I Will Be the Greatest Knight

The woman from inside of the magical border seemed vaguely amused by Irene's response as well, which caused the red-headed knight to be further mortified that she hadn't yet figured out how to keep her thoughts to herself.

"Oh, please forgive me," the mystery woman apologized.

However, Henry was insistent on not creating a hostile environment and soon spoke up.

"It's alright, Lady Irene," Henry told his knight, patting one of her shoulder plates. "She's an old friend."

Irene regarded the woman suspiciously, but relented at her Commander's words. She quickly excused herself.

However, before she could get far, she heard the knight tell the woman, "It's been such a long time. Are you feeling alright? You look particularly pale."

But it wasn't Henry who answered the woman.

For the first time, Siverly took it upon himself to step forward.

"Excuse me, miss, your mana is fluctuating," the mage observed. "Is this common practice of mages in Idona to irresponsibly deplete their auras like this?"

He was loud enough that everyone within the vicinity could hear it, including Irene, who was observing the westernmost fire. Even she couldn't help snapping her head towards the conversation and looking on in disbelief.

She had been feeling idiotically jealous that the Commander was concerned for the woman, but Siverly quickly chased it away. She had to hide a smirk threatening to appear on her face.

"Your mana is depleted?" the Commander wondered. "Is there something we can do to restore it?"

Siverly came to the rescue in Irene's brain yet again.

"If you would allow us to pass through this magical barrier, I could restore your mana with some of the magical tools I possess," he explained with a sigh.

Yet again, Irene found herself eavesdropping on yet another of her Commander's conversations, and she wondered if this was going to be her life since she was too much of a coward to get used to the man who was trying his best.

She felt doubly pathetic when the woman she had been suspicious of before defended the knighthood who was cleaning up the mess in their lands.

"Friends of Henry's are friends of mine," the woman stated.

At that, the rigid man from before seemed to melt. Even though Irene was no longer looking, she was still listening and could hear the change in his tone from when he first regarded the knights as some sort of intruders.

"We will take the barrier down for one minute," the man responded. "In that amount of time, you'd best be able to get all of your men inside."

"That's more than enough time for the Knights of Chemois," the Commander assured him. Then he turned to his knights, and his voice became louder. "Let's put out the fires with the rest of our water. They're granting us entry, and there are wells we can use inside."

Rather than continuing to dwell, Irene ran off to Sammy, where she had two waterskins secured to her saddle. When she brought them back, she joined the others in putting out the fires.

Only Siverly could tell when the barrier was down because he was one of the ones to rush in first.

As the fires were quickly put out and leaving only smoke behind, the other knights and apprentices then followed suit.

Irene was determined to wait for the apprentices, but she felt a hand on her shoulder plate again, and she turned, shocked, only to be met with the Commander's piercing gaze.

"Go inside as well," he ordered, but his voice was gentle. "It's my job to make sure all of you get inside before I do."

Irene faltered. That much was evident in the way she responded.

"Y-Yes, Commander," she responded before rushing in herself.

She would have to get the apprentices together and be sure of head count once they were all a bit more settled.

Irene opted not to climb onto her horse, and she merely pulled him by the reins as she jogged through the dark forest. Despite the sunny day, underneath the cover of the thick evergreen trees seemed rather dark once inside the middle.

However, the trek was shorter than she would have expected, and she soon found herself guiding Sammy around houses along the outskirts but still amidst the trees. Once they got out of the forest, the buildings were more densely packed in this area, but she found herself walking down an alleyway and into what seemed to be Idona's town square.

Before she could make it deeper, Felix rushed to her.

"Would you mind taking care of the apprentices who are handling the knights' horses in the stables?" he asked. "I am handling the knights inside the inn and making sure there's enough room for us to stay."

"Yes, of course," Irene responded easily. "I will head in that direction."

The inn was on the northern end of the town square, and just behind it were stables. She learned as much by Felix pointing in the direction that she saw an apprentice walking with two horses.

