The Annex

Chapter 16

"Isla," I called after my sponsor as we were finished being introduced.

"What, sweetheart," she turned around to face me.

"I thought Grim was my trainer, what was the Commander doing up there?"

"Grim? No silly, the Commander is your trainer. Did he really never tell you?"

"Uh no he didn't. Grim's been training me with the other soldiers," Isla pursed her lips before looking over my shoulder. A determined look set across her face as she stalked after the Commander. I tried to turn away but was met with a glare. I watched as a tense conversation unfolded between them. At one point, Isla stomped her heel into the ground. Even in her heels, she had to gaze up at him. She pulled out a finger and waved it in his face as his eyes narrowed. The power dynamic between the two confused me. Isla was a few inches taller than me but even she was swamped by the Commander's lengthy and broad build. Despite this, it was clear that Isla was dominating the conversation. The Commander's expression had turned to a dark glower. He turned to stalk towards me, his strides closing the distance at an alarming pace. I found my hands grasping the chair in front of me tightly as if to support my weight.

"Archery field at dawn," his voice was a low growl. He never even bothered to pause, he just brushed past me toward the exit. A chill had run down my spine at his mere proximity. A hand brushed against my arm and I whipped around too quickly, almost losing my balance. Tomas caught me as he raised his eyebrows.

"What was all that about," Tomas had seen the events of the past five minutes unroll as well.

"Holy shit, Tomas. The Commander is my trainer," I could feel my breathing grow heavy and my chest rose and fell rapidly.

"Hey, hey," Tomas grabbed my shoulders. "You're going to be okay. Hey!" I met his gaze. "We'll figure this out, I'm not going to let him hurt you. You'll be okay. You need to calm down right now. Just breathe." I let Tomas coach me as he told me to inhale and exhale. The rise and fall of my chest resumed normalcy as Tomas rubbed my back. "You certainly are in a pickle aren't you."

"That doesn't help," I rolled my eyes and sighed.

"Come on, let's dance," he said, leading me toward the center of the ballroom. A waltz began to play and Tomas and I danced as we discussed.

"He said that I'm to meet him at the target practice field at sunrise, you don't think that he's going to kill me then, do you," I asked, struggling not to time my words with the music as I tried to keep up with the swift waltz. Tomas laughed at the weird cadence of my words.

"No, we have target practice tomorrow morning too, there'd be too many witnesses," Tomas said.

"And what the hell does the Tygran fletching even mean. Could he really be trying to start a war? Could he have murdered," I stopped myself beforeI could say more..

"I don't know. It just doesn't make sense to me. You've heard the stories about the Commander haven't you," Tomas said. "He single handedly led a battalion against Tygran at sixteen. The Captain leading the battalion had fled when they saw how outnumbered they were. Why would you lead a battle against Tygran, risk your life and even become Commander of Rivell if you weren't loyal to Rivell?"

"I don't know. He's so cold and heartless, maybe he became Commander just to take down Rivell, and the battle against Tygran was just to cover his tracks," the song ended and Tomas held out his arm for me.

"Let's not talk about this anymore, I'll watch out for you tomorrow at training. I think Ella is waiting for you," he nodded towards Ella who held an outstretched hand towards me.

"Okay missy, you have so much to spill," she squealed. "First, Atlas? Wait, no. First, the Commander? He's your trainer?" Her voice had raised an octave.