The sun had just begun to creep up over the horizon, painting the morning skies in brilliant, rosy pinks. I swallowed, watching the sky, and my hand subconsciously went to smooth my dress. It was quite different from the one I had worn the night before, as it was much thinner, and settled on my body, unlike the ridiculous hoop-skirt. I wasn't forced to wear a corset, either, and the dress was a deep blue color.
Forbes was to the left of me, looking much like he would like to fall asleep right then and there. He was dressed in his uniform, a dark jacket, pants, and boots, along with a cap on his head. He was leaning on one of the numerous horses beside us, his head resting on its body. His eyes began to close shut, so I tapped his shoulder. He jerked, and opened one eye in annoyance.
"Yes, Princess?" he said, the irritation obvious in his voice.
"You were falling asleep, Cabot." I replied, trying desperately not to smirk at his expense. Forbes wasn't the only one who had to wake up early, but I was channeling my early-morning crankiness into frustrating Forbes.
"I am not in the mood for childish jokes this early in the morning." Forbes snarled. "So, if you will please allow me to get some sleep, it would be greatly appreciated."
"Your nap won't be very comfortable standing up." I pointed out in mild amusement. Forbes just stared at me for a while before letting out a sound that sounded much a growl. I watched as he slowly sunk himself down onto the grass below, and then lay down, covering his face with his cap. Just as he did so, however, Robert walked up to us. "Forbes?"
Forbes squinted up towards the man standing beside me. He sighed before slowly getting up, sticking his cap back on the top of his head where it belonged. Forbes saluted Robert, and Robert saluted back, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.
"Good morning, Adelina." He nodded in recognition, and I did so back to him. Robert's gaze lingered on me for a second longer, before he faced the dirty-blonde man beside me.
"Dare I ask, what were you doing on the ground?" Robert asked, folding his hands behind his back. Forbes' signature smirk returned.
"You see, Rob, I was trying to sleep on my horse," Forbes explained. Robert's eyebrows shot up. "but Miss DeWolfe reminded me that standing up while trying to sleep wouldn't be comfortable, and that inspired me to sleep on the ground instead."
Robert was quiet, his face hard and stony, all signs of his smile vanished. Forbes' smirk soon faded off of his own face, and he looked at his friend understandingly. It took me a while to comprehend, but I finally realized that Robert wasn't really in the joking mood. Maybe it was the nerves.
"I expect that you know how to ride a horse?" Robert turned towards me suddenly, his hand stroking the horse beside him. My eyes widened. For some reason, despite the fact that I was standing right beside many horses, it had never occurred to me that I would have to actually get on the horse and ride.
"I have to…?" I trailed off, stepping back a few times, my eyes shifting to look at the horse warily. No way was I getting on that. It was huge, and the beast was stomping its hooves on the ground in indignation. Surely, it would throw me off the first chance it got.
"My God, Princess." Forbes let out a loud laugh. "You are to accompany us to war, and you can't even ride a horse?"
"Forbes," Robert said warningly, casting Forbes a scolding look. Forbes immediately fell silent, even though I knew some snide comments were itching to spill themselves out of his mouth.
"I can ride a horse, thank you very much." I stuck my nose in the air haughtily, knowing that Forbes was just dying with amusement inside. "I just prefer not to."
"Are you frightened of them?" Robert asked and for a moment, I could detect the sympathy in his voice. I opened my mouth to lie, to say 'absolutely not' or something of that context, but the animal's snort and tossing of the mane stopped me. Instead, I swallowed.
"Yes." I said quietly, hanging my head again. Forbes looked at me skeptically, as if he thought I was lying. I blinked at him innocently, my cheeks heating up with the embarrassment of my confession.
"You're not serious, are you?" Forbes asked bluntly. "Rob, if she's afraid of a silly horse-"
Robert spoke then, cutting across Forbes complaint and his eyes watching me intently.
"If it would be of any comfort, you may ride on the back of my horse." He offered, making Forbes' laugh and wiggle his eyebrows suggestively, his incredulity immediately replaced by a sort of happiness. I cast him a sharp look, but he was still grinning wickedly.
"Is that safe, Robert?" I questioned meekly, taking another step back and studying the four-legged creature. It snorted again, causing me to jump a little.
"I'm sure it is." Robert replied briskly, gripping the reigns and hoisting himself up onto the horse in one fluid motion. Forbes, still smirking, bowed dramatically and motioned towards the animal. I swallowed, my throat suddenly feeling remarkably like sawdust. Forbes was still grinning so widely that I was sure that his cheeks would split.
"Well, Adelina," Forbes nodded towards Robert. "get on. We don't have all day."
