Chapter 7

• Ril’m arrived at the garrison after supper. She immediately requested for someone to prepare and fill her personal ceramic tub in her own tent for a warm bath. The Commander-in-Chief wasn’t aware she was already back, and she wanted to delay the trip to the capital for now, so she ordered the troops to not bother informing the old man. She was not exactly thrilled about departing the garrison, as it was going to be a long journey.
• Just then, after an hour of her arrival while she soaked in her bath for about half an hour now, an envoy from the royal palace arrived. He was greeted by Daramir.
• “May I talk to the Flower General, My Lord?” the Royal Envoy who called himself Sui asked carefully. “His exceptional contribution to the latest battle has been raved on by His Majesty’s subjects.”
• “I’m sorry, Your…” He cleared his throat while staring at the familiar envoy, “Lordship. The Flower General has taken some time off with my permission.”
• “Alright, I might as well leave the king’s decree to you then, and we’ll return to Karavil,” Sui decided, nodding to the Old Man of the Northern Border.
• “If you please, will you have a rest for a while, Your Lordship? My tent is at your disposal,” the old general offered politely, with his head slightly bowed and a hand gesturing to his tent that was only a few meters away.
• The Royal Envoy glanced at the other tents. “I shouldn’t impose on you, My Lord Daramir, but perhaps there’s a vacant one where I can bother you instead?” Sui queried.
• “Of course. It’s the third one to the left,” he replied, pointing at Ril’m’s tent, believing it was empty until the following night.
• “Understood. Thank you, My Lord.” Sui nodded and bowed to the old general before proceeding to the said tent, followed by the quiet Muvreus.
• “I’ll have someone prepare your bath, Your Lordship,” Daramir informed him. He turned to give a trooper his instruction, and the latter immediately obliged. He ran to the kitchen for some water to be heated.
• “Which tent should it be sent to?” the kitchen staff asked.
• “General Ril’m’s.”
• The kitchen staff frowned. “Huh? But—”
• The trooper pointed at his face. “It’s the Commander-in-Chief’s order, no buts.” He then left the kitchen staff in wonder.
• ‘The Flower General sure wants to soak longer tonight,’ he concluded. ‘Is it because they’re preparing to go to the capital and might not get a proper bath along the way?’ He shrugged and went on to do his job.
• Meanwhile, Sui noticed that there was already a lighted lamp inside the tent. As soon as he was about to open the flap wide, he paused and was rooted in his place. So was his bodyguard who stood adjacent to him and couldn’t see what he could. A familiar slender flower-tattooed woman with her back on him rose from the tub. Water droplets glistened on her skin, racing downward. His gaze was glued to her. A whoosh and the tip of a sharp knife would have hit him straight in the face if he wasn’t quick enough to close the flap. It missed him by just an inch.
• “Back off, whoever is there!” Her voice was authoritative. Her tone was used to giving orders, that was clear as day.
• Sui’s heart rumbled inside him. ‘She… she…’ He shook his head and swiftly strode away. “Let’s go back now, Muvreus!” he told his bodyguard.
• “But, Your Lordship—”
• “It’s fine. I don’t need to rest,” he cut him off, knowing what the royal bodyguard was about to say. “I just need to clear my head while we’re at it.” He could not and would never forget what he had just discovered tonight.
• The bodyguard grabbed a trooper to deliver the message to the Commander-in-Chief to inform him that they were leaving after all.
• “Tell your old lord, Daramir, the Royal Envoy has just remembered something important, so he cannot stay,” Muvreus instructed quickly. “He thanks your lord for his hospitality,” he added as well.
• “Got it, Sir!” the trooper replied, nodding quickly.
• The royal bodyguard watched the trooper dash to the old man’s tent.
• Concurrently, the Flower General had already covered her naked body with her clean inner robe as soon as she hurled that knife. Her heart thumped furiously. Was she discovered?
• ‘Who was that?’ She jumped from the tub to see who it was. Her teeth gritted anxiously. Her eyes swept the entirety of the place, but there was no one else she could see. She stepped back in and donned the outer robe, tying the sash tightly. She hissed, thinking that someone must have already seen her naked.
• When the kitchen staff called out from the outside, she was even more agitated. She marched to the entrance of her tent.
• “Where’s the usual guard?” she asked, not noticing the staff’s pails of hot water he was carrying.
• “Uh, since you said to not inform the Commander-in-Chief that you’re back, the assigned guard at your tent wasn’t called in for duty and is in the troop barracks.” He referred to the long set of tents adjacent to the generals’ tents. In turn, adjacent to the barracks was the garrison infirmary.
• “Have you seen someone leaving just now?”
• “No, General,” the staff answered honestly, shaking his head.
• She sighed in relief. Maybe it was just her imagination. She could still see the knife in the flap of the tent. She was sure if there was someone, she could have at least nicked him, and there should have been blood on its tip. There was none when she examined and retrieved it.
• “But here’s your additional hot water.”
• She looked at the pails of hot water at her feet upon hearing those words. “No, I don’t need it. Take it away or give it to someone who needs it,” she said, dismissing the staff and went back inside her tent. This time, she made sure the flaps were tied up.
• The kitchen staff could only stare at her and shrug, following her order. “Hot water, anyone?” he bellowed.
• Heceq’s staff at the infirmary yelled back, “Right here!”
• Said staff quickly picked up the pail and crossed the spacious grounds. A bonfire was in the middle of it.
• On the other hand, the trooper had already delivered Muvreus’ message to the old general.
• “What’s the ruckus?” he questioned when he heard the bellows outside.
• “I think the Flower General is back. I just saw the light in his tent.”
• “What?” The old man, as if a nail was hammered in his ass, bolted right up from his seat.
• ___________
• Author’s Note:
• Just to make it clear, Mondealtén language has no distinction between male and female pronouns, so there’s no way of knowing if the person they were talking about is a male or female, unless they already know who they are talking about or if the name clearly belongs to a specific gender.