I was away from home for a week - any delay in posting this chapter is entirely my fault. But what a pleasure to come home and find all the comments on Chapters 17 and 18. Thank you all for your support.
Thank you, too, Anonymous Colonel. Excellent suggestions! At some point, I would like to include an epilogue of sorts, with some of the best feedback I’ve received. Another Colonel (retired) gave me some fantastic feedback about muskets, rifles, artillery ... with his permission, I’d love to post some of this material, as a sort-of ‘Non-erotic’ appendix.
For those wondering how long the story will be: Iriad has edited Chapter 26, and I’m working on 27. More to come. Thanks again.
***
Just setting up camp for the New Model Army (2nd Edition) was a massive undertaking. I missed Tallia badly for the first few months - and only a part of that was sexual longing. It was hard work, and we had difficulties that we’d never anticipated.
Starting a new regiment from scratch, for one: on paper, the Chancellor’s Own was a regiment like any other. In reality, it was soon composed of a handful of soldiers with experience (not all of it positive), and a mass of hundreds of raw recruits.
The new uniforms featured blue coats and grey breeches. Their very newness made the soldiers feel a little uncomfortable. By way of comparison, the Anelis’ blue coats were so worn and threadbare that they looked grey, while their once bright yellow breeches had faded to a sickly off-white.
Many of the new recruits were enthusiastic, but that can only take you so far. We needed trained non-coms, the corporals and especially the sergeants who would set the tone and essentially teach these newcomers what it was to be a soldier in the Queen’s army.
Tudino, Avette, and especially Langoret were very generous. They each gave up a Company Captain, a sergeant and a few corporals, plus some promising privates, so that Chancellor’s would at least have a core to build around.
Ishana and Koroba weren’t entirely thrilled to allow hundreds of strangers to enter our camp. They began a series of informal interviews. End result: two weeks later, six soldiers were sent home - with no reason given. One was arrested, and sent back to the capital.
- “Thank you.” I said, to my bodyguards. I hadn’t forgotten, for a moment, how easy it would be for my enemies to slip a few spies, or even assassins, into our army.
- “There may be more.” said Ishana.
- “There
are
more.” said Koroba. “We just haven’t found them yet.”
We couldn’t turn them away - and how many people have perfectly innocent personal histories? From my limited experience, those were the ones we had to worry about most.
One of my early tasks was simple: I had to train Tudino’s, Avette’s and the new Chancellor’s regiments to march. They had to be able to keep up with the Anelis and the Langorets (and those two regiments had to be whipped back into shape - they’d gotten a little soft since Limset).
I also had to find someone to take on the role of acting-Colonel for the new regiment. Faregil was delighted to learn that she would be commanding the Anelis, while I directed the army. She knew that she could do it; so did I.
But the Anelis had been pretty thoroughly mined for talent. Chardeia had died at Limset. Faregil had risen from Captain to Colonel. There just wasn’t anyone else in the Aneli regiment who had the stuff to be a Colonel.
It was Langoret who came to the rescue.
- “I ... may have a candidate. The Captain of my 3rd Company.”
- “You don’t sound all that enthusiastic.” I said. “Wasn’t she at Limset?”
- “Yes. She did well. But ...”
I had to smile. Talking to Langoret was like being with the sister I’d never had - but wished that I could’ve. She left room for me to form my own judgments, and tried not to sway me with her own biases.
- “Just tell me.” I suggested.
- “Her name is Votuda. She is ... difficult to get along with. The troopers are not excited to serve with her: she is a stickler for discipline, and punishes even minor infractions.”
A martinet. The Westrons had had quite a few of those: they had not one, but three specific words for this type of officer. Votuda was picky
and
a hard ass. I didn’t care for petty tyrants, myself. Strike one against this Votuda.
- “She is ... a bit prickly, too.” said Langoret. “Not very popular with the other Captains.”
- “Doesn’t play well with others?” I said. “You’re not making her sound very good.” In my head, I’d already counted Strike two.
- “She’s brilliant.” said Langoret.
- “Hmm.”
- “She
is
difficult to like, though.”
I could deal with that. Maybe.
Avette wasn’t always easy to get along with, either. I loved Langoret and Tudino, but it was too much to hope that I was going to have warm feelings for everyone we had to work with - especially if our little army was going to expand.
My four bodyguards were a case in point: I adored Koroba, and Nasta made me smile. I was growing more comfortable with Madze every day, but I suspected that we would never be close. And I still had qualms about Ishana, who was the most professional of the bunch.
- “I’d like to meet Votuda.” I said to Langoret. “Just for a conversation.”
- “Perhaps you should simply observe her, and form your first impressions before she knows that you are considering her for promotion. She is very intelligent; she may realize right away that your conversation is in the nature of an interview.”
