“Good. Again!”

Rosalie pointed her staff at the three targets in front of her. She focused on the red dot marking the center of each of them and charged up her staff. Three bolts of red light shot from her staff in rapid succession, each changing their trajectory mid-air to hit one of the targets. One by one, each bolt hit a target directly in the center.

“Good. Again, this time focus all three onto the center target.”

She charged her shot and fired her barrage, each of the three bolts hitting the center target directly on the bullseye. Captain Jacob Smith, Edward’s second in command, had been training her since their arrival at the military fort three days prior. It was lucky, Rosalie thought, that the soldiers had already cleaned up the mess she had left at the fort before she got there.

I don’t know if I could’ve kept calm if I saw them… I hate thinking about that day.

“Good. Again, this time with more power,” said Jacob from the side of the target range. “Don’t worry about breaking it, we have tons of these things.”

She charged her shots and fired again, leaving a hole clear through the center and causing the target to topple over.

“Good. Let’s take a break and meet back here in half an hour for some sparring. Edward wanted to see you at the quartermaster’s.”

“Yes, sir,” Rosalie said with a nod. Jacob was a very straightforward man, and not much for idle chatter. Rosalie respected his quietness, but much preferred the friendly talks she often had with Edward.

The military fort was a bustling hub of activity, full of soldiers and civilians alike. It was laid out like a miniature castle, with a large multi-level building connected to a large courtyard surrounded by tall stone walls and towers. The bandits who used to live there appeared to not have cared much about the state of disrepair the fort was in. Walls had crumbled, rooms had caved in, and whole towers had toppled over. In order to get the fort operational by the king’s time limit, Edward had hired many civilian construction workers to assist with repairs.

Inside the main structure of the fort, Rosalie made her way to the quartermaster’s room. It was longer than it was wide with a counter near the front. Behind the counter stood Erica, the quartermaster, and behind her was a maze of shelves, crates, and barrels full of provisions. In front of the counter stood Edward, auditing Erica’s inventory. He perked up when he saw Rosalie enter.

“Rose, good to see you! How’s training with Jacob?”

“Hard,” she sighed. “But it’s honestly kind of fun.”

“Yeah, Jacob’s tough but really effective. He’s the one who taught me to use my sword.” He patted the pommel of the sword sheathed at his hip. “You’ve met Erica, right?”

Rosalie nodded and waved at the quartermaster. Erica was tall and well muscled, looking more like a fighter than most of the soldiers outside. Yet, she stayed behind her counter most days and did her paperwork.

Erica nodded at Rosalie, not returning her wave.

“Good,” said Edward, clapping his hands together. “Well, we finally got your uniform shipped in from the capital.”

Rosalie nearly jumped for joy. She had been stuck with wearing a set of normal soldier’s armor, but for whatever reason she found it harder to use the staff with it on. Something about wearing metal armor seemed to limit the staff’s effectiveness. Edward had called in a special order to the capital to get her a lighter padded uniform.

Erica slid a package across the counter and gestured towards a curtain in the far corner of the room. “Try it on, now’s your only chance to request alterations.”

Rosalie moved behind the curtain and unwrapped the package. She struggled to take off the bulky armor she had been wearing but soon got it off, replacing it with a dark purple gambeson. The padding woven into the tunic was light but sturdy enough to let her take a few slashes and blows. Unlike a typical gambeson, it transitioned into a skirt that hung above her knee. The package also contained black padded greaves, knee high boots the same color as the gambeson, and a lighter purple cloak.

She emerged from behind the curtain and flourished her cloak dramatically. “What do you think?”

“Looking good!” Edward gave her two thumbs up. “How’s it feeling, do you have good mobility?”

Rosalie did a few stretches and paced back and forth a few times. “Yeah, it feels great! It fits well, too. You really took me seriously when I said I liked purple.”

“Well, yeah! You’re the first person to have a new title in a long time. The armorer was excited to finally make something new and pulled out all the stops.”

Erica, who had retreated into the maze of shelves, poked her head out. “He wouldn’t stop talking about it for days.”

“Well it’s lovely,” Rosalie said, twirling around to make her skirt spin. “Send him my compliments.”

Edward smiled, “I’ll let him know.”

A soldier entered the room hurriedly. “Apologies, sir. Arcanist Hawthorn is to report to Captain Smith in the courtyard.”

“Ah, shit,” Rosalie swore. “I’m late. Thanks for the outfit! Bye Edward, bye Erica.” She ran out of the room.

“Wait,” called Erica, “you need to sign for the uniform!” She paused for a moment, but Rosalie had already disappeared out of sight. “And she’s gone.”

“I’ll take care of it,” laughed Edward.

Rosalie stood and wiped the sweat from her brow. Fifty push-ups was more than she’d ever done before leaving her home, but with the amount of times she’d been tardy to training with Jacob, she’d had to do it a lot. She picked up her staff and walked into the sparring arena.

“Ready?” Jacob asked as he drew his sword and shield.

Rosalie slammed the butt of her staff into the ground, causing a half-meter long blade made of pure red light to emerge from the gem on her staff. Small spikes jutted out from the base of the blade on either side, resulting in a weapon similar to a billhook. She spun the staff in a flourish and settled into a combat stance. “Ready.”

