Skylar's shoes drummed the steady rhythm with the heels as she walked through the palace hallways. The heads were turning as she passed, and the nobles were whispering, not even trying to cover their mocking smiles. At this point, she didn't pay them any attention. She had more pressing matters to attend to.

Her new sword was hanging proudly and openly at her belt, and her black and red army uniform was crisp and fitting perfectly to her feminine figure. Master Bailey was beyond happy when she asked him to design the first-ever female army uniforms.

It'd been already two months since she was appointed the Lieutenant. At first, everyone looked at her as if she had lost her mind, even the soldiers. But they learnt very quickly that even though Skylar was a woman, she was not a stranger to the ways of how the military worked. After the first few spectacular duels, the soldiers treated her like she always belonged to the army.

The nobles were harder to convince, but Skylar didn't care much for their opinions or the gossip they spread about her. She was doing what she was best at and couldn't be happier.

Skylar reached the War Council chamber, and the guards at the door straightened and saluted her. She nodded to them and entered the room. A huge round table was covered by maps and tokens signifying military forces belonging to different noble families. Gawyn and Alarat broke their conversation and looked up at her.

"Lord General. Your Highness." Skylar saluted.

"Lieutenant," Gawyn nodded briefly. "At ease. I hope you brought good news."

"Yes, sir," she replied without batting an eye.

"Gods! Are you talking at home like this too?" the Queen asked mockingly from her seat at the window.

"We are on an official business, my love. That's what soldiers do," the King said calmly to his wife. "Please continue, Lieutenant."

"Battalions Fourth and Fifth are fully prepared for mobilisation. All soldiers were trained to face the Blighted Lands creatures and equipped in all basic protection charms and wraiths repellers."

"Good. That means we have twenty-five hundred soldiers ready to march east any day." Gawyn nodded and looked at the King. "We need to start moving them soon. The recent reports from Shawcross warn about unusually high activity at the border."

"Yes, you have my permission to proceed whenever you feel it's necessary."

"Are we certain we should act this hastily, your Majesty?" asked an older gentleman sitting at the table. He was an elected deputy chosen by all the noble families as the King's Advisor. After the War of Crowns and the failure of the previous king to manage the kingdom of Lamyria properly, the position was established to make sure the noble families were aware of any possible shortcomings in the government. "There are still no signs of upcoming invasion, and some of the noble families are still sceptical regarding handing you command over their armies."

"Do you think the Blighted Lands will send us a formal notification with a date they want to invade our kingdom?" the King asked pointedly. "We have to be ready for them. There's no way around it. As we've already had five battalions fully prepared, I say it's high time to move them."

"I'll see it's done." Gawyn nodded. "However, I would suggest leaving two of them in the capital in case of... any other disturbances."

"Disturbances?" the Queen asked with raised brows. "What kind of disturbances, Lord General? Are we expecting any troubles in our city?"

"It's just a precaution, your Majesty," replied the General calmly. "It is not wise to send away all our most experienced and trusted forces and leave only a skeletal garrison to guard the base of operations."

"But we do have the forces from other noble families here. That sums up to a full battalion under our orders, does it not?" the King asked.

"It does. But it is a mixture of soldiers from various divisions with different battle expertise. Are you sure you trust the noble families enough to leave the safety of the capital in their hands?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" the King's Advisor growled. "Are you insinuating the noble families cannot be trusted, Lord General?"

"I'm not insinuating anything. Just pointing out the facts," Gawyn replied coldly. "My priority as a general is keeping our kingdom safe. But if something happens in the capital to the ruling court, the whole country will fall in a couple of days."

"I hear you, Lord General," the King nodded. "But what we need right now is to show the noble families that we trust them. Call it a show of goodwill. How can we expect them to hand us their armies if we treat them without respect showing a lack of faith in their intentions?"

Skylar caught a glance from the Queen. Her triumphant smile was clearly saying whose idea the King was pushing right now. Skylar straightened and looked back at Gawyn. He was looking at the map intently, considering all their options carefully.

"Fine," he said eventually. "If that's what you think is best, your Majesty. I'll look onto it immediately." He straightened and bowed his head slightly and walked toward the door. "Lieutenant, with me."

Skylar fell into step next to him.

"Lord General," called the Queen before they reached the door.

"Yes, your Highness?"

"I hope you don't get too swept with all the army movements and forget about our anniversary feast to commemorate the ending of the War of Crowns?" Elinora said with a sweet smile. "As a guest of honour, you absolutely must attend."

"Of course, your Majesty. I would never forget such an important event," Gawyn said with a straight face, but Skylar could see his annoyance in the way his brow twitched.

They left the chamber and walked toward the elevator.

"Are we expecting troubles?" Skylar asked when no one was around them.

"I'm not sure," Gawyn replied, frowning. "I have a bad feeling about this. Sending away all our strongest units is a risky move."

"I think it was Elinora's idea."

"I know it was. Alarat never disregarded my military advice before. The question is, what is she playing at?"

