Disclaimers: no, don't own, probably never will, BUT all that's here, so far is MINE, so yeah, enjoy!
Chapter 2
Friend or Foe?
"So, that girl really beat you up bad, didn't she?" asked a red-haired boy sorrowfully from the side of the infirmary bed.
"No! She didn't!" snapped Cemal, sitting up abruptly on the white linen bed. The roomful of uniformed boys snickered at his blatant denial.
"Oh, come on, Cemal! You can't admit it, 'cause you're embarrassed that we know, but that doesn't mean you have to-" The boy was interrupted by a chorus of shouts and guffaws.
"Yeah, Cemal! Don't lie to yourself."
"Just get over it."
"Forget about it."
The uproar of all the boys laughing and mocking him echoed slightly in the large room. Cemal had to shout to make himself heard.
"I'm not lying to myself! Can you all just stop! All of you! It's not like I was totally beaten by her! I have two more fights to go, and I have a good chance of winning them. So, just stop!"
"Hmm, right. Oh, and by the way everyone, the betting pool ends by the beginning of the next match so you should all put in your bets by then. The odds are definitely for the girl," called the redheaded boy jokingly to the rest of the room. The room exploded with laughter and a few boys actually got up and gave the boy money.
"Very funny, Ryan," said Cemal dryly.
"Well, if it's open, I'll place a bet on the girl. Who would bet on Lal? Even a girl could beat Lal," drawled a scoffing voice at the open doorway. Everyone's heads whirled around to stare at the owner of the voice. A boy with smooth, gelled blond hair and cold light brown eyes was leaning on the frame of the door. All the light expressions in the room immediately turned to ones of immense dislike, especially Ryan and Cemal's.
"Hey, Ryan. I thought that you only invited my friends to come," said Cemal, though not looking at Ryan, his eyes locked on the boy.
"Of course I did. He's not invited," replied Ryan, not looking at Cemal either, and his voice dripping with absolute contempt.
"Well, it's always nice to see my comrades in such good humor. Why Lal, aren't you enjoying all the attention from a girl? It's the only attention that you'll be getting from a female for a long while, unless by some miracle your dog turns up," taunted the boy. Immediately, the crowd of boys surged upwards, bristling, eager to start a fight with the lone boy.
A brief memory of pity in violet-blue eyes flashed through his mind and stopped him from cheering his friends on. "Don't, guys," Cemal commanded softly. All the boys turn to him in confusion.
"What do you mean, Cemal? This jerk-face is all alone and you don't want to pay him back? You've got to be kidding. Your honor's at stake!" said Ryan, stunned.
"I know, Ryan. And thanks guys. But, it's not right to ambush that idiot when he's all alone. If he continues, though, he'll have to confront me in dishonoring me, all right. Then, our duel will be refereed by the Commander, where he can't cheat like he usually does." Cemal's voice was of the utmost calm in the midst of the angry boys. He was remembering something… something someone had said about honor and chivalry.
"Now, who's dishonoring who?" A dark glint of anger had ignited in both the stranger boy's eyes and Cemal's more gold than green eyes. Ryan thoughtfully laid a restraining hand on Cemal's shoulder, preventing him from jumping up and attacking the boy, which was what happened to be on his mind. In Cemal's injured state, he wouldn't hurt the other boy, only himself.
The tension in the room was thick enough to dull a knife.
"Ahem," said a familiarly regal voice, breaking Cemal and the boy's glaring contest. Silently, Cemal prayed that it wasn't who he thought it was. If it was, it would just make matters worse. If it was indeed whom he thought it was and she didn't introduce herself right off, he had already told Ryan that the boy he had seen wasn't a boy and it would not help. It definitely would not help the situation. And although Ryan wouldn't reveal the person's identity to the idiot at the door, he would tell all his friends, it would get out, and everyone would incessantly tease him, more so than they already were. A finger tapping the shoulder of the boy at the doorway broke him away from continuing his banter.
