Page 24 of Forcing Fate

As I passed the secretary’s desk, I paused, thinking she might tell me I was excused from my assignment assisting the General. A strange part of me hoped she would. Would it still be considered a failure if General Rafe requested my dismissal? When she looked up, it was with a question as to why I stalled, not an order.

“Good morn. I trust there has been no change to my assignment?” I asked.

“Good day, Avyanna. There’s none that I am aware of. Should there be?”

“No, no,” I said quickly. “I was only checking.”

She raised a skeptical brow, but nodded just the same.

Outside, the overcast sky did a magnificent job of mirroring my mood. Dark and looming, with the promise of rain. I shuddered and lifted my chin. Today would be fine. Would they still have the inspections if it rained? Battle waited for no weather. Though, one risked catching a plague. If they were just training, I didn’t see why they would risk illness for an inspection that could be accomplished any other day.

General Rafe didn’t seem like the type of man to put things off, however. He didn’t seem like any man I had ever known.

At the gate, a small smile crept over my face when I saw Willhelm waiting for me, leaning on the gatepost.

“Morning!” I called, handing my papers to the guards.

Willhelm didn’t move, but his eyes tracked my hands. The swelling had gone down, though the scratches remained. It felt… different to have someone other than my mother be so protective of me. He cared, and knowing that made me feel just a little better.

“Good morn, Avyanna.” He straightened as the guards handed my papers back.

“Inspections still going on?” I asked.

“For the next week, I’m afraid.” He fell into step beside me. “My company is due for review today.”

“Oh, is it? I’m sure you’ll do well!” I smiled and glanced over, noting his frustration.

“I can only hope,” he sighed. “He’s set grueling tasks for those who don’t meet his standards.”

“What time is your inspection?”

“At the fourth chime. Though I might be late to pick you up today. Yesterday, there was a brawl that delayed things.”

I thought about the General’s bloody knuckles. “Did General Rafe assault someone?”

Willhelm looked at me, then back at the ground, perhaps figuring out how he could word it without sounding like he was bad-mouthing a General.

“He came back to the tent with bloody knuckles,” I explained.

“If you determine who starts a fight by who throws the first punch,” Willhelm scratched his jaw, “then he didn’t start it. Though he finished it.”

I smirked. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one that General Rafe tried to draw out the worst in.

“He’s in a worse mood than he was yesterday,” he warned as we rounded a building toward the training field.

“I do believe he lives his life in a foul mood,” I muttered.

He grunted in agreement as we neared the tent. Unbound by the same principles as Willhelm, I generally thought well of people, but General Rafe was the exception. I couldn’t manage a single pleasant thought of the brute.

“Sergeant Willhelm, announcing Miss Avyanna,” Willhelm called, standing at attention.

Today I stood further back. I would take as much distance from the General as I could get.

There was a sound of acknowledgment, and Willhelm lifted the tent flap, peering in before motioning me inside. As I entered, I stayed close to his side. He wouldn’t be here with me long, as he had to ready his company, but I would take any sense of security I could get.

General Rafe was washing his face in the washbasin with his back toward us. He wore the same type of clothes as yesterday; black pants with a loose white tunic with the sleeves torn off. There was no cloth wrapped around his head, and I wondered if he would attempt to frighten me with his battle wounds.

He finished washing and bent down to tie a wet cloth around his head, covering his missing eye before he faced us. Water dripped from the cloth to his shirt, and he stood there, staring at us as if daring me to make the first move.

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