"Thank you," he responded to his friend. "We will reconvene shortly, I'm sure."

"I'm sure," she echoed before she dutifully headed towards the apprentices.

However, her eyes scanned the town square for any other apprentices and upon seeing none, she picked up her pace until she was inside the stables and looking around. One of the apprentices took her horse from her and began putting Sammy away for her.

As usual, they didn't need much directing and were pretty self-sufficient, but she felt like a mother duck making sure that all of her babies were accounted for.

"Apprentices," she called. "Please pause your duties and come to the main area."

Soon enough, a handful of heads peered out of various stalls and from around the bend of the stable that went to the very back of the inn. It was quite an expansive place to keep horses. She imagined this place was normally full of travelers, but it seemed desolate because of recent events.

Irene quickly counted all of the boys before nodding in satisfaction.

"Thank you! I was merely making sure that all of you are here," she explained. "I will bring back the last of the horses to be put away. Ensure they are all fed and watered. If we need to provide more to the inn, we have no trouble doing as much."

She exited the stables once more and returned to the town square, where there were only two more horses. The first, Sir Sven, handed off to her before turning to go inside the inn. However, the man pulling the second horse was someone she didn't particularly want to interact with if it was only the two of them. However, she knew interacting with him was inevitable.

"Commander," Irene greeted, trying to break her own tension, and something the Commander probably didn't even notice. "Is this Siverly's horse?" she wondered.

The Commander nodded. "He took care of the other mage who was using my horse for support and is trying to restore her mana as we speak. I told him I could take care of his horse."

"You don't have to dirty your hands with this," she insisted. "I will take him to the apprentices who are eagerly working hard to put away all the knights' horses."

"Then allow me to get his saddlebags," the Commander responded. "The shadows are growing long and the hour is late. I will ensure that everyone gets the rooms they prefer if there is room for us here."

"Of course," Irene responded lightly. "Thank you, Your Grace."

She couldn't keep from noticing her Commander seemed to hesitate for a moment before he decided it was best to merely get the saddlebags and go to the inn.

Perhaps he didn't like being called 'Your Grace' by knights. She wasn't entirely sure, nor would she ever know. She was insistent on keeping her distance, and she knew it was likely causing him to hesitate.

She was silently sorry that this was a monster of her own creation and something she was going to have to get over on her own. Merely finding someone attractive shouldn't have been enough to crumble her so badly. She was a better knight than that.

Irene was soon back in the stables, and the apprentices who had finished their prior tasks took the horses from her and began dealing with them as well.

"Once you are finished, you can go inside and find Felix," she explained as she walked down the center aisle between the pens. "He will update each of you on our current room assignments."

When she made it to the end, her eyes scanning each stall containing a horse, she turned around and looked down the other side of the stalls. All the horses seemed to be settled in well.

It wasn't until she made it to Sammy that she found her saddlebags ready for her to take, even though she was planning on taking them off herself. However, there was an apprentice who was always on top of his game. He never had to be told what to do and often went above and beyond his duties. She wouldn't be surprised if he apprenticed underneath Felix or the Commander one day.

Bren.

At times, she was worried that he would be the next Felix and knighted far later than he deserved because he was once their oldest squire, and now he was their oldest apprentice and only a few years younger than her.

"Thanks, Bren. You should go in, too."

Irene quickly found Felix once she was inside as well, and he handed her the key that would take her to the private room that had been set aside for her. She felt a little bad that she and Siverly were fussy enough to need their own space, but at the same time, she had to admit that it was nice to no longer have to hide herself away.

She recalled the days of nervously sneaking into a washroom so that she could change discreetly and away from all of the boys who surrounded her. Now she could sleep in clothing as light or heavy as she wanted, and no one would see her. She could lock herself away and ensure no one bothered her as she was allowed a few soft moments to be herself and not be on guard.

After Irene dropped her saddlebags off, she was surprised when she made it to the bottom step and found the man who was suspicious of them next to the magical barrier before eating amongst the knights and apprentices as if he belonged.