"Excuse me. I really hope I'm not interrupting anything. The nurse told me to come right in," said Calista politely. The boy turned and stared disdainfully at Calista. Calista raised her eyebrows and formed unconscious hauteur. The roomful of boys got suddenly quiet. Cemal glanced around the room, lifting an eyebrow.
"Who are you?" asked the boy, flicking his gaze up and down Calista. Her brows lifted a fraction more and returned a quick size-up of the boy. After a moment of tense silence, Calista threw a glance at Cemal, who had his eyebrows lifted still.
"Cal. My name is Cal. Who are you?" she returned, though her voice was slightly lower pitched it remained regal, commanding. Both Ryan and Cemal frowned. Identical thoughts shot through their heads. Obviously, this girl was trying to mask her identity to the rest of the boys and they weren't quite sure why. But they definitely knew that they didn't want any help from this- this- girl. Ryan glanced at Cemal and saw a nod that consented to his next action.
"Yes, introductions would be appropriate wouldn't it, Cemal? This is Calista Khan, the girl that fought Cemal this morning," said Ryan, emphasizing the word girl. The boy at the doorway started and stared at Calista disbelievingly.
"You mean beat." Calista's eyes flashed and her expression hardened. Cemal thought he glimpsed a quick thread of hurt in those deep blue eyes, but they were hard as marbles when he looked again. In the corner of his eyesight he noticed the boy at the doorway give Calista an evaluating up-and-down gaze again, this time his eyes brightened interestedly. "And that name's not entirely correct. The name's Calista Abassi." The light, commanding female voice emphasized on the surname.
"I don't see the difference," Cemal quipped at her, anger and resentment identical to Ryan's boiling in his eyes.
"You don't need to. It doesn't concern you," she replied arrogantly. "And you still haven't answered my question. Who are you?" she asked the boy.
"This is Perry and you don't need to know him," Cemal cut in before the boy could answer for himself.
"Trust me, you don't want to know him," added Ryan.
"I think I can judge that for myself, Cadet Lal. Same to you, Cadet O'Malley. And I'm sure that he can answer for himself," replied Calista haughtily.
"You are quite right, Ms. Abassi. I can introduce myself perfectly well. My full name is Peregrine W. Cromwell the Third. And it is a pleasure to meet you." He smoothly swept up her hand and kissed her fingers, drawing out the word 'pleasure'. Cemal could feel his hackles rise. Calista didn't seem shocked whatsoever. She merely raised an eyebrow and waited until he had stopped. He had, however, not released her hand. After a few unsuccessful tries to slip her hand out of his without being too obvious and Cemal's hackles rising higher, Calista seemed to give up and returned to the buzz of the conversation whirling about her.
"By any chance, would you be the son of Lord Cromwell the Second?" she asked politely, seeming to be more out of courtesy and small talk than curiosity. He wondered if she knew that Perry was indeed the son of the stuffy lord. The resemblance was very obvious. His son was just as aggravating and vain.
Somewhere in the midst of his friends he heard a muttered "No shit, Sherlock." which brought up a round of nervous laughter, but was ignored by both the girl and the intruder.
"Ah, I see that you have heard of my father. How very pleasing. And might you have a family crest that I have heard of?" he asked, prying and smug. He seemed to think that the girl had a relation to the inner circles of the British court and that she knew him because of his family's fame there. Cemal snorted, he knew better than that. Calista had an Arabian surname and he highly doubted that she was connected to the idiotic cliques of the Europe's high royal courts.
But of course, there were those strikingly odd eyes. Those certainly weren't Arabian. His hazel eyes were quite different from most, but were also a hereditary trait that had been passed down from centuries upon centuries and were far from abnormal in the Muslim culture. Those that possessed the lighter, golden eyes than most were thought to be blessed by Allah and destined to be notable characters who would stand out in the society. And even though they weren't abnormal they weren't exactly common and his mother often crooned and bragged about her son with his pretty eyes. A smile twitched his mouth at the thought of his overprotective, sometimes silly, and overly lovely mother. She loved his light eyes just like he loved her fun-loving, twinkling, dark ones.
