Skylar woke up at dawn, and for a moment, she lay motionless, looking at the unfamiliar ceiling. When her mind finally caught up, she got up with a sigh. Her body needed exercise. She always started her day with some physical activity and sword practice. It let her wake up, relax and get rid of any anxiety – which she felt plenty, considering her situation.

She kneeled at her coffer, which was brought to her room yesterday, and opened the lid. She rummaged through clothes and frowned. Something was not right - the only garments inside were dresses. Skylar was sure she packed at least two breeches, loose shirts, and tunics for her morning exercise. But the fact was, only dresses remained.

Then she remembered the displeasure on Gawyn's face when she announced that she would keep her training and the realisation dawned on her.

"That bastard!" She gasped.

She got up and checked every wardrobe and chest in her room. Still, the only clothes were feminine pieces that were entirely unsuitable for anything more than relaxed strolling around the gardens. Growling with annoyance, Skylar put on a first dress she grabbed and stormed out of the room, intending to find her husband and demand the return of her clothes.

But the moment she stepped out, she almost crashed at a soldier standing in front of her doors. He was startled at the sudden rush movement and jumped back, looking at her with eyes wide.

"L-Lady Skylar!" he stammered and bowed his head.

"Oh, hello there," Sky said, straightening her back and brushing the hair off her face. "Who might you be?"

"My name is Preston, and I was assigned as your guard, my lady," he said, bowing again.

Skylar cocked her head, looking the man up and down. He seemed young, not much older than her. His face was round, and so was his belly, which pushed out on his chainmail.

"Why would I need a personal guard at the mansion?" she asked, raising her brow. "I saw the guards posted outside. Is that necessary?"

The soldier straightened his back and puffed out his chest. "You are a very important person now, my lady. It is important to ensure you are safe and sound."

"Does my husband have a personal guard following him everywhere he goes?"

"He has personal guards that accompany him when he is out and about in the city," Preston said hesitantly. He started sweating under Sky's sharp gaze.

"And at home?"

"No, I don't believe he has, my lady."

"Then why are you here? I'm not going out any time soon."

"I... I'm sorry, my lady. That was the order from the Lord General himself. I was to accompany you at all times."

"To keep me safe or to keep an eye on me?" Skylar demanded coldly with narrowed eyes.

"My lady! I... I wouldn't dare. Please believe me. I'm here only to ensure your safety."

With one swift movement, Skylar grabbed the handle of his sword, unsheathing it and stopping it an inch of the soldier's throat. The man shrieked in surprise and jumped back, but he hit the wall behind him. Skylar pressed the blade to his neck.

"M-my lady," he stammered as his face flushed red.

"Are you supposed to protect me?" She scoffed. "It hurts to think that my husband has so little respect for me to assign a novice to guard me."

"My lady, please..." The soldier squirmed.

"Lady Skylar, whatever are you doing?" a calm but stern voice called.

Skylar looked at Zachariah, strolling towards them, his brows raised high. 

"I'm checking the quality of our soldiers. And sadly, it is very disappointing."

"My lady, can you please lower the sword?" the Head Servant asked, stopping a few feet away from her. "I think Preston has already learnt his lesson."

"Fine," Sky said, lowering her blade. "But I'm keeping the sword."

"That is not necessary, my lady," Zachariah protested.

"No? Then why did my dear husband assign the soldier to guard me at all times? I would have thought the place was crawling with assassins! I certainly don't feel safer with him around," she said, gesturing to a trembling soldier. "I'd rather keep the sword."

"I'm guessing Lord General did not discuss the matter with you, my lady?" Zachariah said with a sigh.

"He did not. I would love to discuss it. Right now would be perfect."

"Unfortunately, that's not possible. Lord General has already left the estate. I'm afraid he won't be back before nightfall."

"Of course, he won't," Skylar huffed.

"May I have a suggestion, my lady?" Zachariah asked, taking a step closer.

"Sure."

"How about you give the sword back to Preston, and we cease the guard duty until you discuss it with Lord General?"

"But I have my orders!" the soldier protested.

"Do you want to get back to your commander saying Lady Skylar disarmed you and took away your sword, leaving you defenceless and useless?" Zachariah asked sharply.

The soldier shuffled nervously from one leg to another. "No, sir."

"And there you have it. Lady Skylar, is that acceptable for you?"

Skylar looked at the Head Servant with new respect. Even though he was a civilian, he had enough guts to order a soldier around.  She immediately liked him a little bit more. 

"Fine," she said and swiftly changed the handle on the sword, handing it to her guard, pommel first.

When the man took the sword, his hand was still trembling.

"Marvellous. Now, as we have this little misunderstanding out of the way, please follow me, Lady Skylar. The breakfast is served, and we need to be swift because your schedule for today is packed very tightly."

"My schedule?" she asked with raised brows, following the servant.

"But of course. Today you will start your tutoring. Some of the professors are already here. Let's not make them wait too long."

"That's just great," Sky said with a sigh.

***

Gawyn was right when he said Skylar wouldn't have time for anything else but her educational catching up. After a quick breakfast, her day was filled with never-ending lessons and assessments. She barely had time to eat between boring lectures on history and practical classes on court etiquette.

At dinner, in the evening, her head was pounding, and she was so exhausted she only wanted to go back to her room and collapse on the bed. She was sitting alone at a large table, moving food around her plate.

"Are you well, my lady?" Zachariah asked, who came to see if the meal was to her liking.

"I'm fine. Has my husband still not returned?"

"I'm afraid so, my lady. He usually returns home late in the evening."

