“This is ridiculous!” Cassius exclaimed, slamming his fist against a tree “You completely disregarded my every order!”

“Your orders were asinine”  A dark haired Elven replied. The elven in front of Cassius was dressed in ragged dark colored clothes with links of light chain mail peaking out, a dark red scarf slung around his neck. He was slender and tall with weapons strewn about his body. He had a few thin scars across his face and had a dark raven feather tattooed on his forehead. He glared at Cassius with his cruel amethyst eyes. “My attack was nigh flawless, what was once 83 death mages is now a rabble of 31, that’s a win in my book”

“I have no quarrel with your results Sinclain, I have an issue with your blatant disrespect for authority!” he scolded “The attack was a success but you’ve done nothing but further antagonize the enemy” Sinclain’s eyes burst to life with rage.

“This isn’t a schoolyard game! It’s a war Cassius” Sinclain replied “Antagonizing is what I’m here to do”

“We are not villains, the more you convince them otherwise the longer it will take to diffuse this war” Cassius affirmed. This enraged Sinclain even more. The veins in his neck pulsated, his eyes, burning with carnal wrath.

“Diffuse? Diffuse!? I want to win this war, and that means eradicating the enemy, I mean, that’s what we did to the High Elves” Sinclain said with vigor

“What I did was dissect a group of dangerous fanatics, you’re talking about genocide!”

“I’m talking about the genocide of dangerous fanatics” Flood laughed “You’re such a naive little boy, leave the real fighting to the grownups” he said walking away

“Stop right there” Cassius said, drawing his blade “I should have stopped you when I had the chance”

“But you didn’t” Flood replied “The great and altruistic General Cassius. Pft, you’re so worried about being a hero, so scared that someone might hate you” Sinclain said, openly mocking him “Here’s a little wisdom for you general; everyone’s a villain in someone else’s story. Might as well play the part” he said walking away

 

“The death mage, the one that fended off our attack; what do we know about him?” Flood asked, addressing one of his assassins

“Not much master Flood.”

“Change that, go to the Academy, find something there that would betray his identity. Burn it to the ground if you must. When you return I expect a different answer”he ordered “As a master assassin there are two things I can not allow to exist in this world; loose ends and witnesses, make sure both are cut short”

 

Cassius sighed deeply. He felt the heavy weight of regret push against his shoulders as he prepared to begin his trip to Cascade. He never should have made that offer to Sinclain, he should have trusted with his instincts; you should never bargain with a monster. Regardless, he had to divert his thoughts, concentrate on his mission in Cascade, that demanded his attention. The attack impending there was more important than Sinclain’s insubordination.  

 

It had been years since Xan had visited Cybal. The last time he had was to commemorate the completion of the new town center with his father almost eight years ago… it really changed since then. The central town of Centre Cybal wasn’t decrepit, nor was it particularly run down. It looked the same as you would imagine a small city at the center of a farming community. But something there made it feel dreary, void of the life that once filled it, like Centre Cybal had fallen ill with a cold. The streets, though still bustling, lacked the sheer number of people that once bombarded the Cybal market streets. And the people that were there didn’t wear the effervescent smile of hardworking farm folk reaping their long deserved rewards… no… they seemed, feigned, contented as if they smiled and conversed to hide the sense of dread they all shared, as they woke each morning thankful that their city still stood. It was a carnage of a different variety, the corpses of people who were once happy and safe now fearful of the sun that would rise the next morning. Xan was completely appalled.

“Is something wrong my liege?” his escort asked

“No… just lost in a memory” he said

“Well my liege, we have a room prepared for you, if you would kindly” the escort began to say before noticing that Xan had disappeared in the crowd “why can’t I get a simple assignment?” the escort asked himself

Xan was outfitted in some light yet durable armor since the risk assassination was always present for a royal. In the same way he was dressed to look as non royal as possible, to ensure that he blended into a crowd, much to his escort’s dismay. He wandered through the market until he came across an open court yard with a line of similarly dressed soldier standing shoulder to shoulder in attention as an intimidating Elven woman in official armor paced back and forth inspecting the troop. Xan felt compelled to watch as she scrutinized the soldiers who were clearly shaken by her iron stare. Then something brought her attention to Xan who stood there awestruck by her level of control over her troops.