Ryan's hand that was resting on Cemal's shoulder suddenly tightened, bringing him back to reality. He flinched at the minute but startling pain and shrugged Ryan's hand off of him. Flicking his eyes back at Calista, his eyes widened.
Calista was smiling a secretive smile, as if sharing a private joke with someone. "I might have." The smile was annoying to all and everyone, but Cemal didn't want it to leave. "And it was very nice to meet you, Cadet Cromwell the Third. If you would kindly let go of my hand? I would very much like it back," she added, tugging her hand again, but Perry wouldn't oblige her request.
"But I like it very much where it is, pretty, little Calista." His tone was flirtatious as he rubbed his thumb over her knuckles.
The crowd of adolescent boys rolled their eyes and two boys mocked Perry by imitating him in the most ridiculous of ways. One put on a falsetto voice, placing his hand in the other's hand. The other boy, taking the hint, played along and twirled a pretend mustache, air kissing up and down the other's arm. "Oh, stop, Perry! You're embarrassing me!" said the boy with a falsetto voice, pulling back his hand and tap smacking the other on the cheek. Though the entire room burst out laughing, Calista, Ryan, and Cemal remained tense and alert. Perry seemed to be ignoring everyone, but Calista.
"I'm warning you now, Cromwell. If you do not release my hand, you'll seriously regret it." Her voice was casual, but there was an undertone that Cemal had heard before. It was that tone that her voice had taken on when he had supposedly insulted her beloved chivalry. It was a dangerous undertone. A very dangerous undertone.
"Eh, Ryan, a word of advice. Better duck and cover before the explosion," muttered Cemal, glancing back and forth between Perry and Calista. Perry's smooth face had taken on a stubborn expression.
"Aren't you enjoying my attention, sweetheart? There are too many women that love it. I can have any of them I want." In one quick, fluent motion, Calista twisted the hand that was grasping hers. The crack that this emitted echoed and before the room could gasp in horror, Calista had used the same hand to slap Perry across hard the face.
Perry cried out loudly, falling to the ground, and cradling his injured wrist in his chest. Everyone in the room unconsciously took a step back. Calista's swift reaction had startled all of the boys, making them think twice about the girl that had beaten the top of their second year class in a duel that morning. It didn't seem to be just a lucky streak for the girl or a bad luck streak for Cemal.
"Then, next time, get one of those women to woo. I'm obviously not one of them," she said coldly. Cemal saw those eyes of hers glitter perilously close to the edge of rage. He gulped and remembered the look on her face just before he had blacked out. All he had really seen were those eyes, burning into his soul. Now, he could see everything from third person's perspective. The spectator, not the fighter and not the challenger. It was strange and all the scarier. Before, he could just remember the quick bursts of pain that she had inflicted, now he could only see the blurs that were her fast attacks.
"Cadet Lal, I was sent to deliver a message to you from Colonel Stromston. He asked you to report to his office ASAP. The Colonel needs to speak to you. As you know where the office is, I don't need to escort you. If you would like assistance I would suggest Cadet O'Malley help you," she said briskly. Then, she spun on her heel and left the room with long strides. Rushing past Calista, two nurses entered the room looking alarmed.
"The scream? Who screamed?" asked a flustered looking nurse. The boys pointed to Perry who was moaning and still cradling his wrist. The nurses clucked and led him away.
"This is going to hurt. I'm pretty sure you have a sprained wrist and maybe a dislocated bone. We'll give you some painkiller and some anesthetics, but that won't dull all the pain. You'll have to live with it for a couple of days. And we're going to have to pop that bone back in," said the other nurse, clucking too. The boys in the room immediately made noise of interest. The nurse glanced back and called behind her. "A few of your friends can come and comfort you. This is really going to hurt."
They all looked pleadingly at Cemal, who nodded and grinned. The malicious expressions on their faces did not seem one bit comforting. At least for Perry. They all wanted to see the pain that was going to be inflicted on him.
"Give our dear friend my regards," he said, waving them on. Fifteen boys rushed to the door, grappling to get to the door first. One, however, stayed behind with Cemal.
