Colette's Covenant

General Didier

Down below, her army was standing around. Armed and armored and prepared. They let out a loud cry at the sight of her coming down from above.

She returned it with a fist in the air.

"We're almost below the clouds!" She announced to another bellow of excitement.

She gave Nicolas a smile that he rolled his eyes at. However, he didn't hesitate to follow her around as she made her way to the center hatch that would be lowered to allow deployment. The soldiers around her began making room for the two of them.

Half of the gathered troops were from Nicolas's ranks. A few knights, mostly his common men. Most of them had been with him for years. All of them were held to high standards of training and were equipped with the best money could buy.

The other half of the troops were already calling themselves Colette's soldiers. There were a few knights, less than he had though, and therefore more foot soldiers. They were equally well equipped and trained, hand-picked by Nina and Cyrille before leaving the city. And every single one of them was a female that had volunteered for active combat from the female units.

Nicolas had known the first moment he had seen the women boarding the ship that Colette was making a point just for him.

He chose to deliberately never mention it just to drive her crazy.

They stood side by side, tense and ready. His hand was on his sword, anxiously gripping the pommel as he waited for them to reach the zenith of their climb.

The airship machinery down below began complaining as the captain pushed them further into the sky, past the point where they would normally cruise. Nicolas grimaced uncomfortably as his ears popped and he saw Colette working her jaw as she tried to banish the sensation.

She reached up and began scratching at her ear, displeased with the odd feeling. He could watch her for a moment without her realizing she was doing it.

She looked silly. Her mouth open, finger in one ear, eyes tightly shut.

Silly and reckless and annoying. And brave and loyal and unabashedly happy.

It was that happiness that gave him pause. It was so easy to think that she was naive and dismiss her smile as flighty and foolish.

Yet he had seen that smile gone and replaced by anger and fear and determination. He had seen her flighty childishness banished in exchange for seriousness and understanding.

That made the smile more beautiful. That made her happiness more real.

And more difficult for him to understand.

She lowered her hand, making a slight pout when her ears continued to feel stuffed with cotton. She caught his gaze out of the corner of his eye. She turned and beamed at him.

"Scared?" She asked. It wasn't mocking. It was curious. As though she would be perfectly accepting if he were scared.

"I suppose I am," he replied softly. His fingers were clenching and unclenching the hilt of Griever.

"Of dying?"

He thought about it for a moment. Seriously considered that, when he left this airship, he might not live to see another sunrise.

And he wasn't afraid of that.

"No."

"Then what?"

"I suppose... of failure."

Her smiled widened. "Yeah? Me, too."

"Yeah?" He looked to her.