Jacob lunged with his sword but Rosalie caught it in the nook between her blade and its spike. She twisted her staff, trying to force the sword from his hand. He resisted and bashed his shield into her staff, separating the two of them.

Rosalie thrusted her staff-turned-spear towards Jacob’s hip but he sidestepped. He transitioned from a dodge into an attack as he spun around and swung at her back. She turned and caught his blade with the shaft of her staff and kicked him in the chest to send him backwards.

“Try not to block with the wooden shaft or with the gem. I’m sure they’re sturdy but in the heat of battle you don’t want to find out how much force they can take before breaking.”

Rosalie nodded and adjusted her stance so that her blade protected her more than the rest of the staff. Jacob nodded in approval at her change. She wondered if the staff was able to conjure a shield like it can a blade.

“Take a swing at me,” she said. “I want to try something.”

Jacob stared at her blankly, but obliged. As his sword descended towards her, she raised her staff and channeled her energy into the gem. In her mind she envisioned a shield emerging from the tip. As the sword reached the middle of its arc, a bubble of transparent red light appeared in front of her, stopping the blade completely and sending Jacob back several steps.

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Jacob paused and curiously poked his blade into the shield. It pushed back on the sword with much more force than he had pressed on it with. He smiled and nodded approvingly at Rosalie’s discovery.

The two combatants settled back into their stances, each eagerly awaiting the other to make a move. Rosalie was the first to act, feinting towards Jacob’s right but thrusting to his left. Jacob caught the deception and met her blade with his shield. He swung a retaliatory blow that barely scraped her shoulder.

Rosalie thrusted towards Jacob’s center, baiting him into a counterattack. He parried with his shield, creating an opening that he thrust his sword into. This, however, was what Rosalie wanted him to do. She summoned the glowing red shield and blocked his attack, the force of the blow causing his sword to be thrown back. She quickly exploited the opening, hitting his hand with the butt of the staff and making him drop the sword. She stepped her foot on the fallen blade and pointed hers at Jacob’s throat. She had won.

Or so she thought. Jacob knocked her staff away with his shield and reached for his sword’s hilt. He rotated the sword from under Rosalie’s foot, causing her to lose her balance and fall to the ground. Jacob rose and pointed the tip of his sword at her throat.

Jacob sheathed his sword and held out a hand to Rosalie. With a shaky breath, she took his hand and was pulled to her feet.

“Good fight,” he said firmly.

Rosalie chuckled tiredly. That was exhilarating.

She could see that their spar had gathered an audience of soldiers, all cheering and clapping. Some of them had apparently even taken bets on the outcome. Rosalie smiled and took a bow. She had never expected she’d end up here, but it was growing on her.

----------------------------------------

Edward sat by the large campfire in the middle of the courtyard roasting a sausage on a spit. The sun had dropped below the cover of the mountain and the air had turned chilly. There were a few others gathered around the fire as well, though most were either on duty or had retired to their quarters.

The few days since arriving at the fort had been tiring and dull for Edward. As the outpost’s commander, he was responsible for all the paperwork and logistics required for its smooth operation. The few hours between the end of his shift and lights out were the only time he’d had to himself.

Edward could overhear one of the soldiers still on duty say, “Ah! Arcanist Hawthorne, good evening. The perimeter is clear and there is nothing to report.”

Rosalie’s still up, huh? I hope she’s settling in nicely.

“Arcanist Hawthorne?” The soldier asked. “Is everything ok?”

Edward frowned and looked up from the fire. The soldier was standing at the front gates next to Rosalie who was stock-still. When Rosalie didn’t respond, the soldier glanced over to Edward, confused.

Edward leaned over to a person sitting near him and handed him the stick he had been cooking the sausage on. “Don’t let this burn, ok?”

He got up and jogged over to Rosalie and the soldier. He remembered the soldier’s name was Arthur, a younger man from an old military family. He was looking worriedly at Rosalie, who was pale and sweating. She was in her new uniform but didn’t have her staff with her.

“Rosalie?” Edward asked, stepping in front of her. She made no indication that she noticed him there. He waved his hand in front of her face, but she had no reaction. “Rose?”

After a long moment, Rosalie’s eyes flicked to Edward and lingered on him, her expression blank. She looked at Arthur, then the courtyard, then the campfire, and finally down at her hands. As she stared at her hands, her breaths became short and quick. A tear formed in her eye which opened the floodgates for a waterfall of silent tears to fall down her face. She tried wiping her hands together, slowly at first but then frantically.

“Rosalie, hey, look at me,” Edward pleaded, but she didn’t seem to notice him. “Arthur, can you get us some water and a blanket? Quickly please.”

Arthur nodded and quickly moved with no questions asked. Most of the soldiers at the fort have been in the military long enough to have seen something like this before, and they all knew it was nothing to be taken lightly.

Edward opened one of the large wooden doors and ushered Rosalie outside with him. She had no reaction to being moved, but didn’t resist. He got her to sit down with her back to the fort’s outer wall, and he sat across from her. She was still gushing tears and rubbing at her hands. Her mouth was open like she wanted to sob, but no noise came out aside from gasps for air.

