Crowns and Guns.

Stew (part 2)

Breakfast today is disappointing. A large stew of beans and root vegetables. Then again, I have eaten worse. Maybe I should be grateful to eat food.

Across from me sits Katie, eagerly shoving down the bowl with stew. If I didn't know any better I would think that either she hadn't eaten in weeks, or the stew was the most delicious thing she had ever eaten. I know better tho. She just loves root vegetables. I envy her a bit. Imagine that your favourite food is the only thing that can be grown anymore after the apocalypse. Must be great.

Next to Katie sits June. She is staring at her bowl in silence while jabbing at it with her spoon.

"June," I say. "Don't you like your food?"

She shrugs, while she keeps staring at her bowl. "Not really." She mutters.

"I still have some muesli bars if you want them."

She shakes her head. "No, that's okay. I am just not hungry."

I lean towards her, over the table.

"Well, you have to eat something."

She sighs again, still looking at her bowl.

I am startled when someone smacks a bowl on the metal table next to me. I look up and notice it is Kelsey. She smacks her spoon into her bowl, splattering little bits of stew all over both the table and herself.

"Again with this crap? Do we ever get something else that root veggie stew? I hate carrots. Why do we even grow carrots? I would rather starve than eat another carrot."

I shush her. "Not in front of June."

Katie pushes away her empty bowl and reaches for Kelsey's. "If you don't want it, I will gladly eat it."

Kelsey slaps her hand away. "You wish." She looks over at June. "What's wrong, June?"

June shrugs again. "I am just not hungry."

I jolt again when I feel a hand on my shoulder. I jump on my feet and turn around. Commander Lawrence stands behind me, seemingly shaken at my reaction.

"Don't touch me."

He steps back. "Okay, message received."

I blink and take a deep breath. "Why do you need me, Commander?"

He crosses his arms. "Can I speak to you in my office, Skye?"

"Sure."

He turns around, and I sheepishly follow him to the commander's office, at the side of the dining hall. The office is just as messy as it was yesterday, the desk and floor covered in files, papers, and magic trinkets.

He stands behind the desk, not sitting down. Not like he could, the commander's chair is filled with stacks of paper, and I notice the other chairs are too. Guess I will stand.

The commander crosses his arms and slams another piece of paper on his desk.

"So, I was thinking about the tribe that attacked you the other night."

I shrug, pushing away the images of that night from my brain. "What about it?"

"I am going to gather a group of volunteers to go out in the woods and exterminate the tribe."

I gasp and feel like the air is pushed out of my lungs. I take a deep breath again and tap my heels together. "Sir, with all due respect, this is a bad idea. We need quite a few soldiers to exterminate a tribe, if we can even find them. And we need the numbers to protect the Refuge. We can't leave this base unprotected.

He smiles, while he taps his temple. "That is why I am not going to only gather guards and soldiers. I am going to gather regular civilians. Many of them are able-bodied and know how to shoot. And it shouldn't be too hard to find volunteers. A teenage girl was killed. People are angry."

My jaw drops. "Are you going to go into the woods with a bunch of civilians? This is gonna get people killed."

He shakes his head. "No, I am going to go into the woods with a mix of civilians and soldiers. And other volunteers can fill the ranks of the soldiers that guard the base."

I shake my head. He can't be serious. "This still will get people killed."

He shrugs. "The people want to do something. I can't just do nothing."

"So your solution is getting more people killed?"

He smacks his hand on the table. "I am your commander. You will respect my decision."

I take a breath. "Sir, with all due respect, I want those elves dead as much as you do. Hell, the tribe's leader is the elf that killed and cooked my parents. So maybe I want to kill them even more. But we have to be realistic. The reaction to people being killed should not be getting more killed."

The Commander smacks down his hand again. "Lieutenant, I have made my decision, and it is final. And you will respect it. You can choose for yourself if you join us or not. But we will hunt down and kill what remains of the tribe. I will announce it to the people after breakfast."

I bit my lip and turned around. I start walking to the door, as Commander Lawrence should after me. "Wait, Lieutenant, you are not dismissed."

I turn around again and cross my arms. "What is it?"

"As we are a lieutenant short, I have decided to promote Corporal Reid."

My jaw drops again. "Sir, you can't promote Derek."

"Lieutenant, I know the former commander was alright with your behaviour, and cut you a lot of slack, but I am commander now. You will respect my authority."

I roll my eyes. "What do you mean, cut me a lot of slack. Commander Warner respected my opinions and insights. Maybe you should do that too before making stupid decisions alone. Derek is an awful soldier and an awful human being. He is the one who let the teenagers out the other night, leading to May's death. He deserves to be punished, not promoted."

He scoffs. "Please, he cut you slack and humoured you 'cause you are young a pretty and he had a thing for you. But your charms don't work on me. So please do as I say, instead of constantly questioning my decisions and talking back. You are dismissed."

"But –"

He interrupts me, "You are dismissed, Lieutenant Riley."

I turn around, stamping on the ground. I immediately regret that, as I step on one of the magic trinkets and feel the sharp edges sink my bare foot. I bite my lip to suppress a scream and stumble out of the office.

The dining hall has been abandoned, I guess breakfast time is over. I didn't hear the mist horn sound. Is the commander's office soundproof? Those are worries for later.

I sit down on the nearest metal bench and check the bottom of my foot. The small tetrahedron has been lodged firmly into my foot, and some blood is dripping from it. I slowly hop up the stairs, to the barracks, and stumble through the beds to my locker. I pick up a bottle of water, and a clean towel, and hop to the bathroom.

I hop on one of the broken sinks and take a look at my foot again. I carefully pull out the pyramid-shaped device and clean off my foot. As expected, the sole of my foot heals the moment it is out. I wash off the blood using the water bottle and dry off my foot. I look up when I hear someone calling my name. Katie is standing at the entrance of the bathroom. The top here is June, holding her hand.

"Skye" Katie yells out. "Do you have some spare water?"

Katie and June walk over to me. June's green dress has a large brown stain across it. Her face is flushed, and she is looking down.

I kneel in front of her and look at the spot. "O my god, what happened?"

Katie shrugs. "She spilled a bunch of stew on her dress."

I try to wipe off some of the brown stains from the fabric, using my tower, but it doesn't come off. "Damn. Sweetheart, switch into your spare dress, I am gonna send this one in for laundry.

June keeps staring at the ground. "This is my spare dress." She mutters.

I sign. "Damn. Well, switch into your pyjamas, I will see what I can do."