"Ryan, you can leave if you want to. I can walk to the Commander's office alone, if you're thinking that I can't."
"No, I know. The humiliation of that idiot can wait. I'll get him some other time. It's not really like us getting him, anyway. It was that girl." He shrugged and offered Cemal a hand. "Here, we'd better get going. The Commander's not going to be happy if we're late." Cemal looked at the outstretched hand and smiled.
"You're really a great friend, Ryan," he said, placing his hand in the proffered one. Ryan grinned slightly foolishly and pulled Cemal onto his feet.
"Yeah, well you are too."
~*~*~
Calista was waiting for them in front of the office. They didn't notice her right away. Though they weren't preoccupied with anything, just talking. Ryan did not even need to support Cemal on the way there, Cemal hadn't obtained any leg injuries in his duel. However, Ryan who viewed her first, had to nudge Cemal in his bruised ribs to point out Calista to him.
"Ouch! Don't do that!"
"Oh, sorry, I forgot. I just wanted to let you know that she's here."
"Who?
"She, as in-" he tapped his nose. Cemal looked up to see Calista leaning on the door jamb with one leg bent on the dark wood frame, hands clasped behind her back. She seemed bored, whistling and rapping her knuckles against the wood behind her.
"What took you two so long? Please don't tell me that you were watching that boy scream in agony, just for fun," she said, rolling her gaze over to them. She knocked the back of her head against the door and pushed off of it before, it jerked open. She didn't even bother to wait for their reply before striding inside. Both Cemal and Ryan rolled their eyes.
"Please don't tell me that you were watching that boy scream in agony, just for fun," mimicked Ryan, wrinkling his nose in disgust and shaking his head.. "Like we would ever want to do something like that. At least not when she took him down. If we did it, though-"
"Are you two coming or not?!" They jumped. Calista had stuck her head back through the doorway with a frown creasing her forehead.
"We're coming, we're coming. I still don't see the stampede," muttered Cemal. Calista snorted and pulled her head back into the office.
"We'd better get going, before she makes a stampede," advised Ryan. Cemal grinned in reply and let Ryan lead the way in. When they had finally entered, Calista, Khan, and the Commander were already seated and were all apparently waiting for Cemal to enter.
"I'm so glad that you've finally decided to grace us with your presence," said Calista sarcastically. Her uncle laid a restraining hand on her shoulder and she quieted. Cemal lifted an eyebrow, but said nothing. After Ryan had deposited his injured companion safely on a chair he made to leave the office, quickly and quietly.
"Cadet O'Malley, did I give you permission to leave?" demanded the Commander calmly, stopping Ryan in his tracks. He slowly turned to face his commanding officer and gulped. It was apparent that the Commander was intimidating to everyone, not only Cemal. After he had made a quick salute he glanced at Cemal, who nodded in reassurance.
"Er- well, no, sir. I was just going to wait outside for Senator Cadet Lal to finish his business here. This is none of my business, sir, and I did not want to intrude." The Commander smiled, pleased at his reply.
"Yes, that was correct, Cadet O'Malley. Though not quite legitimate, it was very discreet. You'll make a fine officer, O'Malley." Ryan beamed at the unexpected compliment. "You may stay if you like, cadet. This business is not exactly confidential, the entire academy will know about it soon enough. You might as well hear it."
"Yes, sir!"
"All right, now on to business. This duel. Cal has won the first round. She has informed me that the second match will be held one month from today. As to give you time to recover and train for it. She thinks that apparently you were at a disadvantage, having no time to train beforehand. So, she wants you to come prepared. She will inform both of us of the weapon precisely two weeks from now," stated the Commander earnestly. He glanced around at the recipients of his explanation.
Cemal followed his gaze. Calista stood stiffly, her uncle restraining her with a mere hand. Ryan stood pleasantly at Cemal's side, listening only. Cemal noted in the corner of his consciousness that Azim, the man whom followed Cala around like a guard dog, was not present. He would ponder the reason for that sometime, but meanwhile he returned his attention back to the Commander. The man was staring pensively at him. Cemal tilted his head and raised his eyebrows in query. The Commander just nodded in reply.
