People had said much worse to her than Oswin had, but his carefully thought-out constructive criticism cut her more deeply than Hector's rudest insults, or Erk's most sarcastic comments.
She knew why, of course. Because of her feelings for him, feelings she knew were dumb and girlish and pointless. Worst of all, she didn't want to get over them.
All she wanted was a kind word from him now and then, a little praise, some sign than he didn't hate her.
"Serra?"
She turned to face him, adding a little emphasis to her already-sincere pout, hoping to arouse a little remorse in him.
"Sorry, didn't mean to slow everyone down again," she muttered. Oswin sighed.
"Listen, about before-"
"No, don't apologize! It's better that I know the truth...that you all hate me," she snapped.
"Serra, if I truly hated you I wouldn't have bothered with the criticism in the first place," he said. "It's because I care that I'm so hard on you. I only want what's best for you."
"You sure have a funny way of showing it! Sending me out to the front lines and not even praising me for coming back unhurt after all that fighting!"
Oswin sighed, and his worn features softened a bit.
"Well...maybe you're right. I did put you in a dangerous position, and I must admit I was worried for you," he said. "You...you did a good job, Serra. This army is lucky to have you along."
She wanted to gloat, wanted to squeal that she knew he couldn't truly hate her after all. But when she opened her mouth to speak all that came out was a sob of relief. His face registered surprise as his arms went to encircle her.
Curse my silly emotions! Oh, how embarassing this is, a woman of my standing suddenly a blubbering mess!
But damn it all, she'd never been happier in her entire life than she was at this moment.