For a long few seconds Milana didn't say anything. She continued to look at the back of Taelian's head as he spoke, her and tightening on Strous' shoulder. His words rang hollow in Milana's ears, and despite everything that had occurred she found herself unable to believe the man's words. Squeezing her eyes shut she let her head drop, passing a hand over her face. She glanced up as Elenor entered, staring at her inturn as she spoke.
"Milana." Strous' deep voice vibrated through her body. She looked down into his grey eyes, another wave of hurt making her shiver until she looked away.
Everything was mixing up inside of Milana's mind. The events at the Manor, the sounds of monsters dying, the scent of blood, and surging emotions of fear and anger. Her head almost spun with the number of things that tumbled through her, though with some effort she kept her features under control. What was the right thing to do here? Never in all of her years had Milana expected to be forced into a situation like this. She felt so helpless, lost, and confused. The only thing that kept her from spiraling now was the feeling of Strous' tense muscles beneath her fingers and the feeling of his rough beard against her wrist.
Slowly Milana began to collect the shattered pieces of herself from the floor of her soul, shakily piecing herself back together one cracked bit at a time. One hand still clutched at Strous' shoulder, but the other now touched one cheek as she looked around the warehouse once more. A blanket numbness was beginning to set in, and suddenly the woman was so unbelievably tired.
"Take me to the guardhouse." Milana said softly, her voice barely above a whisper. Wordlessly Strous turned, heading out the door and passing Eleanor without a word. Milana shot a look over to Taelian as she passed, motioning for him to follow.
Their path was a short one. The storehouse was built into the walls of Loras, and so they simply had to step out and turn right to find themselves directly in line with the southern guardhouse. Outside it were three men, each young with rather lax postures. As they approached however all three of them would snap to attention. Their eyes looked over the young woman still sitting on Strous' shoulders. Her hair and clothing was in a rough state, bits of dirt and grime still coated her hems and sleeves, and the braid had all but come loose. They also noted the obvious signs of distress written on the woman's features, the tear streaks on the cheeks, the reddened eyes, but the look in those green points was enough to keep them from asking.
"Send a runner to Guard Captain Malkea." Milana said simply. She pointed to one of the men who now held a startled look on his face, "Captain David is dead. Inform Malkea his retirement has ended. We need his services to rally the guards here at the South Gate."
"I.." the guard looked as if he wanted to ask a question, but Milana waved to cut him off, "Be quick. Time is of the essence."
"Yes ma'am!" the guard took off then, still holding his spear with a look of determination on his features.
Milana then looked at the other two, "There is to be a hunt. Inform the rest of your men in the guardhouse to prepare their weapons. One of you go to Ramond Fairwether. Have him call his apprentices together armed and ready to hunt new prey."
"What should we tell him they will be hunting?" one guard said with a salute.
"Monsters." Milana said, her cold eyes hardening to steel, "Monsters in the skin of humans. Kill or cripple I do not care which it is."
"Y-yes ma'am." the redhaired man said, a bit taken aback but moving to follow the instructions anyway.
The last guard was the youngest of the trio. No older than 16. His eyes were wide, uncertainty filling him as the reality of the situation was beginning to dawn on him. Milana leveled her gaze on him then, and he flinched slightly.
"Go to Martin in his smithy." The words were harsher still as she spoke, "Have him bring his strongest chains and longest nails. We may need to restrain some of the beasts."
A stuttering yes was the reply she received before the boy rushed away. Milana watched him go, speaking now to Taelion and Eleanor, "I trust you two to give guidance to the guards and hunters of Loras. They will gather here. I give you permission to utilize every resource Loras has to offer to uproot this infestation." she closed her eyes, gritting her teeth, "Capture those you can, but kill if you must. I will make preparations for what comes next."
With that Milana patted Strous' shoulder and they began to make their way back in the direction of the manor. Milana kept her gaze focused forward, refusing to look back as she struggled to process what she had just done.
