Page 119 of Elven Crown

“Don’t let it all go to your head just yet, elf. This place has had some top-notch commanders, don’t get me wrong. You’re up there, though. That’s for sure.”

“But not the best.”

He shrugged his already age-hunched shoulders. “Eh…top three. Maybe.”

“Sounds like a success to me.”

“After Aldous, just getting up in the morning counts as a success. And he sure did his part to make that damn near impossible for everyone in this room. Yeah, including with weapons like these.”

Wellthatsounded like a mystery just waiting to be revealed.

Rebecca turned toward the old giveldi and folded her arms. “What doesthatmean?”

“Oh, nothing about you, elf. Not specifically. Ain’t hard to be better than what we had, but you’ve exceeded expectations already.” He nodded toward the crates of weapons being unloaded and tested by operatives eager and ready to put their knowledge and expertise to good use. “That ain’t common knowledge, though I’m sure most folks here already suspected as much.

“Aldous would’ve never opened up a haul like this to everybody else. Sure, we’ve brought back plenty of spoils before. You’ve seen it yourself. Hell, you’ve been a part of it. But all the shit our teams brought back? Bastard was either stockpiling it for himself in his own private collection, and ancestors only know what he had planned for that, or even where he kept it all. I’ve got no idea, and I don’t wanna to know.

“Orhe was selling it in private deals he made by himself. Hawking it off to the highest bidder kinda thing. Judging by the state of things around this place for the last decade or so, I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised to learn that changeling was just lining his own pockets with the profits and leaving it at that.”

Rebecca shrugged. “Can’t really say I’m surprised.”

Bor merely grunted and scratched the side of his bald head.

Hearing details like these about the way Aldous had abused his power as commander wasn’t anything new. But the sudden flare of indignant anger rising in Rebecca’s chest definitely was.

In just a few short days as Shade’s new leader, she’d come to care for this task force and its operatives in a way she never could have imagined. Until it happened.

The fierce protectiveness she discovered now almost made her wish she hadn’t already killed Aldous so she could kill him again now.

Only when Bor cleared his throat and she noticed him glancing at her clenched fist did Rebecca force herself to open her hands at her sides. Staying this pissed off at a dead changeling wouldn’t help anyone. She was already making the changes she deserved anyway, and that had to be enough.

“You know what though, elf? The way things are going, we might even start doing some real good around here again. The way this place was always meant to.” He looked her up and down and snorted. “You’re all right. I guess.”

Rebecca huffed out a laugh. “What a compliment. I guess.”

A handful of operatives on the other side of the gym kicked up an even louder ruckus with warning shouts as they scattered. A second later, one of the new weapons fired against a target and consumed the entire thing with strobing purple light.

The bolt of purple energy crackled and sparked from one target to the next, and then the next, leaping to everything in close proximity and almost catching a sleepy-eyed warlock in the process before he scrambled out of the way.

The shocked silence lasted a split second before the magicals who’d watched the whole thing erupted in cheers and whistles.

Bor grunted again and shook his head. “Oh yeah. They’ll hold.”

Then the first target under attack snapped down the middle with a splintering crack before half of it broke away to dangle precariously from the rest of the wooden board. Like a door hanging open on a broken hinge.

The operatives howled with laughter and cheered some more.

Rebecca smirked at the old giveldi beside her. “You were saying?”

Bor’s wrinkled face pinched even further when he scowled at the broken target. “Again, I only had an hour.”

After that, Rebecca watched this impromptu training session with a mounting pride she hadn’t felt in anything else in such a long time. Shade’s operatives were far more effective and efficient than they’d been given credit for in longer than any of them wanted to admit.

She’d already known this when she’d joined, but their chances to prove themselves under Aldous’s leadership had been non-existent, if that. Now, though, this place was finally feeling cohesive, like a real team. All they’d needed was a chance.

When another round of rising shouts filled the gym, she searched for the cause, wondering who would be next to prove Bor’s last-minute targets generally effective. But this time, the shouts didn’t sound so encouraging.

“Whoa, man, whoa! You sure you wanna start withthatone?”

---