Twix Family/Fey/Zale
The Meeting with Zale, and a Happy Reunion...
Fey stands in the dim coolness of the recruiting office, which she'd just found that morning. The wizened man behind the hardwood desk gave her a stern look, and when she returned it, his old face broke into a smile.
"I must confess miss, upon seeing a woman enter my office I am often skeptical of their abilities. While this northern realm may be harsh and toughen the frailest of souls, it also does not tend to breed a good commander. You have a good look about you. My name's Zale." He stood and extended his hand to her.
"My pleasure to meet you, and to be of satisfactory competence, m'lord." She grasped the offered hand firmly, meeting his smiling old eyes straight on. "I will get straight to business, then. I wish to lead a group of lancers, cavalry, to aid in the defense of Melhed. I'm wondering, however, if you've a breed of horse that handles this type of snow and temperature range well? I've seen few since I arrived..."
"Ah yes, indeed we do! Here, come along to view the grounds, I believe they may be running drills at moment, in fact! Very good question you know. It took a long time to properly breed our warsteeds for the climate..."
The voices faded from the front office as Zane led Fey back to the room directly behind it, overlooking the practice ground with a large long window.
Dyan stood, confused as to who could be back there with Zale, chatting so intently. He hadn't heard the old man rambling like that in the whole time he'd known him. He decided to try and get the recruiting officer's attention.
"Zale? Hello?" He called out. The voices in the back room silenced when they heard him, and then a feminine one exclaimed.
"Dyan? DYAN!" Fey came whipping around the corner into the office, green eyes alight, braid flying behind her. Dyan had no time for a greeting as he was promtly tackled by his twin, who nearly knocked him over. "Dyan! Oh I missed you, brother. What the..." Fey pulled back to take in Dyan's badly scarred visage, one eye healed shut. "My dear gods, when you mentioned an injury, I'd no idea..."
Dyan grinned in a charming, one-eyed way, and hugged his shocked sister back. "I missed you too, sis. Yeah, I got clawed a bit, but you should see the other guy!" he joked. He hugged her even tighter, then held her out to arms' length. "Now, lets see you. You've got more freckles than I remember, and I think this is the first time you've worn a skirt since mother took us to that family ball once back home... but my gods you've gotten strong!"
"Aye, leading troops to combat will do that to you. My longbow Squad and I made ourselves known back home. You've certainly grown, Dyan. Not in height, but in... everything else. You feel taller, stronger, and I can't believe the courage in your eyes! ...eye. How you manage to still be charming when you're missing half your face is beyond me." She giggled and grinned at him, then remembered Zale. She turned back to see the officer leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed, smiling contentedly.
"There's nothin like a good family reunion, eh." He offered.
The twins nodded and smiled back. "Zale, I believe I just interrupted your seminar on the Melhedian arctic warsteeds? Please do continue, if you don't mind adding me to your audience..."
Zale stood and nodded, beckoning the young troopleaders back to the viewing room. "Aye, good. Yes, your sister here is looking to lead some cavalry..."
