dithal from your custody," she said.

The Riogener jerked his chin at the Attendant who ducked his head and disappeared into the adjacent room. Sounds of scuffling echoed from behind the door the Attendant had shut behind him as he went. When it opened again, out came at least four armored soldiers. Two hauled Cailen by his arms and the other two legged behind as an escort.

The soldiers deposited the renegade next to Canelis. She didn't bother looking at him. Instead, she raised her chin and regarded her father. Then, she opened her mouth to lay her next terms. "Yin-Alora couldn't have survived without the renegades' help. So with that, I would propose policy changes regarding how we treat renegades from this point onward."

Tension sprung in the air around her. From her periphery she spotted Cailen's shoulders turning rigid. She pushed on. "The Army shall not have the premission to hurt renegades on sight," she said. "Only if the renegade is causing noticeable harm to our citizens should they be killed on the spot, without undergoing fair trial."

"They should be allowed to trade with the merchants passing through Xai-Ren," Canelis continued, ignoring the sharp looks Cailen was giving her from the sides. "That means they should be given access to at least the outposts but not to the city, itself. Anyone who was caught wandering past the border we set for them shall be killed on sight."

Cailen whipped towards her in full now. Still, he couldn't touch her or open his mouth to complain, not with the sword tip of a soldier still pressed behind his back. She hasn't failed to notice that when the escorts refused to back down behind her.

"Last, but not the least," Canelis let herself meet Cailen's eyes. They were full of questions and protests. She had already risked too much for his sake that she couldn't do anything more now. "Generational renegades should not be condemned by the choices of their parents," she said. "Any child born from the renegade camp should be given the choice to enlist in the Army or continue staying in Ok-Sa."

She turned back to the Riogener whose expression didn't change from its stone-like setting. "Those are my terms, my liege," she said.

A few minutes of silence passed by in the room. Of which was filled with nothing but Canelis's heartbeats pounding in her chest and ears and the cold bead of sweat edging down the side of her face, dousing the stray strands of dark hair falling away from her updo. The collar of her robes started rubbing against her neck in an uncomfortable way but she couldn't hook her fingers to pull at it.

Then, the Riogener snapped his fingers and the Attendant shuffled forward with a wooden board on his arms. On it, sat a sheet of parchment no doubt containing every word Canelis said in written script. The quill's tip made stringent knocking sounds against the glass rim of the ink's bottle as the Riogener grasped it. With a flourish, he ran his quill over the bottom half of the parchment in a series of swirls and lines.

He faced Canelis, then. With a smile, he said, "Approved."

She didn't stop the smile from spreading into her lips as she clasped her hands together and gave her father a deep bow. "Thank you, sir," she said. Then, before she could even think, she straightened, grasped Cailen by the shoulders, and threw her arms around him.

The number of wide eyes inside the room could be counted, Canelis's and Cailen's, included.

2407 Rab 18, Jyda

The Army's stables was a tad brighter and more orderly than the one in the renegade camp. Canelis saddled the one steed she had used throughout her journey back and forth the two huge cities. In just a few days, she had learned so much more about her own territory and her own race than she ever did in her entire lifetime spent with reading scholarly tomes.

A small smile crept to her lips as she tightened the straps holding the saddle atop the kraejen's flank. The animal gave a soft whine to which Canelis responded with a light pat on its neck. It flicked its bushy tail before lowering its head down to get its last meal of grains and hay before another long journey ahead.

This time, she wasn't going to take it alone or need to share a ride with Cailen.

After they got out of the Riogener's office, Canelis was asked to relay the new changes in the Army's policy to the renegades, herself. She could clearly remember the Riogener saying, "It's your first assignment as the Crown General. Be sure to present our people with dignity."

Which she had taken to heart and was now on her her last trip to Ok-Sa.

