220 In the Heat of the Nigh (2/2)

Although Luca immediately deflated at my reprimand, I was a little surprised that Dawn — who was a two-thousand-man commander in the Dominion army — too had visibly conceded as well. She dropped her sword and bowed apologetically to me.

My men had just dropped down to the barren floor but I held up a hand to keep them from charging. Dawn had done likewise to the twenty soldiers who'd arrived to back her up.

”I didn't come here to fight,” she said quickly.

I walked over to her and Luca.

”So why'd you draw your sword?” I asked as I stopped beside them.

”I wasn't given a choice…” Her eyes darted toward Luca and back to me. ”There was a misunderstanding…”

In response, I glared at my brother. ”Well?”

It was a long moment later before Luca responded, ”The enemy soldiers were firing arrows at our wall—”

”—which is what they do every night to taunt us,” I reminded him. ”What was so different now?”

”Usually the arrows just land on the ground but tonight,” as he spoke my brother's face hardened, ”one of those arrows hit our wall, Dean…”

That's when I realized that Luca had been more affected by Pike's injury than I thought. The sight of arrows hitting our wall, even if it didn't actually go over it to hurt our soldiers, must have jump-started his protective side.

”I saw that their commander had come out and thought they were readying to attack us,” he reasoned. ”So I went to confront her and things got a little heated.”

”Your brother demanded compensation for the other night's fiasco,” Dawn explained.

”What kind of compensation?” I asked while still eyeing my brother warily.

”A confrontation with the soldier who'd hurt one of your officers…” Dawn sheathed her greatsword. ”You understand that I couldn't allow it.”

The fact that Luca had just lowered his head told me he knew his justification was flimsy at best. He knew he was in the wrong.

”One week latrine duty,” I said to him. ”And I want you to tell the unit exactly why you're being punished and what you did wrong… might actually help to cool their heads and keep them from the juvenile mudcrap they've been pulling every night…”

Luca nodded wordlessly.

I placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed, which I hoped convey that I wasn't really mad at him. I just needed to be strict in front of an enemy commander.

”Head back up to the wall, Luca,” I ordered. ”I'll handle this.”

Luca's eyes looked up at mine for the first time since he lowered his head.

”Dean, I—”

”I've got this,” I nodded to him.

He sighed once. Then he returned his claymore to the strap on his back and walked back toward our side of the line.

Satisfied that the situation had de-escalated, I turned my attentions now on Dawn and scanned her face.

The tall redheaded half-elf with the pretty face — high cheekbones and a spattering of freckles across her cheeks and perfectly straight nose — was exactly how I remembered her.

She was looking back at me with something like a half-smirk on her pretty lips.

It wasn't lost on me that I'd gotten flustered during our first meeting which had also been our first duel. Finding out that the warrior who gave me such a difficult time was one of the prettiest girls I'd ever seen made me somewhat flustered. And my reaction to her reveal was equally embarrassing. Now, however, I was determined to look like a respectable commander.

”So, why were you taking a stroll down here?” I asked. ”I'm assuming it was to get my attention?”

”They told me you were smart,” she said while her green eyes appraised me. ”It didn't seem that way on our first meeting.”

I blushed at her dig. It was something only Aura managed to do to me.

”I was just caught off guard,” I said defensively, and desperate to change topics, I quickly added, ”So what do you want from me?”

”It's not what I want,” she said as she pulled a tiny scroll from the sash at her waist. ”It's what my Lord Rah wants that matters here.”

She offered me the scroll which I took gingerly from her hands.

Curious, I unfurled the scroll, and the short message written within it caused my heart to still for half a moment.

I glanced back at Dawn. ”Is this for real?”

”What do you think?” She replied.