It made no sense.

Why had the bandits attacked Shuroo? She knew it was all a diversion to get as many knights away from the castle, but why did they attack Shuroo and not a farther town?

Clara was sat with her head between her hands as she studied the maps of her beloved home, trying to make sense of everything that had happened.

The bandits took nothing, only burning what their eyes grazed over and fighting those who tried to keep them away.

None of it made sense to her. 

Groaning, she leaned back on the chair, rubbing her temples to chase away her growing headache. Alan poked his head out from behind one of the large bookshelves, sniggering at her pout.

"You look like a hedgehog when you pout like that." He laughed, walking over to her with a few more books in hand.

"Did Hazel tell you that?" An amused grin began to form at her lips.

"No?" He furrowed his eyebrows, laughing. "Don't tell me, she called you a hedgehog before?"

"I swear you two are the perfect match." She giggled, shaking her head, confirming that her best friend had indeed compared her to an angry little hedgehog before. "I can't believe I hadn't introduced you sooner."

"I will forever be holding a grudge on you for that."

"Oh shut up." She laughed, throwing her glove at him, aiming for his face.

Their laughter died down and they sat in silence, going through various books about different subjects. Alan trailed his eyes over her face, noticing the dark circles under her tired eyes. Her lips were chapped and dry.

"You haven't been sleeping well, have you?" He asked quietly.

Clara's head shot up at the question, opening her mouth to lie and reassure him but he sent her a look which made her sigh and look down again.

"The nightmares don't get easier." She admit. "I see the same thing over and over...I can't escape it."

"I know what you mean." He offered her a smile. "These nightmares will haunt us forever, but you'll learn to accept that they're nothing but a figment of your imagination."

"I completely forgot you had them too." She smiled sadly. "Are you better now?"

"They got worse again after the war...but yes, I'm alright." He shrugged. "I still have a lot to live for, I can't let them get to me."

Clara smiled softly, taking in his words. He was right; they both had so much to live for, mere nightmares can't stop them from living their life.

"Also, drink Chamomile tea before bed, it does wonders." He pointed his quill at her with a smile.

"I'll take your word for it." She smiled back.

Back on the training field, Clara felt weird.

Most of the new recruits stared at her with an unreadable expression on their faces. She felt uncomfortable under their gaze but she had no choice but to face them all and train them.

"Tough crowd." Alan leaned down to mutter to his friend.

"Oh thank god, you see it too." She let out a breath. "I thought I was just paranoid."

Walking over to one of the troops, Clara spoke with their captain, getting a report on everything they had worked on and their performance. She couldn't shake the feeling of their eyes studying her every move, as if they were belittling her. 

The uneasy feeling in her stomach grew larger.

"So I heard you need to practice your hand to hand combat skills." She stated clearly, raising her voice so everyone would hear her. "Now, get in order and show me your stance."

The recruits moved agonizingly slow to their spots and lazily raised their arms in front of them. Clara's eyes widened at how awfully they attempted the stance, since it was the simplest of all. Maybe it was their blank expressions or the few glares sent her way, but she felt like they were only doing this to annoy her.

"Uhh..." she shook her head. "So first of all, your footings are all wrong."

Clara got in position, showing them the correct way to stand.

"Part your legs as wide as your shoulders and put your left leg forward, if you're left handed; put your right leg forward. Next you're going to raise your fists in front of your face to guard it. Make sure your elbows are tucked in so your chest isn't left open for attack."

Like before, the recruits barely moved.

Noticing this, Alan stepped closer to her and gave the recruits a harsh stare. "You heard your general, now hurry up; laziness will not be tolerated."

As if a switch flipped in them, they all stood straight and followed her instructions. Clara smiled gratefully at Alan and gestured for him to help her guide them. They then began to show them basic attacks to see where they had faults and tried to help them fix it.

Clara grew frustrated with their attitude and decided the nice general act wouldn't suffice anymore with them. She gave them orders and called out any sluggishness, no longer giving them the benefit of the doubt.

She recalled the way Edwin dealt with such recruits and followed in his steps, knowing that going easy on them would do them no good.

Alan was concerned about their behavior, for they had only resisted Clara's orders, yet they followed his without a second thought. His eyes trailed over to Robin, who had been standing far away, training his new group of recruits for the week.

"Clara!" A little voice called out, followed by a giggle.

The young woman turned to see her sister running towards her and grinned, opening her arms and kneeling down for her to jump into them. She stood up with Lila in her arms and held her tightly.

"Run five laps then take a break." She turned to the recruits and ordered.

She turned away to Hazel who had just appeared before she could have seen the look the young men sent her way, making Alan yell out the same order again with a roll of his eyes.

"You left without saying good morning." Lila mumbled as she rested her head on Clara's chest.

"I'm sorry, butterfly. I had some work to do." Her heart ached, knowing her sister saw less of her lately.

She then grinned at Hazel, who was leaning back on Alan's chest with his arms wrapped around her. 

"Did you scare Victor like I told you to?"

