General Trouble
POV: Alexandra
I sat down where I was asked to and sunk into the chair to make myself as small as possible. Suddenly, I remembered the conversation I had with Derek and sat up straight. I would face whatever these three men had in store for me with bravery and confidence. Lucien sat across from me with Ronan and my father standing on either side of him with their arms crossed. Lucien cocked an eyebrow, “I assigned you a personal guard so that you wouldn’t be maimed or killed. As such, I believe you should take full advantage of this fact. I didn’t even give you official orders to follow this but I can if that’s too hard for you to freely do. What were you even thinking?” I sighed, “I was thinking I was on a mission to solve a problem and didn’t even think. Not to mention I was up at an hour no one should be up. I was without coffee…so basically to recap I simply wasn’t thinking.” My father grunted, “Of course, you weren’t. You know you don’t function beyond a certain hour and yet you decided to get up before that time. I don’t know what could possess you to act so thoughtlessly. Anything to add General?” Ronan sighed and looked down, “To be honest, this is partially my fault. I saw her coming out of the tent, she asked where Doc was and I didn’t think to stop her.” Lucien shot a glare at Ronan, “Oh? So I think perhaps you should be sitting next to Her Grace since you knew she was galavanting around the camp guardless. We can discuss punishment with you and the Elder later.” I spoke, “You shouldn’t punish him for my mistake.” Ronan shook his head, “No Your Grace, I should be punished. Your security is ultimately my responsibility and if I have failed at that then punishment is the proper thing. You’re still rather young so I appreciate your compassion but as a leader, I must take any punishments deserved so I can lead properly.” Lucien chimed in, “I will take mercy into consideration if you agree to be punished as well, Alexandra.” I sat up, “I will take responsibility. My security is my own responsibility as well, Your Majesty.”
I was actually kind of shocked that my father did not object to a punishment from the King. I had to guess that Lucien was thinking the same thing since he looked up at my father and asked, “No objections, Your Grace.” My father made a face of indifference and shook his head, “Nope, I think she needs to learn a valuable lesson in following safety protocol.” Lucien nodded, “Now that I know that, I will discuss it with the Elder. You may go now Alexandra, I wish to discuss a few things with your father and the General.” I nodded at him, “Understood, Your Majesty. As you will it. Good night gentlemen.” Ronan chuckled, “There are only two gentlemen here. I’m not.” This comment took me aback because I reflected on all of the times that I had interacted with him and I couldn’t disagree more. I shook my head, “You’ve been nothing but to me, sir. I appreciate your kindness to me always. I used to live in a place where I was shorted on kindness so when someone is kind to me, it means a great deal more to me than you can even imagine. In that sense, to me, you are indeed a gentleman. Good night, sir.”
I bowed to Lucien and poked my head out of the tent, looked around, and looked back at the three men, “Um, we have a problem.” Lucien looked over at me quizzically, “What is it?” I pointed towards the opening, “Derek is nowhere to be found.” Ronan grunted, “Speaking of punishments.” Lucien shook his head, “I’m going to get in on that one as well General.” Lucien rose to his feet and shouted for one of his personal guards, the taller of the two men came in, “Yes, Your Majesty?” He pointed at me, “Where did The Chalshin get off to? He is supposed to be guarding her.” The guard cleared his throat, “Lady Kellen pulled him away and said she would bring him back promptly.” I sighed, “She’s likely kicking his ass on my behalf because he narked me out to my father.” Ronan rolled his eyes, “I understand they will soon be engaged but when one is on duty guarding a precious asset, then one has no time for a game of grab ass. She will need to be punished as well since she should have waited until you all were in your bunk.” Lucien nodded, “Jess is a very good friend but I really cannot stress how important their duty is.” Lucien gave me a knowing look and I looked down and felt the heat rise to my face. I tried to hide it but when I looked up I saw the smirk on his face. Lucien looked back at the guard, “Inform us when they return and then send them in.” The guard saluted him and affirmed his orders.
Lucien waved to the chair I had just vacated, “You might as well have a seat. We can all talk informally until then.” I nodded, “Thank you, Lucien.” He smiled at me as I said his name and I knew he was relishing in me saying his name. He had told me when I was recovering in the castle that he thought there was no sweeter sound in the world than that of my saying his name. We had a lot of sweet moments when he visited me but this was the lone one that stood out amongst the others. He spoke, “So how did your work go today?” I smiled, “Well, as you know, I attended Lady Kastilidan. It was hard at first trying to treat her with grace but we had a chat that I think Ronan would find interesting. She might not be so guilty as initially thought.” Lucien leaned over the desk, “Oh? What makes you think that?” I shrugged, “Intuition but perhaps there is a soldier in the General’s employ that can really tell.” Ronan asked, “Is she fully awake? We have been meaning to speak to her but every time we came by she was unconscious.” I nodded, “She carried on a lengthy conversation with me and Doc believes she’s on track to heal.” He took a small notepad and pencil out of his uniform pocket and scribbled a note on it. He smiled at me, “Thanks for the information kiddo.”