"Cadet O'Malley, I sincerely hope that the students in this Academy do not gossip, but I fully expect the word of this particular match to get around. I have been informed that this will be a speculated duel, the whole school invited to watch. Further details of this will be announced in the near future. Do you understand my meaning, cadet?" The Commander's brown eyes glittered, staring into gray-blue hued eyes of Ryan. Ryan saluted, standing taller with pride.
"Sir, yes, sir!"
"Very well, then. Do be discreet, though. Onto other matters. I will inform the rest of the Academy myself of this next decision. I have decided to allow young Cal to stay in the student dormitories. She will be allowed to attend classes along with the other first year cadets, until the next match."
"What?! But sir-" protested both Cemal and Ryan simultaneously. They glanced at Calista, who was smiling smugly, arms crossed over her chest and Khan, whose neutral expression did not conceal his true feelings that reflected in his eyes. Disapproval gleamed in his dark liquid brown eyes. Obviously, Khan did not feel as his niece felt about the Commander's decision.
"It will only be a temporary arrangement. Until, Cal has proved herself, that is. I assume that I needn't state the obvious if indeed she does prove herself in your duel," said the Commander calmly, raising a bushy eyebrow. Ryan was shocked speechless, but Cemal found his voice in time to protest with a sufficient justification.
"But sir, my whole point is that she has not proved herself."
"Yet," corrected Calista even more smugly. Cemal fought the urge to slap the smug smirk off her face.
"Still, sir. You act as if you expect Ms. Abassi to actually win this duel. Do you have no faith in Cadet Lal?" asked Ryan pointedly, recovering from his initial shock. Cemal almost flinched at Ryan's outright dare to the Commander. He didn't expect a welcome reply.
"After this first round, I'm not so sure anymore, Cadet O'Malley. I must say that I'm disappointed in Cadet Lal. I expected more, but I cannot undo the past," retorted the Commander bluntly. Cemal flushed and lowered his head in shame.
"But if that's so, do you have to show the world that you have no faith whatsoever? I highly doubt that that's proper," said Ryan in Cemal's immediate defense again, as Cemal seemed to have none.
"I agree with you there, Cadet O'Malley. But as I am the commander in chief here and appointed administrator of this academy, I may do whatever I please. I have been advised by someone whom I trust utmost that I should allow this 'bending of the rules'. And although Hafiz objects-"
"I don't object, Ackerley. I merely doubt if it's the right decision for Cala. She jumps into these things too quickly, without much thought and she doesn't realize what a big responsibility this really is," interrupted Khan, his eyes narrowing.
"Oh, Uncle Hafiz. I do not. I thought about this long and hard. For several years. I resent the fact that you don't respect my judgment or the Colonel's. I can understand your complete disregard of my judgment, as I'm young and 'less experienced', but not the disregard the Colonel's. You have always said that you respect Colonel Stromston's judgment more than anyone else's opinion, with exceptions for two others. How can you possibly turn hypocrite and blatantly contradict yourself?" argued Calista, pointedly.
"It's not that, Cala. But, your Aunt Sharma-"
"Oh, Aunt Sharma, is it now? Aunt Sharma gave her blessings to me before we left. Unlike you, she only wishes for my happiness in my future. She doesn't want to force me into the family business, where I don't want to be. And she's the real owner, Uncle Hafiz. You think I don't know that? She only lets you control the business because you're better at it. I don't have to run it if I don't want to," snapped Calista thoughtlessly, jerking out of her uncle's grip, a warrior's ferocity on her face. She was about to fight tooth and nail to stay in the Academy and Khan seemed to know it. She would pull out all the stunts and hold nothing back if she wanted something and intended to get it.
He sighed resignedly and threw up his hands in defeat. "All right, all right. But you remember our agreement. You swore on your honor that you wouldn't break it."