Silently cursing the cocky blonde man, I stepped tentatively towards the horse. Robert extended a hand, and I gripped it tightly. I was mentally preparing myself to actually get on the horse when I felt a pair of strong arms encircle my waist and lift my entire body off of the ground. I didn't even have time to scream because in those few moments, because then Robert used that opportunity to pull me up towards the saddle. I somehow ended up behind him, both of my legs on one side of the horse. My heart was pounding and threatening to jump out of my throat, and I felt my eyes widen in fear.
"Now, that wasn't so hard, was it, Princess?" Forbes looked on the verge of laughing, but one glare from Robert quieted him. I was still partly in shock, so I didn't answer. Robert, in turn, glanced at me.
"All right, there, Miss DeWolfe?" he asked, his eyebrows furrowing in either disgust or concern. I managed a nod, slowly releasing his arm. I thought I saw a little half-smile form on his mouth, but he turned back to Forbes before I could be sure. "Are you ready?"
"Ready as I'll ever be, Colonel Sir." Forbes joked, pulling himself onto his own horse easily and winking at me. "I'm sure the men have assembled by now."
Robert nodded, and with a flick of the reigns the horse started forward. I let out a little gasp at the abrupt burst of speed, and I grabbed Robert's arm again.
"Miss DeWolfe, I won't be able to steer with you clutching onto my arm like that." Robert said, not unkindly but still a bit sharply. I immediately let go, my cheeks reddening like the morning sky. Forbes raised an eyebrow at Robert.
"Well, she has to hold onto something, or she'll fall off." He pointed out. "Then you'll be short an assistant."
"What exactly are you suggesting, Forbes?" Robert snapped, his voice sounding a bit on the annoyed side, making Forbes smirk. Robert's horse stomped the ground impatiently, jolting me a little. I gasped a little, biting my tongue to keep from screaming. The metallic taste of blood ran through my teeth, forcing me to unclench my jaw.
"I am suggesting that she hold you somewhere other than your arm." Forbes deadpanned, his face completely serious. "Possibly your shoulders or your waist."
Robert spluttered a little, trying to form a comprehendible sentence, but failing rather badly. Forbes blinked at us innocently.
"It was merely a proposal." Forbes said nonchalantly. "If you are uncomfortable with that, she could always ride behind me."
At that, he gave me a wink, causing me to flush again, but I gently tapped Robert's shoulder. "If you wouldn't mind, I'd rather stay on your horse."
"Seems that she's taken a liking to you, Robert." Forbes snickered, his sea-colored eyes flickering in pleasure. I was the one who glared at him that time as I wrapped my arms around Robert's waist tentatively. Robert stiffened under my touch, but didn't say a word.
"Do you have a tight enough hold on him, Princess?" Forbes teased, making me wonder exactly why he was getting so much enjoyment out of tormenting me. Robert flicked the reigns, and we were off, Forbes' horse trotting beside us.
"Forbes, are you envious?" I countered. I felt Robert's chuckle at that, and I bit back a smile at Forbes' surprised face.
"Of whom would I be envious? Not Robert, surely. I know I could get your arms around me at any time." Forbes stated, the corners of his mouth twitching up into an arrogant grin. I shrugged nonchalantly.
"I assumed you would be jealous of Robert, actually, as you wish to be in his place at the moment." I retorted, my arms tightening around Robert's waist as the horse began to pick up speed. "However, now that you have denied that, I take it that you are bitter towards me?"
"And why would that be, Princess?" Forbes cocked his head, one eyebrow raised in mock interest.
"Well, you hope to be in my place, holding onto Robert, wouldn't you?" I said finally, getting much enjoyment out of Forbes' wide eyes and Robert's quaking shoulders. I smiled at Forbes innocently. He opened his mouth as if to retort, but then closed it again.
"Forbes, quite frankly, I agree with you." Robert said once he had stopped laughing. "It is a pleasure to have Miss DeWolfe around."
About an hour later, we had ridden into camp. Forbes had, eventually, gotten tired of our banter, and had galloped in front of us. I looked around at the swarm of African-American men, who were staring at Robert and I. A few of them jeered and snickered. Forbes noticed us, and as the drummer boys assembled and began to play their beat, he shouted out, "Pre-sent, arms!"
I wasn't sure what that meant, exactly, but Robert and I began to slowly make our way around the crowd. They smirked and laughed.
"How d'we look, Colonel?" one asked, in a bit of a taunting manner. The rest of his sentence was lost on me, because I didn't even understand a word he said. Robert ignored the jeers, but I felt him stiffen again. Others had begun to yell at Robert, asking when they would get the uniforms and when they would be able to fight. Robert just stared at them calculatingly, not saying a word.
