Beautiful Scar

Four

The next morning, the six young men gathered at the garden patio and took their seats on a round dining table. They saw other young ladies and men were gathering for breakfast, possibly they were guests from last night’s ball, extending their stays here or returning to their homeland this morning.

There were two vacant seats on the round table. One, they suspected would be Princess Fina and another they thought was reserved for Scarlet. They were unsure whether James or Zuber would be the fortunate or unfortunate ones depending on who’s their next seaters.

But a man in loose beige tunic with a sword strapped across his waist pulled up a chair and sat next to James.

“Good morning gentlemen”, Lance greeted them and offered a handshake to each of them. “I’m Captain Lance. It’s a pleasure meeting you all”.

Deep down some of the men were relieved to have Lance here instead of Scarlet.

“You know, my friend Scarlet was so excited meeting you lot, she couldn’t even sleep and now she’s catching up sleep before your session with her starts”, said Lance.

Dylan and Ronald smirked the widest, “Well, I don’t blame her. She is a young lady after all. Being surrounded with men of our caliber must have caused her having some strange emotions and infatuations”, Ronald boasted.

Lance laughed so loud. Oh these men were going to get whipped so badly.

The remaining men merely smiled politely to acknowledge the humor in Lance’s words, for they knew excited was an exaggeration or maybe it was. She was probably excited to find ways to execute them.

While the men did come out ways and plans to survive the test, Scarlet was also up at night studying the six men’s profile again. And she also gave another read-over on the task she would carry out on them, to cut the weak.

A few minutes later, Fina joined the table. All the young men greeted her eagerly.

Then, breakfast was served and Fina animatedly talked about the dishes, asking Zuber and the rest of the men of their backgrounds and such.

“Later, I will escort them to Scarlet”, Lance told Fina but the men were all listening and observing the exchanges of these two cousins.

“Ah, I see. Then, send my regards to her”, she took a sip of her tea after that. “It’s your day off, is it?”

“Yes, indeed, Princess”, Lance grinned.

“Scarlet must be envious of you”, Fina tried to contain her giggles.

“Well, I heard that she stayed up all night to prepare for today”.

Then, an elderly maid came and took their emptied plates and refilled their cups.

“Well, I hope she manages to get something to eat before the training starts”, Fina was concern, knowing how her good friend could work so much up to the point of neglecting her own basic needs. But her rationing days may have influenced her endurance level. But still. “Thank you, Martha”, Fina uttered her thanks to the aged lady.

“Your Highness don’t worry so much”, the elderly maid spoke, “My apprentice told me she spotted her barging into the kitchen and simply ate what was there. The cook was not happy”.

Hearing that, Fina’s eyes widened, “She did? Oh, I miss doing that!”

For some of the men on this table, these exchanges between a royalty and a servant were rather peculiar to them, and at the same time Fina’s politeness and good-natured personality increased their attraction towards her.

“Ah, you two were such gluttonous children”, Martha gave a small smile recalling the memories, “Well, I’ll take my leave first, Princess”, she nodded a bit after she finished refilling the teapots and plates, then she left.

However, the conversation about Scarlet somehow continued between Fina and Lance. The two cousins were giggling about their past misadventures as young children, which somehow rendered the rest of the men to finish their round of breakfast quietly, until Neville started.

“Princess Fina, if you don’t mind me asking. Is there some advises for us to get along well with Captain Scarlet?”

The clinking of a metal spoon dropped to the glass plate resounded.

“Oh my how rude of me”, Fina realized her error, “I apologize, I do not mean to leave you out of the conversation”.

“No worries, Princess”, Neville replied with a smile.

He was truly playing the Gentleman Prince very well, thought Dylan as he rolled his eyes at all this hypocrisy.

And what was Neville thinking, asking such direct question like that to the Princess?

“Hmm”, Fina pouted and her brows creased, thinking. Even this gesture was making the men weak from admiring her innocent portrayal.

“Maybe you can bribe her with some food”, Lance joked which Fina mildly scolded him.

But it did give an idea to the men. And even Dylan saw a window of opportunity in that.

When the men reached the training camp, Scarlet was already there with some of her men gearing up with some armory and weapons. Her attire was more pronounced than yesterday’s.