"I know, I know. I promised. And I promise that I won't forget," said Calista, as if she'd been repeating herself over and over again, though an excited glint lit her eyes. Cemal frowned thoughtfully, while Ryan kept his silence, making mental notes to inform the 'gossip column'.
"Sir?"
"Yes, Cadet Lal?"
"Where will Ms. Calista sleep, if she's to stay?" asked Cemal, his eyes narrowing thoughtfully.
"Ah, quick thinking, cadet. But not quick enough. Cal has already brought this matter up and it's already been resolved. She shall stay in the student dormitories like you other cadets, but she won't share a room with any other student. She'll stay on the first year floor with the other first years. Are there any objections? They won't matter anyway," the Commander's face was sharp, daring anyone to give protest. Cemal could feel Ryan cringe both at the Commander's harsh words and even harsher expression.
"No, sir."
"Good. Then, let's get Cal settled." The Commander made to stand, but then hesitated and remained seated. "Er- Lal, a private word with you." The statement was more of a question. His tone bemused Cemal. Why would the Commander merely ask something of him when he only needed to order him to do so?
"Yes, sir. What about Ms. Calista and K- Master Khan?"
"O'Malley, you do the honors of leading Cal and Khan to the dorms. We'll catch up to you later." Ryan nodded in acknowledgment, gave Cemal one last reassuring glance, and led the way from the room. Khan followed behind him, but Calista hesitated for a moment, staring at the Commander. She flicked her gaze over to Cemal and then turned and left. Cemal furrowed his brow in concern and looked at the Commander. He stood slowly and walked to the door, clicking it deliberately shut. He returned to his chair and sat, sighing.
Cemal waited patiently for the Commander to begin. "Cemal," he said slowly. And Cemal knew that the news was going to be bad, because the Commander never used first name basis unless it was something important or someone he knew too well. Cemal opted for the former. "Cemal, there's something that Cal discussed with me this morning. Something that she said was important I discuss with you immediately. I don't mean any offense and neither does she." Cemal snorted at this and the Commander frowned.
"Cal doesn't mean to insult you, Lal. You'll just have to take my word for it. It's just that… it's, well, complicated. Maybe, you'll understand one day, when you get older. And in any case, Cal wanted me to ask you… to offer you…" The Commander was very hesitant about stating the actual subject to Cemal.
"What did she want you to offer me, sir?" prompted Cemal.
"She wanted me to offer you a chance to… a chance to… bow out. To yield the duel and hand it over to an… an older cadet."
"What!" He jumped up, out of his chair and leaned closer to the Commander, looking to see whether he was joking with him. The Commander's face was somber and serious. Somehow, Cemal knew that this was a genuine offer of withdrawal for his part, not a joke or a hoax to embarrass him.
"Cemal, she said that she didn't want to hurt anyone and that, well, you would be hurt if you continued. She means serious business and when she means it…" he trailed off, waved his hands in the air a bit to finish the sentence for him and folded his hands on the desk. Cemal was almost speechless.
Almost.
"Sir, you… you expect me to accept this offer, don't you?"
"It's your decision, Cemal. I, personally, don't want to see you hurt. I know Cal's abilities all too well, I just thought before that… well, maybe I might have been wrong." When he didn't continue or elaborate Cemal's interest and curiosity was piqued, even though he was still somewhat in a state of shock.
"Sir?"
"Well, young Lal, if you must know…" said the Commander resignedly. "You're just too much like your father, you know. A regular smart-ass family," he added under his breath.
"Thank you, sir. I'll take that as a compliment," Cemal replied smugly. The Commander responded with a few well-chosen oaths at the audacity and brass of the younger generation, before continuing.
"I've gotten into the habit of watching over some of my more… likable comrades. At any rate, after they take their leave of me, I keep tabs on them and their families, if they have any. I always accept their spawn into the academy if they apply, etceteras, etceteras. For those that stay in the service, I… make certain things, within my power, easier for them."
"You mean, you sort of smooth the rocky path of promotion for them," said Cemal. The Commander nodded with an approving glint in his eye.