"Huh," Skylar murmured. "How convenient."

"There is no need for you to wait up for him. You can retire to your room, and I will send a word once Lord General returns."

"Thank you, Zachariah. I think I will do just that," Skylar said, standing up from the table.

She went back to her room and sat on the bed with a heavy sigh. Her first day was even worse than she had imagined. Her tutors ensured she knew precisely how poor her education was and how much she still had to learn in double time.

Skylar let herself fall onto the bed. Her hand instinctively went to a necklace - it was one of the few things that genuinely belonged to her. Her thoughts drifted to home and happier times. Before she knew it, she fell asleep.

***

Skylar's slumber was cut short by a sharp knock at the door.

"Come in," she said, sitting up and rubbing her eyes. Outside it was already pitch black.

Kayla came into the room and curtseyed. "I apologise for disturbing you, my lady. You wanted to be notified when Lord General returns. He is in his office if you wish to talk to him."

"Oh, right. Of course, I'm coming," Skylar said, getting up and running a hand through her messed hair.

The maid looked at her with worrying eyes. "You look tired, my lady. It is late if you'd prefer to talk to Lord General tomorrow..."

Sky scoffed. "And let him slip away before dawn again? Not a chance. I have a couple of matters we need to discuss urgently."

"As you wish, my lady." The girl bowed her head. "Please, follow me."

The maid led her through the silent halls of the manor to the ground floor. Skylar noticed the guards posted in different parts of the building, concentrating around the entrances and making rounds through the whole place. Kayla stopped at lavishly decorated doors and knocked firmly.

"Lord General, Lady Skylar is here to see you," she said, opening a door a fraction.

"Let her in, please," came an answer.

The maid took a step back and invited Skylar with a gesture. "Shall I wait for you, My lady?"

"No, it's late. I won't need anything else for today. You can get some rest."

"Thank you, my lady." Kayla curtseyed and walked away.

The office was a large room laden with shelves full of books and filing cabinets. Gawyn was sitting at a beautiful mahogany desk – its legs were sculpted as lion paws. Skylar was standing at the door, taking in all the elegant interior. The General looked up from the documents that covered the entire tabletop. The glasses slid down and now were haphazardly balancing on the tip of his nose. Skylar felt an unexplained urge to fix them for him, which made her frown.

"I thought you would be asleep," Gawyn said instead of greeting.

"I was," Skylar admitted and strolled closer to the desk, stopping a foot away from it and crossing her arms. "But we need to talk."

"Right," he said with a heavy sigh and took off his glasses, putting them down on the desk. "I've heard you assaulted your guard."

"It's not my fault you assigned me a complete amateur. Do you know how insulting it is for me?"

"Insulting?" Gawyn asked with a raised brow.

"You know I was a Captain. I used to oversee a company of over a hundred soldiers! And you assigned a novice to guard me! Did you think I wouldn't pick up on that?"

"I didn't think you would care." He shrugged.

"Of course, I care! Because if fighting is not his best quality, then the only reason he was assigned to me is to watch me! What were you thinking? That I will run around on a rampage and wreck your home or something?!"

"Will you let me explain, or are you going to shout at me all night?" Gawyn asked calmly.

"That depends if I like your explanation."

"I didn't assign him to spy on you. Does he look like a cunning and clever type to you?"

"No, not particularly," Sky agreed, still frowning.

"Believe it or not, the world is not revolving around you. Here in the capital, we have all sorts of soldiers. Serving in the Royal Army is perceived as an honour, so noble families send their sons to serve as soldiers. Usually, it's just for a couple of months up to three years. Do you know what's the problem with such recruits?"

"They are not motivated to do their best. They bide their time." 

"Exactly. It's a headache to manage such a bunch of spoiled rich brats. That's why they are usually assigned to easy and not very important tasks..."

"Like guarding noble ladies," Sky finished.

"Yes. Preston is an even worse case. His family insisted that he join the army, but the man has neither the slightest inclination nor talent for swordsmanship or physical training. I assigned him to you because Evergreen is the safest place, and nothing dangerous would ever happen here. So, he can scrape away those few months, and his family will be so proud that he guards the General's wife. Everyone will be happy."

"Oh," Skylar finally said. Suddenly she felt terrible for scaring a poor man.

"Yeah. I'm pretty sure you almost gave poor Preston a heart attack."

"Well, I wouldn't if you cared to fill me in all of that yesterday," she scoffed.

"I didn't think it was important. You might work on keeping that temperament of yours in check. It won't help you at court," Gawyn said, closing his eyes and rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"My temperament? I wouldn't be so annoyed have I not discovered you went through my things!"

"I didn't."

"Then where is the rest of my clothes? The ones that are not dresses?" Sky hissed.

"I asked your maid to get rid of them," Gawyn said calmly, looking back at her.

"You had no right to do that!"

"I told you what you can bring with you. Training clothes were not one of those. I thought I made it clear I want you to cease sword fighting."

"And as I recall, I refused," she growled.

"And here we are. Look, I won't change my mind on the matter. You have a lot of work to do without the unnecessary disruption that brings you no benefit. Instead of wasting your time on futile notions, focus your efforts on your studies. I've seen your tutors' reports today, which are not very impressive." 

He put his glasses back on and turned back to his documents. "If that's all, I'd like to get back to my work. We will be having breakfast at the palace with the King and Queen tomorrow morning, so we need to be ready to depart at dawn. Go and get some sleep."

"Fine," she grumbled and turned on her heel. "But this discussion is far from over!"

"Good night."