Maleos had a lot on his mind recently, his entire career was on the line, and his life as well if things went sour in Egypt. As much as he appreciated being given one of four commanding spots, and his battle plan being used during the war, it put an immense amount of pressure on him. He had to prove himself now, this was his chance to really show what he was made of. He had proven his combat prowess over and over, that was why he held the title Captain. To have any hope of getting higher, he needed to prove he was more than just muscle and swordsmanship. He needed to prove that he was a tactician and a leader.

And his eagerness to prove himself was matched only by the nervous thoughts that he might not be able to follow through.

He now stood on the deck of one of the ships. Not the one that his men had been sailing on, but the one that the King and Crown prince had previously been on. He was waiting, to speak with the Crown Prince himself. Maleos had a few things to go over with him for the battle plan, a few details to hammer out and a progress report on the men he was put in charge of.

But neither royal man had been on the ship, and so he had decided to head back to his own unit, he could return later and tend to this business. He wasn’t about to leave his men on their own for this long. They would do their drills, that he was certain of, but he needed to do them with them. Maleos was not a commanding officer who would stand on the side lines. He had a place among The Men of the Heights, a place that he had earned over the years.

But just as he was about to take his leave and walk down the gangplank and back onto solid ground, he spotted Silanos. The noble seemed to be trying to make his way up onto the ship, and Maleos noticed the blood on him before he was able to try and hide anything. How badly Maleos wanted to just let him carry on, what ever shit he had gotten himself into was not worth his time or effort. But he knew Tim would want him to check on him, to at least make sure he was okay.

So with a scowl and a look that clearly said he didn’t want to to do this, he moved aside for Silanos to get on the ship, but did not let him simply walk away from him.

“What happened.” He grumbled out, doubting that Sil would give him a truthful story anyways. More than likely he had been off doing something stupid with some whore or something of the like. Silanos was not a man of honour, nor did Maleos think he was a man of great intelligence. He had never accomplished a thing in his life. He had simply been born with a title, and had been doing what ever he wanted since then, using that title as a shield from the beginning. Maleos was happy at the thought that perhaps someone was teaching him that his little title didn’t protect him from anything.

Did Maleos truly care who had hurt Silanos or why? Not really. He had promised Tim that he would look after his younger brother, but he didn’t care to put himself in his business. He seemed fine for the moment, and as long as the wound was cleaned and bandaged properly, he shouldn’t have an issue with infection. Unfortunately for Maleos he felt a loyalty to Tim, and with that loyalty came the feeling of responsibility, responsibility to ensure Silanos didn’t die from an infected wound.

Neither man would be happy about this, he was sure of it. They hated each other, they were complete opposites and neither could truly understand the others way of life or point of view.

Silanos walked onto the ship and Maleos turned to step toward him, brushing past him.

“Come on then.” He stated. He knew exactly where the medical supplies were. What kind of Captain would he be if he didn’t know where to find the supplies that would be necessary for his men on this journey. Minor injuries happened, and were treated all the time.

Besides that, Blood was nothing new to Maleos. He had been serving in the military for fifteen or so years now, he had seen more blood and guts spilled than he could recall. For him, it was life. Men fought. Men bled. Men died.

That was what he had chosen for himself.

The short walk to the physicians store room was quiet, Maleos had nothing to say to Silanos. If it weren’t for his friendship with Tim, he would have left the man’s wound to fester and rot gladly. He had no love for the younger man.

“Sit.” He commanded, pointing to a crate on which Silanos could seat himself while he gathered what would be needed to clean and bandage the others wound.

When he had what he needed, he sat on a crate across from him, grabbing the others injured arm and yanked it towards him, a lot rougher than he needed to be.

He opened a small bottle of a sour smelling liquid, a mixture of wine and vinegar, meant to clean the wound of any infection causing things that might be in the wound.

“This is going to hurt, but it will help.” He stated, face completely neutral as he poured the mixture over the others wound carefully, doing his best to ensure that it actually got into the cut to make sure it would be properly cleaned.

He set the empty bottle down, drying off the edge of the wound with a clean piece of cloth before he grabbed the next item he would need.

A salve that was largely made of honey, he didn’t know the medical reason behind why it worked, but he had seen it help with many wounds in the past. It wasn’t his job to know medicine, only the basic necessities that needed to be used in dressing wounds in battle.

He scooped a generous portion of the honey out of the clay container and slathered the wound in it.

He paused for a moment and looked at Silanos.

“Are you truly ready for what you are about to face? This isn’t the training grounds any more. This is real. There are going to be hundreds of Egyptians who’s only goal is to kill you, me and every one else on these ships.” Maleos stated. He already knew the answer. Silanos was not a man of war. His sword skills were basic, maybe a little better than a fresh recruit, but not much. He hadn’t listened to instruction, and now it would bite him in the ass.

While he waited for an answer, he prepared the bandages to wrap around the now clean and salved wound.