Beautiful Scar

Ten

Scarlet caught a glimpse of the King and Queen of the Ire Kingdom and saw the grave expression they bored at their child. She pitied them.

And then, she looked over at Lance, whose back was wider and height was taller than hers.

“That was unnecessary”. Scarlet said to Lance. “Thank you but I can handle this”.

Lance merely walked, not answering her, until Scarlet turned to Dylan and spoke.

“You want to punch him for making you face that just now, don’t you?” Scarlet gave a taunting smirk. “I don’t blame you…In fact, feel free to try harm him instead”.

Dylan did not respond. He left the place first not bothering telling the two Captains where he was heading.

He was irritated by those two Captains, indeed.

“Well, he’s always in a foul mood, or at least that’s what I heard of”, Scarlet muttered as he left them. “Besides, what was that for? Despites his intention, he was not colluding with Ronald”.

Though Lance had protected her when she first started out in the military academy, out of Sir Homes’ and King Elias’s order, it was also eventually due to the growing friendship they had for being some of the small sized and timid students at the academy. And she eventually grew to be able to protect him as well when they both were suffering from torments of bullies in their academy days. And now that they had graduated first compared to other peers, being the youngest Captains in the army, no one had dared to touch let alone get close to them.

But what happened just now was not out of saving a comrade, it seemed.

“Well, I was bored on my day off. I wanted to see how this Dylan guy is in person. He’s a lot of work, isn’t he?”

“Credit to his mother, I guess”, Scarlet replied. “And really, must you intrude on my session with my men? You should’ve used your time advising that Brie. I almost got killed by her invention”.

Hearing the latter, Lance laughed. “Oh yeah, I should’ve brought her instead of him, that would be priceless”.

Scarlet rolled her eyes but she did not take his comment to heart.

“It’s all good. Because she promised me to make the next beautiful army uniforms for me and my men. For free.” Her teeth showed.

“That’s not possible”.

“Please,” Scarlet snorted, “With your golds, it is”.

Lance realized where this was going and he fell into her trap. He groaned. “Oh my god, so basically Brie’s negligence costed me your whole unit?”

“Well, and other provisions for future dress malfunctions and stuff”, Scarlet ticked off.

Lance shook his head but he was not angry, just utterly rendered speechless to counter this once junior of his.

Seeing her profile and Fina. They grew up too fast to be these unyielding maidens. They became beautiful but tragically and terrifyingly.

He remembered those days.

Their soft encounter occurred one night, when he was visiting Fina’s household. It was the night before he departed to enter the academy for his third year there. At the time, he was turning 11.

He had spent his holidays within Fina’s castle, not only because he and Fina were close, but he also wanted to receive additional training session from Sir Homes. While he dreaded going back to the academy, especially at the thought of the older boys tormenting him for his bookish and timid nature, he learned to endure the bullying through Sir Homes’ training. And slowly the bullying had lessened, with time and his own defense. But it did not mean it subsided.

Then, on that night, he received his first order from His Majesty and General Homes. But at the time, the order sounded more like a plea, a request, when Lance realized back.

He remembered how Sir Homes and King Elias crouched to his level, Homes held his hand and said, “Lance my boy, Your Uncle and I have a request to make. I have a child that would be entering the academy as a first year there. Her name is Scarlet and she would turn 7 this year”.

At the time, the prospect of a girl entering the military did not surprise him as compared to the age that Scarlet was entering the academy.

His childish mind was impressed at the young age she was going to start training, “That’s very young”, the words came out. He thought he was the youngest for entering at 9.

Homes and Elias chuckled softly. And then, Homes proceeded to reveal Scarlet who was standing, hiding behind Fina, covering her face.

And then he realized, without needing her to turn, fear slowly crept in. Because when he noticed Fina’s beaming innocent smile who was also turning 7 that year, and her smaller stature as compared to his, he worried that this Scarlet girl could not survive, let alone endure the torturous training and torment being thrown at boys his age.

He noticed Fina whispered something to convince Scarlet to lift her face.

And when Scarlet slowly revealed her face, scarred with an eye-patch across her right eye, he covered his mouth in shock.

Scarlet who understood the source of reaction turned again towards Fina.

“I’m s-sorry! I didn’t mean to”, Lance who realized his error tried to amend. He quickly lowered his head. “I will do my best to watch over Lady Scarlet, sir!” the words came out without him thinking.

