PART I - LOOSE LIPS
“Are you ready?” Vanis asked a visibly nervous Callie.
“Not really,” Callie mumbled. She took a deep breath and sighed, before finally adding, “But, let’s do this.” Together, Elf and Gnome walked the last twenty meters to the steps leading up to the Commandant’s office.
The Commandant’s office looked from the front very similar to Ogre House, sporting a small porch and a large, Ogre-sized door, inlaid with a standard-sized one. But it was much longer, reflecting the likelihood of multiple rooms inside appropriate for the responsibilities of command.
Vanis knocked lightly on the inset door, and a soft voice called, “Enter,” from within.
Together, Callie and Vanis entered into a waiting area with two Ogre-sized chairs, and a half-dozen standard ones, which each had built-in steps to allow easy access by the smaller races. Behind a simple desk sat the same Elf that had been responsible for the amplification sigil used so often when public addresses were being done. She offered a warm smile.
“Good evening,” Vanis said, graciously.
“To you as well. I am Kyra, the Commandant’s assistant. I was told to expect you and will pass word you are here, but I believe we are still waiting for two more arrivals. If you would make yourself comfortable in the meantime.”
Together, the two recruits sat, Callie fidgeting nervously, while Kyra stepped through an inset door into the next room, gently closing it behind her.
Seeing Callie fretting, Vanis asked, “Are you alright?”
“Just nervous,” Callie replied. “I feel like I’m waiting to see a judge or something.”
Vanis raised an eyebrow. “A judge?”
Callie shrugged. “I got into a lot of trouble as a teen. Dumb stuff, really. Nothing tattoo-worthy, if that’s what you’re wondering. Well, maybe a couple tattooable things.”
“Ahh, I see,” the Warlock responded, with a nod. “Well, I’ll give you the same advice I’m sure you received at that time. Be polite. Be truthful. Try not to be emotional.“
“Yup, that’s pretty much what my lawyer and parents told me then, too. Didn’t always work, though. But if I get out of line in any way, just pinch me or something.”
The smaller outside door opened, and Legate Galin walked in quickly. Seeing the two waiting he added, “Good evening to you both. Apologies if I’m late.”
“We only just arrived,” Vanis assured him.
“Colonel,” Kyra said in a chipper greeting, emerging from the back and closing the door behind her.
“Kyra, lovely to see you again.”
“You as well. You are to go right in. I understand Tasi will be delayed, but I was asked to show these two in after you’ve had a few minutes to get settled with the rest.”
“Of course,” Galin said, as he started to walk towards the closed door.
“Galin?” Kyra started, the Legate stopping his march towards the back. “I am not sure how late you will be, but on the chance I am done for the evening when you leave, I just wanted to thank you for the book you lent me. It was quite … inspiring. I look forward to discussing it in greater detail soon.”
Galin almost seemed to blush as he stammered out a quick, “Of-of course. I will look forward to it as well.” He shot a quick, almost embarrassed look at Callie and Vanis, before coughing politely and quickly disappearing through the door.
“You did that on purpose,” Vanis said with a sly smile.
“He is so easy to fluster, sometimes,” Kyra said with a slight giggle and a coy smile of her own.
“What book, if I may ask?”
“The Tales of the Pirate Queen Diondra.”
“I know of it. Quite the … ribald story as I recall.”
“It is, at that, isn’t it,” Kyra added with a wink. She then clarified as she walked towards the door to the next room, “The Colonel and I have an … intense friendship would be the best way to put it, slowly becoming more.”
“Does that mean they are a thing?” Callie whispered, trying to assemble everything from context.
“I suspect the Legate may be courting her,” Vanis whispered back.
For some reason, it made Callie feel a little better about what was coming up to know there was yet even more to the Legate than he projected. She’d seen him emotional, for good reason, the night before. Now knowing he had a personal life, one that was apparently a little risque, made him more of a person rather than just a superior officer.