My eyes landed on one man. He looked oddly proper and was wearing glasses, and I knew that I would like him. I was sure that his situation was like mine and no one thought either of us had a place in the war. He smiled brightly up at Robert, but from what I could tell; Robert didn't do anything to acknowledge him. I watched as the man's smile faded as we passed, so I gave him a small smile myself. He seemed happy with that, and his grin reappeared almost immediately.
Another man nodded at Robert, and this time, Robert nodded back. I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do, so I let my head bow down, too. The man seemed amused, and he nodded once more.
We finally reached Forbes, who was once again smirking at us. A large cigar was hanging out of his mouth and Robert saluted him. "Morning," he mumbled, and Forbes saluted back.
"Major Forbes, if you will help Miss DeWolfe off of the horse?"
"I would be absolutely delighted, Colonel." Forbes said, winking once at me. I suddenly felt extremely vulnerable as I slowly released Robert's waist for the first time in over an hour. Forbes stepped down from the podium he was standing on with a few other men.
"Don't you dare let me fall, Forbes." I growled under my breath, glaring down at him. Forbes put on an extremely shocked face.
"And why would I let you fall, Princess?" he smirked dangerously, opening his arms mockingly. The fall suddenly seemed very far (even though it couldn't have been more than five or six feet) and I held my breath. I squeezed my eyes shut and let myself slide out of the saddle. I yelped, and the next thing I felt was dirt embedding itself into my mouth. I groaned, slowly pushing myself up into a sitting position.
Forbes and Robert were staring at me, wearing similar expressions of amusement. Robert seemed a bit stunned, though, while Forbes was looking up at the sky while trying desperately not to laugh. Glaring at the blonde man who had let me fall, I stood up angrily, brushing myself off. The recruits and officers were tittering amongst themselves, most trying desperately to hide their snickers while a few laughed out loud.
"Are you all right?" Forbes gasped out into my ear, as if it took all his effort and breath to avoid laughing. I scowled at him sourly, and he chuckled. "I'm sorry, Princess, it was an honest mistake."
"Yes, thank you for catching me, Major." I snapped, sarcastically dipping down into an overly-exaggerated curtsy. "What a gentleman."
The other officers had been watching us were chuckling amongst themselves. Forbes' scowled a bit, and to shut them up, he bellowed, "Atten-tion!"
The recruits in front of us quieted, even though they now all wore broad smiles on their faces. Robert looked around at them before speaking. "Good morning, gentlemen! I am Robert Gould Shaw, your commanding officer."
I half-glanced at Forbes, who looked like he was on the verge of bursting into laughter. Had Robert even prepared for this?
"It is a pleasure to see you all here today," the recruits stared at him, a somewhat bored expression on their faces. Robert blinked nervously.
"It is my hope that the same courage, spirit, and honor that has brought us here together will one day restore this Union."
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Forbes nodding in agreement. I turned my attention back to the crowd, trying to find the man whom I had smiled at earlier. My eyes found him, and he was nodding and smiling encouragingly. Robert seemed a bit more poised now, and he ended with a loud, "May God bless us all!"
The recruits cheered and whooped. Robert had a look of relief on his face, but he managed a smile. One of the officers that had been laughing at me earlier said, "Form companies?"
Robert nodded. "We will commence with forming companies!"
This was Forbes' cue. "Company officers take charge!"
Various white men maneuvered their way into the crowd, screaming orders and pushing the recruits around. Forbes attempted to ignore this, and he spoke loudly, his cigar wiggling in his mouth with every word, "You recruits will report to your respective officers by the letter of your company in alphabetical order, which is in the top left corner," he picked up a sheet, pointing at it calmly despite the chaos in front of him. "of your muster sheet!"
I stared at the crowd in a form of awe and horror. The men were still bellowing, and trying to fight against the others pushing against them. It was simply tumultuous. Robert was staring at them with helplessness, probably debating whether or not to calm them. He apparently decided against it, and turned away. I exchanged a glance with Forbes, who also looked somewhat disturbed at the happenings in front of us.
One of the officers, a tall man with dark, unforgiving eyes, sidled up beside me, "Better get used to it." He snarled into my ear, causing chills to run up my spine, but I still looked straight forward. "This is how war is. They don't even have their guns yet."
The horror of the truth of his words sunk in, and I swallowed as he walked away. Forbes had joined me now, "Having second thoughts, Princess?"
I opened my mouth to reply, but no words came out. He looked at me knowingly before uttering two simple words, "Me too."
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