Chapter 12
Corazon took a deep breath of fresh air as he walked out into the courtyard of the second garrison. He stretched and looked around him at the low stone buildings, their windowless walls illuminated by the torches placed around the open area. The layout was different to his own garrison, and the fort as a whole was smaller. Only two companies were posted here, while his own could easily hold three. The humans over here were quieter and less in number than near his garrison.
Heaving a sigh, he looked west towards the fort that now felt like home to him. The meetings had been long and dull, all tactics and observances, and he longed to return to his quarters and Scarlet.
He hadn’t heard a word from anyone since arriving. Not even Lieutenant Troy had written him back after he’d sent him the letter. The journey to the second garrison had been long, and he had thought a lot about Scarlet and the place that he’d left her in. As strong as she thought she was, there were many men there that were stronger. A beautiful face was a rare thing in a time of war and soldiers could go a long time without seeing one.
She was more beautiful than any he had seen.
He had been sure that Daliel would try something once he was gone, and that fear had pushed him into writing the letter. It was a simple one, signed by himself and countersigned by General Violet. When he had explained his concerns about leaving Daliel in command of the garrison in his absence, she had understood immediately. Of course, he’d been careful not to mention any soldier by name, other than Troy.
General Violet had agreed with him that he should send the letter to Troy, a letter giving him the authority to use any means necessary to protect the members of the seventh company from harm and to ensure their safety. It gave Troy the temporary powers of a captain. With it, he could keep Scarlet safe from Daliel. He only hoped he didn’t have to.
The thought of Daliel laying a finger on her made him want to kill someone, and the thought that he was stuck here, miles from her and unable to protect her, made him want to die.
He had taken the steps to the West Wall before he’d even realised what he was doing and where he was going.
He stared into the distance at the black forest. The sky was starless tonight, but the clouds didn’t threaten snow. The weather was beginning to clear. Before long, Daliel and his company would move on. He would feel more relaxed when that happened. He had never been able to stand Daliel, and he knew that Daliel bore a grudge against him for the time he’d stepped in and saved his life.
Focusing intently, he tried to spot the exact place where the garrison was. It was a good sixty miles from where he stood to it, and there was no way he would be able to see it, but he couldn’t help trying.
Had it really been two weeks since he had kissed her?
Leaving her had been heart breaking after that, but he’d felt compelled to give her a sign of his feelings before he left. The idea of being apart from her had given a victory to his heart and he had surrendered to it completely, no longer caring about the repercussions or his duty as her captain. He had wanted to make sure that she would be fine in his absence and that she knew his intentions towards her. If she knew that he wanted her for himself, then maybe she would be cautious around Daliel and would see herself as spoken for.
“Those look like heavy thoughts to me,” General Violet said.
Corazon didn’t turn to face her. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from the place where he knew the fort stood, and where Scarlet was.
“I needed some air,” he said, explaining his absence from the meeting room.
“Planning attacks can be long and wearisome, especially when you have other things on your mind.”
He frowned but remained composed. “Other things?”
“Captain Daliel running your garrison.”
His frown disappeared and his panic ebbed away into calm. Violet didn’t know what he was really thinking about every moment he was here.
“I sincerely hope he has the common sense not to attempt an attack on the humans,” he said.
Covering his true thoughts by talking of battle plans and strategies was probably the wisest move he could make right now. The general had met Scarlet. She had read the report about Scarlet’s actions that night and had signed the letter that had awarded her the rank of corporal. Violet hadn’t questioned his decision to promote Scarlet, but when she had signed it, she had remarked that Scarlet would make lieutenant before her first year of service if she continued to gain rank at such a pace.
He knew her comment wasn’t an indication that she suspected anything, but it had set him on edge regardless.
“Your First Lieutenant would overrule such an order. He seemed a sensible young man when I met him during my visit.” General Violet came to stand beside him and looked into the distance just as Corazon’s eyes moved to rest on her. “Daliel will be gone soon, and you will be back at your garrison.”
“I hope so,” he said.
“In fact, all of your company seemed rather capable.”
He raised his eyebrows. “I am glad you think so, General Violet.”
“How many times must I ask you to call me Violet?” she said with a teasing smile. “We came through the ranks together, did we not? I’ve known you nigh on two centuries.”
He nodded. “You have, but since you are my superior, I have to show my respect.”
