The Sorceress & The Werewolf

13

The trainee woke up to voices, barely even understanding when he'd blacked out. He hadn't made it to camp, had he...?

Commander: He slowed my men down! I won't tolerate those who lollygag about!

The commander really likes the word "lollygag", he thought, squirming deeper under the warm heavy blankets of the sanitarium bed.

The Dark Lady: You call marching with a high fever lollygagging?

He stilled. He had never met the Dark Lady in person before. And he'd only ever heard her voice through the filters of speakers. But he suddenly knew, down to his bones, that that voice was the Dark Lady's...

The Dark Lady: And you left him where he had collapsed, gave orders for everyone to leave him there, and so others had to sneak away and carry him here when he still hadn't returned by nightfall. Do you even comprehend how you risked his life for no reason?

Oh, had all that happened? 

He wondered who it was that had carried him here... No one in his training class helped him or interacted with him because it had been obvious that the commander had it out for him. And no one wanted their superior to target them.

Commander: This is why you don't let just anyone into the military. He's obviously not cut out for the job! His type -

The Dark Lady: And you are apparently not cut out to be a commander. Consider yourself demoted.

He stilled, hardly able to believe his ears. And the commander must have been equally, if not more shocked, because there was a ringing silence after this pronouncement.

Commander: Y-you're demoting me? For him?! If this had been war -!

The Dark Lady: Oh? Is there a war happening right now that escaped my notice?

He could hear the commander spluttering.

The Dark Lady: No. This is not war. So your spartan, bullying ways have no place here.