The punch and Regan Lassiter's presence at the ball had made for an awkward situation between the freshly promoted Lieutenant and Captain Woodwick. Although this was the case, Aldrich hadn't been worried or nervous when the Captain had called him to his office. After all, they were two grown men, and perhaps they didn't exactly see eye to eye about everything, but Aldrich respected the man and was actually looking forward to working closer together with the bear of a man. He realised that they would have to talk about what had happened, but it was simply a necessary evil. There would always be conversations you'd rather avoid having, but more often than not, it wasn't a choice. It was simply something that needed to be done. Clearing the air would be important if they wanted to successfully work together in the future.

So Aldrich sauntered down to Woodwick's office. The door was open a smidge, but the man knocked anyway. He'd wait for a response before going in.

Once he had entered, he would nod at the Captain. "Captain Woodwick, you asked for me."

As the knock came at his door, Warren stood up from his desk. "Come in," he would say, and motion for Aldrich to close the door once he'd stepped inside. The older of the two leaned across his desk and offered a handshake to Abbott as he spoke, nodding as well. "Yes, we've got a lot to discuss, and a lot of work ahead of us," Warren said. "Please, make yourself comfortable."

There were, technically, three seats that Aldrich could take in Warren's office. A simple chair sat directly across from Warren, on the other side of his desk. Another chair rested tucked neatly underneath Jasper desk, which sat against the same wall as the door. The third seat was a couch, against the wall to the right of Warren's desk. It was a little...broken down, but clean and fairly comfortable. Aldrich could take any one he chose, Warren wouldn't seem to have a preference.

Picking up the bottle of whiskey that Jasper had cleaned the dust off of, he poured it into the two glasses to about halfway. Then he corked it, and offered one of the glasses to Aldrich. Where ever the man had chosen to sit, Warren would meet him halfway with the glass, before returning to the seat behind his desk. His office remained modest, minimally decorated, and somewhat small all things considered.

"I suppose we should start with the most obvious topic so that we can both breathe a little more easily. I'd like to apologize for my actions during the ball. It was not my place to interfere in your conversation with Ms. Lassiter, nor was it necessary or appropriate for me to threaten you on her behalf. Such actions are unacceptable for anyone, but especially for me, as a newly promoted Captain and as your superior. I would very much appreciate it if we could simply put it behind us. I cannot change how it may have made you perceive me, but I can ensure that it will never happen again and that our work together, for the sake of the military, will be put first above all else."

Aldrich stepped in to shake the Captain's hand and would sit down in the chair opposite from Warren's seat. He preferred a professional seating arrangement when discussing important things. The whiskey was a welcome surprise. He hadn't expected Woodwick to offer him a drink, but he also certainly wouldn't say no to one. The Captain sat back down after their glasses had met, and Aldrich took a sip of the whiskey, enjoying the flavour and letting the warmth spread through his chest.

The quick apology also surprised him. He had expected the Captain to want to talk about it, admit that they had both acted immaturely and unprofessional, but none of that happened. Aldrich nodded and thought a moment. "Thank you, Captain Woodwick, sir, but I would like to apologise as well. There was no need for me to respond the way I did. I haven't been on my best behaviour, and this whole situation has made it clear to me that I need to do better. Especially now I've been promoted. I feel like I've been slacking. Moving forward, that will change. But all is well, and what happened at the ball is behind us. I will not hold it against you, ever, sir."

He wouldn't hide the breath of relief that came through exhale when Aldrich agreed that the whole thing would be put behind them. The whole evening, and the following evening with Regan, was still hyper-present at the forefront of his mind. A mixture of emotions, but nothing he wasn't used to suppressing for the sake of work. "I appreciate your apology, and your willingness to let it go." He said, taking a sip from his own glass. It wasn't the best stuff. Wasn't the stuff Regan had brought him in return for their deal, but it was still pretty good.

"With that settled, I feel it would be a good time to address a couple of concerns I have regarding things mentioned to me. First, it is only right that I tell you this: Ms. Shannon came to me shortly after you dismissed her. As expected, she was upset about her dismissal and wished to defend herself. She took responsibility for the first curse placed against you, but denied the second. I'm not sure if you have any way to prove the second curse was her doing, but I did instruct her that she would have been dismissed regardless. As you and I are now a team, it is my job to support you in matters such as these. That said, she also told me what drove her to curse you the first time."

