“I hate to ask, but do you remember the way back?”

Idelle gave Cecilia a smug grin. “Of course. I paid attention when we were walking over here.”

“...Are you sure?”

Idelle ignored the teasing skepticism in the taller girl’s voice and replied in the most sincere tone she could manage.

“Yeah, thank you for double-checking, though. I’ve never lied to you before, have I?” She practically chirped the last words, sounding like nothing more than an innocent child completely unaware that she was being mocked.

Cecilia let out a slightly choked cough, and Idelle gave herself a pat on the back for the performance. Nailed it. The other girl cleared her throat and responded. “I suppose that’s true. I’ll trust you then. It’ll give me a few minutes to rest, either way, so thank you as well.”

“No problem~” That’d teach Cecilia to make fun of her so much. Qualms about teasing a princess when she was already having a bad day? What are those, can you eat them? She paused a moment, then spoke again, not needing to fake sincerity this time. “I’ll see you around, then?”

Cecilia hesitated, then met her eyes. “I’ll do my best… Stay safe, all right?”

“All right. Will you tell me what’s wrong, next time?”

Cecilia nodded firmly. “Yeah, if you still want me to.”

That’d have to do, Idelle decided. No, that would more than do. She carefully picked up her as-yet-unnamed sword and propped it over her shoulder, waving behind her back to Cecilia as she walked out of the room. She couldn’t see if the other girl waved back, so she’d just assume she had. Then her stride lengthened as she quickly left the keep.

She blinked at the sudden light as she stepped outside fully, the guards letting her pass without comment. Right, it was still barely midday, or at least early afternoon by the looks of it. Cici’s room hadn’t had any windows, now that she thought about it. It must be hard to sleep like that, with no sunlight to wake you up in the morning.

Idelle sighed. Cecilia really pushed herself too hard, she thought. No wonder she’d snuck out of the city for fun when they met. She should see if she could make up some excuse for the other girl to just goof off with her again.

Yeah, right, like she was important enough to make an excuse that would fly.

Consumed by her thoughts, she wandered back to the barracks, finding herself in the mess hall before she realized it. She was kind of hungry again, actually. Or maybe she was just stressed out.

“Hey! Idelle! Nice sword!” A voice pulled her out of her reverie, and she turned to see Clovis waving at her, casually seated across from a pair of strangers at a table. “You hungry? Come eat with us!”

She waved back. Why not? A few moments later saw her next to him and flying through a quick round of introductions that almost immediately disappeared out of her head. He grinned at her. “Where were you this morning? It’s not like exercise maniac girl to miss training.”

She gave him a pointed stare. “Exercise maniac girl? Do people really call me that?”

“They will now!” He cackled at the face she made at him. “Don’t change the subject, where were you?”

She exhaled before answering. “With Cecilia, actually.”

He tilted his head quizzically. “Why the long face? Or is it girl problems, and you aren’t allowed to tell me?”

“Not really, I guess. Its…” She collected her thoughts for a moment. “I guess I just feel useless. Useless and weak.”

Clovis let out a not unfriendly snort. “You? Weak? Leave some self-confidence issues to the rest of us, will you?”

She grimaced. “No, sorry. Not physically weak. Just that… I don’t know, Cecilia seems like she’s struggling recently, and I wish there was something I could do for her. But a stronger-than-average soldier is all I’ve managed to make of myself here. Hardly someone who can help a princess.”

Clovis narrowed his eyes. “Hold on, did she give that sword too? Are you still claiming you aren’t friends with her?”

“I’m being serious here!” Idelle snapped at him, surprised at how fast the words flew out of her.

He looked surprised too, raising his hands. “Sorry, sorry, I wasn’t actually trying to make a joke, my bad. You want to know what I think?”

She guilty mumbled something like an apology. “‘Its all right. Yeah. If you don’t mind. I’m lost here.”

“I think you’re selling yourself short. Why would the princess spend time with you if she didn’t both like you and see something worthy in you? It’s not she spends time with me, for all my many charms” — Idelle rolled her eyes — “or anyone else outside of her staff that I’m aware of. There must be something you bring to the table.”

Idelle’s head drooped. “Sure, but what? It’s not like I’m some administrative expert or renowned commander or something that would actually help her.”

One of the two young men sitting across the table interjected. “Hey, stop talking like you’re some old dog. You look younger than us, of course you wouldn’t be a world famous general. That doesn’t mean you don’t have the potential to be one.”

Clovis nodded eagerly. “Yeah! Have you considered enrolling in one of the royal academies or something?”

She looked up quizzically at that. That sounded familiar, but… “Royal academies?”

“You know, the Royal Academy of Magic in Hudbria, the officer’s school in the capital, the Academy of Duelists in, uh, what was it...”

Clovis snapped his fingers, and the answer came from across the table, “Eisenberg”

“Right, Eisenberg. Or the Hunter’s Academy in Morlais.”

The teenager who’d called Idelle young spoke up again. “Don’t recommend her the Hunter’s Academy, everyone knows that one is just a worse version of Duelists.”

