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Tera: Much quicker this time.
Matt: And you know what? The poll is dead. Dead. No one wins.
Tera: Yeah. Anyway, here's the chapter.
Chapter 9
The commander was calm. No one in HQ had ever seen Commander Jae calm. She was terrifying.
In her new revelation, she had decided that it was best not to show any emotion whatsoever. So no one ever knew when she was angry anymore.
It had never been difficult to anger Jae, but now you had to try five times as hard not to anger her. She was always on the edge, always cold.
It could have something to do with the new mission she had been assigned. It was long and complicated and had already taken her days to work something out. Or it could have something to do with the nightmares that plagued her almost every night now.
But the most likely reason was General Phillip Aeolian. When she wasn’t remembering her brutal rape, she was thinking about him. No one had ever occupied her thoughts more, not even the Candryan invasion and that was a whole country of people. He only left her in peace when she was standing in front of him and that didn’t make her too happy since then she had to look at him, had to see those lips that had kissed her so tenderly, lied to her so well. Every visit left her heart aching, a new crack forming along its walls. When it broke completely, Jae knew that no man would ever touch her again.
“Headed out, commander?” Karlis Nemani asked Jae as she made her way out of the building.
“I’m going to a tavern for some real food with Trea.” She didn’t think she owed Nemani any extra words, so she continued on her way out.
“Jae! Over here!” Trea leaned out of the window of a carriage, waving. Jae waved back and jogged over.
“So. Kev says you’ve got a real big job ahead of you guys.”
“Yeah, we do. Top secret, though, so don’t say anything. Any more gossip on you and Nian?”
Trea giggled.
“Well, we finally slept together.”
“Did you? Really? Was he any good?” Jae was happy for her friend, though her success with a man was causing her heart to ache quite a bit.
“He was wonderful. Sweet and gentle the first time, then rough the second time.” A look of bliss crossed Trea’s face.
“I thought you only slept with him once?”
“I did. But after half an hour of just lying there, we got bored and did it again.”
Jae shook her head and hid her smile.
“Coming up to your stop, ladies,” the coach driver called.
“Aye!”
Trea looked at Jae who blushed.
“Military phrase. You get used to it.”
Once the carriage pulled to a complete stop, they got out and made their way into the tavern.
“Miss Jae! I haven’t seen you in ages!” the tavern owner’s wife crowed, setting down the mug of ale she was holding to greet the younger woman.
“Selena! Any chance of a whiskey on the house?”
Selena laughed, winding her way through tables followed by Jae and Trea.
“For you, I will always have whiskey on the house.” She pulled out two chairs to let the women sit down, then beamed at them.
“How about homemade steak pie?” Jae pleaded. She was a sucker for anything cooked by Selena made with beef.
“Just made some not an hour ago. I’ll bring you a slice right up. And what ‘ll you have, dear?” She turned her attention to Trea.
“Steak pie sounds fantastic.”
“And a bottle of whiskey.”
“Juice for me, please.”
“Two shot glasses.”
“Alright, enough! How much do you think I can remember?” Selena threw her hands in the air with good-natured laughter and went to fill their orders.
“So, Jae, how’s work doing?”
“It’s doing just fine. But really, Trea, tell me all the juicy details about you and Nian. I have to know!”
Trea giggled and launched into a tale about Kev. She was barely in the middle of it when Selena came and brought their pies.
Jae was downing whiskey for dessert. She was going slowly, taking time between each shot. After five minutes, she was only on her sixth shot.
“Jae, aren’t you going a bit overboard?” Trea furrowed her brow.
“No. Ten is when I may get a bit wobbly. Fifteen to twenty, I’m pleasantly drunk. Twenty to twenty five, get’s uncomfortable. Anything above thirty, I could pass out.”
“That’s one high metabolism.” Trea watched in fascination as Jae downed her seventh shot and remained perfectly sober.
“What’s wrong?” Jae asked as the look of fascination changed swiftly to bewilderment to terror.
“Don’t move a muscle,” growled a voice at Jae’s ear. She felt cold, sharp steel on her neck and stiffened.
“Who are you and what do you want?” Jae asked calmly, setting down the bottle of whiskey and retrieving her stiletto from her belt. Trea sat there, eyes wide with horror, staring at the knife pressed against the calm commander’s throat.
“None of your business. I was sent here on orders from my commanding officer. I was told to eliminate you.”
“Are you Candryan?” she asked in Candryan, hiding the knife.
“What’s it to you?”
She smirked. He had understood her which meant that, unless he was a military man from Raskwe playing a joke on her, he was definitely from Candrya.
“Nothing, it’s just, you should know your enemy before attacking so unprepared.” She drove the stiletto straight into his stomach, sending him sprawling.
