Prince of Time

Chapter Thirty-Three - Reunion

“Can’t you persuade him?” Maple begged. “Please, Eliseo!”

“Maple,” Eliseo raised a hand for quiet. “Listen to me. I might be a respected warrior, but I don’t have that kind of influence. You might have performed wonderfully, and if I had the control, believe me, you would not be trapped as a cadet, but it cannot be changed.”

“It could,” Maple said, mutinously.

“Let it go,” Eliseo advised. “Stop being so proud of yourself. I know you could be more than a cadet but you aren’t. So relax. Grow used to it again. Don’t fight it all the time.”

“So you don’t think I deserve anything either?” Maple grumbled.

“Maple, I think you deserve far more than you are being given. But you have to continue to deserve it.”

Maple groaned and Eliseo laughed.

“Get on with you, cadet,” he pushed her away. “You have to report to your captain. At least you and Peppermint are serving together.”

“Yes,” Maple sighed. “At least that.”

The traditional warrior uniform of red and black changed when war was actually declared. The red trimmings disappeared. It became plain black and purely functional. Maple wasn’t sure yet whether this was an improvement.

 Maple was almost amused by how furious their position made her and Pepper. Before the gathering, they would have been overjoyed to be assigned to a captain and sent to war. What had changed out there? What had made them feel so much better than this?

“Where are we again?” Pepper looked around the crowded fields, filled with jostling people.

“We’re Scarlet Third,” Maple glanced at the banners warrior-captains had pinned up. “There should be twelve of us.”

“All unproven cadets?” Pepper sulked.

“All young,” Maple craned her neck. “Eliseo didn’t specify how young.”

The two of them searched through the crowds, pushed on all sides by those with important errands to hurry on that made manners seem insignificant. The banners waved, summoning warriors to their new captains.

“There!” Pepper pointed, triumphantly. “That’s Scarlet Third!”

She strode through the crowd, elbowing people out of the way. Maple followed her, muttering apologies to everyone Pepper trampled in her path. The banner for Scarlet Third flapped wildly ahead of them.

“See?” Pepper declared. “I knew they’d be young.”

But Maple had stopped short, not seeing that at all. Her mind was taken up with other things. She had eyes only for the young captain they would be serving under.

 Her thoughts unravelled. Her stomach swooped. It suddenly became clear that somebody, Eliseo or the Master or perhaps even Tobiah, had arranged this as a reward. This was her prize, one she hadn’t even thought of.

“Maple?” Pepper nudged her friend. “Maple, what is it? Why are you staring at the captain like that?”

Maple replied rather more gruffly than she intended.

“Well, if you must know, he’s my brother.”

Captain Corin turned towards the approaching cadets and waved them forward.

“Last two,” he announced. “You’re running late.”

“We had to speak to someone,” Pepper apologised, as Maple was still too dumbstruck to talk. “It was important.”