"Oh absolutely!" She laughed. "He really did sound like a little girl!"

"Damn it, I can't believe you did that without me!" Alan exclaimed, feigning hurt. "This is the biggest betrayal of my life, Hazel. I'm breaking up with you."

His tone of sarcasm must've sounded convincing to the girl in Clara's arms because as soon as the words left his mouth, Lila pushed her head up and glared at him.

"If you hurt auntie Zee, I will hurt you."

The three adults stared at her in shock; their eyes wide and lips parted. Hazel laughed delightedly and turned to her partner.

"You heard her."

"This is the best day of my life." Clara stated with a grin, still looking at the little girl who went back to playing with Clara's stone necklace like nothing happened.

They then noticed the prince walking towards them, except he wasn't facing them. His eyes were locked onto someone in the distance and his eyebrows were furrowed.

"Hi, who's that?" He said, pointing at a blonde knight yelling at his group of recruits.

"Robin." Alan answered with a grimace.

"He's a knight?"

"One of the troop captains." Clara nodded. "Why?"

"I saw him with my uncle the other day."

"What does that ferret have to do with the knights?" Hazel asked, crossing her arms. 

"Nothing...supposedly." Clara answered.

Alan was lost in thought, still staring at Robin with distaste. He could no longer see the boy he grew up with in him. He knew that whatever the reason was for him to be speaking to the duke would not be something good. He recalled how the recruits reacted to Clara the same way Robin had when she was named general.

Something was brewing right under their nose; and none of them knew what it was.

"You okay?" Clara nudged him.

"Hmm?" He broke out of his thoughts. "Yeah, I'm okay."

"Ready to go get the new weapons?" She offered a small smile.

"I'll race you to it?"

"You are so going down!"

"We'll see about that!"

The two knights broke into a sprint towards the town, laughing at the cheering yells of Hazel and her sister and the occasional sarcastic remark from Victor as they faded from view.

"Any word from Julian?" Alan asked as he looked over some arrows, taking one in his hand and observing all the small details.

"He's teaching horseback riding today, I believe." Clara replied, adding some last minute touches to her newly designed weapons.

"It's awful how you two don't spend enough time together." He sighed.

"The life of knights." She chuckled. "Didn't expect much more honestly."

"It drives him crazy, you know?" Alan smiled sadly. "He wants to take you out and spoil you, but the two of you are just so busy lately, it's impossible to find time."

"It's the thought that counts." She shrugged, trying to hide her blush. Alan noticed her red face and grinned.

His grin faded and was soon replaced with a frown. He bit his lip gently, thinking of his next words carefully.

"Hey..." He started. "Did those recruits seem...weird to you?"

"Yeah, it was odd." Clara nodded. "I felt like I had to crawl out of my skin."

"Do you think Robin is responsible?"

"Robin?" She stopped working on her weapon and stood up straight, her eyes glazing over. "He was the one responsible for those recruits, wasn't he?"

Alan nodded.

"Huh..."

"And the fact that he was seen with the duke as well?" He added. "Seems highly suspicious to me."

"You're right..." Clara nodded.

Then it clicked in her mind.

"Shuroo..." She whispered in realization.

"What about it?"

"Not many people know that it used to be my home." She explained. "The attack was directly in Shuroo and it was like they were reenacting exactly what happened the night my dad died..."

Alan's eyes softened.

"The duke has access to our citizen profiles, doesn't he?" He knew the answer. "He planned the attack just to get to you."

"We can't be sure," she bit her lip. "but it's possible."

"What do we do?"

"Keep it on the down-low for now." She replied. "We'll investigate this matter ourselves; we can't trust just anyone."

"Wait, you said Robin and Matthias went after the bandits when we chased them out, right?"

"Yeah, they did!" She realized and her eyes widened. "No wonder they 'lost' them!! They're working together!"

"This is bad, Clara."

"I know..." She felt her heart drop at all the possible outcomes of their situation. "We have to be careful; Victor already suspects that he's trying to take over the throne."

Clara cursed herself for not figuring it out sooner. It was all happening right under her nose and she fell for every trick and trap they set up.

She began to think that they were right; that she was not worthy to be the general.

"Stop it." He said.

"Stop what?" 

"Blaming yourself." He stated. "I know that look, Clara."

"I can't help it."

"I know, but hey, we can fix this." He pulled her into a comforting hug. "There's nothing we can't handle. We've been through so much together already; this is just one more step we have to take."

"You always know what to say, Al." She smiled. "Thank you."

"What's family for?" He smiled down at her.

With the comfort of the other, they knew that whatever life threw their way they would be fine. They could take on any challenge and still prevail.

Bring it on, Rowan.

Question of the day:

What do you all think of Alan? 

I personally love him a lot. I've always seen him and Clara like siblings and I'm excited to explore their relationship more. Not to forget Alan's history. He and Clara are very alike.

Like always, I hope you love reading this book as much as I do. Thank you for all the support, it means the world to me <3