Lucien asked further about the details of my day and I recounted everything up until Lucy. I sighed, “We got to the young orphan girl I was telling you about and she was so appreciative of what we did for her. I just wish I could help her more.” My father smiled at me, “There’s the Batiste in you. Lucien, do you have any plans for the orphans?” Lucien nodded, “I plan on adopting the girl once I am married but I need a House sponsor for her until such time.” My father nodded knowing that Lucien was asking him indirectly to be that House sponsor, “House Batiste will take her in for you Your Majesty.” Ronan patted my father on the shoulder, “Good man, Reggie.” My father looked over at me, “I think this has more to do with my daughter than anything. I think I need to meet the child before I fully commit though, Lucien.” Lucien nodded, “I need to meet the child myself as well. I will rely on Alexandra to make the necessary introductions but I was going to wait until the child recovers from whatever injuries she has.” I nodded, “I think I will ask Doc and estimate the time until she’s out of bed tomorrow so I can arrange the meeting.” Lucien leaned back in his seat, “I really wish I could go to the medical tent but I have much to do that visiting the injured might not be on my schedule while I am out here. I have to ask Malinus.” My father looked around then chuckled, “I’m guessing he’s out to eat?” Lucien shook his head, “No, he’s running an errand for me.” I looked at him confused, “Really? It seems to me that everyone that you would have him see is here.” Lucien laughed, “You forget that Elders Edgar and Enzo are here.” I sighed, “I was hoping to forget.” Lucien cocked an eyebrow, “Oh? You don’t like them.” I shook my head vigorously, “It’s not that I don’t find them agreeable, it’s just they make me nervous because they are part of the deciding factor in whether or not I can become your wife.”
The guard ducked his head into the tent and said, “Your Majesty, The Chalshin has arrived.” Lucien stuck up two fingers and crooked them towards himself and the guard nodded. Lucien sighed, “This should be good.” Derek walked into the tent, put his fist to the right side of his chest, and dropped to one knee in front of Lucien. Lucien was glaring at him, “Do you understand that you are in trouble, Chalshin?” He said it so firmly that a big man like Derek flinched a little, “I understand, sire.” Lucien clenched his jaw, “WHAT would possess you to leave a post that I personally appointed you to?!” Derek flinched again, “I was attacked by a small blonde woman, Your Majesty. She took me by the ear and drug me away. She was yelling at me about how I betrayed her best friend.” My father, Lucien, Ronan, and I were all stifling laughter at the mental vision of a smaller woman like Jess pulling him away in such a way that she overpowered the best soldier in all of Vellum. After a pause, Lucien asked, “Could you not stop her?” Derek cleared his throat and spoke softly, “Uhhh, she, uh, snuck up on me.”Lucien couldn’t stifle it anymore and burst out laughing, “You got ambushed by a little woman!” Derek was clenching his jaw and I could see his ears during a crimson color. I couldn’t decide if that was anger or embarrassment but knowing Derek it was a mixture of both. He couldn’t express his anger about the situation to Lucien, especially in the presence of Ronan who was his commanding officer. We may have been in a more relaxed environment but, at the end of the day, he was still responsible for him. I sighed, “Lucien, would it be possible to relieve the guy of his current situation? I feel like this embarrassment is likely punishment enough.” Ronan shook his head and chuckled, “Not quite but I think I have the proper punishment for him. We can discuss later, Your Majesty.” Lucien nodded, “I think we can stop that for the day then. You can rise Chalshin.” Derek got to his feet and nodded to Lucien, “Thank you, Your Majesty.” Lucien nodded his head towards me, “You owe someone an apology I believe. You deprive your charge of going to her quarters.” Derek turned towards me, “You are absolutely right, Your Majesty. I am very sorry for the disrespect of your time, Your Grace.” I waved a hand at him, “No big deal to me, I got to have a lovely chat with these gentlemen.” Derek asked, “Did you tell the General about your idea?”
Ronan looked at me with a look of confusion, “No, I don’t believe she has. Can you enlighten me, Your Grace?” I nodded, “Well we were talking about what would cause an earthquake in an area that has never seen one. It’s been my hunch since we came here that this wasn’t a natural occurrence.” Ronan shrugged, “It wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibilities that an earthquake should occur in an area it normally doesn’t in Vellum. There are veins of magic in the earth that can naturally stretch through Vellum that would cause friction.” I shook my head, “I don’t know if this is the case, I could feel something not right in the air.” Lucien chimed in, “What do you mean?” I looked at Lucien, “When I stepped out of the carriage, I felt a heaviness in the air that I can feel when someone particularly gifted with their element uses their magic. It’s like pressure or like someone coming up to you and giving you a tight hug.” Ronan rubbed his chin at this declaration, “Hmm, it IS worth looking into, Your Majesty. We need to eliminate foul play. Do you think you can point us to where you feel it the most tomorrow, Your Grace?” I shrugged, “I’m at the mercy of my assignments from the Elders.” Lucien nodded, “That would be an obstacle but I am meeting with them tonight. I will ask if it would be possible to assign you this task from Elder Enzo. For now, Alexandra, you should go get some rest so you are feeling refreshed and able to assist.”
