The Empress and the Captain

Five

Two months became three, then five, and by the sixth Erilia began to wonder if she would ever find her way back home, feel the cool sun of Rynn on her back as she gathered Fare into her arms and vowed, no matter what duty asked of her, to never leave her side again.

Wiping mud from her face, she marched back along the line of her troops, sent to aid Seruc in their sea troubles, as much a sign of good will as an agreement that the two kingdoms would remain at peace, despite the tensions Fare had been trying to put to rest for months already. Erilia knew she was part of the deal, although Fare made no comment before or after the many meetings leading up to the agreement, never letting her know the weight her choice carried.

Erilia had seen, though, even if no one overtly told her. It was in the eye of the governors who quietly began to attend her training sessions, watching her drilling the guards from afar, selecting her as the one to return with them and guide troops into a fight they had never been trained for, as Rynn was a country with no sea to battle upon. And even if Fare wouldn't say it, Erilia knew her presence would be enough to send the governors away, their endless talks and the pressure they were placing on Fare finally at an end, if only she agreed to join them for a few months.

Six months.

Seruc was strange, familiar enough in its landscape to Rynn but completely different when it came to the heat and humidity. Erilia had not sweat so much in her entire life, nor known it was possible to be daily bested by water, the rough waves knocking her down far less than her fellows but still leaving an ample amount of saltwater up her nose.

The stars shone with a different intensity, too, and that was the thing she struggled with the most. Sitting in the warm grass each night, looking up into the heavens, it didn't matter how right her decision had been, or how she hadn't even had a choice, not when she knew what would be best for the kingdom. With letters taking weeks to arrive and her heart in another country, she felt adrift for the first time in her life, directionless despite the work that filled her every day.

'No.'

The governor that had been her link since arriving, a woman named Valin, looked up sharply, a narrow brow quirked. 'Excuse me, Captain?'

Erilia stood erect, gesturing just once to the troops who stood in perfect formation, not a button out of order, not the same people she had arrived with six months earlier. 'I will not be extending my stay another month, Ma'am. Respectfully.'

'Respectfully, Captain, your work is incomplete.'

'Enlighten me.'

Valin blustered, shifting through pages of paper, and Erilia waited. And waited. And waited.

'My troops are trained,' she finally relented, mostly to put the guard directly behind her, Qilla Asni, out of pain. 'They know your land, they know your sea. Qilla is my match and more, and will be taking over as Captain. There is nothing more for me to do here.'

'We still need you! Seruc is in more danger than ever, the threats to our land in your time here alone should be some-'

'I never came here to stay, Councillor, nor to protect your border myself. I will be leaving tomorrow.'

'No.' Valin crossed her arms, the picture of petulance, although she didn't seem to see it. 'Not tomorrow. Another week, at least, and then we will organise transport for you- accompany you ourselves to Rynn.'

'I do not need accompaniment.' Erilia mirrored her pose, muscles tight against the training shirt she wore. 'And I do not need another week.' She turned, a roll of her eyes all the dismissal she gave the line of troops still standing at attention, walking towards her cabin with Qilla in tow, the young Captain speaking fast and running to keep up with Erilia's long strides.

'There's a carriage due to pass at dawn, I've organised passage for you under two names, just in case they decided to bar you. I'll continue training as you preceded, Captain, but if I have your leave I might split the corps into-'

'You don't need my leave, Quilla. You're Captain.' Erilia smiled, glancing down at the startled expression of the small woman. 'I believe in you.'

'Sir!' Her eyes filled with tears and she clasped a hand to her chest, nodding briskly. 'Thank you, sir.'

'Go on, then. Tell me your plans.' She made short work of getting them both a drink, laying them on the steps of the cabin and listening as Quilla spoke of her vision, extending the troops sea training and creating specified land and sea guards, with a rotating training roster to ensure competency in both fields, while also specialist training at the boarders.

Quilla knew her work and the troops trusted her leadership, a fact Erilia had made sure of; she herself had always stood out, her height making her a target, while Quilla was the opposite, the smallest and most petite of any soldier Erilia had trained, let alone the troops sent to Seruc. And while she knew the girl had faced difficulties in the past, the team here was good, dedicated, and they knew just how strong Quilla was- and exactly how she would react to the slightest disloyalty, not that either of them doubted these soldiers.

'How long do you think it will be? I know we're scheduled to remain here for another three years, but with the raids we've already seen...'

'You think it will be longer?'

'Unless things improve, I don't see how it couldn't be.' Quila closed her eyes and inhaled the warm, salty air. 'Seruc is wealthy, but it's unprotected. Too long its royalty and governors have relied on pillaging happening only outside the capital, but that only makes its people turn on them.'

'I agree. It could go either way. It could be that, with a year or two of your presence here, attacks from the sea will dwindle. Or they could grow, testing the boundaries of this treatise.'

'War, you mean.' Quilla sipped her tea, watching as the sun set, a blistering, gorgeous purple hue staining the sea and the sky.

'Possibly.'

'Time will tell, right, Captain?'

'Right, Captain.'

'You should go to bed early. I think Valin will try her hand before midnight, so I've got a few guards on alert. I'll stay, too.'

Erilia snorted, but nodded all the same. 'You don't think she'll let me go so easily?'

'No,' Quilla said dryly, downing the rest of her drink and hugging her mentor tightly. 'Thank you, friend. I look forward to our reunion.'

Erilia nodded, clasping her shoulder as her final sunset bathed them in light. 'And I.'

-

Quilla was right, although Valin herself didn't head the assignation, a half dozen cloaked figures taking her place as they attempted to storm first the small cabin, then the carriage stop and, just before Erilia crossed the border of Seruc, the track, at last fleeing when they caught sign of the figure running towards the carriage from a little way into Rynn, her paint smeared apron flying into the air as she yelled and kicked up dust in her wake.

But, then again, that was only the six months in Seruc. Before any reunion, it is only right we attend to the heart of the Empress of Rynn.