He took another sip of the whiskey and then sat the glass down on, glancing up at him. "While you're no longer a drill instructor, I'd like to make clear that I will not accept such extreme forms of humiliation as a means of punishment or training. Since you'll ultimately be the one informing the drill instructors, I need to know that you understand that. Calling out soldiers while in training to discipline them is one thing, and they certainly need to be able to restrain themselves in those situations. But honestly, with this new culling process, we cannot afford to lose any more soldiers than we already are. Punishments should be kept to standard staff duty or extra exercises, and while I agree we should be pushing them to their limits, we cannot afford to injure them in the process."

It was hard to talk through the nuanced way the military was meant to work. Superiors often had to do things that their subordinates did not understand and did not like, but it was always meant to be in the best interests of the subordinate. They couldn't lose sight of that, and couldn't take it personally when the soldiers reacted in a negative way. Dole out their punishment, and move on. "That said, I would like to hear your input about how we should change our training regimes. You've spent more time with the soldiers than I have in recent years, so you should have a better grasp on their weaknesses. What do you think we should focus on?"

It was good to simply leave this behind. There was no use on dwelling on the past, especially now both parties involved had apologized for their behaviour. "Not a problem", he said, lifting the corner of his mouth in a grin before taking another sip. He would have to pace himself. He never really *enjoyed* whiskey. He drank it quickly. But he didn't want to seem like a drunk.

The information about Rhedara did annoy him to some extent, especially because the Captain seemed to believe her and think he had been punishing and humiliating the privates. "I hear you, but I'd like to make some things clear, Captain. I don't know what she said exactly, but I did nothing to humiliate or punish them. I let some recruits do some push-ups with older soldiers on their backs. Nothing unusual about that. I'm sure you, just like me, had to do that too when you first joined. Things escalated when I asked Mosse to sit on Sliva's back, and I'm sure the misunderstanding comes from that." He leaned back in the chair. "You see, Sliva is a good soldier. She's strong, learns quickly and pushes herself to the limit. But she doesn't understand her limit. I've trained her a few times after that group training to get her to recognise these limits, so she can function better in a group. I asked Mosse to sit on her back because I knew she wouldn't be able to do a push-up with him on her back. It wasn't a punishment, it was a learning opportunity." He picked up the glass again to take a sip.

"As for the curse, I can't prove it, but everything points to her. I've made a fool out of myself two times, feeling like an animal. I doubt that's a coincidence. The first time, the infamous chicken incident. I won't pretend like I don't know how funny the privates all think it is. During the ball, I was drooling like a mad bulldog, I had to refrain myself from barking. You and I are too old for the werewolf curse, Captain. Bex Brekker wasn't turning me as well, if you catch my drift."

"As we have noticed, the biggest weakness is the same one as our strong suit: the witches. Okay, not all of them will learn the werewolf curse, but we should focus on educating them more on their magic. Perhaps we need an officer just for that. Their other weakness is discipline. A lot of the soldiers get way too friendly with their superiors. They lack respect."

He listened to the man's explanation of the events, a hand resting under his chin, his eyes lingering over Aldrich. He hadn't liked his reality of the situation being challenged, but that alone brought up a point Warren was intending to make. Regardless of this explanation, though, Warren didn't necessarily believe Abbott. He wasn't giving Rhedara the benefit of the doubt - she very well could have been exaggerating, but he also didn't think Aldrich had only done what he had done for the sake of teaching soldiers their limits. The man was known to be a bully. He had been for as long as Warren could remember knowing him. The two were simply very different.

The newest difference, though, was that as Captain, Warren now had the power to make those adjustments. "I'm not implying that she was right and you were wrong. However, intention and result are not the same thing. It may have been your intention to teach certain soldiers their limits, but if it results in them feeling humiliated instead of learning, what is the point?" He moved his head side to side, and idly tapped a finger against his whiskey glass. "You are correct, though. Ms. Sliva does struggle with knowing her limits. And many more soldiers do not even try to push themselves to their limits. Had you used that method on all of the soldiers in your group, having them take turns instead of singling out a select few, the message might have been clearer. And you might have never been cursed."

