The Reception

"The Heronite delegation is here!"

"The honor guard isn't ready!"

Hem Maloran tried his best to maintain his composure even as his court had begun to panic. The Heronite lords and their entourage weren't due for another week and their arrival had caught everyone completely by surprise. It was hard not to see this unannounced entry into their capitol as a slight, but everyone was looking to him to protect his infant nation from war. That was the intent of his initial correspondence with their incoming visitors. 

"This changes nothing!" Hem called out in a booming voice, silencing the chorus of worried voices immediately. "Ready my entourage! We will greet them as we are!"

The king sighed as the servants rushed away to fetch the people with whom he had planned to receive their guests. Moments later, he was joined by his son Gaius, his daughter Lana, his three most prized generals: Arnold Desmond, Arthur Skye, and Walter Blackstone. The twenty guards who flanked them on their way out of Sunburst Keep wore their usual uniforms instead of the honor guard armor that had been forged for this occasion. A worrisome pall hung over the entire group as they awaited the king's leave to face their visitors. A simple glance at Gaius told Hem exactly what he feared from the moment the northerners set foot in their land. The boy had always had a bit of a hot temper and this gesture on the part of their former enemies was already stirring thoughts of war in his head.

"No one is to speak without my leave," the king warned. "You will all let me handle this."

With this command acknowledged by all twenty-five of those attending him, Hem and his entourage marched to the courtyard, where they were greeted by thirty Heronite travelers. At the front of the group stood the leaders of each of Heron's three ruling houses. Hem first looked to Borna Crowmont, who matched his gaze with a tired expression, clearly driven by the rigors in the trip. Torvald Piers, on the other hand, maintained an aura of haughty derision. This didn't surprise Hem considering the Piers clan's close friendship with the Brokamac. Finally, he looked to Altan Karn, whose face was the hardest to read. When their eyes met, the ruler of Mt. Phoenix spoke.

"Greetings, King Maloran!" he called out cordially. "We are ready to test the mettle of your warriors!"

"If the soldiers they've brought are any indication, I doubt they'll be that impressive. This was a waste of time!" Torvald grunted.

"If you can't respect us enough to arrive when we agreed you should, you don't deserve the effort of preparing a proper reception!" Gaius snapped.

"Gaius, I warned you to hold your tongue!" Hem roared, rounding toward his son. "Speak again and you will be confined to the keep for the duration of our guests' visit!"

The prince fell silent with a mutinous expression, which the king happily ignored.

"I apologize for my son's outburst. He is quite an emotional boy, and none of us have been able to see any good in your premature arrival," Hem said awkwardly.

"An apology is owed to you as well, then," Altan said with a sigh. "In truth, Dalaska has been visited with a terrible, unseasonable blizzard. We had to leave more hastily than intended if we were to make it out of Heron."

Hem nodded slowly as he digested this explanation. "Summer snowfall is uncommon, but not impossible. I am sorry for your hardship. You are welcome here in Resta until the snow clears. Please come inside and make yourself comfortable in our home!"

"I am grateful for your understanding," Altan replied with a short smile. 

"Sadly, we aren't quite as ready as you are for our contest as you are," Hem added as he parted his guards' formation with a hand gesture. "But there is much to enjoy here in the meantime."

"We can appreciate the position this puts you in," Borna said dully. "There is no rush to begin the tournament if your warriors need more time to prepare."

"Our warriors are always ready," Hem shot back a little impatiently. "It is our venue that needs more time to prepare!"

"Of course!" Altan cut in a little anxiously. "It wasn't our intention to cast aspersions on your warriors before the tournament. We look forward to seeing the stage you prepare for us!"

"Speak for yourself!" Torvald snapped gruffly. "The Brokamac were the weakest of our clans! Their eradication proves nothing! If you think you can measure up to the greatest warriors of Heron, you're going to find yourself disappointed with that delusion!"

"Torvald, your mouth is going to get you in trouble with more than the Restans if you don't close it!" Altan snapped to the Piers lord.

"A threat from a Karn? Now I've seen everything!" Torvald shot back with a booming laugh. "Don't worry, I'll be nice! Until the time comes for my men to demolish the competition!"

"I take no offense," Hem offered without a trace of honesty. "We all know why you are here. You're not the only ones with something to prove. With our mastery of the arcane and the power of our faith, we will prove Lord Piers' words are hollow."

With that, Hem turned his back on the Heronites and led both entourages back into the castle to get the Heronites settled in. This encounter was made more tense by the tempers of both Gaius and Torvald, but it went about as well as he could have hoped otherwise. His fears of war weren't quite confirmed, but only time would tell if they could be truly abated.