I Will Be the Greatest Knight

Had she been so obvious that someone would notice she had withdrawn herself from the knights hanging around the Commander?

The moment Felix asked if everything was alright, she realized she should have expected that her best friend would be able to read her. After all, he was the one who taught her how to hide when people got under your skin—or at least she thought she had learned as much from years of being teased by the man.

After the Commander took her down by getting under her skin, she realized she needed to work on her responses and try to manage what she allowed to fire her up. Her realizations about the man less than a week before allowed her to realize why this was.

Irene glanced at the apprentices who looked upon the two knights curiously and Irene found herself pushing Felix further away.

It was their first break that day and she was expecting Felix to stick to the Commander's side but the moment she heard his voice, she couldn't help being a bit standoffish. She was cautious, almost hesitant as she regarded the man she considered her friend.

How could she tell him the truth when she had gone to great lengths to ensure everyone around her thought that she wasn't a woman who saw men as something she wanted to get involved with? She spent years showing she was strong enough, but the glaring flaw was her emotions and attractions.

She felt disappointed in herself that all the experience under her belt wasn't enough to get rid of this. Her weeks in the north where she found a way to assure herself that she wanted no one and no one wanted her. Now only half of that was true but it was purely based on appearance and nothing more.

"I will ask again," Felix began. "Is something the matter? I was thinking we would catch up last night, but you turned in quite early, even before you could eat any food with the knights."

Irene's helmet was already off since she was eating a bit of the jerky she had brought in her pouch. She trained her expression so one of the people sure to be able to read her wouldn't catch her off guard.

"I was simply tired," Irene insisted. "The journey between the Duke's Tower and the east was a bit grueling after Bren nearly got caught by a Nok in the marshes. Being the highest ranked in a group is unexpectedly burdensome. If you ever felt that pressure, you hid it well."

Felix didn't quite think that level of exhaustion was possible for someone as young and energetic as Irene, but he wouldn't push the bounds or read too much into it. Before, when her mother had pressured her about her intentions with him, she had been up front with that much.

"I was only making sure I didn't have to take care of one of the knights for telling you something unsavoury on your journey here," he responded with a wry smile, reaching out to place a gloved hand on her shoulder plate. He would give her a half-truth for now. Perhaps one day he would be honest about why he had been so worried. Now that the woman was in front of him, he knew his suspicions were unfounded.

"If someone said anything to me I would have already challenged them to a duel to show them what they can do with words such as that," she joked.

"I should have known as much," he stated before he nodded and began stepping away. "Just remember that I am your friend and you can go to me. We still have a week left of this journey."

Irene silently cursed as she offered him a small smile. Each time she wanted to go and bother Felix, he was directly next to the person she didn't want to have to talk to at all. She knew she was being pathetic but she couldn't help it. It was something she needed to deal with on her own before she could be normal once more.

Luckily, there wasn't much longer to dwell because they were off once again.

Two days after that, they finally made it to the northernmost edge of the eastern mountains in Hydrogia that extended all the way to Chemois but were nowhere near as large as the mountains in the north.

Irene kept considering that this was certainly the furthest she had ever been from home. The point further drove itself in when she saw a few knights going to the top of a small hill before they would dip back down in the large basin valley that Polona, the most dangerous place in the world, stood tall.

Curious as to what they were looking at, she squeezed her knees and sidled up next to Felix who had stopped with his helmet in his arms. Irene removed her helmet as well, only realizing then that the Commander was also there.

Nothing she could do now, she realized.

"What are you looking at?" she wondered, following their gaze with her own eyes and removing her own helmet.

"Nickron." The Commander was the one who answered.

From what she could tell at this distance, there was a massive lake that stood at the base of tall, grey cliffs. In the center of the massive body of water there was an island that seemed to have a lot of fortified walls all along the edge, concealing whatever was hidden inside.

Irene couldn't believe she was looking at the place where both Siverly and Stanley came from. Many of the mages she had met during the war hailed from such a place as well.

"It's rather impressive," she uttered. "How do they leave that place?"

However, it was Siverly's turn to answer since he knew it better than anyone else.

"Boats mostly," he admitted. "Unless the occasional and stupidly daring mage decides, yet again, they have enough mana to fly. It almost never works how they want it to."

Irene couldn't help turning to the mage in disbelief. Mages always had so many tricks up their sleeve. They sounded entirely fictional to her, but the man in front of her was proof that they were not. She had witnessed he and Stanley's impressive feats many times before.

"Shall we press on?" the Commander asked them. "We only have a few days until we reach Idona."

"Yes, Commander," Felix and Irene both responded instantly before they all went off in all directions and to their various duties. They left behind the mage and Commander to stare off into the distance for a few moments more.

However, they missed the interaction between Siverly and the Commander.

"Something bothering you, Your Grace?" the mage wondered, sure to use the title so he wouldn't seem overly concerned or meddling in where it wasn't his business.

The Commander knew what the mage was doing and he internally sighed, but didn't allow it to come out.

"I don't quite think Lady Irene likes me," the Commander admitted. "But she's a skilled enough third in command, I suppose I'll have to look past it."

Siverly was surprised to hear that, but he couldn't say much one way or another so he merely shrugged in response before the two of them could return to the group as well.

Travel was easy since they were going slightly downhill the entire way. There were forests ahead since Idona was particularly green and hidden amongst the trees.

However, more worrying than anything else was the scorched earth that appeared before the knights as they kept on their southeastern path.