Sworn to Service[FINISHED]

Styn walked through the administrative offices of the First Circle within the stronghold of Shadow Fall village. His liege lord was finally back from time spent in the field and it was of primary importance that he make his introductions. In the short time he had been an official member of Shadow Fall, Styn had already completed a couple of missions. The idea being to impress the Archduke enough to be given a long leash.

Clearly Hobgoblin had received some sort of correspondence, as Styn was swiftly Knighted and assigned out, upon arrival. The demon was forced to admit, if only to himself, that this could not have occurred unassisted. Styn was most assuredly on the weaker end of the spectrum as far as the ranking members of Shadow Fall went. Unfortunately, this had bred a bit of bad blood with some of the senior Knights. In fact there before him was one of the biggest aggressors, in the flesh.

Sinthia was a sexy, young seeming demon, with a professional set to her features, and a cute pair of glasses adorning her face. She had long blond hair that was pulled back in a bun. Styn felt that the hairstyle didn't do her features justice, and didn't really understand why she would go out of her way to be less attractive. Like many female demons she had a large bust, which Styn always suspected as false, given the shape shifting nature of their biology. She wore a formal looking uniform, although to the best of his knowledge Shadow Fall didn't have an official set of clothing.

The female demon sat in the middle of a set of three chairs in a small reception room. On the other side of the area was a desk that spanned almost the entire wall manned a pixie faced secretary. Sinthia was glaring daggers at the other woman, until Styn's footfalls drew her gaze and ire. "Oh heavens no," she seethed. "You are NOT the appointment that is stopping me from meeting with the Archduke. I refuse to wait for golden boy here to bruise his knees and stretch his jaw, when I've got important business to discuss."

"Welcome Styn, the Archduke is expecting you, go on in," the pixie faced woman said with a bright smile. Turning that same face toward Sinthia she tilted her head to the side in mock confusion. "If your business had been so important, then why did you wait until this morning to show up? Styn here attempted to meet with Archduke Hobgoblin last night. I suspect this was as soon as he had heard of the Archduke's return. What exactly were YOU doing last night Sinthia?"

"W...well I was," Sinthia started, her face flushed. "What does it matter what I was doing!? What's important is that I'm here now. Heavens I thought this was some sort of Archduke conference or something, not a morning interlude."

Having been approved to go in, Styn shrugged off the woman's jealousy, or scorn, or whatever it was. With a polite but firm knock the demon opened the door and shut it behind him. No doubt bits of the argument behind him would pass through the briefly open door, if it had not already. The scion of house Goblin bowed low. "Thank you for making time for me, my liege."

Styn had made no real attempt to straighten his attire and was in his normally disheveled state. After the bow the demon continued to slouch. It wasn't a sign of disrespect or rebellion, but it was also true that the Knight was not used to military service in any way shape or form. While Shadow Fall wasn't exactly keen on unnecessary structure, Styn had no idea of what sort of expectations that the Archduke would have. It was best to start as he meant to continue though. Better that then to leave a good but false impression, only to disappoint or confuse his liege at a later time.

In many ways what you saw was what you got with Styn. Still, his recent track record on undertaking and completing Shadow Fall missions showed that there was sure to be something more to the man then what met the eyes. Pale violet eyes would avoid a direct gaze as the Knight awaited for a response to his entry. A lengthy pause would clearly begin to make Styn uncomfortable. In such a situation the demon would shift from foot to foot, further showcasing his lack of military discipline.

Styn's eyes widened in shock as Hobgoblin abruptly shifted into his true form. The transition was smooth as it was for most demons. His father had warned him that the Archduke had a bit of a temper, it would seem he was going to get a front row seat. The Knight quickly stepped out of the way as Hobgoblin pushed open both double doors and proceeded to dress down Sinthia and a very pleasing manner. Of course Styn had no doubt that he would pay later for bearing witness to that little outburst. Oh yes, he would pay.

The Knight jumped a bit when the doors slammed shut, his nervous eyes followed Hobgoblin as the Archduke made his way back to his desk. A file was lifted and a smile began to ease Styn's worry. The famous temper seemed to be cooling quickly and fortunately not directed toward the newest member of the First Circle.

"My father continues to cherish the bond the two of you shared in your youth. He only apologizes for taking so long to rejoin you on the front lines," Styn answered smoothly in a practiced and rehearsed manner. "My father would like you to think of me as an extension of himself, your grace. I seek only to put myself at your disposal so that your goals and the goals of our organization can be accomplished that much sooner." Besides, the quicker Shadow Fall took over the multiverse, the faster Styn could get back to slacking off.

"Already your name has opened doors that would not have possible for a demon of my standing, your grace. For this you have my personal thanks and regard," Styn continued. "I will always remember the life of ease I was able to live up to now under your protection, and look forward to working to prove that investment was not a waste. Please, your grace, let us speak no more of life debts, House Goblin shall forever be your ally. To dwell in the past in this manner shames my household," Styn finished earnestly. If his father heard that he was taking advantage of the Archduke, Styn was sure he'd never hear the end of it.

Normally the Knight was not one to make a large amount of eye contact, even when talking to a person directly. The pale violet orbs were instead tracking the golden coin as Hobgoblin danced it up and down the back of his hand. During his speech he remained slouched slightly forward. His hands kept drifting as if they wanted to rest themselves in convenient pants pockets. After finishing his piece Styn would briefly meet Hobgoblin's gaze, bow again, less deep this time, and await a response. The words had been spoken in earnest, after all if there was one thing that Styn valued above all else, it was lounging about doing nothing.

After exchanging a few more brief words, Styn bowed to his Duke and saw himself out, the meeting finished, for now at least.