War of Dawn

Chapter 20: Frigid Commandant, Warmhearted Queen

Date: 1003 After Dawn, December 30th

A month and half has passed since Hilda offered to help Paula with her training towards becoming a fully-fledged member of that Wraith-hunting brigade she's a part of. Sparring with her has turned out to be far harder than Hilda had expected, though. For instance, true to her warning, Paula has been waking her up in the very early hours of the morning. More often than not, Hilda has found herself in dire need of several cups of coffee and it still tastes awful. She won't complain, since this was her idea, but it certainly doesn't do much to leave her in a good mood.

That is actually desirable, though, as Paula demanded that they fight without any sort of restraint: "that's how sparring goes with us," she said. And she wasn't kidding, as Paula fought with aggressiveness she usually reserves only to the Valnr. Their very first match ended with Hilda having a black eye and five new scars throughout her body – she gave back as much as she took, at least. Through stubbornness and several visits to Dr. Matu, they both endured the repeated bouts and results slowly started coming to bear. Just a couple of days ago, Paula came to Hilda, ecstatic, and said that Julius himself had commended her growth. He'd told her that she was "pretty much ready" to at least start accompanying him on hunts. Seeing her eyes beaming with joy almost took Hilda's thoughts away from how exhausted she has been feeling – almost.

Still, she has been keeping up with her own training and sparring with Owen. She did tell him about what's been going on when he started questioning the appearance of wounds on her overnight. Her performance with him has slowed down a wee bit but he saw the necessity of it in order to help a friend. At least with Julius' seal of approval, things should finally be falling into place for Paula, which means Hilda will be able to go back to her usual routine.

At least that was the plan. As she's leaving the training grounds and towards the underground lake to clean up for dinner, Hilda passes by Eliza's office and hears some loud chatter coming from inside. She stops in her tracks as she identifies one of the mumbling voices as Paula, who sounds quite agitated.

Worried about what might be going on, she inches close to the door and pushes it just slightly open.

"I am ready! Even Lord Julius has said so!" Paula says with quite the angry tone, standing right before Eliza.

The commandant sits unaffected, as stoic as ever, her hands crossed together above her desk. "That doesn't make any difference. It is my decision to make, not his, and I say 'no'. You'll just have to keep being patient."

"I have been patient! For months – years, even! I have studied, trained and worked my entire life for this, my lady! Do you know how hard it is to not be out there with you and the others?!" Paula yells, closing in and staring right into the blank eyes of Eliza's mask.

Her voice charred with previously unseen anger, every piece of her small body is stiffened and tense. From the door, Hilda can see her clenched hands, trembling by her side.

"I sincerely hope you didn't just ask me about my understanding on the hardships of life, Paula...!" Eliza grunts, her own patience starting to fade.

Her voice is calm and firm but every word that seeps out of it bears a note of danger, the calm before the storm. Despite the indifferent face in her mask, the heavy, tangible pressure that fills in the air around her warns Paula that she's walking on thin ice. Hilda herself, looking from as far as she is, feels as though she is being crushed under a dozen rocks.

Yet, Paula is not intimidated, her eyes ablaze with indignation and fixated on Eliza. "That is not what I meant, my lady. All I've ever done was so I could share in your burden! Even if it's not much, I can and want to do my part! And it breaks my heart that you, time and again, refuse to even let me try!"