Thepa set down her quill when a knock at the door pulled her out of her thoughts.

"Come in," she said sitting up in her chair. As the door opened, she fixed her green beret signifying her rank while pulling down her jacket. For as long as she could remember, she was always fixing her appearance. The action became second nature to her. As the daughter of the Matriarch, people were always looking at her.

"Morning, Captain," came the cheerful voice of her newest lieutenant, Aldermoon. Aldermoon, like many in Goldale, was a Youngling of the Stars. Her black hair was pulled back into a neat bun, and her brown eyes, though bright with enthusiasm, held a touch of timidity as they met Thepa's gaze. Thepa had taken a particular liking to her, appointing her to the position of lieutenant personally. Though she thought the woman well qualified for the job, there were moments when the half-elf could be starstruck, especially in her presence.

"Morning Lieutenant. What do you have for me today?"

The Lieutenant reached into her bag and pulled out a few letters; the top one bearing the Archduke's seal. "Mail call and the morning report."

"Alright," she said, taking the letters. "Break it down for me."

"Two out of formation this morning," Aldermoon said reading from a list. "One reported sick, one missing in action. Comrades report seeing him drinking the night before."

"Most likely in a ditch or in an inn then. When he turns up, put him on fire watch for the next week."

"Right," Aldermoon continued. "Night watch reports no activities, other than the normal array of drunks straying off the main path."

"Hmm. Perhaps we should start giving out maps...or better yet recruitment forms if they're so eager to find placement among the ranks."

Aldermoon smiled, joining Thepa in her revelry. A few completions ago, Thepa wouldn't have dared to make such a comment. At the moment she didn't know if she should be thankful or mortified Rory had brought this part of her to the foreground.

"As long as you assign them to other lieutenants, I'm all ears."

"Like Rhihorn?" Thepa mused. Rhihorn was the most senior of her lieutenants and, unfortunately, her least favorite. It wasn't that he was bad at his job—he just got on her nerves. A part of her, albeit a small part, felt sorry for the elf; the position of Captain should have been his, if she hadn't come along. But Rhihorn didn't make it easy on himself. He was about as popular as an orc raiding party at a farmhouse, and it was no secret that even his own command disliked him.

"Well, I wouldn't be that mean...but speaking of Lieutenant Rhihorn..."

Thepa rolled her eyes almost spitting contempt. "Esha, what did he do now?"

"Maybe nothing," Aldermoon squirmed uneasily. "As far as I can tell, it's a case of he said, she said. But you know... Rhihorn."

Thepa could feel tension in the air shifting. One of the things she liked about Aldermoon was her straightforwardness. The fact the woman before her shifted uneasily in her feet made her a little nervous.

"Do you know a Sergeant Lura under Lieutenant Theodre's command?" Aldermoon asked.

"Sure, I do. Excellent soldier. Wish I had fifty more like her."

"I agree, though you should have seen her five completions ago. Everyone was so sure she'd wash out of training. Anyway, Lieutenant Theodre came up to me the end of his shift asking my opinion on how to handle a situation. It seems Sergeant Lura came to him with a report of harassment against Rhihorn."

"What kind of report?" Thepa asked. Already she feared the worst. It was a dagger to the gut when Aldermoon all but confirmed it.

"I think you know."

For the second time Thepa sighed considering her options. None of them seemed good. She couldn't exactly punish an officer without evidence and if they were talking about it like this, she doubted there were witnesses to the event. "What's Theodre saying?"

Aldermoon hesitated before speaking, a flicker of frustration crossing her face. "May I speak freely, Captain?"

"You're always welcome to here, Rayas." She answered using her given name for added weight.

Aldermoon's voice trembled slightly with restrained anger. "I believe Lieutenant Theodre is just covering his hide. He's doing enough due diligence to investigate what happened, but deep down he's siding with Lieutenant Rhihorn. They're too chummy for him to stay objective. It's a boy's club, Captain, and people like Sergeant Lura get tossed to the side. It's infuriating"

Thepa had never heard the expression boy's club. Its meaning was as foreign to her as men were to the Beachwick. "Boy's club?" She asked in embarrassment.