Despite his dislike of the man, though, Warren was not incapable of putting his feelings aside in order to see basic logic and reason. Abbott was right: three curses do not make for a coincidence. "I do agree with you that the likelihood of the second curse being cast by Ms. Shannon is undeniable. But she has been dismissed for her actions, and the remainder of the soldiers will know now that should they follow in her footsteps, they too will be dismissed."

With parchment and fresh ink already out and ready on his desk, Warren switched his whiskey glass to his left hand and took the fountain pen into his right, dipping it into the inkwell before putting it to paper to take notes on what Aldrich thought some of the issues they needed to address were. "I agree on both accounts. Many of them lack discipline. I believe we should enforce a stricter schedule first and foremost. Those who show up late or fall behind will be immediately given staff duty. They cannot afford to be so lackadaisical any longer. As for the witches," he sighed, scratching his jaw.

"With Bex Brekker gone, Sergeant Valana is going to be busy focusing on the paired witches. The only other officer we have who can help us with this is @katerina. The issue is that she has no leadership experience, and as far as I can tell, she isn't a big fan of following the rules. I don't want the witches under her to end up with the same attitude. I would like you to speak with her. As all drill instructors are to be under your guidance, I will leave it to you to decide. If you feel she is unfit, we will find someone else."

Who, though? His mind lingered on the woman they had in common. "Perhaps we can enlist the help of Ms. Lassiter and Lady Alys Delaney. I'm unsure if they'll have the time, but they have more experience than most others. I will speak to them about it and if they're able, I'll let you know when they're available for scheduling."

He wrote all of that down, too. Aldrich had spoken of a lack of respect. Warren couldn't have disagreed more, but that was subjective. The soldiers might not always like Warren, but they had never disrespected him. There was a reason for that. "Any other thoughts, on that specific matter?"

"I hear you loud and clear, sir", he said through gritted teeth, knowing it was best not to say any more. Alas, he was still not capable of reading minds. There were quite some options to consider before cursing a superior, like telling him you feel targeted or humiliated. But that was in the past now, and he tried to keep it there, although Warren's words angered him. "But there was no time to let them take turns, before someone decided they liked the idea of cursing me." He put on a fake smile, a discreet one, not too obvious. He hadn't been singling out Zarha and Rhedara. He had been letting other soldiers do the exercise as well, and would have continued to do so if Torsten and Rhedara hadn't lost their temper. He was skating on thin ice by speaking again, but Aldrich simply couldn't help himself. He struggled with keeping his mouth shut when he didn't consider himself to have been in the wrong.

At least he had added something of value to the conversation and Warren agreed to what he had said. Then he mentioned Katerina Winters, who indeed was their best bet, but the Captain was also right about her rebellious side. He nodded. "I will see to it, Captain."

The other suggestions had him frown a bit. "I don't mean to doubt your decisions, sir, but I do feel like the Captain Commander won't like enlisting the help of Ms. Lassiter. You heard what he said about her during our meeting." Alys was a safer bet, but people did wonder about her wolf form now. "And Lady Delaney might have too much eyes on her now after showing her wolf form. Should I speak with Katerina Winters first, before you schedule a meeting with them?"

Warren nodded once as Aldrich accepted his terms regarding drills, but of course the man had to rise to his own defense and get the last word in once before the conversation was over. Warren's eyes lifted from the parchment to the man, his pen ceasing to write, but he was not going to continue. Whether or not Aldrich felt justified, the adjustments would be made, or the soldiers wouldn't be the only ones punished. No one had to like it, but were going to do it. Warren would see to that.

"Good, thank you," his next response regarded Katerina Winters. Warren doubted that the young woman would make changes for anyone she didn't respect, and he had no idea if she and Aldrich had been given the opportunity to meet. As a paired soldier, Kat had been mostly under the direction of Lieutenants Van Zant and Valana - but perhaps that was part of the problem. Her own kin had been seeing to her punishment, or lack thereof. But officers could be punished as well, and if Katerina couldn't fall in line, she'd be useless to them.

