Tearing her eyes off the distant Erik, Astrid glanced at Zohran with a small smirk. "You'll find out… or not. Frankly, it doesn't have much to do with Maghreb, and I'm sure you don't tell your subordinates everything?"

Zohran's nose, currently in jackal form, twitched at her comment, and Nasir frowned deeply. "We're still third-rankers. Subordinate and weaker than you we may be, but we're still third rankers, not simple subordinates."

Astrid's tone lowered a little, adding a dangerous edge as she crossed her arms in front of her chest. "You're new is what you are," she growled threateningly. "Be good little subordinates who don't ask too many questions for a while, and maybe eventually you'll be trusted with knowledge of plans that don't concern you."

Her answer took them aback. After a moment of recovery, Zohran growled a little and stepped closer. He looked angry, and not about to take this laying down. "Listen here, you—"

"You're right," Nasir interrupted suddenly, stepping forward as he put his hand on Zohran's shoulder. Zohran looked at his friend with angry surprise, but Nasir continued. "We 'are' new, so how about we get to know each other better…? And what better way to get to know each other than through battle?"

Naturally, Astrid immediately became intrigued. "Oh…?" she muttered, her aggressive stance melting like snow in the sun to make way for interest. "How do you mean?"

Zohran cocked an eyebrow and looked at Nasir as well, waiting for him to answer.

Nasir smiled a little. "Well… Obviously, my friend and I need to improve—quickly—and what better way is there than to spar with someone more powerful? How about we make our battle last time more of a regular thing? I'm sure fighting against both of us will provide a sufficient challenge for you, as well…"

However much sincere he was in his argument, it was obvious Nasir had gotten Astrid's number. Getting angry at being left out of the loop was pointless right now. Rather, he preferred to focus on ingratiating himself to the inner circle as quickly as possible.

And it worked. The prospect of repeating her battle against the both of them regularly was intriguing to her. Grinning, she stepped forward to accept his suggestions eagerly… but then flinched back at the last moment and narrowed her eyes.

"Wait, what did you mean by growing closer…?" she growled, aggression returning. "I'm not good at noticing these things, but I'm loyal to Erik, and if you—"

"No, no, no!" Nasir immediately interrupted her, eyes widened and flinching back. He waved his arms, appearing more panicked than even Zohran had ever seen him. Nasir glanced over at the distant Erik, wondering if he'd heard Astrid's suspicion. Clearly, he'd gotten Erik's number, as well, and didn't think his new emperor would be graceful about such a suggestion.

Fortunately, Erik appeared focused on the enemy battle lines, where some movement had just begun. Nasir breathed a sigh of relief.

Seeing his reaction, Astrid grinned meaningfully, her suspicion immediately gone. "Hehe, that's a good reaction," she chuckled.

Nasir quickly continued, still a little anxious. "I don't, uh, I don't actually swing that way, if you know what I mean," Nasir coughed, still uncharacteristically flustered as he revealed something about himself. Then he thumbed at Zohran. "And this guy wouldn't know what to do with a woman who's stronger than him."

Astrid chuckled louder as she glanced at Zohran. Surprisingly, the werejackal didn't seem bothered by Nasir's words. He shrugged nonchalantly, clearly aware of his shortcomings and with no intention of working on them.

Grinning, Astrid crossed her arms. "Alright… then you've got a deal! And you know what, if you two can ever actually beat me, I'll talk to Erik about trusting you a little more!"

***

Just after Astrid had secured some sparring time for herself, something started happening among the enemy lines. Unaware how even his reputation was intimidating his subordinates, he watched the enemy lines part to let something through.

What he saw caused him to cock an eyebrow. A large, ornate, golden palanquin was being carried towards him on the shoulders of four branded Runebound, their eyes listless.

On top of the palanquin stood an uncovered chair, and on it said a half-naked, handsome man of West-Asian descent, covered more in golden jewellery than clothing. He leaned back in the chair casually, with one leg draped over an armrest as his slaves carried the palanquin towards Erik. A cruel smirk played on his lips, long black hair fell down his shoulders, evil gleaned from his red eyes.

Seeing this happen, Erik had to suppress a little anger in order to remain seemingly indifferent. Despite his own moral failings, the sight of those miserable Runebound as well as the man they carried caused some anger to surge within him.

Still, this wasn't the time to fight, so he stayed calm. Still with his hands in his pockets, he waited nonchalantly for the palanquin to reach him. Despite their load and emaciated looks, the Runebound moved quickly.

When they reached him, Erik and the unknown man—surely another confessor—looked at each other for a moment. "So…" the man finally spoke, his voice pleasant, despite the cruelty inherent in it. "You're the one who's been causing us so much trouble in Africa, hmm? I figured you'd be taller."

Erik rolled his eyes at such a cliched statement. "Maybe that's because I don't need a getup like this to feel important," he smirked, waving at the palanquin. "Why don't you get to the point, rather than making incessant statements?"

The man looked unbothered, but his smirk became a little more subtle. "Why do you assume I have a point?" he chuckled softly. "Perhaps I just wanted to get a good look at you?"

"I see," Erik nodded, then waved his arm. Instantly, his hammer appeared as he swung it onto his shoulder, though he didn't transform or activate his Runeguard yet. "Then, since you've gotten your look, should we get to the fight?"

Now the man's expression faltered a little, clearly annoyed at Erik's unwillingness to play his game. "Impatient barbarian," he snorted softly under his breath. "Fine then," he continued as he arranged himself on his seat to sit normally.

"Tell me, barbarian," he continued, cocking an eyebrow. "Should you not have returned to your jungle city by now?"