“Stop pouting you two!” Commander Tealis mock ordered the two mopping idiots at opposite ends of the courtyard. Kohn sat while holding his knees to his chest, occasionally sending glances towards the major with his deep green eyes. The Major, while holding the back of her golden skirt tightly to her legs, backed away a step every time she caught him looking at her. Her cheeks burned furiously before they both simultaneously snapped their heads to break the stare.

The old crone vision of Tealis inched closer to Kohn’s face at light speed. “Say Kohn. Why don’t you just apologize already?” She barely had to bend over to look him straight in the eyes. Well, bend over more than she already was.

“WHAT?” Kohn cried out indignantly. “Why should I apologize to her? All I did was take advantage of my opponent’s weakness. It’s not my fault!”

Sighing, Commander Tealis walked over to her daughter playing the role of a hopeless mediator and tired messenger. “Honey, dear?” But the Major just looked down at her mother with the eyes of a hawk before letting out a “Humph!” and turning away. “Just apologize dear so we can move on. You did start the fighting with a suit of armor and weapon that are more powerful than any individual creator could make.”

“NEVER!” Teagan furiously roared at her mother. With all the determination of a righteous prosecutor she pointed at Kohn with an unwavering finger. “No matter what happened he should have acted with more honor and dignity during the duel.”

“You mean a test, right?”

“That’s what I said!” But Teagan’s cheeks flared crimson again when she realized looking at Kohn made her think of the fight, causing her to fumble her words.

Commander Teagan made a small complaint about her old bones as she constantly scuffled back and forth between the pair she dubbed “Idiots”.

“Kohn, you did behave badly.”

“SHE BROKE MY ARMOR! After that I only did what was necessary to win! What, was I supposed to do? Lose? Then what was the point of testing out my equipment if it was supposed to be deemed a failure from the start?”

“Teagan, he is right. He only was trying to prove his invention’s worth.”

“It doesn’t matter! He touched me inappropriately!” Her entire face was shifting from a light pink color to a thin red.

“Kohn… sigh, my bones can’t keep up with these idiots. Kohn. You did touch a woman who you aren’t married to inappropriately.”

“If she doesn’t want the attention of an interested party then she shouldn’t have worn such revealing clothing. How was I supposed to know that she was completely naïve about the birds and the bees?”

“Then at the least try to wipe that dirty grin off your face. You looked like a real pervert every time you went for her butt. What are bees? And there are no birds around here.” She mumbled the last part to herself. It was impossible for an alien to understand human metaphors about reproduction.

“Never mind.”

The conversation continued for many more walks back and forth until eventually Commander Tealis’s patience ran thin and she exploded in anger towards the sky. “THAT’S IT! You!” She pointed at Kohn. “Your armor broke, fix it or make something new. And act with a little more dignity next time!” Teagan broke out in a smug grin as she backed up what her mother said with a “Yeah, that’s right!” before Tealis turned on the Major as well.

“And you! How old are you? What rank are you? How many people depend on you? How many people do you command?” Every question was punctuated with a finger jab into Teagan’s chest until she was bent backwards at a 90 degree angle. Despite the height difference, somehow the mother seemed so much taller than the daughter. Tealis pushed her face against her daughter’s so that the only thing either one of them saw was each other’s eyes. The surprised, but quickly tearing up deep purple eyes analyzed every red vein in the psychotic pale purple gems staring into her very soul. “Act a little more grown up! Just what were you thinking, using that spear? It’s powerful enough to break your own armor! Of course his would break!”

“Etso…” Teagan let out, thoroughly subdued by her mother.

A voice spoke up from the courtyard’s entrance. “Excuse me. Commander Tealis?”

Still enraged Tealis yelled “WHAT?” in response. Seeing the young male page delicately carrying a stone cylinder in his hands she quickly swallowed her anger and tried again. “Yes, what do you need young man?”

The page walked up to Commander Tealis at her signal. Her reputation was well known and he stiffly walked closer, but made sure to keep at least two arm’s length away from her. “An order from Agossomore’s King StoneTooth for Commander of the Three Armies, Tealis.” He said, lifting the stone cylinder up towards her.

The atmosphere tensed up at the page’s words. All kidding thrown aside, Tealis stood firmly upright as she grabbed the stone. Kohn was surprised when what he thought was a stone tube lightly glowed in her hands. A strong wind surrounded her in a vortex for a few seconds before the stone lost its luminescence and everything went back to normal.

Kohn was unsure of what had happened, but all of the soldiers that had been practicing or maintaining their equipment were now in a loose circle around her. Waiting.

Still keeping her firm stance, Commander Tealis spoke in a loud, clear voice. “Teg! Ten! Ter!” Kohn briefly pitied the men. Clearly they were part of the group that Tealis couldn’t be bothered to give proper names.

The stout man went to one knee. Two others came out of the crowd and followed suit. “Yes Commander?” They said in unison.

“Send word to every soldier in the capital. King StoneTooth has issued a Gathering of Lords. Increase all security measures, double the guard and prepare the fleets for honor guard positions to welcome the coming Lords.”

“Yes Commander!” Teg saluted her before doing a combination of waddling and running out the courtyard.

“The rest of you,” She paused, looking at everyone else that was rapt with attention “administrative work!” Their expectations were destroyed and all of them let out a mixture of “awws” at the boring work ahead of them. “After the Gathering of Lords we’re heading to war.” That brought a mixture of cheers and stern faces.

Major Teagan swiftly approached Commander Tealis. “Commander. What has happened?”

With a short nod of the head to acknowledge the question. “Nothing for you to worry about.”

But that didn’t go over well with Teagan. “Every time you’ve said that there was ample things to worry about. Remember my 10th birthday? You told me not to worry when I caught you sneaking around in the middle of the night.”

Taken aback, Tealis stumbled with her words. “T-This is n-nothing like that!”

But Teagan pressed further. “You snuck into the King’s room! You pretended to be his fourth wife! You slept with the King!”

“This is different!” Tealis was practically pleading with her daughter. “There really is nothing for you to worry about. Besides,” She hastily continued before Teagan could interrupt “The King wants to see you and Kohn over there as soon as possible.”

Teagan pointed at the Earthling who had been grabbed in celebration of the approaching war. He was repeatedly being tossed up into the air before being caught by many hands, only to be tossed up high again. At first he fought it, but when he realized they weren’t going to let him go he decided to have fun with it. Now every time the hands disappeared he struck a new pose, much to the humor of those below him.