“Superior? Pah. Corazon, you could’ve made general years ago if you’d been posted somewhere that saw more battles. You are the most distinguished captain we have.” She paused, looked a little hesitant, and then stared straight into his eyes. “Why did you turn down the position?”
He hadn’t expected that. The best answer he could think of was silence.
“I see, you still don’t wish to talk about it. I come to the garrison to give you a well overdue promotion, and you turn it down. I have to admit it seemed strange. Lieutenant Troy would have made a capable captain in your stead.” She looked thoughtful. “That girl, the one we promoted... her name eludes me... but she would’ve have made Troy a fine assistant. With her skill and sense, she would be an excellent first lieutenant.”
“Scarlet,” Corazon whispered, more to himself than to her.
She gave him a quizzical look and brushed the golden waves of hair over her shoulder.
“Her name is Scarlet.” He looked straight back at her and the panic returned when her eyes widened a little, making him feel as though something had dawned on her. “She is only a corporal. I would say she has two years before she made second lieutenant.”
“But she made corporal after barely half a year... such a strong headed and determined girl would make first lieutenant in two years. She’ll be second lieutenant within a year. We could bet on it.” She raised her brows, looking hopeful, but he shook his head. He didn’t like to bet on things. They tended to go wrong once there was a wager in place. “But you still never answered my question. Why did you turn down the position of general?”
He stared out into the distance towards his garrison.
Because he would have had to leave her.
The position meant a move to the second garrison to replace General Violet when she went to the third.
A general wasn’t in command of a particular company, but a group of companies. Right now, General Violet was in charge of the seventh company among others. If he had taken the promotion and become a general, he would have been taken away from Scarlet.
“I have no desire to be a general. I prefer a more hands on approach.”
“I see,” she said.
Corazon wondered if he would have taken the position if they had offered him the general’s position that Violet held. He could have remained at his garrison and near Scarlet. But then he wouldn’t have seen her as much.
Nine months ago, he had become aware that they intended to offer him the position of general. Back then, he had wanted it more than anything and had strove to achieve it. Back then, Scarlet hadn’t been in his life.
The moment he had seen her laying on the floor in the woods, poisoned and under attack, he had changed his mind.
She had changed his mind.
When he had saved her that day, when he had bandaged her arm and taken a long look at her face, he had known that he could never leave her side.
Which meant he could never become a general.
At least not until she became a captain.
“I don’t think you’re listening to me,” General Violet said, her voice snapping him out of his thoughts. “You were like this back at the celebration at your garrison too. Where is it you drift away to, Corazon?”
He said nothing.
She smiled again. “Where did you disappear to that night?”
“Disappear to?” he said, as casual as he could manage. “I didn’t disappear. I went to change into a lighter coat but got distracted.”
“Distracted? And who was this distraction?”
He frowned at her. “It wasn’t a who—”
“Don’t be so shy, Corazon. When you didn’t return, a wager was set amongst the captains present and myself. Daliel wagered it was a girl. I wagered it was work. So which was it? Do I win, or has Daliel won?”
Corazon was stunned that they had placed a wager on what he had been doing that night. He was even more stunned that Daliel had guessed right.
“It was both,” he said. “I went to my office to do some work and change my coat. On my way there, I met Corporal Scarlet. She spoke to me a while and then retired to her room complaining that the snow had made her tired. I felt tired too, and chose to retire also. So, there, it was both, although not a girl as Daliel intended it.”
“I knew I’d win... but in a way, I wish I had lost.”
“Why?”
“Because your young corporal clearly has feelings for you.”
Corazon forced a laugh, his chest tight. “Really? I hadn’t noticed. I believe she respects and admires me—”
“Admires isn’t a strong enough word for how that young one feels. She’s smitten. And what girl in their right mind wouldn’t be. The only trouble is, those girls don’t stand a chance, do they? All those ones that watch you walking around the fort each night, dreaming of being in your arms. You don’t see them do you?”
He didn’t know what to say to that. The feeling of panic inside him trebled.
“You only see her.”
Those words hung in the air between them, tangible and solid, immovable as though he could reach out and take hold of them. He stared at General Violet. Was she guessing now?