“You! What are you doing out of rank?!” she shouted. Xan was stunned, not by her rash order but by how strangely attractive she was. She had a dim teal hair color and a dark black Elven markings under her eyes which were a lovely shade of green. She had well polished armor and an officer’s sword fastened to her belt. She glared angrily

“Me!? Oh, no, I, I’m… I mean”

“Get in the line before I have to tried for deserting” she ordered. Xan stopped talking and immediately complied. Suddenly he was sweating hard and felt a nervous chill crawl up his back. “You have a name rookie!?”

“Yes ma’am”

“‘Yes ma’am’ doesn’t sound like a name” she said, causing the other soldiers to laugh briefly before being silenced by a sharp glare

“Xan” he said, trying to swallow the fear bulging in his throat

“You must be new; it’s your lucky day ‘xan’, I’m letting you off with a warning” she said turning away to inspect the rest of the line

“A-and what’s your name?” he stuttered. The men in the line either chuckled or cringed as the commander spun around on her heels

“What was that soldier?” she said with nearly gritted teeth

“Dead man walking” said one soldier to another

“W-well, I thought that since I gave you m-my name, I should know yours” he said bashfully. Clearly he had annoyed her.

“Soldiers, when do you question your superiors?” she shouted as the soldiers shot up to attention

“Never Ma’am!” they yelled back

“The only question you ask is?” she shouted again

“May I have another ma’am!” they yelled

“Another lap?”

“Yes ma’am!”

“Another hundred pushups?”

“Yes ma’am!”

“You see Xan? You only ask, with a pretty little cherry on top, if you can please train harder today, so when you ask me something so arbitrary as my name, I get a little confused” she said, getting in his face.

“I’m… sorry?”

“Is that another question Soldier?”

“No ma’am!” Xan said, jolting to attention “I am sorry!”

“Like you mean it!”

“I am really really sorry ma’am!”

“For what?!”

“For asking a stupid pointless question ma’am!” he shouted, not even realizing what was coming out of his mouth. Then there was a profound silence.

“Soldiers! Please tell Xan my name”

“Commander first class Celeste Argar ma’am!” they yelled in unison

“Lord Xan Regallia!” Xan’s escort called “I found you! Please stop wondering off!” then suddenly the soldiers opened their eyes wide in surprise

“The Xan Regallia, as in the king’s son?”

“No way, that’s impossible, here in Cybal?” the soldiers bantered, breaking their attentive stances

“Silence” Celeste ordered. She walked over to the escort, seized him by the wrist and brought him before the line of soldiers. “Is this Xan Regallia?”

“Yes ma’am”

“What is the meaning of all of this?” she said aggressively

“I wandered off, I noticed your drills and I was watching and” Xan began to explain

“Why didn’t you tell me this earlier?” she groaned

“I tried” then suddenly she was silent, and slightly red in the face. She stood with her fists curled and her eyes wide.  

“Thank you for coming to observe my drills first hand. I hope this experience has proven enlightening as to the way we run our training programs” she said shaking his hand roughly “The Prince wanted to see how we run our drills here, so he took the role of a tardy undisciplined soldier. Thank you for behaving properly” she said as the line snapped to attention.

“Oh, um thank you for the incredible demonstration ma’am. I hope to observe you again” he said “I mean your drills, I mean I can’t wait to watch you drill me, I mean… Keep up the good work” he said turning bright red and then coughing “I have a room reserved don’t I, I should go there” Xan then disappeared into the crowd

 

“God I’m so stupid” He said, lying on his kingsize bed. He had removed his light armor and now lounged in slacks and a cotton shirt. “I’ve never wanted to leave a place I just got to so badly” then suddenly the door opened slightly

“Sir you have a Visitor”

“I don’t wanna” Xan groaned into his pillow

“Sir, this one is very important”

“Ugh fine” he said rolling over. “Send’em in” he ordered as Commander Celeste, of all people strolled into his room. He immediately felt his heart jolt as he sprung off the bed and onto his feet, standing stiff in attention.

