The War of the Isles

7. Ursula

My first few days at the Forty Second had been confusing, to say the least. Charlie Moller had been a great help to ensure that I get acclimatized with my surroundings as soon as possible. He has also been generous enough to let me start getting acquainted with all dragons after I had complained about the pointless patrol duties that I was initially subjected to by Leslie Abel.

She was not a very pleasant person to be around, but even I had to admit that she carried a presence. People around the Forty-Second respected her. Her word was law. 

From the accounts of Charlie and Adrian, it turns out that Leslie had been a resident of Wemburg, a part of Queen Seyira's guard about twenty years back. A remarkable achievement. Women in the Isles were never viewed as fighters, nor did they assume traditionally masculine gender roles. At least, not until the war broke out two and a half years back.

 Nevertheless, the traditionalists as the Achmens were, did not have many women in their army unless they were there to tend the wounded. Duke Ackert's daughter in Law Hannah, on the other hand, decide otherwise and began to draft women into his army.  

Unlike most men or women in the forty-second, Leslie Abel had received formal training in combat. To add to that, I had been told that she was an exceptional fighter and an excellent strategist. She had been monumental for the success that the forty-second had faced in its initial battles under the leadership of General Wagner. 

The only question was, why was Dhara chosen to lead over a decorated veteran like Abel? 

"If I am to tell you, then this must be kept between us," Charlie warned me as he tried to brush the shedding skin off Mika. 

Mika gave a soft roar of approval. We were at the Northern end of Fort Knot where most of the dragons were kept. 

"Go ahead!" I cooed with excitement.

"Frankly speaking, Wagner believed that Leslie would use the army for her personal ambitions."

"Ambitions of what kind?"

"I have no idea. When he was on his deathbed after the fall of Wentally, he called me and told me of his intentions. When I asked the same questions as you just did, he simply said - 'leave it be'."

That made no sense to me.

"But even if Abel was out of the option, there were other suitable candidates for sure. What about you? What about Adrian?"

Charlie chuckled. "I see you have no faith in our current commander."

I was taken aback. "I didn't mean it that way!"

"But you did. Any reasonable person would think as you do. Why would the great General Wagner choose a substance-dependent, and a possibly incompetent teenager over a seasoned veteran?"

"Again, I didn't mean to offend..."

"Dhara might have her vices, but I trust her." Charlie cut in. This time, this face was stoic. I had never truly understood the extent of the relationship he had with Dhara. There were rumours that Dhara and Charlie were more than just friends given that they spent too much time in her room, doing god knows what. If I needed to seem trustworthy to Charlie, I had to make sure that I hid my doubts about Dhara. But Charlie was not done yet.

"People mistake her addictions for incompetence, but I assure you, she is not."

"Is she a Seymon like you?"

Charlie seemed visibly startled at the question.

"Why did... How did you... How did..."

"The first day we met. When you landed ahead of us, I saw a white light. Mika is a Wentallion. They shoot yellow fire. Not white. It wasn't Mika who had saved Mila and me that day. It was you."