Selena shrieked while customers evacuated. Strangely enough, only a few did.
“Trea, get out of here!” Jae shouted as men leaped up from tables to surround her. Trea turned to obey when she ran smack into two soldier wielding rapiers.
“If you struggle, she gets it,” one snarled, blade pressed against Trea’s neck.
Jae stopped trying to kill the men who were grabbing at her arms. They managed to latch on. Indecision was scrawled on her face. She couldn’t help the army if she got herself kidnapped.
But under absolutely no circumstances would she let Trea get hurt.
“I’ll come.”
Trea looked at her. “You can’t be serious?”
The soldiers who looked to be in charge leered.
“I’m serious. But if you hurt one strand of hair on her head, I will burn you to the ground.”
“Very well. Tie her up before we let the wench go.”
Jae allowed herself to be bound and gagged, then carried by two men.
“Alright, release the wench.” Trea’s captors removed their weapons.
“Commander, I’m sorry. I couldn’t use anything you taught me,” Trea cried.
“‘Ut uh,” was how Jae’s reply of “shut up” came out. Trea understood and nodded, running as fast as she could out of there.
“Well, commander, it’s been nice doing business with you,” the leader said before rapping her on the head, causing her world to go black.
“No time....Gotta find Phillip,” she panted as she ran. She took the steps two at a time, Nian following the whole way.
“What’s wrong? Where’s the commander? She was with you wasn’t she? Does she need backup?”
“I need the general.” Trea would say no more as she ran as a fast as her skinny legs would allow.
She finally made it to his office and threw open the doors.
“Miss Trea. Can I help you?” He looked up from his paperwork.
“Trea, what’s going on?” Nian growled.
“General...sir...it’s Jae.” She leaned against the wall for support, clutching her chest and breathing heavily. His head snapped up.
“What about her?”
“She...She was taken. She let them take her so I could run away and warn you.”
Phillip sprung up from his desk and was on the other side quicker than she could gasp.
“Who took her, soldier?”
“Some Candryan soldiers who were stationed in the tavern we ate at, sir. They somehow knew we would be there.”
“Sir, would you like me to find her?” Nian asked. Everyone had forgotten about him.
“No.”
“Need me to get anyone, sir?”
“No.” They both looked at Phillip.
“I’m going myself.”
The floor was made of the same grey stone as the walls and the ceiling giving the place a very depressing feel. Jae had no idea where she was other than a dungeon, but she knew they couldn’t have brought her back to Candrya.
There was a small grate on the floor in front of her, she assumed it was a substitute for a toilet. A pile of straw rested in the opposite corner, though with her hands tied, it did no good.
She looked up to the sound of jingling, then the thick metal door creaked open and a man walked in, whistling.
“Why am I here?” she growled.
He looked up. “You’re awake, then? Good.”
“Answer my question.” She bared her teeth at him, but he just chuckled.
“Well, the Sergeant says that with their most prized and able commander gone, the Raskwean army will be easier to overtake.”
“Are they going to kill me?”
“I assume they will eventually.”
Jae cocked her head as though considering this, then shrugged. “Fair enough.”
“Are you hungry?”
“I suppose. But I don’t want to be fed by the likes of you.”
“Then I suppose you’ll starve to death.” He left, locking the door behind him.
“And so does the commander. Alright, Trea, go downstairs to your desk and act like nothing is wrong. On your way, get me Murtag, Polack, Colnaghi, and Cooper. Don’t let anyone else know. Don’t even tell miss Nemani.”
“Understood, sir.” Trea nodded and left.
“Nian, get some anti-tracking capsules somehow without telling anyone what they’re for.”
“Yessir.” He saluted and left. Phillip paced his office, waiting for the remaining members of the team.
They arrived casually, one at a time. Trea had done her job well. Phillip started to speak once they were assembled at attention.
“Men. It is my sad duty to inform you that Commander Jae has been kidnapped.” The four men went wide eyed.
“But...sir, are you positive?” Murtag asked.
“Yes. This is a top secret retrieval mission.”
“Whose commanding it?” Cooper asked, smirking.
“I am.”
Cooper’s smirk dropped off his face to be replaced with a frown.
“Sir, what can we do?” Polack asked.
“Murtag– Get extra rations and fill as many canteens as we can carry in one knapsack. Polack– Get blankets. Colnaghi– Get some spare clothes.”
“Sir!” The all saluted and walked out to do his bidding.
“Cooper.”
“Yessir?”
“Fetch a healer to come with us. Don’t tell her why, just tell her to bring anything she can carry that will treat wounds.”
“Yessir.” He saluted and left.
