Stergos had given us the instruction that we would be given dinner separately in our tents after being given the word that Flaur wasn't feeling up to hosting tonight.
Ashari and I were given the same tent to share, and it wouldn't be a few more hours until dinner would be served.
"Did I say the wrong thing out there?" I asked her, but I already knew the answer.
Ashari sighed as she began her stretches. She used her cot to prop her leg to help her deeply stretch as she began to answer my question.
"I don't think it was wrong to ask the Demon Queen those questions, but I do believe there should've been more care given to how you should've asked them." She said with a knowing face.
"Especially not this soon after just having met." She concluded.
I thought about what she said and nodded, she was right; this was my fault for being too forward.
"What do you think of her?" I asked Ashari. I briefly thought of stretching too, but my body didn't at all feel tired; the result of it being what it is, that I still don't understand yet.
Still, it felt a little awkward to me to watch this lean and thinly dressed girl sweat and huff as she stretched herself into these extreme and provocative positions. I opted to just mildly stretch my legs as a cover and for somewhere to keep my eyes pointed.
"I think she's quite spirited," Ashari said with a furrowed brow.
"After hearing that she lacks any sort of proper council, and the fact that she had those two missing-- she must have many burdens," Ashari said as she switched her stretching to a deep spreadeagle pose; I could see her doing it in the corner of my eye.
"Many burdens huh," I added in as I inclined my back to swivel my hips.
"Good evening you two, dinner is-" Stergos suddenly walked in the tent unannounced, catching Ashari and me doing our stretches.
I had my hips poised upward into the air in a thrust as Ashari had her legs completely splayed facing forward to me...
"Ahem, am I interrupting something?" Stergos asked with the peak of professionalism etched into his stoic and polite smile.
"N-Nothing! Sorry, you caught us stretching after the long trip." I immediately stopped stretching as I switched myself over to face Stergos.
Ashari didn't mind however and kept doing her stretches as she greeted Stergos.
"Dinner is ready? Wonderful, I'm curious about the cuisine from the capital." She said with joy as she lifted her butt into the air towards me and bowed deeply onto the ground as she lifted her face to meet his.
"Yes, it is. And good news, her Majesty's mood has improved and has requested you two to meet her in her tent for dinner tonight. Do you two need a minute to finish this or,...?" Stergos shot me a look, I could sense a sort of veiled camaraderie in his eyes as he did.
"No, not at all. We can go right now," I answered for the both of us, awkwardly stepping aside from Ashari's downward dog and her warrior's toned glutes.
"Very well, follow me," Stergos said with a small bow as he exited the tent, he was waiting outside for us to follow.
---
As we were escorted over to the Queen's tent, I caught more of what the campsite looked like as we did. The soldiers from earlier were stationed in a long tent, similar to a semi-permanent barrack; like those I'd seen in the game when I was playing through scouting excursions. At most, there were around fifty or so men, double that of Vask's. And these men were all dressed in the same regalia, unlike the mix-match of the various armor that Vask's mercenaries wore.
They said nothing to Ashari and me as we walked past by, but we did get some curious passing glances as they watched us be led to her tent. One interesting detail that I caught about nearly all of them, however, was that they were all roughly middle-aged looking; none of them could've been younger than thirty.
"Could I ask you a question, Sir Stergos." I asked Stergos as he led us across the soldier's barracks.
"Please, just call me Stergos. And of course, I will answer what I can." He answered pleasantly.
"When were these soldiers here recruited?" I asked him as I caught a couple of the men with salt-and-peppered hair.
"Hmm, I believe Her Majesty's royal corp has been in the same rotation for over ten years; the same troop since her coronation." He dutifully answered.
"Ten years, huh," I muttered to myself, staring at Stergos' back.
"Any more questions, Sir Ignis?" He asked me as he held the lip of the Queen's tent ready to let us inside.
"No, none more; thank you," I concluded as I went into the tent.