As Aldrich expressed his concerns, Warren lifted the whiskey to his lips once more and took a small sip. The man wasn't entirely wrong about the Commander. He had no idea why Hadrian didn't seem to like Regan - maybe because she was a commoner, or maybe because she had some history with Logan Delaney, Warren didn't know and he didn't particularly care. "Your doubts are not unfounded," Warren said, restraining a sigh.

"But this has nothing to do with taking orders from Ms. Lassiter. She would still be expected to train the witches by our standards, and should any of the soldiers working with her need disciplining, we will handle that, too. Half of our army is made up of witches, and their powers are too important. Even if Officer Winters turns out to be an excellent drill instructor and teacher, she is only one woman. We need at least a second, if not a third."

The concerns about Alys Delaney were shared, as well. "As for Lady Delaney, there is little we can do about the wolf. Individuals are bound to ask questions, that cannot be avoided. But placing her among the soldiers and reminding them that she is still one of us, still on our side, may be helpful. Plus, as the King's Witch she is the most invaluable source of magical knowledge we have."

He took another breath, still feeling tired. "I will speak to the Commander about it first. If he feels it's a bad decision, perhaps he can suggest someone else. Someone must do it, though, or our witches will be woefully unprepared come war time."

Quirking up a brow, he returned his attention to the papers on his desk. Tucked neatly to the side were the ones from his meeting with the Dresmondi a while back. "Before the ball, had you spoken with either of the Dresmondi who were here at all? Do you know much about their magic?"

The captain was right. They wouldn't be taking orders from Regan, but he still had a feeling that the Captain Commander wouldn't particularly like involving Regan in the education of the witches. She could be pretty hot-headed and he had been able to see it for himself when she had stepped in during that infamous training session. But Aldrich simply nodded. "You're right, sir", he said. Another issue would be seeing to it that the witches got along. Both Kat and Regan were strongly opinionated and he wouldn't be surprised if they didn't get along all too well, especially with Kat not always respecting authority like she was supposed to. But it was worth a shot. And the same went for Alys. Perhaps the soldiers would be less inclined to disregard her orders too now they knew there was a wolf residing within her. It had certainly made a big impression on himself when he saw her turn into a wolf.

"Alright, sir", he said. He was curious to know what the commander thoughts. He took a sip from his whiskey while Warren went over his paperwork. "There's a second Dresmondi?" he asked. He had only been aware of Zevran's existence. "But I'm afraid I haven't talked to either of them. I know little more than anyone else does, I just know they have this weird connection to an animal and that the Eldouir have taken over their kingdom." He took another sip and put down the now empty glass. "I'm curious though, and forgive me if my question comes across as odd, but we're about to go to war with them. But why Nevermere? Isn't Arynn Frey the kingdom they should turn to?" After all, Arynn Frey was an allied kingdom. He didn't know the king's reasoning for helping out. 

"There were two at first, yes. A man and a woman. Zevran, with the fox named Rune and Kezia, though I'm unsure of what animals her dyrs were. I believe she left shortly after coming to Nevermere, though I'm not entirely sure where she went. Possibly to Arynn Frey, or back to Dresmond." Warren hadn't met Kezia either. He'd known that two Dresmondi had come seeking aid, and that she had stayed for a while. Her departure had to have been sanctioned by the King, but much of that remained a mystery to Warren. He also hadn't seen Zevran since the ball.

The questions had Warren taking another sip of his whiskey, fingers idly waving the glass side to side to make the liquid inside swish in a circle as he thought it over. Warren had never been a politics man, but thanks to open court, a discussion with the Hand of the King, and another with Hadrian, he had put it all together. He'd also taken a personal interest in the Eldouir long before the Dresmondi had come to ask for aid. Because their threat was a byproduct of the failure of two kingdoms - Lorendale and Nevermere.