She wore a pair of black knee-high riding boots with steel heels attached underneath them. Her pants were black instead of yesterday’s dark green, and her maroon mess jacket was replaced with a lengthier and richer red colour jacket that had two coattails extending from behind, lined with gold-thread embroideries and black buckle belted around her waist. Her beret which was black was perching on a stool nearby, and the only attire that did not change was her black gloves wrapped firmly in her hands.

Lance who was escorting the men, saluted and greeted her as Scarlet was briefing Lucas, the yesterday’s officer who was now her new recruits.

Of course, she had her usual army work and new recruits to tend to apart from dealing with the pampered and sheltered six men.

“My, my is that a new pair of shoes?” Lance teased.

Scarlet tapped a bit of her foot and the steel heel felt light and yet firm under her weight. “It’s not stealth-material though”, she looked disappointed, noting the sounds it made.

Ah, why can’t she be fashionable and lethal at the same time? She whined internally but Lance noticed her disappointment.

“Well, give Brie sometimes. I’m sure she will come up with a better uniform for your men soon”, Lance said.

“She better be, or else I take over the portion of your military golds and hire someone else”.

“Ah very well, very well”, Lance couldn’t argue with her on that one. “I’ll be off then, don’t want to waste my day off being reminded of work…” in which, Scarlet glared at him and Lance quickly bid off the suitors and hurriedly left the base.

As Scarlet’s men arranged themselves in lines facing her, the awkward suitors were still huddled near the entrance, unsure what to do.

Until Scarlet c****d her head and stared at them questioningly, “Well? Get into position, we don’t have all day”.

Slowly the men took their steps standing facing Scarlet in lines. Scarlet noted their expressions, trying to get a read on them. Neville, Jackel, Zuber and James quietly and nervously made their way without complains. Ronald, who was bulkier and bigger than the rest of them men here smirked as he took in his surroundings. And then Dylan managed to roll his eyes before taking his steps, occasionally yawning, just a moment ago when she was talking with Lance.

She called out Lucas and four other more experienced men behind to come forward. And instead of facing her, she directed them to face these six foreign men.

Immediately, all the suitors controlled from gulping aloud, except for Ronald who was facing Lucas. Lucas was the one who swallowed his fear instead.

“Men, today’s training would be a test of strength, of stamina and courage”, Scarlet called out. “Duel with your partner within one minute and switch. Keep at it until you have faced all the men in this camp, including myself”.

Suddenly, Scarlet touched Lucas’s left shoulder and whispered, “This man in front of you was the one who ordered the Pirates to kidnap Mary and the others. He was the one who killed your sister…”

She left and strode to a spot facing Dylan.

At first, he was puzzled and then it dawned him, “Am I a joke to you?” He was at a disbelief. He felt insulted to be fighting her.

But here, no snickers from the rest of the men was heard. In fact, if he had turned his back, some of the men were shaking their heads in sympathy and some merely smirked at his arrogance and proceeded to take their own stances.

 “I should be asking that, Princeling”, Scarlet merely stared at him, her eyes were completely undermining him.

As for Lucas, his mood completely changed after that revelation. He glanced at his opponent again, a bigger and wealthier man than him and yet the fear just now was replaced with a slow-burning anger building up. But a small part of him was reasoning himself. Maybe Captain Scarlet was lying to build his confidence but to be reminded of such event, wasn’t that cruel? But then, this was Captain Scarlet, who was notorious for her sure-winning strategies. For the Kingdom, she was one of the heroes, for those outside, she was one of those killing tools. And he was becoming one of them.

“As a demonstration”, Scarlet sounded again, “I would like Officer Lucas and Prince Ronald to duel first. Introduce yourself to your opponent and you may start”.

“I am Ronald, a prince from the Ire Kingdom. What is yours?” he shook hands with Lucas, his big palm warm and yet there was a firm squeeze there that was not comforting, more like it wished to squeeze something, someone else.

“Lucas, an officer just recruited today in Captain Scarlet’s unit”, he said meekly. But his feelings were in disarray.

His docile side managed to cover the lid of his fury, but the pain and anger were still there.

And before anyone kept track, after the handshake, Lucas’s body was suddenly thrown off against the wall.