“Come, Corazon, I’ve known you long enough to see when you change and these two hundred years you’ve always been the same... until recently. I’ve never seen you so distracted and unlike your normal self.” She gave him a knowing smile. “It is nothing to be ashamed of. I was like you once, a captain fallen for one of their subordinates.”
“Daliel?” he said, curious now.
She nodded and then sighed and stared out westwards. “He joined the twenty-first company forty-seven years ago. He wasn’t a good soldier, and he tried my patience on many an occasion, but he worked hard to achieve each rank. By the time he’d made second lieutenant, he was a capable man and reliable soldier... and then we were posted to the third garrison.”
Her expression shifted, a hint of sadness entering it.
“I lost my first lieutenant and half my company in one battle. Daliel was badly injured and the medics believed he would die. The panic of losing him made me realise my feelings for him. He recovered and became my first lieutenant. We spent much time together, so much that his feelings for me became obvious. My reliable soldier became an attentive lover. And I honestly believe that he did love me, and a part of me hopes that he still does somewhere inside of him.”
“What happened?” Corazon said, watching her closely and trying to figure it out for himself. He hadn’t seen any hint of remaining love between them at the celebration. There had only been bitterness on both sides.
“We kept it a secret.”
She said nothing more, as though nothing more needed to be said. He thought about it, about how it would feel to have to sneak around in order to see Scarlet and how the constant worry of discovery would take its toll on them. Aradne and Milton loved each other, were mad about each other, and had not bothered to really hide it from the rest of the garrison. He’d caught them kissing on plenty of occasions and they had never looked guilty.
He’d kissed Scarlet, but it had been a stolen secret kiss that he’d not wanted anyone to see.
What kind of relationship could come of such a kiss?
“Why are you telling me this?”
She sighed again. “Because you didn’t take the position of general.”
“I don’t understand.” He frowned at her.
“When you turned it down I was disappointed and confused. It left me wondering why you wanted to remain a captain. Then Scarlet came in to attend the investigation into her actions when you’d taken her place on the East Wall. You protected her. She admitted responsibility for your leg wound and you denied it because you knew she would have to face a trial or be discharged for such an action.” Violet turned to face him. “I looked at her and then at you, and I knew that you loved each other, and that you were fighting it.”
His gaze lowered to the courtyard, avoiding her searching eyes.
“Don’t make the mistake I did. Daliel wasn’t always as he is now. When I couldn’t take hiding in the shadows any more, when it began tearing us apart, I accepted the position of general. I left him, Corazon. I gave him my captaincy and I distanced myself without any explanation to him.” She sighed and he felt the pain in it. “I still love him... and every night I think about how different things could have been and how I’ve turned him into a monster.”
“A monster?” He looked at her and was surprised to see the tears in her eyes.
“He never used to chase women, seeing them as a game to be won or a conquest. I made him like that. When I left, something changed in him, and it wasn’t long before the reports of his disreputable behaviour began coming in. I couldn’t bring myself to make him attend a meeting with me. I couldn’t face him after what I’d done. The years rolled on and I think he lost every shred of love he once had for me, and when we met again, there was nothing but cold indifference between us.” A tear slipped onto her cheek. “Whatever you do, don’t make the same mistake I did. A captain can love. There is no law against it. Have an open relationship with her and stay away from the shadows. Protect her with all your heart.”
He reached out to stop her when she began to walk away, but stopped himself. It was best to let her go. Confessing something so private to him, something that was still a secret and hidden from most, must have hurt her.
She paused on the steps.
“Corazon,” she said in a quiet voice and looked back at him. “He knows about Scarlet. He wrote me to report it. I never answered. He’s hated you for years, since he became a soldier and you were always the model example of a good captain. I fear he might...”
Corazon’s head snapped around to face his garrison.
“Scarlet?” he whispered and shook his head at the idea of Daliel touching her, wanting her because he knew how much it would hurt him to take her away. “No.”
Running down the steps past Violet, Corazon grabbed the nearest fresh and saddled horse and pulled himself up onto it.
“Corazon, no, it’s not safe! You can’t travel that distance alone! It’s suicide!” General Violet shouted down at him but he ignored her warning.
He geed on his horse, bolting for the gates as they struggled to open in time.
Riding out into the night, he didn’t care about his own safety. He could only think of Scarlet’s.
He couldn’t let anything happen to her.
He had to protect her.
Leave a Comment