The remark caught Aldermoon off guard, her frustration dissipating in a wry smile. "I sometimes forget you're not from around here. Must be nice growing up in an all-female society."

Thepa nodded, not sure where this was going. "It has its perks."

"No doubt..." Aldermoon trailed before finding her footing. "It means they are excluding women for not being men. Why do you think I'm only the second female lieutenant in Goldale history?"

"Lieutenant Kilyn was the first?" Thepa asked, genuinely surprised. She had always understood why there were no male leaders in the Beachwick, but she had assumed other nations had roughly equal male and female leadership. Even in Wildehaven, the four guild leaders were evenly split between two males and two females.

Aldermoon nodded. "It's one of the reasons the captain position was open. When Lieutenant Kilyn was promoted, it ruffled a lot of feathers among the other lieutenants. I wasn't there to witness it, but from what I've heard from Lieutenant Kilyn, they pushed Captain Kale into early retirement, expecting the next in line to step into the role. No one anticipated the Archduke would replace the captain with you, ma'am. Respectfully."

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"No need to worry about my ignorance, Rayas. I appreciate your candor." Thepa responded standing up and stretching. One of the things she was sure she would not get used to was all the sitting her new position required. Life in the Beachwick kept her active. "Why don't you ask Lieutenant Theodre to relinquish command of Sergeant Lura to you?"

"It would be rude," Aldermoon said, standing to match her.

"In my culture, manners are considered the highest order. They are the rules by which the Sisterhood lives by. I know rude. Something tells me if it is as you say, Theodore would appreciate, or welcome the chance to lose a problem, not that Sergeant Lura is one."

"Understood."

"If there's nothing else, I think I'm going to go for a run," she said making for the door before pausing in Aldermoon's presence. "Word around the barracks is you have the fastest time around the wall."

Aldermoon smiled modestly, another thing she liked about the woman. "Well, for the elvan and female category. A number of the males and Galaks have faster times."

"Think you could give me a run for my gold?" Thepa asked, her tone hopeful.

"That depends. Think your short cloven hooves could keep up with me?"

Thepa's eyebrows shot up in shock. The woman was full of surprises. "Rayas!"

Aldermoon shrugged, grinning mischievously. "You did say I could speak freely...Thepa."

Thepa laughed, hanging her military coat on the door and grabbed her training clothes. "Remind me to introduce you to the High Priestess of Chandeidra sometime. I have a feeling you two would be fast friends." She opened the door for Aldermoon before agreeing meet on the wall in thirty minutes.

Thepa went down the hall to the changing rooms and changed. With care, she folded her own military garb then put them in a slot specifically outlined for her. When she was done, she threw her hair into a ponytail, checked her appearance, and went outside to greet the city for the first time that day.

Goldale was a marvel of a city. Centuries before Thepa had even opened her eyes, Goldale was established through the most significant engineering feat in the history of Sainta. To truly understand Goldale, one must grasp the essence of Sainta itself. The eastern hemisphere of Sainta consists of two large landmasses, the East and West Continents, separated by a mere 250 meters of water at their closest points. Initially, the city was divided into two separate nations—Goldale East and Goldale West—each governed by its own monarchy. However, when the son of the East married the daughter of the West, a new city emerged in the strait between them.

As time went on, the city expanded, eventually spanning the entire strait with a base measuring three hundred meters in diameter. While this might not seem extraordinary at first glance, what truly set Goldale apart in Thepa's eyes were the immense fifty-foot walls and the towering spire that connected the four levels of the city.

And yet, as beautiful as the city was, it broke Thepa's heart. The spire, a tower of hope in the war against the beasts, was also a stark symbol of oppression, a corrupted beacon of class and submission. At its summit, the Archduke and dignitaries enjoyed their privileged positions, while below, the city's structure mirrored its social divide. Before Thepa made Goldale her home, she and her mother had once stayed in the opulent halls of the Beachwick Embassy on the fourth level. The luxury there was unparalleled, even compared to what passed as grandeur in the Beachwick, with teams of servants attending to their every whim.

