"C'mon now m'gel, I'm sure it wasn't all that bad!" Jamie consoled Eula after she'd recounted her adventurous undertaking with Daikon on the Log.
The young haremaid sent him a tortured look, to which Jamie gave a small chuckle and shook his head. "He had me flippin' licked! I'm not great, granted. But-" She stopped here to give a frustrated sigh, clapping her paws over her eyes. "That was humiliating!"
Jamie tried not to seem too amused by Eula's obvious distress. "Daikon's jolly well skilled and clever, as much as y'don't want to hear that, wot." He leaned back against the rocks on the shore where they stood talking. "Mayhap y'can make him out to be a sore loser an' all, with his bragging and rubbing it in, eh?"
Eula mumbled something through her paws that Jamie didn't quite catch. "Pray, what was that?"
She lowered her paws, staring at Jamie. "The cad didn't rub it in! He was… nice about it."
"Oh," Jamie blinked, obviously surprised by this bit of information. "What d'ya mean? What'd he say?"
"He just… when I fell he helped… never mind," she said in exasperation, not wanting to go into details.
"Well…" Jamie drew out, lifting a brow at the flustered maid. "Mayhap he was apologizing, wot? Unless I wasn't payin' attention, he hasn't said anything nasty t'you during training."
"Ha!" Eula exclaimed humorlessly. "Go take a nap, Jamie. Your thinking is all out o' whack!"
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Eula never knew why, but she actually enjoyed the feeling of waking up with the sun for a morning of dawn training. Getting dressed, and strapping on her blade, she made her way breezily down to breakfast while it was still pitch dark outside.
She found Del already sitting at the table, though her head lay sleepily on her folded arms. Eula plopped down next to her, grabbing a scone and pouring herself some tea.
"G'morning!" She said cheerfully, causing her friend to jump in surprise, and turn her bleary eyes on the younger haremaid.
"Not really," Del muttered, her voice thick and groggy. She grabbed her own cup and took a sip to clear her voice. She gave a sharp shake of her head and forced herself to sit up.
Eula watched her, amused as she ate. Del glanced sideways at her, smirking.
"You look flamin' well pleased with y'self," she smiled, grabbing a scone for herself, eating it as she watched Eula from the corner of her eyes. "Stop lookin' so jolly well awake. You should complain about being up at this atrocious hour, wot!"
After finishing a breakfast that seemed more than appropriate, Eula leapt up. "I'm goin' for a run on the beach b'fore training. Wanna come?"
Del shot Eula a narrow gaze, nonplussed. "Do toads fly?"
Eula pretended to think about it for a few minutes, before shrugging innocently to her friend. "No?" When Del said nothing, Eula prodded her gently. "So you comin'?"
Del snorted in derision, shooing Eula off. Grinning, the younger haremaid let it go and jogged off.
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Training that morning ran as expected. Eula had made friends with most of the others in her patrol, and wasn't confined now to only training with Del.
She was working with one of the younger of the group, a male named Thatcher that was quite a bit quieter than most others she met. Because of this, she resisted the urge to create small-talk, and instead, concentrated on her movements, listening intently to the instructions that Jamie would be spouting at intervals.
No one else seemed to notice, but Eula felt Jamie was somehow more subdued this morning than other mornings. He was usually as energized as she felt during training sessions. Today he walked around less, and was a lot less outgoing with his group.
Just as she made a mental note to ask him after training, she was tripped flat onto her back.
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Eula was brushing sand from her tunic, deciding that the quiet ones were indeed the ones you had to look out for, when the training session was called to a halt.
The group of exhausted, sleep-deprived Long Patrol hares wandered off to go about their day; some, no doubt, to fall back into bed for a couple more hours of shut-eye.
Eula held back, sheathing her rapier as she waited for everyone to leave. Del turned about, noticing Eula not following. She beckoned the younger haremaid along. "C'mon there, bunch o' the others are meeting up at the springs."
Eula waved her off. "Go on. I'll catch up, wot." Del shrugged, not particularly curious or interested in what held Eula back. She turned and jogged to catch up with the departing hares.
Jamie sat on a bench in the corner of the compound, his sword in his lap with a cloth and a whetstone. He brought his gaze up to Eula. "Somethin' wrong m'gel?"
"Was gonna ask you the same question," she replied, walking over to him. "The others were bein' really sloppy, and normally you would've boxed some ears for it."
Jamie shrugged noncommittally, looking back down at his weapon as he ran his cloth over the smooth blade. "Guess I was just tired."
Eula stood there, shooting him a dubious look. Jamie looked up again to catch the expression. He immediately attempted to change his demeanor.
"Okay then, Oh Impertinent One," he said, obviously trying to shed some light on a situation that was making him uncomfortable. "Yesterday evening I got wind that the lot o' you are soon to be bumped up, Sire's wish, 'tis."
The haremaid gave several blinks, her expression a mixture of shock, confusion, and the slightest bit of excitement. The eccentricity of the situation outweighed the excitement of a promotion at the moment.
"You-but-I just-wait-all of us?" Eula stumbled over and over, not sure which question she was wanting to be answered foremost. He nodded vaguely, dropping his gaze as he ran the whetstone absently over his blade again.
"Well that's, I mean… why…" She paused. "But that's jolly good news, Jamie! Why're you tryin' to bring on the rain?"
"It's not just-" He started vehemently. He stopped himself, biting back a sigh. "I guess so, Eula. I guess so."
Eula frowned. "What's got you so down, huh?"
Jamie was quiet for a long while, and Eula knew he was contemplating whether he was going to give her information or not. Finally, reluctantly, he looked up.
"You all aren't be promoted 'cause you're ready…" he started slowly, his expression quickly softening Eula's when she went to argue. "You're bein' promoted because we need more fighters for a war in Mossflower."
Whatever Eula had been expecting, it wasn't that. She stood there, skeptical. Of course, that was what the Long Patrol was for. To fight wars. To protect others. But….
It was a different experience entirely when you found out you would be personally involved.
"Oh," was all she could manage at the time, her mind whirring with disjointed thoughts and questions. "Jamie, I-"
"I have t'go," he interrupted, frowning slightly as he sheathed his blade. "Officers council." It hurt him noticeably to see the mixture of confusion and uneasiness on Eula's face. "Swing by later, we'll have a chat."
Eula nodded distractedly, and hardly notice when Jamie turned and left.
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A/N- Yay for being productive. =) Send in the reviews, please!