Canelis gripped her wrist behind her to stop herself from bouncing on the balls of her feet. Despite the fact that she was just promoted the way she was, only dread and curiosity settled in her veins. Besides, the Riogener was taking too long. Where was he and when was he coming inside his own office?

The moment the crowd began to thin around Canelis in the courtyard earlier, she summoned her wings and zipped back to the Royal villa where the Riogener would be giving the newly-promoted officers a brief run-down of the expectations and duties their new ranks would incur. The same would go for Canelis too but only a tad lengthier.

When she had arrived in the corridor leading to the Riogener's office, a line had already begun to form. Chatter was loud with the soldiers dispersing into small circles of socialization. The talk of their promotion and their new ranks dominated the atmosphere although there were a few rounds of asking how one's wives or children going on too.

It all died to low whispering when people sensed her presence the moment she stepped around the corner. Eyes seemed to follow her every move as she fell into the last place in the line. No one bothered striking a conversation with her but she could definitely feel intense gazes studying her from her hair to the straw slippers she slipped on this morning. It's not every day someone gets promoted without merit, after all.

What was the Riogener thinking, giving her this rank so early? Canelis wasn't kidding herself when she realized she still had to work on herself. She enlisted in the army not as the Riogener's daughter but as a normal soldier. Why was she given the leeway due her relationship to the head of the territory and not as the person they taught her to be when she first started?

None of it made sense, even to a mind as fine as Canelis's. She ran all the possible political repercussions this move would make. None of it looked good from the Riogener's perspective. The Army operates on equality, that no one would be above the other just because of what they were born to be. What dictated their standing in the Army, and in life, was how hard they worked for it. And Canelis? She hadn't worked beyond attending her lectures and taking care of all kinds of riding animals, like kraejen, dagrinis, and paulsaris—all imported from the territories they were native in.

Then, the officers were called in one by one, starting from the lowest achieved rank. Most of them came into the room with smiles on their face only to come out looking like they'd seen their life in the Land of Wonders. The Riogener had that effect on people, as Canelis would know. Her? She had been seeing her father's stone-cold expression since the day she was named. She's used to it now.

There were no soldiers promoted to a Commander this time around, which was expected since most of the soldiers retire as Marshals. These were in charge of thirty to forty soldiers for their platoons and take on the role of mentors and leaders for their specific unit. A Commander was usually in charge of controlling six to eight marshals under them and that's a whole army in itself. If Canelis's memory serves, there was only a few Commander spots so the fight to be promoted past the Marshal post has been cutthroat. Then again, the Riogener could always make room for more, if he wished. The reason why he hasn't for the last fifty years was beyond Canelis at the moment.

Perhaps, she'd ask him when her turn to be briefed came.

And came, it did. Canelis was ushered into the spacious office when the attendant called her new rank. A small smile crept to her lips. Crown General. She rather liked the sound of it.

As she stepped inside, she was greeted with the faint smell of freshly-produced parchment, stale ink, and a curious odor of chamomine wafting along the walls. She'd never taken her father to be a tea-drinker, despite all the stereotypes against the pixies. The attendant stepped out of her way with a meek bow and settled near the western wall, hands clasped in front of him.

"The Riogener will be with you shortly," he said in a flat but respectful voice. It's a tone each one of them have mastered when it comes to talking with their fellow officers. "He just had to step out to take care of...more urgent matters with the Generals."

Canelis nodded in acknowledgement. "Thank you, officer," she replied, going for the neutral and rank-less honorific by default. The Riogener stepping out meant she had to wait here for quite some time. Heads of state did not bother with their subjects' time and simple came and went as they wished. Canelis had no right to impede that.

So, she clasped her hands behind her and waited.

And waited.

After what seemed to be like half an hour, even the attendant had stopped bowing his head in respect to Canelis and the Riogener's empty desk. Instead, he went to a corner and sulked there, wrapping his arms around his legs and drawing his knees to his chin. Canelis blinked. Such a display of unprofessionalism wouldn't sit well with the Riogener. How in Umazure did this soldier keep his job?

Attendants were chosen by their affinity to stay organized, keep things on track, and be able to stay with the Riogener and other important members of the court and the temples almost all of their waking hours. They were the people the Riogener first saw in the morning and the last in the evening. Being an attendant to the Riogener was almost as impossible as being promoted to a Crown General from being a Lieutenant.

And yet, here they both were.

Canelis opened her mouth. The door connecting the office and the Riogener's private room snapped wide before she could ask the attendant something. She clenched her jaw shut and kept her focus on the Riogener's form slowly taking shape as he strode from the adjacent room and into the backseat of his chair. A few scrapes and creaks later, her father stared at her with his elbows propped against the desk, fingers steepled in contemplation.

