Alvis Hall, 0702 hours
"A letter?" Louise raised her eyebrow before she took another spoonful of soup.
"Yes, my lady, from her royal highness," a servant bowed as he gave her the letter in question before stepping back. "By your leave, my lady," he bowed.
"Thank you, you may return to your duties," the mage dismissed him before opening the letter. Upon reading it, her eyes widened in excitement.
"Sir Julius, I'll need to speak with you after breakfast, if it's alright," she addressed the major, who, along with his company commanders, was seated with her and getting some breakfast. All four officers did not bother turning in their weapons to their men for safekeeping.
"What is this about?" Julius asked as he bit into a piece of bread. Lionel, Daniel, and Christian continued on with their meal, listening for anything of significance.
"I can't tell you with anyone else listening, could you meet me outside the academy after this?" she asked as she folded the letter and placed it back into the envelope. The major took a sip of his wine before he answered.
"Alright. Would it be fine if I bring my company commanders with me?" Julius inquired. "This could be something that they might need to know."
The mage paused for a moment before she made her decision. "Yes, have them come along as well," she said.
Louise and the officers quickly finished their meal and filed out of the dining hall. Since it was the weekend, there was not much to do. Before the quintet made it halfway through, however, a voice stopped them in their tracks, causing the mage to huff in frustration and the three company commanders to curse, leaving Julius befuddled.
"Oh Louise, going out for a stroll with so many handsome men? Would you save some for me?" Kirche smirked. The pink-haired mage turned around and glared at her archrival.
"What do you want, you Germanian harlot?" Louise snapped. Behind her, Daniel cracked his knuckles as Lionel and Christian stepped forward to flank her, their rifles' safeties flicked off.
"Ms. Zerbst, I think we've made it absolutely clear that any affront to Ms. Vallière here would result in unpleasant consequences for all of us. So before something regrettable happens," Lionel loaded a magazine and chambered a round. "I suggest you leave us."
"But" – Kirche started to protest, but she was cut off.
"Should I inform our CO here about what you did to Cpl. Holstein a few nights ago?" Daniel snarled.
Julius stepped in before the situation spiraled out of control. "What's all this about, gents?" he demanded.
Daniel turned to face his battalion commander. "Sir, you remember that night when we had our first patrol? Yeah, Zerbst here tried to disrupt Holstein's rotation and tried to get him to sleep with her."
Julius narrowed his eyes at this. "Louise, is this true?" he asked.
"I was woken up by a noise, so I went outside to see what it was about. I saw one of your subordinates leaving that cow's room, and he was angry at having his patrol interrupted, as sir Daniel said," Louise bitterly spat out, the venom in her tone audible.
The major turned to Kirche and strode towards her, stopping right in front of her.
"Zerbst, is it?" Julius loomed over Kirche, flexing his fingers before the redhead, who had suddenly found herself unable to move.
"Y-y-yes, sir," the Germanian stammered. Julius paced around her as he spoke again.
"I will have my subordinates report any incident of you trying to disrupt their patrol the same way you did with Cpl. Holstein. And the moment I receive any report of any such incident, I will have Professor Colbert and the headmaster notified of this, and they will hand out any punishment I deem appropriate. AM I UNDERSTOOD?!" Kirche flinched as Julius suddenly screamed into her face.
"U-understood," Kirche managed to squeak out. The major glared at her for a few more seconds before ordering her to leave.
There was a pause as all five watched Kirche hurry away before Julius broke the silence.
"Is there some history between you two?" he asked.
Louise took a deep breath before answering. "My family, the Vallières, and her family, the Zerbsts, have been rivals for generations. It would be a humiliation to have something, anything a Vallière owns get taken by a Zerbst," Louise ground out.
"No wonder Holstein's still pissed at her," Christian said.
"I mean, with an attitude like that, who wouldn't be?" Lionel chimed in.
"Quite the bitch and a half, if you ask me," Daniel grumbled.
"This reminds me of the Hatfields and the McCoys," Julius mused.
"Good catch there, sir," Christian chuckled.
The mage and the officers continued on their way outside the academy. As soon as they came to a stop beside one of the Challenger IIs, where its crew was conducting preventive maintenance checks and services, Louise spoke up.
"I received a summons from Princess Henrietta," Louise informed the officers. "She wants to see us at the royal palace tomorrow afternoon."
"Any idea why?" Daniel asked as he took out a cigarette from his cigarette pack and lit it.
Louise just shrugged. "I don't know why, but it must be something important. I just hope that it's nothing serious."
Julius digested this bit of information for a moment as he leaned back on the Challenger.
"Bristol, get Lt. Knight's platoon on the line, we need an escort detail," he ordered. "I want them presentable before her highness. Green, I want you to coordinate with Maj. Hudson and get one of his troops to give us some transport to the palace."
"Major, I'll handle this one," a voice cut in. Louise and the officers turned to see a Hussar standing before them.
The Hussar promptly saluted the Lancastrians, who returned the gesture. "Capt. Francis Fuller, C Squadron," he introduced himself.
"Maj. Julius Sickles. These are my company commanders, Capt. Bristol of Arnhem Company, Capt. Graham of Blenheim Company, and Capt. Green of Chindit Company. Before I forget, I'd also like to introduce you to Ms. Vallière, the person who brought us here," Julius responded.
"A pleasure, sir. How did last night's ball go?" Francis inquired.
Julius crossed his arms. "It went perfectly well, thankfully. No hiccups whatsoever. Could you get the transport detail cleared with Maj. Hudson?" he asked.
"I'll see what I can do, Major," Francis saluted once more before being dismissed.
Louise watched the whole exchange between the officers before addressing the major.
"Sir Julius, I shall let you see to your men for the day. I'll meet you tomorrow after breakfast, then we'll make our preparations. I must attend to my studies," the young mage said.
Julius nodded. "Very well, see you at lunch," he replied.
Tristain Academy of Magic, 1733 hours
"Cease fire!" Travis hollered. As his platoon sergeant walked up to the suits of armor that were used for target practice to check each of his platoon member's grouping, he went over the orders that he had received from Julius earlier on the day. His platoon, along with five tanks, had been tasked with providing escort for Louise to the royal palace on the next day. Needless to say, preparations were being made in order to ensure that everything proceeded as planned.
He took a swig from his water canteen as he watched his platoon wrap up their live-fire exercise for the day before he called them for final formation and safety brief.
"Alright, listen up, gents," he began once his platoon was assembled. "We're gonna be meeting with royalty tomorrow; yes, that means that we'll be seeing her highness, so I expect you all to conduct yourselves professionally. The last thing this battalion needs is to get involved in some kind of scandal, so help me God, if any one of you ever fucks up on this one, I'll put my boot so far up your collective asses that you'll be tasting sweaty socks and salty feet. Understood?"
There was a collective chuckle as his platoon responded in the affirmative. Travis allowed himself a small smirk before continuing.
"One last thing before you leave. Don't drink and ride, don't smoke and fly, don't swim when you're high. Don't do anything that'll end up getting you in the local prison. If you do end up in one, make sure you contact your section leader and establish dominance quickly. If you're planning on heading out to the local brothel, for the love of all that is holy, wrap it before you tap it. Lastly, remember that lights out is at 2300 hours. Platoon, ten-hut!"
Forty-five pairs of boots clicked in unison as 1st Platoon stood ramrod straight. Travis swept his eyes over them for a moment before he dismissed his men.
"Fall out!" he barked. His men linked up with the rest of his company in the courtyard. Travis turned around and made his way to Alvis Hall for dinner with the rest of the platoon commanders. Even in this world, rank had its privileges.