Author's Notes: Written for the LJ community tammy-drabbles, prompt #77 – "exception to the rule."
"The Price of Command"
Nothing's free, but some prices are worth paying.
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For once in his life, the boy looked like he was about to piss his pants. It was nice to know she still had the ability knock 'em down a few pegs. Put a few years' worth of work into 'em, polish them up, give the lad (or lass) some command of their own, and turn 'em loose on the world hoping they make it a better place than when they were thrust upon it.
And just when they get comfortable, drop a load of blazebalm on them and watch 'em burn. Figuratively, of course. They ought to be good enough by now to dodge actual airborne missiles without her help.
"Are you positively, absolutely, without a doubt—"
Buri reined her pony to a stop and a turned a look on the boy. Man—must stop doing that, she corrected herself.
"Don't make me ask twice, Larse. I was second in command to Thayet long enough to know that this is a job I can't handle on my own. At best you get to throw the title around at parties and at worst I make you push papers all day long."
"What about the bit where you retire in the far, far, far distant future?"
"About that."
Evin wheeled his pony around to face hers. "To reiterate: are you sure you want me to—"
"For the Horse Lords' sake, boy, I asked myself that question a thousand times and still decided to make you assistant commander!"
"Oh."
She held up a staying finger. "On one condition, Larse. If—" Pause. Sigh. Correction. "When you succeed me as Commander, I want you to make Miri your assistant. I'm giving her command of the Seventeenth, and I want her there keeping an eye on you when you take over the Riders."
Buri had the unique experience of seeing a Player that had nothing to say.
It was a short lived silence. "That's—can you—is that allowed?"
"I'm Commander, I can order whatever the blazes I want. That is an order, by the way. It's Miri as your assistant or nothing. Is there a problem with that?"
"Possibly," he responded reluctantly, avoiding her gaze, looking instead at the scenery in the vicinity of his pony's hooves. "People will talk."
She snorted. "People always talk. Look at it this way: I'm making this easy on you. You don't even have to think about whether it's right or wrong or infringes on propriety. Miri deserves the position, no matter who she spends her free time with, and that's nobody's business outside the Riders. You get what you want and I get what I want. It'll be issued as my last order to you as your Commander. What do you say to that, Larse? Do you accept?"
A slow grin spread on Evin's face. He straightened in his saddle and snapped an off-center salute. "I accept, Commander ma'am!"
Buri nudged her pony back into action. "Just don't get cheeky with the increased sense of power, that's all I ask."
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