d a r l i n g

again, i’m sorry, and i’m not abandoning vivienne! i love her dearly. it’ll just be very low-activity until i get out of my writing slump for her. 

THE HIGHER POWER

“ you’re the best, you’ve always been the best, and now everyone who’s ever doubted you is gone. you’ve gotten everything you wanted. you smoked all your competition. but something inside of you just won’t settle. all the evil of the world is still out there, all the big problems that you never got around to. in spite of your skill, this is something you simply can’t handle yourself. but that’s ok. you’ve got new, shiny pawns to play with. you know how to make people do what you want. the ends justify the means, right? ”

personality: talented, calculating, overbearing counterpart: the ghost

The commander paced back and forth, correcting the new recruits and shouting orders from across the makeshift sparring area. Despite he tried not to make his discouragement known to the newly arrived, he was worried. Not one of those men and women seemed to have the faintest notion of combat skills. He pinched at the bridge of his nose with a sigh when he heard a familiar voice coming from behind him. He turned seeing the lady Vivienne approaching with her unmistakable air of disapproval mixed with a fair dose of disappointment. Cullen wasn’t keen on having mages telling him how poorly trained were his troops but this time - he admitted - the comment came from a highly qualified person. Few mages had such a clear insight on military matters as knight enchanters did. 

“I’ll be more than happy to consider your kind offer, my lady, provided that first I can get to make them understand which end a sword must be gripped by,” Cullen crossed his arms over chest, his eyes trying to pinpoint recruits who seemed to have a chance of learning faster than others, “at this rate we’ll need a miracle. If only I had a couple of extra templars we might earn a little time, set an example to…” words died out as suddenly an idea crossed his mind, “perhaps, I could use your help sooner than I anticipated. These people have never seen a real fight and they cannot fully prepare for one unless they know what they are expected to face. If you’d be so kind as to lend me your expertise, we might show them…”

Her lips twitched up at his off-handed comment about the new recruits, and Vivienne turned her gaze back toward them with a critical eye. They were as fresh-faced as they could get, she determined, frowning as she saw one nearly stab the other with a misplaced swipe of their practice sword. “Control your swing before you kill one another,” she called out to them, biting back a smirk as she saw them jump and readjust. No doubt Cullen wouldn’t appreciate her stepping in after he just brushed off her offer of help, but... well, they needed it. Clearly.

          “𝕴 didn’t know you were also daft. I thought it was clear that I wasn’t interested in your opinions,” Vel spoke as he looked around the room, “…Why was I sent here? Place seems spotless. I can’t see anythin’ broken.”