A light bell chimed out on the wall. “They are ready for you,” Kyra cheerfully said, gesturing to the now-open doorway. “Duwana, Your Highness.”
The two stood, Vanis adding a polite, “Duwanai, Miss Kyra.”
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Through the door was a conference room, with seating for perhaps ten around a large, oval table made of simple, minimally decorated wood. Additional chairs were aligned along the two side walls, and a small table with metal cups and pitchers was in the corner to the left.
At the far end of the room was another Ogre-sized door with the expected inset smaller one, along with a large map hanging on the wall. Callie was immediately drawn towards said map, ignoring everything else as she quickly tried to take in as many details as she could about the geography in just a few moments. She could see a large indicator of a city in the center, with lines showing two rivers converging on the city from roughly the northwest and northeast, before continuing on as one almost due south. This served to divide the area shown into three sections, each with a slightly different color. Before she could look further, to maybe try to determine where the camp was located, Xera spoke up, startling Callie from her map-gazing.
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“Good evening to you both. Master Healer Tasi is finishing with Juniper’s joining, and will be with us as soon as she is able.”
Xera walked to the table, the giant wall map now behind them. They were flanked by Galin and Thorn on either side, all three with a metal cup on the table in front of them. Celeste was already seated next to the Legate, pouring from a pitcher into her own cup. Next to Thorn had been set a fifth spot, apparently for Tasi when she arrived, with a waiting cup as well. On their side of the table, there was a pitcher with what Callie assumed was water, as well as a cup for both her and Vanis.
“Thank you for seeing us,” Vanis said, taking an even more-formal tone than usual. “We both appreciate you all taking time from your schedules.”
“Of course,” Xera said. “Master Trainer Thorn indicated you were quite insistent on meeting this evening, implying there was a timely need for a discussion regarding Recruit Calliope.”
Callie winced momentarily at the use of her full name, the stifling situation suddenly taking on an even more-serious feeling with that alone.
“Yes. I’m afraid so. As I assured the Master Trainer, I do not believe this is a dangerous issue, but one I’m sure you would wish to be apprised of, and one requiring your considered guidance.”
“Well, let’s have it then,” Galin said, pulling his chair out and sitting. Xera gestured, indicating for everyone still standing to be seated.
Carefully, feeling the scraping of the chair on the floor was incredibly loud, Callie pulled out her own chair, seeing there was a booster seat that could be lowered into place for her to sit on. Next to her, Vanis carefully filled both cups with what was indeed water, before sitting himself.
“Before we begin with Recruit Callie, I have another matter I feel I need to raise, first,” Vanis began. “A matter that if not curtailed could prove quite dangerous for one of the recruits.”
“Oh?” Celeste asked, suddenly concerned.
“A short time ago, at the training ground assembly, a small group of us were made aware of Juniper’s … uh … ability … with regards to …” he trailed off, trying to find the right balance of words. Finally he landed on, “Her ability to assist in tracking certain things. Based on my observations last evening, I believe everyone in this room is aware of what I speak, but I’m being cryptic on the off-chance I’m incorrect.”
“What did you say?!” Legate Galin snarled to Callie with a hiss. “You swore secrecy.”
Vanis quickly held up his hand, “Sir, Callie said nothing, quite the opposite, in fact. Juniper joined us and regrettably let it slip during casual conversation. This recruit immediately urged her to be silent, but by that point, Juniper had said enough.”
“Who was there?” Thorn snapped, a concerned look on his face.
“Myself and Callie, Bladedancer Recruit Lena, Bladeweaver Recruit Pixyl, and Warlock Recruit Fynisse. The implications as it relates to Dryads were immediately obvious to most everyone, save the young Warlock. Corporal-Major Pixyl immediately exercised her rank and ordered everyone’s silence, including Juniper.”
“Seriously? The Pixie actually gave you all an order?” Galin said, shocked.
“I told you,” Celeste said quietly with a singsong tone, a brief look of smug satisfaction on her face.