Ludio whined loudly over in the next stable, Cailen cursing about something close to being done before being interrupted. Canelis patted her steed's flank one more time before leaving it to enjoy its snack, her legs carrying her to the fence separating the cubicles. Inside, she watched Cailen attempt to rear a spooked Ludio who stood on its back legs while kicking its front. Cailen ducked his head under his arms as he dodged the dagrine's flying limbs to avoid being kicked, or worse, stepped on.

"It's just a bug, you old dummer!" the renegade shouted as he pressed himself against a corner. "Calm down, will you, buddy? It's been taken care of. See?"

Cailen made a stomping motion against the compact earth the stables were built upon. It's a miracle they got it to themselves with most of the soldiers being out in the southern walls yet again. "It's gone. Squashed," he said. "Exterminated. Annihilated. What more could you want?"

The dagrine made a huffing noise before dropping on all fours and pushing past Cailen to shove its head into a feeding through. Cailen muttered under his breath and proceeded to tie off the saddle before checking if nothing he had done before had unraveled. He seemed to have noticed Canelis then.

"Hey," he said. Not the most appropriate way in greeting a Crown General, but it'd have to do. "Did you have a nice morning?"

Canelis hummed. "It's fun watching you have a love-fight with a dagrine," she said. "Is the stables not to its liking?"

The renegade chuckled. "So the Army has a bug problem too?" he said. "And here I thought I'd be free from these crawlies when I enlist. Too bad. It looks like I won't enlist after all."

"Then all my efforts have been wasted," Canelis inclined her head to one side, letting her arms lay parallel to the fence's rim. "You wouldn't want that, would you?"

Cailen rolled his shoulders. His mismatched clothes still bothered the hell out of Canelis but she had been getting used to seeing it now. "You should have thought twice to bring up the killing on sight thing to the Riogener," he pouted and held up his fingers. "Not once. Twice! Can you believe that?"

Canelis snorted. "It's the only way to appeal to the Riogener's good side and reach a compromise," she said. "Besides, had I not pushed for the reform, renegades would be killed on sight without even lifting a finger."

"And that's supposed to make me feel better?" Cailen fired back. The smile on his face was a complete contrast of the line of conversation they were having. "Ah, just kidding. I owe you a lot, Officer. Still haven't quite forgiven you about the hideout reveal, though."

She scratched the side of her face when a stray breeze slapped a strand of hay against her skin. "The Riogener deserves the right to know. You're still pixies even though you have defected from the Army," she said. "Besides, you have permission to enter and exit Yin-Alora at will, now. I don't see the reason for holding it against me still."

Cailen blew a breath. "From what I gather in your words," he said, his grin growing wider, if possible. "Is that you've grown quite soft on us rebels. Didn't you?"

Canelis returned the gesture despite every warning sign in her brain telling her not to. It's just Cailen. What has she to worry about? "It is the right thing to do," she said. "Helping you and the renegades had been."

Then, she frowned upon being reminded of something. "And quit your grinning like you have won the world," she said. "The Army won't go easy on you ex-renegades. Policy changes can only go so far. Not everyone will take a liking to you immediately."

Cailen waved a hand in the air. She never did quite understand how he could take everything thrown at him with ease. "I'll be fine so long as you're there," he said. "Well, you are going to be there, right?"

"Of course," Canelis said, ignoring the fact that heat danced in her cheeks at the moment. Was it getting hot in the stables? Maybe she should go out for a chance morning breeze. "One of the Crown General's duty is to foresee training and other projects in the Army. You'd see me more often than not, soldier."

"Still not telling me your name, eh, Crown General?" Cailen grunted as he straddled his dagrine with enough ease to get him ahead of some troopers during the first day of riding training.

She followed suit, swinging her leg over the kraejen's flank. "It's Canelis," she said. The look on Cailen's face was priceless when she whipped at him. She yanked at the reins, steering the kraejen away from the troughs. "My name is Canelis Frachdal."

Cailen chuckled. "Nice to meet you, Canelis."

She gave him a brief nod. "Likewise."

Then, she kicked her foot against the kraejen's flank and off they went, into the horizon that would take her to the plague-free wonders of an ancient, sunken city.