Arthur returned with a waterskin and a wool blanket.

“Thank you, Arthur,” Edward said. Arthur nodded sadly and went back inside the fort, leaving the door open slightly. Edward draped the blanket over Rosalie, purposefully blocking her from seeing her hands.

“Rose? Can you hear me?” Edward held the waterskin to her mouth. “Can you drink some water?”

Rosalie recoiled slightly from the waterskin, so Edward pulled it away. He poured a small amount of water into his hand and pressed it to Rosalie’s forehead, causing her to gasp and look up at him.

“Hey,” he said softly. “Can you hear me?”

Rosalie’s breathing calmed slightly as she frowned and looked around, confused. “Where… am I?” The words seemed to get stuck in her throat, making her have to force them out.

“We’re just outside the fort.” Edward held the waterskin back up. “Do you think you could drink some water?” She nodded slowly, and Edward helped her drink. “What’s going on?”

Rosalie looked at him sadly and took a hand out from underneath her blanket to wipe tears from her face. Once her hand was uncovered she stared down at it in shock and she began to breathe quickly again. She pulled her other hand out to rub the first, but Edward gently caught it. He poured some water into his own hand and moved to clean her hands with it, despite there being nothing on them.

“Can you look at me, please,” he asked while cleaning her hands. Her gaze lingered on her hands for a moment longer, but eventually turned to him. “You’re safe, I promise. We’re all safe. Let’s take some deep breaths, ok?”

Edward took deep and exaggerated breaths until Rosalie started to follow along. Soon her breathing calmed to a steady pace, and Edward released her hands.

“There,” he said softly, “all clean.”

Rosalie looked down at her hands and sighed deeply. Edward’s “cleaning” apparently worked to get the visions of blood out of her head.

“Were you patrolling again?”

Rosalie nodded feebly as she hugged her knees and rested her head on her arms. She had started regularly patrolling the fort since they had arrived, but it was more like she was sleepwalking. Edward figured it had something to do with her witnessing the Whiteridge massacre, but he didn’t pry.

Edward leaned back and looked up at the stars. “I wish I knew how to help.”

“It was better when we were on the road,” said Rosalie, though she was muffled behind her arms.

“Do you think it’s because you’re somewhat living here for now, and you want to protect your home?”

Rosalie shrugged. “I like it here, I really do, but I don’t want this to keep happening for another four weeks.”

“If it makes you feel any better, four weeks is only the maximum. I think we’ll be done quite a bit sooner at our pace. And then we can leave again.”

Her grip on her legs softened and she raised her head. She looked up and admired the stars with Edward, and they sat in a companionable silence. Edward took a few deep breaths to take in the chilly spring air. It was rare for him to get moments of calmness these days.

“I love the stars,” Rosalie said after a few minutes. “You can see them so well from up here.” Something seemed to catch her eye above them, and she looked quizzically between it and Edward. “I never noticed that the flags we put up have the same symbol as your necklace. Does it mean anything?”

Edward held up the necklace he wore and admired the image of a sparrow etched onto it. “It’s my royal emblem; a symbol unique to me. All men in my family have one. It’s on our flags to show this is my platoon, and someday when I become King all the kingdom’s flags will have this symbol on it.”

“Ohhh, is that why all the flags changed to have a raven on them when your father took over?”

“Mhm,” Edward nodded.

“What’re you going to do when you’re king, anyway?”

Edward sighed. “That depends on how much damage my father does during his reign. There’s a lot I’ll have to fix already and, don’t tell anyone I told you this, he’s planning to do a lot worse.”

Rosalie grimaced and took an uneasy breath, but then smiled. “I think you’ll make a great king. Just like your grandfather was.”

Edward smiled back at her. “Thanks. I miss my grandfather quite a bit. He’s the one who raised me, you know. My mother died before I could know her and my father preferred military duty to anything else.”

Rosalie looked at him sadly. “I’m sorry.”

“Nah, don’t be. I think I turned out better for it. I just hope…” Edward trailed off, staring at the stars. He choked out a forced laugh. “I just hope there’s still a country left when it’s my time to take control. My father, he—“

Edward stopped himself and looked around. He didn’t see anyone that could be listening, but he leaned in and dropped his voice anyway. “My father plans to invade Elordia. Soon, too, I think.”

Rosalie gasped, and Edward quietly shushed her. “That’s awful,” Rosalie whispered. “Is there anything we could do?”

Edward shook his head. “I’ve tried talking him out of it but he wouldn’t hear it. I’ve been hoping that if I’m still on military duty when it happens that I can do what I can to minimize the damage. I just pray that nobody gets hurt.”

“We’ll do what we can,” Rosalie said. “We’re here to protect people, remember? Not just our people, but Elordians too.”

Edward chuckled. “Yeah, you’re right. We’ve got this.”

The two sat outside admiring the stars for a while longer. There was a lot for Edward to think and worry about, but he found his thoughts lingering on his grandfather.

I miss you, grandad. I hope Numinos is treating you well. Things are going to be complicated but I know I can get through it with your teachings.