But Homes and Elias were smiling. And they praised him for being a true gentleman.

“You promise?”

That came from Fina who held out her right pinky finger.

“You promise to look out and take care my best friend, Scar, will you?”

 Scar…

He glanced at the girl who became Sir Homes’ adoptive daughter and his cousin’s companion. She was clenching her fists, almost like controlling herself, from crying or anger. He was unsure.

But he would keep his words. That’s what he was told and taught. He would uphold that honour.

He knelt in front of Fina, as he held his pinky finger as well.

“Scar, look!” Fina called out Scarlet, and she turned her head slowly, “He’s going to pinky promise so don’t worry, okay?”

And at that, Lance also tried to manage a small smile, softly at Scarlet. To let her know he meant no harm, not in a way he had faced and definitely not in a way she had faced before. At that, he noticed the surprise look in Scarlet.

And Fina hooked her finger around his.

Looking back the pinky promise ritual they carried out that day seemed felt more like an oath.

But it was also the order and a promise he failed to properly keep. For the moment he realized boys were gossiping about a small scarred-girl entering the academy to be their punching bag, he arrived too late to see how merciless some boys and young men were.

Even when he came from a royal household, he got bullied, this was a small helpless girl. He thought at least, that she was a girl, the boys would show mercy but not here it seemed.

To the boys that bullied her, chivalry was only meant to show to pretty girls with rich parents.

That made him sick.

They did not respect Scarlet and had barged into her separate room, to disturb her which eventually turned into a bullying session.

As he noticed Scarlet who was lying down with bruises on her legs, her night gown ripped, her other belongings got ransacked and destroyed, pages of books torn. He even noticed a pungeant smell permeating the room, and realized that, that…there were honestly no word to describe how angered Lance was at the boys who had dirtied her room. And at how helpless he was.

He could not even protect a girl who was the same age as Fina, how could he even stood to be a future General to protect Fina when she becomes Queen?

He tried to rouse Scarlet and started to clear the scattered things around. He tried lifting her and that was when Scarlet winced. He laid her down on the mattress that seemed to be clean. He hoped.

But instead, Scarlet slowly raised from the bed and sat cross-legged besides him.

“I’m sorry for not realizing sooner. I didn’t know that they had come for you. I’ll clean this room for you so you can rest…” Honestly, Lance didn’t know what was the proper way to address this. When he was bullied and got kicked and bruised, he would slowly rise as well and nursed himself, cleaned himself and withheld from crying. All on his own, he endured through.

And it seemed Scarlet was just like him.

“How can I be strong and brave as Sir Homes?” she asked, her voice was small but the question it held. And the eyes that were staring into space.

He could not answer that when he also wanted to be like him as well.

For a while, they both sat there in silence.

Lance glanced at Scarlet. Her smaller frame was toned, indicating she had some exercises and trainings beforehand, possibly from Sir Homes as well. But it still could not prepare her for the onslaught of bullies. And the scars on her right side of her face, that traveled down to her right arm, or at least that was as far as he could see, almost like a big birthmark.

He was frustrated he could not do anything to comfort or keep Fina’s dear friend and Sir Homes’ child away from dangers. As he stood up, the only thing he could do at the moment was get this room clean and tidy.

“We’ll figure this out, okay?” he offered his hand, that surprised Scarlet.

But Scarlet did not hesitate to hold onto it. She was on her own. No Homes, no Fina. And if Fina, Sir Homes and the King trusted him, she could at least rely on him, for a bit. At least until she got used to this place. After all, she asked for this, threw a tantrum at Sir Homes even.

And while Homes was worried to send her off to the academy, he had expected that she would give up but Scarlet was stubborn in some things. Once she had started something, she would want to see it through till the end, or at least as far as her body and mind could endure.

And that resilience and endurance were what scared most people.

He helped put antiseptic on the bruises and wounds Scarlet contracted just now.

As he patted slowly with a swab and cotton patch, he noticed how Scarlet pursed her lips, whenever the contact to the bruise pained her.

He had hated to see small beings and creatures suffering in pain.

“I’m sorry, if it hurts you”, Lance said as he gently cleaned some small cuts, probably from the group of boys wrestling her and injuring her with their nails.

