The Little Wolf and Mighty Boy

Chapter 5

Sophie and Colt walked briskly through the soldiers to get back home. The boisterous group was already half drunk as they all made a ruckus. As the soldiers spotted Sophie, they began to make a path for the two.

From somewhere to the right Colt heard a shrill whistle, and anger bustled in him as he turned toward the sound. He felt Sophie reach out and grip his hand, her head hung low as they made their way through the group. Colt hung his head as well, still fuming at the inappropriateness shown by the soldiers.

As if the whistling wasn't enough, one of the soldiers even reached his hand out to grip Sophie's arm. She scurried back away from the outstretched arm, Colt bringing her close and shielding her as they walked faster pass the soldiers. They heard a voice call for her to come back and Colt squeezed her arms tighter.

If he could beat up the guy who whistled and the guy who reached out at Sophie he would, but his small 13 year old body probably wouldn't do much. It wouldn't do the two any good to anger a group such as this. The military had every right to discipline citizens if needed.

When the two finally made it to the wood house they scrambled inside and locked the door, thankful to be away from the chaos. Colt saw that Sophie's shoulders were shaking slightly, and he reached out and gave her a small hug. She turned in his grasp and hugged him back, calming down from the warm touch.

Someone cleared their throat behind Sophie and the two looked up, happy to see Edna standing with a hand on her hip.

"Alright. What happened? It's unlike you two to be so physically close. You act way to much like brother and sister to be hugging it out. You two decide to date or something?" Edna cracked a smile at what she thought was a humorous joke, but quickly scrunched her face in worry when the two didn't respond. Sophie looked as if she was scared, and Colt still looked like he was ready to murder someone.

"Seriously, what happened?" Edna said in great worry.

Colt let out a shaky breath before deciding to answer in Sophie's stead, trying to quell his rage. "Those bastards. The soldiers out side, one of them whistled provocatively at Sophie. And then, while we were trying to walk pass, one of the soldiers tried to grab her!"

"What?" Edna said as her own face contorted in rage at the words. "How dare they! To a small girl! She isn't even of age!" Her anger grew as she grabbed Sophie and hugged her, running her fingers through Sophie's hair.

Although Sophie was not yet of age to be an adult, which was 15, it still didn't mean it was illegal for those younger than that to get married. There was no age limit set for physical romance, only common courtesy and limitations. That meant that they could do nothing about the men's provocative nature, and could only condemn them in their hearts.

Sophie had begun to cry silently in her arms grasp, and Edna soothed her the best she could. She looked back up to Colt and motioned him to come towards her. When he did so she reached out and ruffled his hair, smiling softly up at him.

"You did very good Colt. Thank you for taking care of Sophie. Who knows what could have happened if you weren't there."

Colt felt prideful in his heart, but still couldn't bring himself to smile because of his burning emotions. He simply nodded, and told her that it was his duty as Sophie's bodyguard. He heard some sniffles come from Sophie before she looked over at him, her face red and eyes puffy.

"You aren't my bodyguard. I'm the bodyguard. You can be the princess." She said to him.

     Colt look offended as he shook his head. "How am I the princess? I was the one that fended them off. Plus I get the most kills when we go hunting."

     "I don't think someone with a higher pitched voice than me gets to say that." Sophie responded.

      Colt's voice had recently been extremely riddled with voice cracks, a sign of his puberty growth. His voice was usually quite high and would crack at the most embarrassing moments. He didn't like when it was brought up, and now felt a little annoyed.

     "Fine. Let's fight with our swords and see who wins then." Colt said as he huffed up his chest, secretly happy that Sophie was able to crack jokes.

     Sophie agreed, her tears now completely replaced with a smirk as the two went up stairs to grab the wooden swords they had made about a year ago.

     Edna watched the two go up, and was about to head into the kitchen when a knock sounded on the door. She creeped up and opened it slowly, leaving only a small space to look through.

     "How can I help you?" She asked.

     Before her stood a man in light chain mail armor, a crest showing on his right sleeve to showcase his rank of platoon leader. His face looked snarky, a light curving mustache sat above his thin lips, looking as greasy as his black hair. His almost black eyes looked calculating and greedy, an air of overbearing pride seemed to fill his features.

     "Hello Miss. I'm the leader of this rowdy bunch who has settled into town. My names Steven Cloreden. I've come to request the general accommodation items such as food and water, and to also inform you that we will need to use your house as space to room our soldiers. Two rooms and the living room should suffice." The man said matter of factly.

     Edna was astounded at his words, her eyebrows furrowing in annoyance. "Food and water is fine. I can give that. But all I can offer in my house is the living room." She replied. She wished to tell them that they couldn't use her house at all, but she didn't want to cause any unnecessary bad will between her and the soldiers.

     The soldier, Steven, huffed in annoyance, his eyes twitching at the woman in front of him. The woman was indeed very gorgeous. If she was lucky then he might even offer his hand in marriage to her. She would make the perfect third wife.

     "I need two rooms and the living room Miss, nothing less."

     Edna decided that being stern wouldn't get her anywhere, and made a decision to teach the soldier in front of her a lesson. "Is that so, Steven?"

     The soldier nodded, a little flabbergasted that someone of her rank actually called him by his first name, and not by his rank. Edna took it as a sign to continue. "Well, under the royal decree it states that a commoner must offer their homes up for any space possible to accommodate the soldiers of the army. Is that correct?"

     The soldier once again nodded, but this time his expression showed a slight hesitance in it. He didn't know what she was getting at, but felt that it wouldn't be good for him.

     "Well, I'm quite disappointed you haven't asked for my name yet. More so that you didn't even bother to check before knocking on my humble abode. My name is Edna De Cordelia Avon Lumanour. I trust you recognize me now?"

     The soldiers eyes were as wide as saucers, and he involuntarily took a step back as he shrunk away from the prominent woman in front of him. Edna decided to continue with her words to further drive in her point and victory.

     "Since, by the royal decree, nobility does not have to house the military for any reason, that forfeits your right to my house. Isn't that so? Oh, to think I tried to be nice as well, yet such a greedy soldier thought it would be a good idea to shove his way into a newly widowed noble ladies house. This is... quite concerning is it not? It would be bad if others were to learn of this..."

     The soldier quickly shook his head to dispel her words. "No Miss, I mean Ma'am. I'm so sorry for not recognizing someone of your stature. I'll be sure to inform my soldiers to stay away from your home, we won't bother you for any reason." And with that, the soldier left, and Edna shut her door in satisfaction.