The Lady Justice

Chapter XL: To Suspect, And Be Suspected

Lady Katherine Harrington of Johanne

3 December, Year 1 of Sebastian VI, Emperor of the Longbournian Nations' reign

Longbourne Military Academy for Women, Amöneburg

The Longbournian Nations

"Not like that, Your Imperial Majesty!"

I watched in amusement, as did the rest of my remedial students gathered around me, as Cadet Amelie Hartmann's countenance grew redder and redder with each passing moment.

As part of their test today, she and her peers were required to teach an inexperienced student how to shoot. I wanted to assess how well they were able to teach, so that I could gauge how much they have learnt under my training these few weeks.

The Emperor had very kindly volunteered to be the student for the day. Cadet Hartmann was the last to do this exercise, and as a result, she had gathered a rather huge audience that her peers did not have when they had attempted this exercise earlier.

She was now trying to give him some basic tips on how to shoot, and corrected his stance and his grip on the bow whenever necessary. However, the Emperor, true to form, was pretending to be intellectually slow - and it was starting to infuriate Cadet Hartmann, who did not know that he was only pretending.

"Oh, oh, how about this, Cadet?" the Emperor piped up, as he fitted an arrow onto his bow and raised it above his head, pulling the bowstring back.

"By God, nay!" Cadet Hartmann howled, "how many times do I have to tell you, Sire? Your target is directly in front of you, and therefore, you will keep your bow at eye-level!" She reached for the limb of his bow, and forcefully lowered it for him.

His contralateral shoulder rose up further in response. A growl left Cadet Hartmann's throat just then, and I heard the others behind me trying to suppress their laughter.

"Silence, Cadets," I hushed them.

"Nay!" Cadet Hartmann's temper flared at once, "you need to keep your shooting arm parallel to the ground! By God, which idiot taught you to shoot in your childhood? You are absolutely terrible - "

"Cadet Hartmann," I cleared my throat, "I think you are forgetting whom you are teaching."

She fell silent, and kicked the ground in her frustration. At that, the Emperor fought back a smile, as he met my gaze.

"Must I teach him? He cannot even follow simple instructions!" Cadet Hartmann burst out eventually, "Ma'am, you mentioned we had to teach an inexperienced student. Judging by the intellect he has displayed this past fifteen minutes, he would have been chucked out of the Academy on the very first day!"

Suppressing my laughter, I glanced at my timepiece. It was ten minutes to the end of evening training, and I decided to put an end to this fiasco.

"Your Imperial Majesty," an impish smile tugged at my lips, "please show Cadet Hartmann what you are truly capable of."

He snickered, and looked around for a good target, before turning to Cadet Hartmann. "Cadet, do you see that lone brown leaf on the second to the top branch of that tree?" he pointed to the oak tree yonder.

She followed his gaze, and nodded curtly. "Aye, Sire. What about it?"

The Emperor adjusted his stance, and fitted an arrow onto the bow with a precision he had not exhibited earlier. He then raised it, and used the corner of his mouth as a guide to pull back the drawstring. When he was certain of his aim, he released the arrow.