Nina's Discipline

Devotion and Obligation

Devotion and Obligation

South Gate was the last town on the barrier mountain range, near the ocean's edge. It was built on the mountains, in the lower part of the range where airships were able to pass. It had once been a gateway into Vasconia through Gascony. In these times of war, the town was under constant occupation by Vasconian military regiments in order to protect it against potential attack.

South Gate was also Colette's hometown. The paladin with the ability to see what others could not had lived most of her life, unknown, in this town. It was actually quite a relief for her to come home and spend some time amongst her people. She got to see her grandmother, the mayor of South Gate, and all her old friends. She got to introduce them all, formally, to her fiancé and second in command, Nicolas Sacha. It was almost like a vacation.

And she was bored out of her mind.

"I can't take this anymore, Nicolas." She declared, staring up at the dimly lit ceiling of their shared room in her grandmother's manor. The sun had just barely set, but the lantern in the corner filled the room with artificial brightness.

"Take what?" Her dark-haired lover asked from across the room without looking up from the military reports they had been given.

Colette was a fighter, through and through. She was given command over the front lines for that exact reason. However, things like paperwork and military reports were incredibly dull and had trouble keeping her attention. Which made her grateful that she had Nicolas. He would read them and give her the important points by mouth, which was easier to focus on.

"This waiting. I can't take it. Kill me-e-e..."

Colette was laid out on their bed, arms and legs splayed outward, as she stared upwards. Her blonde braid was digging uncomfortably under her neck, but she didn't much care.

"You're so over dramatic." Nicolas mumbled, flipping a page in the report. "You spent the entire day having fun at the training area."

"Yeah, that was great." She smiled. Then frowned again. "But that was this morning. Nicolas, they were due weeks ago. What if they aren't coming?"

"Do you want to leave?" He looked up from the reports calmly.

Colette pursed her lips. "Don't put that on me."

"It's your command, Colette. It's already on you."

She let out a long, dramatic breath. She couldn't very well leave South Gate when she was waiting for both royal children and her own leader to come from Gascony. There was no definite arrival time because even they weren't sure when they would be able to leave. The last message from their spy had been weeks ago now. It had indicated that the royals would be heading to Isaie, the holy city in Gascony, and from there would continue onto South Gate.

It shouldn't have taken this long, though. Colette and Nicolas had come from the front lines to meet and protect the royals here. They left Lea in charge of the battles that had turned into long stalemates with the loss of the two top Gascony military leaders. Since stalemates were as boring to Colette as waiting, Nicolas had suggested coming here to meet Nina and the others.

But they were long overdue. Colette's impatience was laying under a nervous sense of apprehension that was only making things worse. She trusted Nina to lead their prince and princess home safely if she was able to do so.

But it was that 'if' that scared her so much.

"Nicolas." She pushed herself up on her elbows to frown at him. "What if we-"

"No."

"You didn't even let me say it!"

"You were going to make an insane suggestion. Therefore, I don't have to listen to it, because I already know it's not a good idea. No."