"Arynn Frey alone wouldn't stand a chance against the Eldouir and the Dresmondi army. They're much too powerful. The Peacekeepers have never fought a real war. They don't have the experience. Their enchantments would make them formidable at first, but eventually they would be overrun. But I presume the more likely reason the Dresmondi came to our King is because despite being allies, when the Eldouir invaded Dresmond, the Arynnite's did nothing. They offered refuge only if the Dresmondi agreed to work for them." Warren shrugged. "Both are only theories. I haven't asked Zevran why he came to us instead of them. I suppose it could be any number of reasons. As for our agreement, that should be obvious enough. Dresmond is the only kingdom left not allied with or made a territory of Nevermere. This war is not being waged for the sake of kindness and altruism."

That brought him back around to his question. "I have quite a few parchments with notes regarding the Dresmondi, their magic, and what little I know about the methods the Eldouirs have used to train their soldiers. I'd like you to take some time to look them over. All that we know about the Dresmondi soldiers, and the Eldouir's gifts, should be told to our soldiers. The more they know, the better prepared they will be for what we're going to face."

Aldrich raised an eyebrow. He thought Dresmondi only had one dyr, but this Kezia he was speaking of had two? The lieutenant didn't say anything. Asking pointless questions was not something he tended to do, and he wasn't about to start now. There was a fair chance Warren didn't know either why the Dresmondi had two dyr, and in the end, it didn't really matter anyway.

He then asked why the Dresmondi came to them for help. Warren explained it to him, and Aldrich nodded along. "I see", he simply said. The theories made sense, and it was indeed true that Arynn Frey was a peaceful people. They probably wouldn't be able to handle the Eldouir by themselves, and Nevermere had the advantage of having witches in the military. Still, one wondered if the witches could withstand the Eldouir's Gift.

The Captain then mentioned notes about the Dresmondi and the Eldouir. "Of course, sir", Aldrich responded. "I'll read through them as soon as I have them and will gather the soldiers soon afterwards to tell them what I've learnt." He rested his hands on his knees. "Anything else, Captain Woodwick?" He wanted to work. He wanted to help. There was much work to do.

"Yes, one more thing," Warren said, finishing off the whiskey in his glass and pushing it away from him, somewhere into the middle of his desk. "Do you recall the camping trips we took the troops out on shortly before the gala events? Three groups of troops marched to the wilderness to the south and made to navigate, camp, and work together on rations? It went well. I believe we need to do more things like that as well, to make certain the soldiers will be prepared for whats to come."

"My idea," he continued, "is to take the soldiers in groups of...maybe two hundred. Split them in half, and make them fight one another on the field. They should be in their armor, and carrying their shields and the wooden training swords. March against each other, down themselves when they're taken out. Effectively simulating exactly what the battlefield would be like. I fear they simply cannot grasp the reality of the situation until they're in it. You and I both know how chaotic and messy it can get, how difficult it is to tell one body from the next. They'll be overwhelmed if we meet the Dresmondi on the battlefield and have no idea what it's like."

Moving some papers around on his desk, he rested his elbows on the arms of his chair and glanced across the desk as Aldrich. "It will take some time to organize it, but I want every soldier to do it at least once. Including those on staff duty. I don't want them to miss out, so we'll have to work out the scheduling. Once I've made the plans for it, you and I can work on the scheduling to most benefit your work."

He thought about Warren's idea, and he liked it. He did however want to add a little bit to it. "That sounds great to me, sir. However, I think it would be beneficial to have them right each other in smaller groups first so we can focus on the individuals better and give them personal feedback that they can use once we let them fight each other in bigger groups. So they first know what to do better before they can grasp the reality of an actual war. I fear we'd otherwise be sending them simply to die. Luckily they won't actually die when they're just fighting each other, but you see my point." Having the soldiers fight each other in groups of about two hundred men would surely be a good idea. It would allow them to see for themselves just how crowded a battlefield really is. And he nodded at the information about the scheduling.

Then the captain mentioned lady Thornhill. He was surprised that this was even mentioned, and that Alinore came running to Warren to tell him about what had happened. "I'll watch my tongue", the lieutenant simply said. There was no point in proving his point anyway. Alinore had been just as unprofessional in his opinion by criticising how he went about catching the sheep, while he had asked her if she was alright after it ran into her. He didn't care enough about the lady to go against what Warren said.

Aldrich stoof after Warren was finished talking and nodded. "Alright, sir. I'll be looking forward to reading those files." If there was nothing else, Aldrich would leave.