“Yes, sir,” Vanis continued, trying to ignore the Major. “Had it occurred to me, I would have given a similar order, but honestly my mind was still recovering from what I had just learned.”
The four officers exchanged hard glances at each other, before Celeste finally asked, “Recruit, where do you see the issue? With your fellow Warlock?”
“No, Major. As it relates to Fynisse, I have every reason to believe she is trustworthy. Her first day of training proved her to be a committed young student of the Warlock arts, and seems genuinely interested in succeeding. I would suggest either the Legate or the Commandant pull her aside simply to remind her again of how secret this information must remain. No need for a harsh directive, just a subtle reminder that you know she knows, and that you trust her to keep confidence. As a formality, probably Lena and Pixyl as well.”
“It’s Juniper. She’s your concern, isn’t she” Galin said with a groan.
Vanis nodded. “Indeed. Based on her statements this afternoon, I don’t believe she fully comprehends what her ability may mean. For that matter, after my brief time spent socializing with her last night, it is apparent she knows little of the world outside her forest domain, save what she’s learned from observing the camp. She needs to be educated about the world, and quickly.”
Galin glanced at Callie, nodding his chin towards her. “She made the same suggestion last night. We didn’t have time to do anything like that today. Juniper needed most of the day in her tree, and only had a brief period when she returned before getting her Symbiote, so she went to the end-of-day assembly.”
“Regrettably, that brief time was all she needed,” Vanis said.
There was a light knock on the door, and Master Healer Tasi slipped in. “Apologies for my delay. Juniper apparently forgot to do something at her tree, so we got a late start.”
“How is she?” Xera asked.
“She’s tranced. The joining was uneventful.” Tasi shrugged. “Assuming no issues, she should be awake in a little under an hour. I’d like to be there when she wakes if we finish here in time.”
“No other concerns, then?"
“Only that we need to keep her isolated from everyone for a while,” Tasi said, with a slightly exasperated chuckle.
“Why?”
“She is … too chatty,” Tasi said, warily eyeing Vanis. ““I was able to interrupt her before she said too much, but I don’t want to say more.”
“Don’t worry, he knows,” Galin said with a sigh, vaguely gesturing to the Warlock.
“He does? How?” Tasi said with a surprise as she turned a glare on Callie.
“Not me!” Callie said defensively, raising her hands.
“Juniper apparently let it slip to a few of the recruits,” Xera said. “It seems likely the information was contained, however.”
“Oh,” Tasi said, relief showing on her face. “Then you should all know that when Juniper returned from her tree this afternoon, she brought three Symbiotes with her as a way to say thank you.”
Callie and Vanis already knew this from Juniper’s earlier comments, but the other four officers were all quite shocked.
“When she was delayed further, she came back with a fourth to apologize,” Tasi added with a chuckle, sweetening the information.
“Amazing,” Galin gasped.
“My curiosity got the best of me,” Tasi said with a laugh, “and I had to have them Scryed. Two Scholars, a Warrior and a Duelist. We also managed to catch the one in that tree she mentioned last night. It was for a Wizard.”
Galin and Thorn both fell back in their chairs. “This might work,” Galin whispered loudly. “It just might actually work.”
“Still, we need to keep her away from people, at least until she understands she can’t talk about this,” Tasi said, returning to her earlier warning.
“Yes, we know,” Galin said with a sigh. “Callie said the same thing last night, and Vanis just before you arrived. Once her reveals are finished tomorrow, I think her afternoon needs to be a crash course on reality. I’ll make sure to find some time, maybe we can all trade off and take a turn?”
“It would be best if she was in training as soon as possible,” Thorn interjected. “All of the foundation elements are in those first days.”
“Let’s see how tomorrow goes,” Xera said. “Assuming she understands what she needs to know about keeping quiet as to her capabilities, she should be able to join the next day, only missing two days of training.”
A general grunting of approval went around the table as the plan was agreed to.
“Now, to the matter at hand,” Xera said, shuffling in their seat and refocusing on Vanis. “What is it we need to discuss?”
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