Back in the barracks Alaric was talking to an official of the crown, Erik had retreated into his bed and left Al alone with the recruiter.

“Listen, most people will tell you our job is about as brave as fighting carrots but without us the entire war would have been lost decades ago, we keep the soldiers going, we manage their supply and reconnaissance. Without us the men and women fighting on the frontlines would starve to death instead of fighting. They would get caught in the rain or get lost in the wilderness.” Al knew what the guy said made sense but he was still reluctant to agree, the three of them had made it this far, why should they split up just now? He had not disobeyed his father just to sit in a room and devise plans for better distribution of reserves, but then again what had he thought he would be doing? Fighting had never been his strong suit and if he could help Erik and Cara by doing what he did best then shouldn’t he take the chance to help? He sighed, what an adventure this turned out to be, they had barely managed to get into the ranks of the rebellion and were already torn apart.

He looked at the man across his table, he studied him for a moment and tried to figure out his agenda. He absorbed every little detail about him, the ink stained hands, the hair with traces of dust, the dark bags under his eyes and the eyes steadily refocusing as if he had trouble seeing what was in front of him.

The man was no fighter, he probably spent his days brooding over maps and calculating supply trains to and from armies. Then again, Alaric was not a fighter either, his thin build and terrible hand eye coordination made him as lethal to his friends as his enemies, which wasn’t much.

He remembered Erik at the gate, the way he had torn that man apart with his teeth, the wild look in his eyes as he charged into men trained and armed without giving it a moment's thought.

Al wasn’t like that, he had stayed behind and tried to reinforce the defense by advising the men how to rotate and sending back up where the lines threatened to crumble.

All things considered he had done the best he could with the talents he had, still he felt like a coward for not staying at his friend's side when he had needed him most, or turned out not to need him at all.

The prolonged silence seemingly made the guy across the table nervous as he started twitching around and looking at his hands.

Al sighed again and took a deep sip from ale, the stuff tasted horrible but since everyone was drinking it he had decided not to ask for some sweet wine.

“Alright, I will join you guys under the condition to get updates about my friends whenever possible.” he tried to sound excited but the only thing he could think about was how he should explain all this to Cara and Erik in the morning.

A weight seemed to drop from the shoulders of the guy opposite of him.

“Thank you, you won’t regret it! Come now if we hurry the barracks for the scribes will still be open, I need to introduce us to our master.” Without taking a breath or slowing down he grabbed Al by the hand and pulled him outside.

Alaric was still holding his mug and he could feel his thoughts moving sluggishly through his head, like mudd, maybe he should have waited for the effects of the first mug before ordering another.

He took another sip and found that if he just kept himself from thinking too hard the whole situation he was in, did not seem half as bad as he thought them to be earlier, maybe he could go on his own adventure, one more suited for his style of doing things.

The guy pulling him through stopped so abruptly Al crashed into him and continued to stumble to the floor until he hit a pretty pair of leather boots with his face.

He tried to look up but a thick robe got caught in his hair and he decided it would be smarter just to stay here on the cool ground until whoever was standing above him decided to move.

He could hear a embarrassed shriek from behind and was about to turn his head when he remembered the thing with the robe and stuck his head back in the mud.

Over his head he could hear someone calmly talking to the guy who had dragged him into the whole mess in the first place.

To make things worse he had also spilled his beer and was seriously considering trying to save the remainders of it from soaking the shoe of whoever was standing over him.

As he weigh the pros and cons of licking some strangers boots the decision was taken from him as said boots moved out of his range and past him towards the guy that had recruited him.

“Letar, what is the meaning of this drunkard spilling beer over my shoes?” her voice was stern and unforgiving like the chill of winter.

Letar, which Al guessed was the guy he had come here with, stammered something about having orders to get me to the high castle before the twelfth bell in the night.

“On whose authority?” was the only thing she asked, Alaric managed to get back on his feet even though the ground below him moved like the branch of a tree in the wind.

“I-I’m sorry, I thought you had been told by the high command, please forgive me ….” Letar kept mumbling in a panicked voice but the words made no sense to Al.

He focused his eyes on the woman in the grey cloak she had her back turned to him.

“Listen ma am, Lete had no part in what i did here, i bought and drank the beer all on my own!” his words were strangely slurred like his tongue had turned numb.

The woman turned to him and Al could see her for the first time, she had bright eyes that seemed to shine in the dark, mouse grey hair woven into a circle around her head.

Despite her grey hair she seemed no more than thirty years old, something in the way she looked at Alaric made him uneasy, like the bright silver eyes could see right through him.

“You must be the boy that helped the new recruits at the gate then?” she sounded a little warmer, not actually warm but not cold enough to freeze your soul with a second sentence.

“It shheems like neewsh pravels fashht in the shitty?” his tongue felt like lead, the world kept spinning all around the woman’s face. He was about to tell them about the blinking lights and the moving ground when he finally collapsed and darkness embraced him.