***

Skylar stretched her arms and yawned - the warm bath was what her tired muscles needed. She rubbed her left arm. An angry pink scar marred her skin, but she didn't care. It was just a reminder that she must always be vigilant, no matter the circumstances. Sky started to practice with her shield again, though her arm still wasn't back to its full mobility yet. It was a bit stiff, and she felt fatigued earlier than she used to. She sighed and walked into the bedroom, ready to fall on the bed.

But to her disappointment, the room was empty. It was surprising how quickly one got used to sharing the bed with someone. She was tired, and the only thing she wanted to do right now was to put her head on a nice fluffy pillow and close her eyes. But the vast empty bed seemed desolated and cold. She rolled her eyes and put on her robe.

Before Skylar left the bedroom, she hovered over her nightstand. Is it a good time? She thought. She took a small, lacquered box from the drawer and considered it. If she waited for the proper time, she would probably never do it. She slipped the case into her pocket and left the room.

As she expected, the light from the office was slipping into the dark hallway. She huffed in annoyance and walked in without bothering to knock.

"I'm almost done," Gawyn said, not taking his eyes off the reports.

Skylar looked at a pile of documents in front of him. "It doesn't look like it," she said, crossing her arms.

"Go to bed. I'll be there in a minute, I promise," the General replied, putting down one parchment and picking up another."

"No. I say you are done now," Skylar hissed, leaned over the desk, and unceremoniously snatched the glasses right from his nose.

"Hey!" Gawyn protested and tried to grab her hand, but she was already out of his reach, waving his spectacles at him. "Stop being a brat, Skylar," he said through clenched teeth, glaring at her.

"It's the middle of the night. You can't keep doing that."

"Yes, I can. And you're not going to stop me."

"Well, watch me! Good luck reading without your glasses."

Gawyn sighed and leaned back on his chair. He tapped his fingers impatiently at the desk. "You know you are not helping to speed things up by throwing a tantrum."

"It's not a tantrum. It's intervention. You would work all day and night if I'd let you."

"So what? The work won't get done by itself."

"But you will work yourself sick!" Skylar shouted.

They glared at each other for a moment, and then Skylar sighed. She strolled around the desk and gently put the glasses back on his face.

"I'm sorry," Gawyn said, looking up at her. "I guess I'm still not used to having someone who waits up for me."

"I'm worried about you," Skylar said and caressed his cheek gently. "Your staying up late is not helping with your migraines."

"What's that have to do with anything?"

"It actually has. You know, I did some research...."

Gawyn raised his brow and narrowed his eyes. "What kind of research?"

"I reached out to some healers to learn more about persisting headaches. Most of them didn't have any solution."

"Well, I could have told you that if you asked me," he huffed, annoyed. "It is what it is, and I made my peace with it."

"I didn't. You never tried to reach healers in other kingdoms, did you?"

Gawyn frowned. "What do you mean?"

Skylar smiled. "It is convenient that your sister is an ambassador in Torringland. They seem to have their medicine much more advanced than us."

"When did you even find the time for all that asking around?"

"In the meantime." She grinned and took a little box out of her pocket. "Here. It's for you."

The General took the case in his hand and lifted the lid. Inside, the glasses lay. They looked different from the ones he was wearing for reading, sturdier and bigger. "Why? I don't need new ones."

"You do. These are not for reading. They are for you to wear at all times."

"That's ridiculous. I don't need it." Gawyn scoffed and closed the box.

"I think you do," Skylar said, putting her hand on his, preventing him from putting the case away. "The healers in Torringland connected the migraines with eyes problems. Apparently, it's all interdependent." She took his face in both hands and gently stroked the corners of his eyes. "You can't see well at a close distance, which means your eyes process the light from outside in a different way—controlling all that causes more strain to your mind. That's why you have those terrible headaches regularly. Now those," she said, opening the box again and taking the glasses out, "are made to focus the light that is entering your eyes so that they don't have to do that extra work all the time. It should help to lessen the migraines."

Gawyn looked at her in silence for a moment. She could almost see the gears in his head turning when he was carefully analysing all her arguments. "Even if you are right about it," he said reluctantly, "I still don't think it's a good idea to wear them all the time right in the open. It's like telling everyone about my greatest weakness. I don't like it."

Skylar scoffed. "And what would they do about it, hm? Steal your glasses? Point the finger at you? Send you a threatening letter you can't read? I'll read it for you."

Gawyn laughed and wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her closer. "I can't seem to win an argument with you today, can I?"

"No, I'm very persistent when I want to be." She grinned and kissed his forehead affectionately. "Will you at least try it?"

"I will."

"I'm glad. Now, shall we go to bed?"

"What about all those unread reports?"

"I'll help you get through it first thing in the morning."

"You are incorrigible, Skylar," Gawyn said with a dramatic sigh.

"Sky."

"Hm?"

"You can call me Sky," she said with a smile. "It's what my family always called me."

"Sky. I like the sound of it. Now, let's go to bed." He stood up abruptly and swept Skylar off her feet. She giggled and wrapped her arms around him. There's no way I could be any happier than now, she thought while Gawyn carried her to the bedroom.