“It’s okay…”, she said softly. “Thank you”.

Lance paused as he heard the last sentence just now. He did not need to know further unless Scarlet willed it. He knew enough she had already a harsh life in the beginning.

He helped clean and picked up the pieces of her stuff he could salvage, even cleaning out the stench that was staining the room.

He even stayed by her bedside, to at least comfort her to sleep. And even he dozed off as well.

And when he realized in the early wake of dawn and he had to prepare for the first day of the academy year, he left a note underneath Scarlet’s hand, letting her know that he would accompany her once she had dressed up in her uniform.

He even helped sorted out and refurbished her torn books. But though he didn’t question, he noticed that most of her books he was replacing were advanced ones for her age.

Did Homes arrange such books for her? Sure enough, there were books that met the syllabus of her year, but he thought they were mostly to be used for her classrooms. For her own studies, it seemed Scarlet was already at a level, possibly only a year behind him.

For the first few weeks, Lance accompanied Scarlet whenever he could, ensuring no boys could approach her with ill-intention. Though, he could not be in the same class as hers, and Scarlet did not inform him whether she was being harassed or not in class. Well, she did not inform him on anything, really. She rarely talked to him, unlike Fina, who was very animated with him. He prayed at least the boys in her class behaved during those sessions.

But despites Scarlet’s lack of communication with him, she did show some sort of concern and attachment towards him.

When one day, Lance was beaten by a group of senior boys at a hidden corner of the academy’s field, and Scarlet stumbled upon the scene. She threw some rocks at them, shouting in her small voice to stop. That managed to pause the group of seniors, enough for Scarlet to rush to Lance’s side. And Lance, who was still sore from the kicks and punches he received from there, managed to see the look in Scarlet’s eyes.

She was alarmed and surprised at the sight of him. He did not like to be seen in such a pitiful state.

“P-please stop this. He’s already hurt, can’t you see?” Scarlet bravely voiced out to them despites that her own voice was shaking.

“Hm? I can’t see it though”, one of the boys used his leg to poke Lance’s body, hitting where it hurts, making him groaned. “Nothing to see here, little girl. Why don’t you run off to play tea party with your friends or are you lost?”

Then, Lance noticed one of the boys whispered something in the leader’s ear. His eyes then bored on Scarlet. And while Lance laid weakened, the boy just now grabbed a fistful of Scarlet’s hair, revealing her whole face.

“Heh…you’re the Scar girl? The orphaned kid that Sir Homes picked up?”

“Don’t touch her”, Lance managed to find his voice. That only further raised laughter from the group of boys.

The leader pulled Scarlet’s hair in his fist and pushed her away.

Lance was shocked and angry but a kick to his face shut him down again.

Then the boys left.

Lance forced himself to rise and go towards Scarlet, but when he neared her, she was shaking, and as the sun was up, he saw her eyes were turning glassy, tears were welling up but her brows were crunched in anger or maybe frustration because she said, “I’m sorry. I thought I can save you like Sir Homes…”

She really looked up to General Homes very much, thought Lance.

“It’s okay…Scarlet”, he softly patted her head. And Scarlet’s frustration turned into surprise instead when Lance uttered her name. But the anger in her eyes were still there, just simmered down for the moment when Lance calmed her down. “Let’s go back and clean ourselves up, shall we?” He slowly stood up and offered his hand, in which Scarlet easily accepted.

After that, Lance advised her to try not to help him if she saw him in danger just now. He asked her to flee instead.

“B-but I can’t just leave…” Scarlet wanted to argue but Lance used the excuse that she would get hurt and he did not know how to explain to Sir Homes if she got hurt on his behalf.

And so the usual arrangement continued with Lance accompanying her side whenever he could. And it turned into a normal routine between the two of them. But despites that, Scarlet did not initiate conversations with him.

Lance, being polite, greeted her and asked how she was faring in her studies, in which she replied with short answers.

He was also glad to know that Scarlet somehow made some friends in her class, albeit even if it was only a few. He noted they were also target of bullies. Small, timid and rather bookish than combative. When Lance asked if Scarlet had made any friends, he was glad to know that Scarlet had a promising reply.

“Um, I guess so. They always sit with me during recess and we finish homeworks together at the library”, said Scarlet on one evening during dinner at the dining hall. “They don’t bully me either”.

