Loving Pride

Right To Opinion

Lydia Thorne dressed alone in the Colonel's room and went to get her son. Once he was awake, she went to the study to find the Colonel smoking cigarettes at his table. He was in the same attire as last night, but his focus was fixed on an old journal.

"The vault opened?" She asked in surprise upon finding it on his table.

"Yes," was the Colonel's curt reply. He was too captivated by the journal that he found inside. Seeing that he wasn't interested in a conversation, Lydia turned to leave.

"Tomorrow night, same time. Be here." The Colonel told her without looking up.

Thomas realized that his lessons continued in a monotonous fashion ever since he found the passcode. The Colonel was always too busy with work. He postponed lessons as he had different places to be and different people to meet. Lydia was growing just as annoyed as her son. He had promised regular lessons, and she understood that the reason for his ignorance came from the unlocked vault.

When she finally thought of confronting him one night as she took Thomas for his lesson, she found familiar men in his study. "Thomas, come here," the Colonel beckoned and the boy went ahead to stand by the table. His father handed him a translated German storybook that he had found by chance on a train.

"Go to my room and read this." The boy obeyed his father's commands. Lydia, who thought her job included the same domestic chores, turned to leave.

"Whisky, Lydia." The rugged command came after her now, and she promptly took the whisky bottle from his table before pouring him a glass. Then she went on to fill the glasses of the three other men before coming around and standing by the Colonel's side.

The men were obviously confused as to why Lydia was still breathing near the Colonel but they didn't dare question him. The little boy was an even greater mystery. "Sit down," the Colonel's rough grip on her hand startled her as she was pulled onto the couch beside him. Marquez Agaria sat like a king in celebration.

"Just three more months and victory will be ours. Their East has been shattered, even their South. Only the Northwest remains. How are our soldiers, Captain Finch?"

The Captain hesitated, "They aren't faring as well as we hoped them to. We have strengthened security in the provinces that you mentioned were under threat, but that leaves us with fewer men to fight the Northwest," he sighed.

"The Reds never revealed their true cards in the East or South, that's what I heard," Major Henry replied while taking hurried sips of his whisky, "It was all a farce."

"Don't trust your sources that thoroughly. Your double agents can be lying bastards, Major," Captain Torres scoffed. He was the most merciless man in the regiment.

"I say the Northwest is a deadly game. We'll have to strengthen troops before we go all out," Captain Finch sighed.

"In the journal that I found, signed by none other than Gregor Foyer, they are planning on an ambush one month from now. That means we'll strengthen our defenses in all provinces twice instead of the main army. I've talked to Shaw and Williams on the South and east," he replied.

"Then the main army?" Torres raised a brow.

"The main army will be distributed to these provinces. After their ambush, we'll immediately launch an attack. The Reds shall not see it coming."

The men quietly agreed to the strategy. "Go to each of the rooms and check if things are orderly, my guests will be staying until morning." The Colonel leaned towards Lydia's ear.

She nodded and left the study. Within minutes, she returned to inform them that the rooms were in good condition. The men continued their conversation regarding the vault until the Colonel suggested that they should discuss the rest in the morning. Captain Finch and Major Henry returned to their rooms while Captain Torres remained with the Colonel for one more drink.

"You have impeccable taste in war, Colonel, but I must say that your taste in women falls far behind," he remarked jokingly.

"What do you not like about my mistress, Captain?"

"Too ugly," Captain Torres waved the Colonel off. "I can suggest better ones if you need. And what's with that boy?"

"His name is Thomas. He might have single-handedly saved many of our men from dying by unlocking the vault," Colonel Marquez Agaria replied.

"Wonderful!" The Captain laughed, but it seemed like the man didn't believe the Colonel. He couldn't care less.

When everyone had retired to their rooms, Lydia Thorne squeezed the whisky bottle in her hands while biting her lips. The Colonel had now grown familiar with her gestures when she was holding back her words.

"You can speak, Lydia."

She turned to look at him, "I didn't know that Thomas unlocked it... I... I can't believe he did."

"The boy is smarter than you imagine. He's a quick learner, and I must say that he surprised me," the Colonel smiled gently.

She blinked at him a couple of times. It seemed like Colonel Marquez Agaria was turning back into the man she had met in prison six years ago. She smiled as well, but she remembered that she was supposed to be furious at him.

"Still, you've been postponing his lessons quite a lot. That wasn't part of our agreement, Colonel."

"I lead the Black Unity, Lydia. You cannot question my authority to make and break agreements. When I tell you something, you follow it," he replied. The Colonel wasn't smiling anymore. He lost his patience.

Lydia made a bold step to hold his arm. He looked at her once more with his steel eyes. "It's not that I don't understand your duties... Even if you have to travel, Colonel, all I'm asking is for you to keep us near you..." She blushed.

"You're suggesting that you and Thomas travel with me?"

"If necessary, yes." She gulped.

"Young women shouldn't be traveling with old Colonels. The battlefield is no place for the likes of you." He dismissed her and continued to read the papers on the desk before them.

"I traveled six months by myself warding off every man who attempted to assault me. Thomas protected me most of the time. Even before he was born, I lived through a fifteen-inch tear, Colonel. You don't have to trouble yourself with my safety," Lydia assured him.

The Colonel turned to her, his arm resting over the back of the couch. He brought his hand close to her face until his knuckles brushed against Lydia's cheek. "You're adamant on following me to the end of the Earth, aren't you?" He sighed, "Very well. You shall travel in the same way as you did to reach Rovania."

"Thank you," she smiled when he held her cheek. The Colonel leaned in for a kiss that lasted brief seconds until Lydia pulled back, her palm resting against his calm chest.

"I am not your mistress-"

"Don't question me, girl," he warned before kissing her once more.

Lydia didn't let him again, "Even if I were, I don't understand why you'd want to kiss someone as ugly as myself."

She was hinting at what Captain Torrens had said. Even though she barely cared about remarks by strangers, certain words pained her. Her lack of beauty was one such phenomenon.

"As I said, don't question or interrupt me. This is a final warning, Lydia Thorne. Don't misunderstand my acquaintance with you as freedom. I've granted you the right to opinions, not disobedience."

When the Colonel resumed his kiss, slowly and thoroughly consuming her, Lydia whispered against his lips.

"This must mean you want to kiss me, Colonel." She smiled before sealing their lips once more.