Once alone, Phillip sat down at his desk and debated with himself. He needed to find Jae. In order to track her quickly, he would need something with her essence on it. In other words, he needed one of her favorite possessions. And in order to do that, he needed to snoop around her room.
If she found out, she’d never forgive him.
On the other hand, if he didn’t look through her room, it could take weeks to track her and she could be dead by then. He thought she’d forgive him if it meant saving her life.
Well, he hoped she would.
He got up and walked his well-trod path to her rooms a few floors up. As expected, the door was locked and sealed with magic. Sighing, he pulled out his penknife and slid it into the keyhole, using that as a channel for his magic. He pushed it through, jolting the knife enough to make it difficult to hold. He started sweating with the effort. Jae had some strong locking spells. He pushed more magic through, hoping against hope it would break soon.
The noise of shattering nearly made him leap for joy as the magic collapsed under his constant attack. He swiftly turned the doorknob and went in.
“What can I use?” looking around, he spotted her chest of drawers. It would be very cruel to do what he was thinking. But it would definitely have her essence on it. But if the others saw, they’d suspect something.
Sighing, he pushed thoughts of her underwear aside and decided to start with the bathroom. He would look for her comb– that was bound to have something on it.
The cupboards under the sink contained a number of curious items. There was small gauze pads that looked just the right size for– he figured out what they were for. There were also perfumes of every scent and color. He never knew that Jae was the perfume type. Different soaps that smelled as different as the perfumes were also scattered here and there. The one thing he didn’t see was her comb, so he shut the door and looked around the rest of the bathroom quickly before exiting into her bedroom.
It made him miss her. He wanted to lie on her bed just to soak in her scent or to feel the dent on her pillow where her head usually rested. He wanted to lie on her bed with her and just hold her, knowing she was there.
With even more resolve than before, he set about looking for the comb.
Phillip felt like crying. Just dropping everything, sitting on the floor, and crying.
But crying would get him no closer to Jae, so he had to keep trying.
After thirty minutes and still no avail, he moaned and slammed his head down on the desk. The slam might have been the reason he didn’t hear the knock on the door. He was shocked when his team for the mission walked in.
“Sir, we’ve found her!” Nian announced.
“How? We can’t track her.”
Murtag held up a mirror and a pendant.
“Scrying...how could I forget?” He smashed his head against his desk again.
“What do you mean ‘we can’t track her?’” Cooper asked.
“There’s nothing. I’ve been trying. She’s been hidden from our sight.”
“So that comb’s not yours, sir?” Murtag asked, pointing at it with his chin. Phillip shook his head.
“You went snooping about in the commander’s room, sir?” Nian raised an eyebrow.
“I think she’ll forgive me. Now where is she?”
“We found her in the dungeons in fief Tarra, sir.”
“Where’s the Lord?”
“This is the time of year when the Lord and his family go on holiday, remember, sir?”
“Oh, yes, of course. We set out at dawn. Sneak out before then. I’ll have Trea positioned at the door to open it for you.”
“Yessir!” the four saluted.
“You’re dismissed.”
“There was an emergency at home. The commander had to take a short leave,” Trea lied without looking up.
“Oh, really? What kind of an emergency?” She managed to look calmer by then.
“It’s confidential. Here’s the weapons check list for the armory.” She handed Karlis the document with a blank look and went back to sorting. She was doing some work for the general, but no one need know that.
“Thank you, Trea.” Karlis nodded and walked off, swaying her hips as she always did even though there were no men in the room. Phillip came out from behind the stairwell once she was gone.
“General!” Trea said, eyes lighting up.
“Trea. Sorry, can’t let her see me. Long story, don’t ask.” His hand instinctively drifted toward his forehead, but he snapped it back down once he realized this. A pang of sorrow filled his heart as he thought of Jae bandaging it. He leaned down to whisper in Trea’s ear.
“Yes, Phillip?”
“I need you to be here before dawn tomorrow morning. Bring paperwork, anything. Just be here.” His whisper was barely audible, even to Trea, but she nodded her understanding.
“The door, sir?”
“Yep.” He walked off to get in some extra practice and maybe let off a little steam in the training hall.
Tera: THE PLOT THICKENS!
Skepticcritic: You'd win just for trying to guess. Have some e-confetti, it was Sagara Sanosuke from Rurouni Kenshin. That is odd...wow....
For-chan: I don't know why I decided to randomly insert an obnoxiously short chapter. MWAHAHA. I love you, sexxy.
Tsuki Hoshi Hikari: I'm 15 -nod- Oh, and I must apologize for not reading your story. I promise I'll get it read when schools out in a week and a half.
Matt: Well, don't forget to review. Yes, she does have the next chapter written, so she'll post it when you review.