"Quick, very quick, young Lal. Yes, you might say I smoothed that particular path for them. Anyway, as I said, I keep tabs on those that leave and Hafiz was one of my Academy chums. When I found out that his wife's brother's child was sent to them, I immediately responded with an invitation to join the academy when the kid was old enough. Hafiz refused, point blank. I was shocked, naturally." He noticed the surprise on Cemal's face and added dryly, "Hafiz was a terrific colonel, long before me, though we were the same age. A ton of medals and recognition from the higher ups. At least up until he retired; his wife had inherited the family company along with the kid and she wanted Hafiz back home to manage it. Ah, well, when he left he made a good note for me and persuaded me to take his place as head of the Academy." He grinned for a second.
"So… get on with the explanation," said Cemal, too interested for formalities. When the Commander glared at him and he added a hurried, "sir." The Commander nodded and continued.
"Of course, I was confused as to why Hafiz wouldn't want a kid of his to enter the Academy, like we did. I just had to know why. So, I got some contacts on Earth to sort of check out the situation, a little digging around. I eventually got some info on the kid. Referred to as Cal or Cala, parents died in some bombing, and some more interesting junk. But I still didn't know why Hafiz wouldn't send the kid to the Academy. So, I got the contacts to actually tap into the security cameras of Hafiz's home and take some pictures of him and the kid." Cemal raised an eyebrow and the Commander shrugged.
"Hafiz's used to all that happening by now. The only access we actually got was the outside cameras, nothing else. All the other ones were heavily encoded and could only be accessed by Hafiz or his personal family," he said, wryly. Cemal couldn't resist a small smirk.
"Anyway, we got some shots of Cal and her outdoor training exercises. What a kid! She was so impressive, that it didn't occur to me that she could possibly be a girl."
"Oh. Khan didn't inform you of her gender, so you assumed she was a boy. She didn't wear any formal Muslim attire, like is appropriate for a female in our culture, when she was outside," added Cemal, half to himself, remembering the clothes that she had worn when he had met her. No veil, no head shawl, nothing that would shield her face from men. She hadn't worn anything that was proper for Muslim women. It was almost shameful, but no one seemed to notice or care. It was weird. The Commander nodded in confirmation.
"If any at all. Khan has just informed me that Cal has been going through that tomboy stage that some girls go through. He said that he thought that she would grow out of it by now, which is why he let her learn all that martial arts junk and fencing that she learned. She's more or less equal to a cadet in third year, here at the Academy. I was planning to move Cal up when she got here, if she did as well as I thought she would. Of course, I probably won't be doing that now. Since, I found out… Well, I guess his wife persuaded Hafiz to allow Cal to attend the Academy. He said that he hoped that she wouldn't want to, apparently, however, she was ecstatic at the idea."
"So… what you're saying is that I've been fighting a trained and experienced soldier, basically," said Cemal slowly, almost disbelievingly.
"Sorry, Cemal. I didn't realize that she was so… I didn't want to believe… after I found out that…"
"It's okay, sir." He didn't seem to be able to say anything else; he was so shocked.
"So, you'll accept the invitation to yield?" asked the Commander, deliberately keeping his face neutral. Cemal said nothing for a moment, his face clouded with indecision.
"No. Frankly, I don't care if she could match up equally to a third year. I accepted the challenge and that's that. I won't back down. And there's no way that you or anyone else can make me back down." The Commander beamed proudly at him, but found that Cemal wasn't paying any attention to him. His determined eyes were staring out of the tinted windows onto the side pavement, where there stood a girl with intense blue eyes staring back at him.
* Author's Notes *
well, hello again! this is so far, my last chapter that I have ready to be published, so ur gonna hafta wait for the next one and until my writer's block disappears. Anyways, I hope u've enjoyed this chapter, which is the explanation of a lot of things about my favorite lil character. I'll get more into exactly everything when I finish my other main GW fic, but for now, I'll leave u to wonder y exactly a girl wants to go to an all boy's military academy. Hehehe, I jst love making u suffer. J/k. J
-w.r
