Back to the trenches; playtime is over

[Rayvinn]

"My queen," the young soldier went to one knee and touched his forehead as he bowed his head. Impatiently Rayvinn waved him up from the kneel and settled the full weight of her gaze upon him.

"News, my queen." The boy seemed nervous, evidenced only by a very slight facial tic that likely would have gone unnoticed to the untrained eye.

"Am I going to have to wait all day for this news, soldier?" Her face would have been impassive if not for that slight upturning of one corner of her mouth; feigned amusement to hide the sudden unease that was already filling her. The young man was exhausted; dark circles rimmed puffy red eyes and mud caked his disheveled form from head to toe; the sludge of the battlefield reconstituted by a slight drizzle that had yet to become an actual downpour but also wouldn't relent. He'd ridden nonstop to bring this news and that fact alone unsettled the elf. Still, she maintained that outward cool; the aloofness of a commanding queen that bespoke confidence meant to inspire the same in her soldiers; meant to comfort this barely-of-age young soldier that had apparently just witnessed the tragedy of what it meant to be just that.

"Ogres, my queen."

"Ogres? That far north?" One brow angled quizzically at the pronouncement before she smoothed her expression once more. "What of these ogres? Just speak the message you've been sent to give me and be done with it!" Rayvinn's patience was wearing thin and her tone was a touch sharper than she'd intended.

"The scouts returned with news of ogres attacking a local village and General T'alathian ordered we march. When we arrived to help, there were more than the scouts had reported. We engaged to draw them from the village and...it did not go well. General T'alathian said to tell you..." the solder cleared his throat and tried to keep his voice steady as he spoke the words. "That is, he said to tell you...'it is time to stop playing with your girly dresses and shoes and having tea parties with faeries and bring reinforcements unless you've forgotten who you are supposed to be.' I...oh my queen, are you alright?!" He asked because Rayvinn's face turned a fearsome shade of red and she appeared to be struggling to breathe.

It took several moments for her to finally regain her composure again and she flashed the young man a smile which only seemed to make him cringe more. "Go eat and rest, soldier. We'll be marching as soon as we're packed up. General T'alathian will be getting exactly what he asked for." She smiled as he bowed his way out of tent before murmuring quietly, "He may just regret that request though. If those ogres haven't killed him yet, he is going to wish they had."

That sense of dread was a knot in the pit of her stomach now; despite T's antagonizing words, the urgency of the message was clear.