A Captain's Torment

[Aldamir]

Aldamir still believed this promotion was a farce. They named him a guard captain solely because his father occupied a similar post he was certain of it. Well, that and the man probably pushed them to, knowing his son would take it because he wanted him to. No doubt the man knew Aldamir wished to better protect the people of this city and believed it was not by being a guard but a soldier that he could do it. But the blow to the head and the fact he nearly died must have convinced his parents he was doing a dangerous enough job already.

He touched his scalp. His hair had grown and hid the scar but he could still feel it. It hurt him right now, gave him a headache. Balder, so serious and knowledgeable for his age, claimed it was not really the scar that hurt him. Instead, he suggested it was the thoughts it gave him that caused it. Maybe he was right, but Aldamir couldn’t stop himself from feeling some frustration. He didn’t feel like he deserved this promotion. He should have remained a simple guard if he couldn’t be a soldier, his father shouldn’t have pushed for this to happen. Yet no one seemed to believe like him. This only tired him even more.

He was lost in his thoughts when he felt something hitting him. It didn’t hurt but surprised him. Looking at his shoulder, he saw what looked like salad. He heard the laughs and turned to see two kids laughing at this. They were the likely culprits. To prove it even more, they started running away after pointing at him. “Oi!” Aldamir exclaimed. He should run after them. There was a time, he would have, to try and teach them to respect the guards of the city. He should technically do it even more now that he was a higher officer. But, maybe precisely because he didn’t like that, he didn’t run after them. Instead, he sighed heavily. In a way, he thought he deserved that.

[Laurë Eledhwen]

Laurë was doing much better with the job as she was no longer taking care of the children but of adults instead. It was the best decision she could’ve done since she still wanted to be a healer. She wanted to be able to help people and she was done giving the cold shoulder to people, including Aldamir, but it seemed to be a thing that would never change within him, being cold towards her. She never understood why, she didn’t remember being rude to him or anything after all, either way, and hopefully some day, they would get along better. She’d feel bad if it wasn’t the case because she was very good friend with his sister who had a growing family. Her friend was very dear to her and she didn’t want to cause unwelcomed tension because of Aldamir.

She also got used to the city, somehow. She might have enhanced senses because of her elven genes but she had slowly grown used to the city’s smells. She couldn’t say it wasn’t affecting her, but it was certainly doing better on her than when she first came. She was slowly strolling through the streets of the city since she wanted to pay a visit to Keann while she assisted to the scene of Aldamir being teased by children. She frowned at that…she had never seen him this…down.

She let the kid pass before her before she looked at him. “I used to know you with more temper than this.” She commented. “You don’t look fine…” he didn’t have to say anything to her but she was allowed to show her concerns. Either he liked it or not.

[Aldamir]

Aldamir always took great pride in his job. It was not like he meant to look down on it. It had always been his dream to follow his father’s step and one day become a captain of the guard. Yet, now that he achieved this, he was not happy. It came for the wrong reasons and at the wrong time. He almost expected his former lover to come back to him, she always wanted a man with a good position, but even she must have known better than go after him again. Anyway, even if she did, he bet his new attitude would rub her off so quickly she’d leave once again.

He looked at the kids that ran off. It was a grave offense to mock a guard that way, especially at his rank, but he understood why they did it. More and more men joined the soldiers to fight and even if they still did away enough from the city, it was still close enough to hear rumours. There were tensions that needed to be calmed and Aldamir didn’t know how. First because he had never considered himself as being good for this kind of work but, and mostly, because he thought like them.

He flinched and stopped staring at the path the kids took when Laure talked. He didn’t notice she moved close to him. Strange, since she had been in the way of the kids, judging by where she stood. He sighed heavily as she stated the obvious. “It’s just a lot of work,” he replied, not really wanting to talk about this. He told her before that he once considered joining the army, not doing so only because of his family and a promise he made to his parents. For once he was glad that Sorsha married and lived with her husband and his family. She wouldn’t know too much about him and revealed it to Laure. “Besides, they’re just kids,” he added. It never stopped him before but now, it did. Then again, he would have found any kind of excuse possible to justify his action, or lack thereof.