Embracing Love and Power

Chapter 15 - Evaluation

The day was over in the blink of an eye, and the moment Tillie had been dreading all day came rushing toward her. She was so not ready to face Timber, that asshole. Why did this have to happen to her? Why couldn't she like a normal person, not this arrogant asshole with a huge ego. She strolled as slowly as possible towards Timber's office for the evaluation of the day after diner.

Tillie walked in and she immediately felt the tension return. It gnawed at her bones, she had to figure out what it was. She sighed if only Alden was here to give her some advice. She walked in on the three of them having a conversation about her. "I never thought that she would have any men in her squad." Makin said. "If I counted correctly her squad is even bigger than yours Makin." Tillie felt a sense of pride that Valen had noticed how many soldiers had chosen her team. She placed herself in the corner against the wall, as far away from Timber and his desk as possible. She crossed her arms over her body, she didn't even look at him. "Will see how long that will last." Timber said with an evil smirk." Tillie couldn't help but say: "Probably as long as you are a power hungry idiot." She smiled viciously at him.

Timber slammed his fist against the table. "Enough I have had it with you today. You have disrespected me every chance you've got. I am still your superior, I can still punish you." He spat the words in her direction. "A good old-fashioned punishment. What are you going to do boss? Hurt her? Make her suffer?" Makin said mischievously. "He did all that already without punishing me. I doubt it can get any worse." Tillie said while shaking her head. Valen looked immediately at her. "What happened?" he asked. Timber looked at Tillie his eyes had turned a shade darker, he was probably thinking about that kiss. But before Tillie could respond, Timber commanded. "200 pushups after this meeting in the central square Breaker and we will all be watching you"

"What happened between the two of you?" Valen hadn't stopped studying the both of them. "Nothing happened, she needs to know her place." Timber responded quickly before Tillie could say anything. Valen looked at Tillie but she avoided his eyes, she could see that they were already filled with a lot of questions. "You know that she is somehow right, we aren't all perfect. We can all learn something." Valen tried to reason with Timber, guessing what this all was about. "Do you want to join her squad perhaps? Do you want to join all those men who stand there drooling over her hoping to get a chance?" Timber roared. Tillie couldn't believe her ears. Without thinking she stepped forward until she stood eye to eye with Timber. And before he could say something she hit him right in the face.

Before Timber could hit her back Valen had pulled Tillie from Timber and pushed her behind him. "That's enough you two. How can we lead an elite if you guys can't behave?" Valen said disappointed. "You are telling me that? I am not the one who disobeys every order and disrespects me every chance she gets. Why are you taking her side? Hoping for a chance?" Timber said. "No you are just the one who insults me every chance he gets. Your answer to Valen's question just proves my point." Tillie retorted. Makin stood there smirking as he watched the interaction between those two. "Maybe you guys should just fuck it out of your system or at least make out or something like that." Makin suggested with a wicked smile.

"Do you want to join her in doing pushups?" Timber asked him. "I am done with this." Tillie was ready to storm out of the office until Valen grabbed her by the arm. "No you are not." She looked at the man in front of her. "You suggested the evaluation once a day, we agreed so you can at least try it for us. You don't have to do it for him. Or do you shy away from a challenge that quickly?" Valen asked while pointing at Timber. "Boss would you mind explaining your plan? Chase her away and then tell the council what happened? Do you think they will be happy?" He asked Timber. Timber looked at his hands, not responding. "Whatever there is between you two, it has to stop. The soldiers notice too. It just has to stop. You two don't have to be best friends, you just have to be able to coexist, work together if possible." Valen said stern. "We don't expect you two to share heart secrets." Makin added. Tillie rolled her eyes at Makin. She realized Valen was right. She needed a way to work together with Timber for the sake of her plan. She knew Timber never would take the first step, she had to swallow her pride.

The room was silent for a second, the tension was noticeable for everybody. Finally Tillie spoke: "You are right Valen, I can't expect my soldiers to be respectful if I interact with Timber the way we are doing now." She sighed and gathered her courage. "I apologize for disrespecting you Timber." Even though it took a lot out of her, knowing she wasn't completely in the wrong she tried to apologize. "Apology accepted." Was all Timber responded. "And?" Valen asked. "But your punishment still stands, I must set an example." Timber added. Valen looked disappointed at his boss. Tillie just rolled her eyes at him. She was going to behave with her words, but she wasn't planning on doing so with her body language. Not after what he had said about her.

The rest of the meeting passed off peacefully, they took their time to discuss the training of today, the different squads and what had happened that day. Timber insisted on naming the best and worst performers per squad but Tillie simply refused. And then finally they discussed the planning for tomorrow. "So the competition is in three weeks, are all the squads competing?" Makin asked as Tillie was about to leave the room. "What competition?" she asked. "We organize a monthly competition between the squads to divide the tasks." Timber explained. "So far, Makin has lost each, every month." Valen joked. "Not this month." Makin said with a smile. "This month we have another competitor for the shitty jobs." Timber looked with a wicked grin at Tillie. "What's this competition?" she asked, not letting Timber under her skin. "An advanced capture the flag." He answered.

Valen placed a map on the table as he motioned Tillie to come closer. She looked over at the ground plan of an old castle ruin in the middle of the woods. "Every month we choose a location to hold our game. The game is simple, each team has a hostage from another team. The goal is simple, free your team member and guard the hostage. You can disarm another team member by winning a fight and taking his colored band. The number of remaining members in your team count as a bonus." Valen explained. "So in finish order you can choose your task for the month" Makin explained the part about the tasks. "Leaving the dirty jobs for the loser." Timber looked straight at her. "So you expect me to have my squad ready in what three weeks? How is that fair?" Tillie asked. "Life isn't fair." Timber simply stated. "Maybe we should give her an advantage?" Makin thought out loud. "Do you gain an advantage in war?" "No boss, I am sorry." "I don't need an advantage." Tillie said.

Timber looked her straight in the eye as the next question rolled of his tongue: "Shall we make this a little more interesting?" "No we don't." Valen quickly intervened. "Valen don't forget your place. What about this; loser does all the tasks?" Timber asked looking directly at Tillie, she just stared into his eyes without zero emotion. "No we aren't chancing the game." Valen tried to stop his boss, but before he could say anything else Tillie answered: "Fine". Tillie picked up the map from the table and walked out.

A loud whistle sounded through the camp and Tillie saw all the soldiers gathered in the main square. Within seconds Timber was standing beside her as he watched how the soldiers lined up. The squads were all lined up perfectly in front of them. "We gathered her to watch the Breaker perform a series of push-ups as a punishment for disrespecting me." Timber started. Tillie's face was void of emotions, even as she cursed Timber inwardly. She stepped forward without a reaction, not intending on giving him any satisfaction in all of this. As Tilly stepped into position she was surprised by her men who also stepped forward. They all stood next to her. "Guys, this is my punishment, not yours." Tillie said. "One squad remember?" Ace asked. Tillie smiled at her men. "What are you all doing? This is her punishment, get back in line." Timber yelled at the men next to her. "Maybe in your squad Timber, not in ours." Ace simply retorted as they started doing pushups.

Timber looked furiously at Tillie, she couldn't help herself as a smile appeared on her face. And the whole squad kicked off their set of pushups, leaving the rest of the elite starring dumbfounded.