That was a relief.

As more weeks passed by, Lance loyally stayed by Scarlet’s side whenever he could but he noticed that Scarlet had started to ask him to not go out of his way for her. He wondered what was the change for? Maybe she felt she was safe enough with her small circle of peers. He respected her wish but maintained a distance, observing from afar.

For Scarlet, she did not want to bother Lance so much knowing he had his own friends. And besides, Scarlet was prepared to defend herself this time if she got bullied again.

It happened one late evening, where most of the students there were finishing up their evening training sessions. Those classes that finished earlier would rush to bathe and dress for dinner.

Lance had just finished and was walking along the corridor to his room, when suddenly he heard an explosion. Not too big but enough to halt anyone in the area from continuing their works. And then, he noticed some students were running.

He asked one of those boys about the commotion.

“Some seniors tried to bully that Scar girl…”

Before letting the boy finished, Lance sprinted to Scarlet’s floor, but when he reached there, he saw smokes were fogging up the corridor and noticed the bodies that possibly could be the senior boys were lying unconsciously on the ground, passed out, either from the fumes or the impact of the explosion. He covered his mouth and nose.

He noticed the door to Scarlet’s room was opened and made way himself there. But when he entered, he was speechless for the moment.

Scarlet’s room had been transformed into a small mini fort, barb wires were coiling around stacks of defenses. There were some small cannisters, lying around, which he assumed were the source of those explosion and smokes.

Then, he noticed Scarlet, and it seemed her group of friends were also here, with masks and protective headcovers.

“What do you want?” a snarl. The voice was child-like but was not friendly.

Lance realized that the fog of smokes made her hard to distinguish between the enemy and ally.

So, Lance raised his hands and explained, “It’s me, Lance”. He stepped closer.

But it seemed Scarlet was not convinced, “Proof yourself”. He was indeed surprised by this change of attitude.

So he answered what he knew about Scarlet, “You don’t like to eat onions so I always help finish them for you”.

“Scar, I think it is him, Senior Lance”, Lance heard one of the boys whispered. He was even more surprised to see them had called her Scar as well, the pet name provided by Fina.

Then, the door behind him closed, and he saw Scarlet went to climb the table and opened the window wide, to air the smoke out.

As the fog thinned in the room, Scarlet was the first to uncover her mask and headcover.

“Um, are you mad of what I did just now?” her timidness returned. “Am I going to get in trouble?”

Lance was quiet for awhile, trying to take in the situation that just happened.

“I don’t know about that, but what you and your friends did, good job”.

And for the first time, he saw Scarlet beamed wide.

She smacked her palm against her group of friends’, and when Lance joined as well and offered to her, Scarlet shyly connected his as well.

Of course, they were all called in by the wardens afterwards. But luckily, Lance argued the case well and the group of seniors who tried to harm Scarlet and her friends faced suspension.

At the end of the night, Lance thought long and hard. He was amazed by the young girl, Scarlet.

She could fight. No, more than that. She could fight back.

And for the first time in a while, he slept soundly in the academy. Knowing that if a small girl like Scarlet could fight back and overcome adversity, then he could as well.

And as few years passed by and Scarlet was reaching 12, and Lance was already 16, young boys of Lance’s age had started to be more involved in social gatherings. The academy would recommend and urge boys of Lance’s age at the time to attend royal events. For most of the young teenagers, it was a time to escape the strictness and harshness of the military walls, and a time to mingle and get to know of the opposite gender.

For Lance, it was just an excuse for him to return to the Kingdom’s castle and spend time with the castle people there.

Often, his young cousin, Fina would be there in those social events as well. And sometimes, Scarlet attended as well when the events fell on the academy’s semester break and holiday. And during those few years, Lance had grown popular it seemed with young girls who noticed his presence in those events. And Scarlet’s mannerism had also become friendlier towards him. It all started when Fina teased Lance about his growing popularity with the young maidens around. Scarlet who was besides Fina chuckled only for Lance to ask Scarlet back, what was so funny about it?

It surprised a bit Scarlet to be asked like that, but she picked up the light-hearted banter in this, and replied with equal verve.

And for Lance, he was glad that Scarlet had grown well, just as well as Fina’s.

When Fina mentioned Scarlet was like a sister to her, he did not mind it so to see her as a cousin and little sister as well.