“Please don’t make me call a superior at ease, this afternoon was embarrassing enough my liege” She asked with a slight rosey tint to her cheeks

“Oh, sorry, um” he said scratching his head “I’m really sorry for embarrassing you Ma’am, I didn’t mean to”

“Please, my name is Celeste, it’s improper for a superior to call me Ma’am” she corrected him

“R-right… So um, Celeste I um…”

“I wanted to make a few things clear” she said interrupting him “I am not here to lick your boots, while many soldiers may see it fit to masquerade as if you are the rising and setting of the sun, I detest those frivolous displays of adoration” she said with a determined scowl

“Geez, you came all this way to tell me you didn’t like me, wow”

“Not at all your grace” she bowed “I agree very much with you and your father in many ways. I simply wish to clarify that I did not come to suck up to you like a leech, you have my respect and my service as a warrior. As my liege I would surrender everything but my dignity to you” she said, kneeling one knee, her head bent in respect

“Th-that won’t be necessary!” he said urging her to stand up “So why are you here?”

“My training, my drills” She said. Xan immediately thought about his embarrassing outburst in the courtyard

“Listen, I am SO sorry! If you need to slap me I understand, that was really out of line!” he said bowing apologetically.

“What are you talking about? I was acting very harsh to you and the other soldiers and I wanted to make sure you understood why” she said

“Oh, right, I knew that!”

“I am harsh, I realize that, but the battlefield is harsher” she said, looking out the window solemnly “My goal is to make my men fear me more than they fear death. And death doesn’t fight alongside them, I do.” she smirked “I will admit, as a woman I have to be particularly brash otherwise the men wouldn’t take me seriously, or worse attempt to take advantage of me” she chuckled lightly “When this war ends I will personally show each soldier I lead that I respect them, and to have the respect of a woman you fear more than death… that is a powerful force” she turned to Xan “Does this make sense?”

“Yes Celeste, Ma’am…” he said as if a soldier in a drill line. Celeste sighed

“Just please forget about everything that happened this afternoon, I have no place looking like some kind of taskmaster of the Alderan Prince”

“I wouldn’t dare forget it Ma’am” he said softly

“And why the hell not!?” she said roughly, turning to face Xan

“Because I don’t want to forget you” he replied instinctively, as if those words were predestined to roll so smoothly from his lips. They were so close now, he could see a passionate fire dancing in her eyes, a fire like nothing he had ever seen before, a strength that he envied. So alluring, the passion that her gaze commanded, he wanted to share in her resolve so badly, that he would bend to her will in a moment to share in her glory. She felt her skin grow hot, a red flush running across her face. How could he say that so calm and naturally. Why did it stir her so? Never had she felt such an odd sense of fear and intrigue before, like a fire that you desperately want to get close to; to feel the warmth coming off of it, but fearing the burn of its lashing tongues. They shared a moment in silence, Xan lost completely in her gaze.

“I have to leave” she said turning to the door

“Wait!” Xan called “I have a favor of you to ask!” he seized her wrist, the touch of her skin far softer than he anticipated, and so warm

“A favor?”

“You’ve lived in Cybal for a long time, no? Perhaps… you could show me around, maybe you could show me a good place for lunch, of course the Alderan treasury will absorb the expenses” he said, though he was screaming at himself mentally you daft idiot! Are you asking her to a date!? You buffoon you’ll be lucky if she doesn’t stab you now!

“I have afternoon drills remember?” she replied, seeming ever so slightly shaken

“Oh, right, hehe…” he said meagerly, shot down before he even had a chance

“How about breakfast?” she asked simply Celeste you dumb girl! She thought he’s the prince! He’s probably already betrothed! If you get caught up in a royal Affair your career in the military is over!

“Breakfast sounds wonderful! I’ll meet you outside the Inn tomorrow!” he said happily, his spirits immediately lifted.

“Alright, seven AM sharp. Don’t you dare be late” Brilliant Celeste, you’re gonna scare the poor fool like that. If this doesn’t pan out you’ll never be anything more than a captain she thought, though she maintained her composure

“Wouldn’t dream of it! See you tomorrow!”