VII
The sun shone down with new radiance upon the lands that drank deep of the blood of the fallen with an unquenching thirst. Awoken by the dawn, a flock of migratory birds took off toward the southern skies, tracing a path straight as an arrow.
To the west of the Turner Plains, where forest gave way to a rocky area, a unit of soldiers lay hidden. They raised no banners and numbered a mere eight hundred, but they were all of them without question the elite of the elite.
A girl came forward, the light of dawn on her back tinting her long, silver hair with scarlet as it swayed behind her. She stopped before the ranks of soldiers, then gave them a breezy smile.
“Did you all get some sleep? I was out so hard I almost overslept.” At this, the fearless determination on the faces of the soldiers dissolved, and in another moment, they were all swept up in a gale of laughter. Olivia cocked her head, unsure what had set this off.
“Oh, very good, General,” Evanson said, wiping the tears from his eyes. “I didn’t see that one coming.” All the rest of them began laughing and chatting happily. Olivia, of course, knew from personal experience that people cried when they were sad. She had never imagined they could also cry when they were amused.
Wait. Could it be that I was amused back then? She thought back on the day Z had disappeared. No, no way. That time I was definitely sad. She nodded a few times to convince herself, marveling once more at the many complexities of humankind.
“What are you nodding all smugly for?” On her left, Claudia looked as though she’d had enough.
To her right, Ashton grimaced. “Don’t bother.”
Olivia felt her spirits rising. “Well, even if I don’t really know what’s going on,” she called out to them, “I’m having fun as always.”
“In all the wide reaches of Duvedirica, you are the only one who could say something like that at a time like this, General. As Ashton would say, you take everything too lightly.” Claudia’s head fell heavily to her chest, and she sighed. Leaving Ashton tapping his fingers against his temple for the moment, Olivia softly laid a hand on Claudia’s shoulder.
“You know, I’ve meant to say this for ages, but if you’re always sighing, before you know it all your happiness will grow wings and fly away.” Olivia held out her arms and mimed a bird flapping its wings. Claudia’s eyes snapped open as though hooked by a fishing line just a moment before she let out an even deeper sigh than before. Even though Olivia had just given that warning, apparently Claudia had totally ignored her.
“Anyway, ser, it’s time,” Claudia said, her voice still half a sigh. Olivia mounted the simple platform erected behind her, then, as she always did, folded her arms and planted her legs apart imperiously. Now she was ready.
Looking especially forgiving, Claudia barked, “Lieutenant General Olivia will now give her address. All troops to attention!”
The looks of fearless determination returned to the assembled soldiers’ faces. Olivia gave a small cough.
“In war, humans die easily. Dying means no more tasty food—of course that means no more sweets, and no more towering cakes. And that would be very, very sad, and hard to even think about.” She paused for a breath, letting her eyes sweep slowly across the soldiers. “But even harder and sadder than that is the idea of losing my dear friends and comrades just like that. That’s why I use every bit of knowledge I have. That’s why I wield my sword. Not for the kingdom, but so that you’ll all keep smiling...” She paused again. “That’s why I’m fighting now.”
No one so much as opened their mouths.
It was so quiet she felt as though she could hear the breathing of every person there.
Olivia thought the silence might stretch on for an eternity when Claudia’s sharp voice sliced through.
“All troops, salute Lieutenant General Olivia!”
Aflame with fighting spirit, the soldiers stamped their feet together in one fluid motion for a salute that was a thing of beauty to behold. Olivia returned the salute in kind, then slowly descended from the platform to where Claudia was waiting for her.
“General, just now you and the soldiers truly became of one heart,” she said softly, her face aglow with a sincere smile.
Ashton, meanwhile, scratched his head anxiously and said, “You really never stop surprising me.”
So Olivia gave him her most radiant smile and replied, “That’s because humans grow!”
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