Just below, on the third level, nobles and military officials lived in comfort, draped in fine silks and cashmeres. The contrast was glaring when compared to the lower levels. On the second level, many enjoyed a modest prosperity, owning small homes and living relatively well. But for those on the first level, life was a grim reality of poverty, disease, and often, indentured servitude.

The first time Thepa visited the lower level, her spirit was crushed. Beggars swarmed her, their desperate pleas and outstretched hands a painful sight. That day, and many days afterward, she handed out every coin she had, but it felt like a futile gesture—one she made to soothe her own conscience. Without meaningful reforms, the gold merely offered temporary relief, quickly consumed and just as swiftly forgotten. She hoped her position as captain might persuade the nobles to show more compassion toward their constituents. Yet, the nobles remained as resistant to change as ever, their indifference as entrenched as the city's social divide.

For all the good Thepa did, it was quickly replaced by many rounds of bad. Still, she figured she was due for another trip down. At the very least, her presence in the lower levels might deter any would be thieves. Instead, she made her way to the gate to find Aldermoon already waiting, stretching to the leering gaze of some of the soldiers on patrol. Annoyed by their peepery, Thepa gave a small cough to get their attention.

"Captain on deck," she announced with a firm, clear voice.

The soldiers sprang into attention as Thepa approached, Aldermoon turning to face her. Thepa quickly moved to line up beside her, getting into her stance. She bent low, her fingers grazing the ground, and waited for Aldermoon to do the same.

"Don't you need to stretch Captain?" Aldermoon asked.

"Once you're in my dust, I'll take a breather," Thepa teased with a playful grin. "It'll give you a chance to catch up. Count us down, Private."

"Yes, ma'am," came the curt reply from one of the leering soldiers. He waited until Aldermoon was ready, then started the countdown. "Five, four, three, two, one, go!"

Thepa took off with a burst of speed, her hooves clacking rhythmically along the path. She quickly established a strong lead but then settled into a comfortable stride, aware that completing a lap of the city would take more than an hour. A strong breeze at her back, carried in by the ocean current, provided a welcome assist. Ahead, she spotted a group of seagulls circling above what she guessed was the third-floor market, eagerly eyeing the catch of the day.

It was moments like these Thepa really missed home. She didn't miss Zelphina, but she missed the wind in the trees. She didn't miss the matriarchy, but she missed the lull of the ocean current. For the second time that day, her thoughts drifted towards her mother compelling her to send the letter. In the cloudiness of her thoughts, Aldermoon took the lead.

"Guess we'll see who's eating dust now," Aldermoon said as she passed, her voice carrying the challenge between the two of them. Thepa tried to keep up, but Aldermoon's longer legs gave her a clear advantage. About halfway across the city, Thepa began her return loop, making the run even more grueling. The wind, which had earlier aided her, now resisted with equal force, widening the gap between her and Aldermoon.

Her lungs burned, and sore hooves along with an aching back almost drove Thepa to quit. Yet, her determination held firm. With single-minded focus, she let her thoughts clear, concentrating on the sight of Aldermoon's bouncing braid. As she zeroed in on that simple visual cue, everything shifted.

A tingle began at her horns and traveled down her spine, deep into her hooves, as if a door had been flung open before her, expanding her senses. Adrenaline pumped through Thepa's heart, surged across her lungs, and coursed through her body. Light fractured erratically before her eyes, creating a kaleidoscope of colors. Scents, both pleasant and repugnant, filled her nostrils—freshly baked bread mingled with the sharp tang of sea salt, while the distant aroma of sweat and city refuse made her want to vomit. Thepa looked down at her body to see what was going on.

She was on fire.

Oddly, she wasn't afraid. In a matter of moments, she surged past Aldermoon, who watched her with wide-eyed shock and slowed to a walk. As she rounded the final stretch, she didn't need to check with the guards—whose astonished gazes mirrored Aldermoon's own disbelief. Judging by the position of the sun, she had not only beaten the hour but set a new course record.

By the time Aldermoon caught up, covered in sweat, the adrenaline in Thepa had begun to settle. Thepa opened her mouth to say something but found she didn't quite have the words. Fortunately, she didn't have to. Aldermoon, breathless, beat her to it.

"What was that?"

Thepa shook her head, unable to articulate the experience. "I... I don't know," she admitted.