King's Dragon: Book 2 Teaser Preview

Chapter 2: Rewards

Chapter 2

Renshau’s voice rang out across parade ground and the assembled regiment. “Second place in the Regimental Communications Relay Finals goes to the Dragons of Squad D, Company 3.”

Tri Doic Hanny stepped forward to receive the trophy while the rest of her squad, medals already around their necks, joined in to imitate a dragon’s roar. Hanny thought the roar had sounded silly when her squad mates first started it several weeks ago, but there was no doubt of their enthusiasm.

Commandant Renshau shook her hand. As he handed her the trophy, he leaned forward and said, “My congratulations to you and your squad, Tri Hanny. I’ve been most impressed with what you’ve done.”

Hanny was so surprised the Commandant knew her name, she almost missed the trophy. Once she had a firm grip, she hoisted it overhead as her squad-mates and the rest of the regiment cheered lustily. Squad A from Company 7 had won the first place trophy, but they had been expected to win since they had captured last year’s trophy with essentially the same group of cadets. Squad D’s Dragons, with their spirit and obvious camaraderie, had been the favorite of all the other squads who had not made it into the finals.

After the ceremony, the regimental commander marched the Corps back to the barracks assembly area and dismissed the cadets for an entire afternoon of free recreation. Hanny looked around and spotted Commander Daxdendraig nearby, and she headed in his direction. He had been on the platform with the Commandant and other officers while the awards were handed out. Now she wanted a word with him.

Before she got there, Major Scarlet called to her. “Tri Hanny. Congratulations.”

Hanny stopped and saluted. But, then she blushed. The man was so attractive he always made her feel like a little kid. “Thank you very much, Sir,” she said. “The squad did a really fine job.”

He nodded and said, “Yes, they did, but I am congratulating you on what you did to organize and lead your team. My friend, Commander Daxdendraig, thinks very highly of you, and from what I can see, he’s absolutely right.”

She knew her face was as scarlet as the major’s name. “Uh, thank you, Sir.”

Scarlet patted her on the shoulder. “Now don’t be embarrassed, but we have been watching.”

She was completely tongue-tied which made her all the more embarrassed. She was relieved when Major Scarlet saluted her and walked away. She returned the salute, gathered her thoughts, and resumed her search for Commander Daxdendraig. She finally tracked him down near Officers’ Quarters. “Sir? Commander Daxdendraig? Could I have a word, please?”

The officer turned around and smiled. “What’s on your mind, Tri Hanny?”

“Could we sit down for a moment and talk? I have something to say.” The man looked puzzled, but he gestured to a nearby bench under the shade of one of the great oak trees. Once they were seated, Hanny took a deep breath and took her courage in both hands. She summoned up the feeling of indignation she had been cultivating for the last two days, and blurted out, “You lied to me.”

Daxdendraig arched his eyebrows in surprise. “In what way?”

She ran her eyes down the medal-festooned sash the commander wore across his chest until she found the one she wanted. “That one right there. That’s a medal from the Academy. A medal for the Communications Relay with three small stars pinned on it. I saw it the other day, and it made me curious. I did some research.” She paused for another deep breath and went on. “Gard Daxdendraig led a squad which won the Communications Relay four years in a row. They retired the trophy that year and created a new one the next year. I saw the old trophy in the Regimental Hall of Honors. You told me you didn’t know anything about the Communications Relay,” she said with exasperation.

“You always exceed my expectations, Tri Hanny,” the Commander said with a smile. “You did research on me. I didn’t expect that. In truth, I only led the squad the last two years. The first two the squad selected me as ‘most valuable competitor.’ ”

“But, you told me a lie,” she protested. “I thought the dragon-bound could never lie.” The Commander looked at her directly, and she struggled to meet his dark eyes. There was no where to hide. He smiled, and she relaxed in the warmth of his expression.

“You are correct,” he said. “None of the dragon-bound can tell lies, and I did not lie to you.” He smiled at her a little sheepishly and looked down before he met her eyes again. “However, you have to listen carefully to what we say. Just because we can’t lie doesn’t mean we have to tell you the truth.”

She frowned. “But, if you don’t tell the truth, isn’t that lying?”

“If you think back, you may remember I didn’t say I knew nothing about the Communications Relay. I said something like, ‘Now what would I know about that?’ It’s a common trick we use. Not being able to lie can be …” he paused a moment then said, “…a challenge.” He sighed and looked over her head a something far away. “No. At an early age I had to learn to avoid answering people directly.” His voice was quiet, and he appeared distracted. The Commander shrugged and looked back at her. “Many times answering a question with a question does the trick. People hear what they want to hear and continue the conversation.”

“I do apologize for misleading you,” he went on. “but how much thought would you have given to planning and training your team if you had known I could give you all the answers? The rest of the squad had confidence in you, and I was willing to trust that.”

“But, I could have learned so much from you.”

“You did. Letting you figure things out for yourself forced you to learn more about planning, organization, time management, and personnel management than a dozen concentrated seminars.” He smiled. “Besides, the couple of times you did start to go astray, all I had to do was ask you the right questions.”

Hanny sat quietly for a time as she thought about what he had said. She had never worked so hard as she had in the last few weeks, and the squad certainly had done better than anyone had expected. She had learned a lot about being a leader because she had just experienced leadership at its best. Suddenly humble, she said, “I guess I should thank you, and hope you will forgive me for accusing you of lying to me.”

Commander Daxdendraig smiled broadly at her. “No, I should thank you for what you’ve done for me and my attitude these last few weeks. Working with you and your squad was just what I needed.”

She was puzzled, but before she could ask any questions, he went on, “The Commandant is having a family supper of a sort tonight, and I would like you come as my guest. He and the rest of us would like to enjoy your company.” He stood and offered her his arm.