She waited for him to speak first because that's what she's taught. The Riogener's dark eyes matched her own. Only a fool wouldn't think they weren't related by how similar their faces looked. At times, she even thought the Riogener was what she'd grow up to be if she had been a boy. Nobody had been around to prove that wrong, either.

"Are you present in the assembly?" came the Riogener's first question. He shuffled a few sheafs of parchment before taking his quill and writing something on the top most sheet. He didn't even bother looking at the person he's talking to.

Canelis, by instinct, answered, "Yes, Sir."

There were times even she forgot she's talking to her father.

The Riogener stopped writing halfway through a word before looking up to meet Canelis's eyes for the first time since forever. They studied her just like how the soldiers at the office's lobby did earlier. When he was done, he sighed and set his quill back inside a jar of ink.

"You have questions," he noted.

A ton. A million of them, actually. Canelis ran though the hypothetical list she had gathered in her mind upon hearing the sentiment. The most pressing one sat at the top. "Why would you promote me the way you did?" she said, crossing the question off the topmost part of the list with her mind. "Did you think the court and the Army would take this in stride?"

"They won't if you don't give them something," the Riogener's answer came as spontaneous as ever. It's like he's expecting it from Canelis. "That's why you're here."

Canelis bobbed her head. "As directed, Sir."

The Riogener's chair creaked as he turned to a mountain of parchment slotted to his left. With a grunt, he lifted a portion before taking out the bundle he was looking for. The sheets fluttered and a resounding thud echoed in the silence between them when the Riogener threw it on the wooden surface. From the corner, the attendant flinched but never moved from his curled position.

"As for the Head Attendant," the Riogener's voice brought Canelis's attention back to him and away from the subject of their most recent discussion. "Let him be. He's had a long day prior to the assembly. I don't mind."

Canelis pursed her lips. So the Riogener's not all about formality and being rigid. He's got to bend some of his own rules too. "What about the purpose of my visit, sir?" she inquired, seeing as the Riogener didn't bother elaborating on his last point.

The Riogener jerked his chin towards the sheaf of bound parchment he isolated just a few minutes ago. "Take a look," he said.

Canelis stepped forward, wrapped her fingers around the spine, and hefted it. It's a lot heavier than she assumed. Just a leather bound cover and this could have been a tome. She ignored the Riogener's eyes spearing through her entire being and flipped to the first page. Nothing but rows and rows of tabulated records. It was like that until she reached the last page upon skimming the rest.

"What's this?" she demanded, keeping her tone in check in case the Riogener thought it to be a challenge to his authority. "It's all just inventory."

"Exactly," the Riogener responded, his fingers back to being twined against each other atop the desk once more. "The Generals and I have noted a couple of discrepancies over the past few months regarding the trade stocks and wares we get from Xai-Ren. We have ruled the possibility of other territories being involved in this. Still, we will need to send you there to personally check on things. The other Commanders are all out in the southern walls as you all know."

Canelis nodded again. There had been an ongoing project of strengthening the walls around Yin-Alora that's been taking years and years. So they're still not done, huh? "I understand," she said. "What would be your expectations for this job? When do you need it done?"

The Riogener didn't bother hiding the smile creeping into his lips. Was it because of pride or something else? "I expect you to find the root cause of these discrepancies. Investigate. Take a portion of Commander Neradan's men and ride to Xai-Ren. You have my full permission to do everything it takes to make sure our hard-earned produce doesn't go to waste. I will need to hear updates from you every two weeks in this office. Understood?"

Canelis knocked her heels together and slammed a closed fist to her chest. She ducked her head as the final addition to her salute. "Understood, sir."

"Be careful out there, Canelis," the Riogener's voice bled in her ears long after she had been dismissed and was on her way out of the office. She turned to find not the stern leader staring back at her but a man with a kindly smile and concern in his eyes.

She ducked her head at him, still not letting go of the soldier facade they had both learned to hide behind over the years. "I will," she said. And before she slid the door open and ducked out, she dared to add, "Father."

That night, the stars and the moons graced the sky in their own bits and pieces of light. Canelis lay on the mattress she spread on the floor, drawing her blanket to her chin. Having changed out of the tight, belted tunic soldiers were known to wear when they're not in battle or in any other formal ceremony, it had never been more comfortable wearing just a loose nightgown. She wiggled her toes and pursed her lips, keeping her neck craned to the sky where Crozal's rays were still the most dominant.

"What do you say, Crimson Mother?" she whispered mostly to herself than to the voiceless moon in the sky. "Shall we do our best with this assignment?"

Despite not getting an answer, Canelis allowed herself a small smile before closing her eyes and letting the currents of sleep take her.