We scheduled some training exercises for Langoret’s regiment. As soon as I saw 3rd Company, I remembered them from Limset. They moved well, precise and under control at all times. Nobody slacked off, and they all seemed to know their tasks.
As soon as I saw Votuda, I understood why. She had an eagle eye for every detail, and missed nothing. She didn’t waste many words on chummy encouragement, but she was quick to spot a mistake.
She was tall, and extremely thin. Her hair was an unremarkable dark brown. I might not have noticed Votuda if I hadn’t been looking for her. But once I’d seen her at work, my eye kept returning to 3rd Company’s Captain.
- “They’re moving well.” I said, to Langoret. “Nothing flashy; they’re just good.”
- “I thought you might notice that.”
Later that day, I wandered over to where Langoret’s regiment had set up camp. Once I’d located 3rd Company’s tents, I had to smile: Votuda’s troopers were farthest from the latrines, and closest to the stream where they would draw their water. Their tents were also immaculate, each one surrounded by a rain trench.
I had a dozen other things to do, of course, and forgot about Votuda for a while when I had to travel back to Cercen for Tallia. She was due to deliver our child.
Truth be told, I was worried for her. She was so slender, and this was her first. None of that mattered: I arrived at home to find that she’d already delivered a healthy boy, four days early.
She looked tired, but happy. Her mother handed me the baby.
- “Hey, little Talley.” I said. We’d agreed, in advance, to name the child after her parents. Good thing he was male; he was far too ugly to be a Tisucha.
The baby’s grandparents were thrilled. Aunt Esyle was beaming, too; she herself was beginning to show.
***
- “Tell me
everything
.” Tallia insisted.
- “You’ll be there soon enough. Why worry about it now?”
- “I’m not
worrying
, Cook. I’m curious. Bored, too. Tell me what’s going on -
please
.”
Tallia had delivered her child like a champ. She discovered, though, as her mother and her sister fussed around her, that she couldn’t wait to get back to work.
In a few months, if all went well, there would be two babies in the nursery. Esyle and Tisucha were already looking forward to raising the children. Tallia, on the other hand, was more interested in what was going on with the New Model Army.
So I told her what had been happening.
- “Votuda? Langoret’s 3rd Company?” She knew exactly who that was. “No one’s troops are better-fed, better sheltered, or ... better cared for.”
- “Really?”
- “I know that they call her ... a pain. She’s not exactly popular with the other captains, either. But she looks after her soldiers. Meticulous - that’s the word I’d use.”
I kissed her on the forehead. “Thank you. You’re a treasure.”
***
It would be a few weeks before Tallia could rejoin the army. In the meantime, I went with my first instinct, and asked Votuda to come see me. I didn’t call it an interview - but I suppose that it was, even if the candidate didn’t know it.
Votuda was quite tall - probably 5’10”. She was almost painfully thin. When she sat down opposite me, I noticed the shape of her face. She had a broad forehead, and a large, sharp nose.
After that, though, her face narrowed dramatically. Her chin was quite small. From her cheekbones down, the lower half of her face looked almost like an inverted triangle.
None of that mattered, though, once you looked her in the eye. Greenish blue ... and very striking.
- “Do you have any idea why I asked to speak to you, Captain Votuda?”
- “No, Sir.” That was all she said. No smile, no embellishment. She patiently waited for me to explain why she was here.
I went with my gut.
- “I need an Acting-Colonel for the Chancellor’s Regiment.”
She didn’t reply. I hadn’t phrased it as a question.
“Do you think you could handle it?” I asked.
- “Yes, Sir. I can.”
It might have been one of the shortest - and most successful job interviews ever.
***
Within a month, Votuda had made her presence felt - at all levels.
The Wole supply drivers went in fear of her, because she inspected everything they brought for her regiment. Woe betide them if they delivered sub-standard equipment or spoiled meat to her troopers.
Those same troopers walked in fear of her, because she wouldn’t tolerate sloppiness or uncleanliness. She drilled them hard, and pushed them physically. They began to see my route marches - punishing as they were - as a respite from her training schedule.
And when we had command conferences - me and the five Colonels - you’d never have known that Votuda had only held her rank for a couple of weeks. Avette took an instinctive dislike to her; even Faregil didn’t seem to know what to make of our new Colonel.
- “Thank you again, Langoret, for letting me have her.” I said.
- “I know that she is an excellent officer.” said Langoret. “I only wish that I could ... warm to her a little more.”
- “I like her!” said Tudino, to Langoret and me.
- “I imagine that you two have matters to discuss.” said Langoret. “I will leave you alone.”
Tudino was surprised.
- “That’s amazing. How did she know that I wanted to talk to you alone?”
