after a long chariot ride (open)

[Darius]

Standing firm in his chariot, Darius commanded his horses to slow down as they approached the stables. Out of the building to the right, two servants hurried over. Darius pulled the horses to a stop, and a servant quickly unharnessed the horses from the chariot. The other, one of the head stablemen, glanced behind him and barked an order at an apparently tardy servant, who was running at full sprint form their quarters.

"I'll turn out the horses," Darius said to the head servant, taking the horses' reigns. "Take the chariot back and make sure it's clean."

The head servant nodded, bowing deeply with his right fist over his chest, while the late servant nearly faceplanted into the ground in a bow of apology. The expression on the head servant's face as he glanced down clearly showed that his inferior was due for heavy punishment. Pausing a moment, Darius surveyed the scene. These were technically his servants, but many nobles' horses and chariots were taken care of here. Darius didn't punish servants badly, but perhaps the other nobles did, which was why the head servant was so strict.

The tardy servant was a young boy, thirteen at the most. Darius generally wasn't the kind of person to go out of his way for a servant, but he decided to make an exception. He addressed the servant, whose forehead was still pressed to the ground. "You on the ground." The boy looked up; he seemed terrified. "I need you to do something. Come with me." The boy scrambled to his feet. Turning to the head servant, Darius added, "I will do the punishing for you."

Both bowed again, not speaking, and the boy's fear increased. But, saying nothing else, Darius handed him the reigns and walked steadily towards the stables. The boy followed, and once they were inside the stable, Darius instructed him to tie up the horses.

"Once you're done with that, I want you to muck out every stall and go down to the well and fetch water for the horses." Darius said. The boy paused, confused. No doubt he was expecting some serious form of punishment -- the typical punishment for being late in front of a noble of Darius's status would be a whipping, and generally when nobles volunteered to punish, it was because they had something special in mind. It was unheard of for an unknown, lowly servant to be treated this nicely by a noble. But this boy was probably only twelve. Darius remembered being a little absent-minded when he was that age.

When the boy still didn't move, Darius decided yelling would make him understand. "That's all! Get to it!"

Still looking confused, the boy hurried off, leaving Darius alone in the stables.

p.s. anyone can sneak into the stables.

[Alcaeus]

Alcaeus had been riding along the nile for almost a day now, his army being left behind, farther down in the south, as was customary for a returning General. He had, at his back, 10 of his most loyal soldiers, handpicked to be his bodyguard. He was coming from a succesful campaign, in which he defeated one of the Nubian kingdoms armies in battle.

He was tired, but wanted to get back to Thebes as soon as possible to enjoy life in luxury, as he han't been able to experience in the camps. After the last pharaoh died, the capital had been tense, nobles secretly, or loudly, choosing sides on who should really take control of the Kingdom. Many enjoyed the young girl Nailah, but Alcaeus was secretly worried she was far too inexperienced, and wouldn't be able to handle the stress of the job. He also had doubts about the second candidate for the job, Puer, as being a bit too ambitious. He could understand eventual takeover, but he wanted to be pharaoh, while the pharaoh's body was still warm? It seemed overly ambitious, and people like that tended to be dangerous, and lea the kingdom to war. Alcaeus was leaning towards Nailah, at the moment, but if she turned out to be a leader of low skill, he would have to change sides. For the good of the Kingdom, of course. He had his own plans, but those were secret.

He had ridden into Thebes at night, and was heading towards the Nobleman's stables, where many of his horses were kept by the boys.

As he rode in, he saw a young boy, maybe 12 years old, running past him, doing a quick salute, and continuing.

He nudged his horse forward, and his guard quickly attended to there own horses, putting them away. As he rode into the stable itself, he saw another nobleman. He couldn't remember his name, but this was probably due simply to Alcaeus being away for so long.

"Hail!" He said, dismounting from his horse, his guard doing the same, "Who are you?" He said, quickly casting a glance at the chariot.

[Darius]

Before Darius could think more about the incident with the servant, he heard the familiar noise of chariots. There were many of them, which was strange most days. Although the stables were run by one of his servants, Darius's father owned the stables, and his business was a common subject during supper. Darius's father, Gamal, had mentioned that they were expecting a returning general and his guard. Of course, this was good news for his father, who was sure to make more money from such a large group. Thinking back to the list of names, Darius remembered that it was a man named Alcaeus Sekhem, General of the Southern Egyptian Army. This was someone whose help Darius could use if Egypt were to crown the rightful Pharaoh.

Besides, it was his duty as owner. He was about to go out and introduce himself when Alcaeus came over himself. "General Alcaeus Sekhem," said Darius with a salute. "I am Darius, son of Gamal, the owner of these stables." Gamal's name was well-known throughout Egypt -- he was an influential ex-soldier and nobleman with wealth that matched the vizier. Darius himself had seen Alcaeus only once, when he had been at the Pharaoh's throne room. The nobles tended to stand against the sides of the wall in attendance. He had spent much time listening to influential people speak.

Darius cast a glance over at the chariots and the rest of the horses, who, to his relief, were being well taken care of by the servants. "You weren't expected until tomorrow, General. Are things well?"

[Alcaeus]

"Gamal?" He said, pausing for a moment. Then it came back to him. This was the son of the famous ex-general Gamal. Alcaeus had studied under him for quite a while, and his tactics had led him to victory many times, with the Nubians. Of course, Gamal had a large amount of money, and it was fairly well known that he was dedicated to the ambitious man vying for the position of pharaoh, known as Puer, instead of the current pharaoh, (former) Princess Nailah.

"No, no trouble. We destroyed the army that we had been pursuing faster then we had anticipated. As your first to hear." He said. He waved his bodyguard to leave him, only 2 staying.

(OOC: Not much to say.)