His seatmate was already sitting up straight before he finished the sentence and spoke before Clovis could respond. “Oi, them’s fightin’ words. The Academy of Duelists didn’t even accept Leah the Ravager now, did they?” Seconds later the two were engrossed in a heated debate over the merits of the two schools, the conversation moving far too fast for Idelle to follow.

Clovis shrugged and turned back to her. “Um. That aside, he’s got a point. You’ve got a recommendation from a princess, and someone as talented as you would have an easy time getting in even without that.”

She gave him a look. “Talented? Didn’t I ask you not to make fun of me?”

To Idelle’s surprise, Clovis frowned at her words. “Look, you should stop acting like everyone who compliments you is making fun of you, all right?”

She was taken aback by how serious he sounded.

“Don’t look at me like that. It’s true. You’re one of the hardest workers I’ve ever met. You looked like you’d been sick for months when I first met you, and I’ve barely seen you do anything except train, eat, and sleep since then despite that. Martine had to practically drag you around to get you to do anything for fun. Honestly?”

He hesitated, then continued. “It’s almost a little scary sometimes. You get this look like you’re, I don’t know. A force of nature or something. Like I’m staring at an out-of-control wildfire, with no option but to burn to completion or be destroyed before it can. It feels like you could find a way around or through anything that got in your way, without caring about who or what it was.”

Idelle met his gaze, a little embarrassed and completely unsure how to respond. He grinned. “Seriously, don’t look at me like that, it’s a compliment. You’re too dumb and friendly to be scary. I’m just saying, that kind of drive to push yourself? Have faith in it, you could succeed at anything if you put your mind to it.”

She smiled back, a little awkwardly. “You’re right, you’re right. Thanks. I think I feel a little better now. I guess I just need to be patient.”

“You’re welcome, I’m always happy to cheer up a friend. And patience is a virtue, after all—” Any further words of wisdom were cut off by the rising shouts from the other side of the table, and Clovis turned over in annoyance. “Oi! If you two don’t quiet down I’m going to tell Idelle to try out her new sword on you!”

She wasn’t sure if she was annoyed or gratified by the way they both shut up and went back to eating after a quick glance between her and the greatsword leaning against the table. But Clovis cackled at the reaction, and a moment later their conversation resumed at a more normal volume.

Idelle did her best to listen as she ate. Maybe she’d be able to find some nuggets of wisdom about the different academies amid the impassioned insults.

They finished the food a few minutes later, and Clovis turned away from the chatter to address her again. “Oh, by the way, are you coming to Cateline’s session after this? Better put the sword away if you do, I don’t think she likes you enough yet for that.”

Idelle reached over and touched the blade, letting out an exaggerated sigh. “All right, the tyrants win again this time. I’ll meet you outside.” Clovis grinned and waved, and she trotted upstairs to place the sword prominently above her training weapons on the rack in her room, before grabbing her spear and heading back downstairs.

She arrived in the courtyard and joined Clovis and a scattering of other trainees warming up. The rugged sergeant hadn’t arrived yet, unusually for her. It was only after most of the class had arrived, and just before the bell signaling the hour, that Idelle spotted her striding across the courtyard. Her face looked dour, was something wrong?

She found out a minute, as Cateline clapped her hands for attention. “Attention, everyone. Special announcement today. The caravan that arrived yesterday with our food supplies reported a total dearth of dire beasts along the southern road. Our scouts didn’t notice anything amiss, but the Duke has decided to send out an extra hunting squad that way tomorrow, just in case. It could be dangerous, so we’re only looking for volunteers who have participated before out of you lot.”

Someone in the crowd raised their hand with a question. “Sorry, wouldn’t a lack of beasts be a good thing normally?”

Cateline nodded. “It would be if we knew why there was a lack of beasts. Often it’s just coincidence, but sometimes it can mean that a particularly dangerous monster has established a territory and driven the others out. Or, in the worst case, there’s usually no sign of beasts before a wave.”

There was a murmur of voices, but the Sergeant raised a hand for quiet. “It isn’t that. I’ve led several of the last hunting expeditions in that direction myself, I know for a fact the area is more than adequately culled. Still, the Duke is a paranoid sort, and it never hurts to find out. If something like a griffin has nested in the area, we might as well hunt it down now. Come to me after class if you’re interested.”

Idelle’s heart beat faster. A griffin? She knew stories of them. Legendary magic beasts, far stronger and smarter than normal.

She really wanted to hunt one. Wasn’t this her chance? She wanted to get stronger, right? If feeding on an hours-dead elk was enough to make her noticeably faster, imagine…

She forced herself to calm down. No, she shouldn’t get ahead of herself. Even if it WAS a griffin, and they managed to kill it, she’d still need to find an excuse to feed on it. It would take a miracle for everything to line up as easily as it had last time. And fighting something like that would be dangerous…

She grinned. Who was she kidding? Risks or no, she wouldn’t miss this for the world.