Glory [ Robert. Gould. Shaw]

9

Elizabeth

  Exhausted. That was the only word that could describe how the 23 year old felt at that moment. She had gotten little to no sleep after Robert left her tent that night. She wanted him to stay, but she did not have the heart to ask for such a request. After all, she had already burdened him enough with her crying.

   With dark circles under her eyes, she struggled to get out if bed this morning. Quickly putting on her uniform, she exited her tent for what seemed like in forever. Squinting her eyes at the harsh beams of the sun, she raised her hand and let her eyes adjust to the lighting.

  Glancing down at her pocket watch, her eyes widened in horror at what she saw. It was almost noon! How come no one awoke her? Picking her feet up to a sprint, she quietly scold herself for crying all night.

  Along the way, she bumped into Major Forbes. She managed a weak smile.

  "Morning Major, er,... afternoon." She greeted.

  "You are awake. Glad to see." Cabot said, making her nod slightly.

"How come no one woke me up?" Elizabeth asked, successfully taking the smile off of Cabot's face. He shuffled uncomfortably.

  "Everyone thought you could use the rest." He quietly admitted. That made her heart warm slightly knowing that the troops cared for her well-being.

  "I was just headed off to find Colonel Shaw." Cabot said his name in a almost sarcastic way, making Elizabeth shake her head.

  "About the incident with Private Sharts?" She guessed, and Cabot nodded in confirmation.

  "I will go with you then." She stated, and the two proceeded to the horses. When they reached their destination, they saw Robert riding on his horse, slicing watermelons with his sword.

  When Robert spotted them, he slowed his horse to a stop. "Afternoon Major." He greeted Cabot. When his eyes landed on the brunette, a look of worry flashed across his face before quickly returning back to normal. "Afternoon, General." He greeted, receiving a nod back.

  "I want to talk to you." Cabot said calmly, snapping his attention away from the girl, much to his displeasure.

  "Certainly." Robert responded, sliding his sword back to the holster which was located on his pants. That moment made a swish sound.

  "If you would not mind getting down from your horse." Cabot said with sarcasm, and Elizabeth sighed inwardly. This is not going to end well, she could tell, and she did not need her power of foretelling the future to see it.

  Robert looked at him for a bit. Then, with fake politeness, he did as suggested, swinging one leg over the horse and stepped down, walking closer to them, his eyes never leaving Cabot. After all these years spent with these two, Elizabeth knows them like the back of her hand and if she did not know better, she would say that Robert's eyes were silently challenging Cabot. Oh boy.

  "Better?" He asked. Cabot rolled his eyes.

"Why do you treat the men this way Robert?" Cabot asked. Robert did not respond for a minute, taking this time to process what he said.

  "How should I treat them?" He asked.

  "Like men." Cabot said in a duh tone, crossing his arms and looked at Robert like he was insane. "What about Thomas? Why are you so hard on him?"

  "He is not a very good soldier." Robert answered. "I am getting these men ready for battle." He added. Elizabeth almost scoffed. How could she forget that? War. It was always war.

  "They're already as good as the 7th ever was! They march well, they're disciplined." Cabot countered, making Robert nod in agreement.

  "No thanks to you." He said.

  "I beg your pardon?" Cabot asked.

  "You heard me." Robert stated firmly. Cabot was starting to loose his calm.

  "Who do you think you are? Acting the higher Colonel. You seem to forget that I know you; so does Elizabeth and Thomas." Cabot brought up. He began to walk away, making Robert turn around.

  "Forbes." He called, making Cabot halt in his steps, turning around to face him. "If you do not believe in what we are doing here, the maybe you should not be apart of it."

  That seemed to tick Cabot off. "Part of what?" He walked closer, his voice rising by the minute. "Huh? 'Left right left right! Little finger along the same of your trousers?!'" He was full on shouting now. "Marching is probably all they will ever get to do."

  "Boys!" Elizabeth decided that enough was enough. They were fighting like little children. Both of them stopped arguing and looked at her immediately.

  Robert's gaze lingered for a moment longer before turning back to Cabot. "It is my job to get these men ready." Robert said slowly. "And I will. They have risked their lives to be here. They have given up their freedom. I owe them as much as they have given. I owe them my freedom, my life if necessary." He spoke, and at that part, Elizabeth could not help but flinch and Robert noticed immediately, glancing over at her in concern. Cabot nodded. "Maybe so do you Cabot. I think you do." He finished his speech.

  Not saying anything, Cabot gave him the most sarcastic bow that Elizabeth had ever seen in his life. With that, Major Forbes left without another word.

  Robert then turned his attention to the General.

  "Rosie I-" he spoke softly but he was cut off by the brunette launching onto him with a hug, holding him tightly. Stunned, Robert stayed stiff for a moment before finally relaxing into her hold and wrapped his arms around her waist.

  "You and Cabot are such idiots." Elizabeth's voice was muffled since she was resting her face on Robert's shoulder. Robert did not say anything at that, laughing slightly as he rocked them back in forth, enjoying one another's presence. If only there was no war. Everything would be so much easier then. Elizabeth prayed silently to God, praying that they would both make it out of this war alive.

Authors note

Another chapter done yay!

I live for the cute moments of Robert and Elizabeth. Idk when I want them to kiss yet bc I dont want to rush their relationship. And I have no idea how their relationship is gonna go afterwards lmao.

  I hope you guys like this! I have school tomorrow so idk when I'll be able to update.

That's all!

PEACE! ;)