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Ever found herself standing in front of the Commander, just two days after Yuder Aile vanished. There had been nasty rumors about him and the Commander but she couldn't tell what was the truth, if any of it was so she resolved not to let it affect her ability to do her job.
Shortly after her arrival, one Steiber Rendley entered the room.
"Thank you both for coming," the Commander said with a smile. "After our previous Sul Deputy Commander's regrettable resignation, we are in need of someone else to take up the mantle."
'Regrettable resignation,' was a kind way to refer to someone stealing away into the night, leaving naught but a short note behind. Though, if the rumors were even slightly true, as the cause of Yuder's sudden disappearance, it was the least he could do.
"You want me to take over as the Deputy Commander?" Steiber asked, though Ever would guess that it was less a question to clarify and more said out of surprise.
"Of course, I would be pleased to have you as one of my Deputy Commanders. You are, of course, welcome to say no and Deputy Commander Ever Beck is also free to contest your appointment if she has major concerns."
From the way he spoke, smoothly confident, smiling all the way, Ever got the feeling he didn't expect them to do anything of the sort.
The day before, he'd asked her what she thought about Steiber Rendley - to which she had answered that she did not know him well enough to make any presumptions - so perhaps he was right.
Either way, she couldn't help but wonder why he seemed so unruffled. It felt almost as though he'd expected this.
It was the same way she'd gotten used to him speaking over her time as Deputy Commander, yet there was something about it that was leaving her uneasy.
It was something she had been feeling about his behavior since Yuder Aile had vanished. It was normal on the face, yet there was something niggling beneath the surface. Something different about how he spoke and acted that she couldn't put her finger on.
"Well then, I am pleased to have you as Deputy Commander, Steiber Rendley," the Commander said, inscrutable as always.
Ever was known for being a bit dense, almost bull-headed at times but she wasn't completely oblivious. She liked to speak with others and did her best to be on good terms with everyone in her division at the very least. She knew when things changed, even if she couldn't describe what it was.
There was something that had changed. She just didn't know what.
-
After her training, Nathan Zuckerman informed Ever that the Commander had asked for her to come to his office again.
He had been calling for her more often recently, increasing her duties and giving her more materials to study. He had explained some of his plans for her. He hadn't explained countless others.
Each time he called her outside of her Deputy Commander duties, Ever felt inundated with questions as she made her way to his office.
Why did he decide to have her learn even more when she hadn't even fully learned how to do her current duties? Why did she need to learn all this in the first place? Did he truly expected someone who was formerly a commoner to understand all of this so quickly? What happened with Yuder? Did he expected her to fail?
(Perhaps only thing she didn't wonder was why he'd chosen her. After all, if not her, the only other Deputy Commander he'd chosen from the beginning, who else?)
Ever wondered if today was the day that she would ask.
"Ah, Deputy Commander Ever Beck, welcome," he greeted from his desk.
She considered whether she should ask.
The sun shone through the windows behind him, making the white of his outfit and the gold of his hair glow. It was difficult to see his face.
Sir Zuckerman lingered at the edge of the room.
"You called for me, Commander?" She asked, coming to stand in front of the desk, just outside of the light.
She wanted to ask.
"Yes, I wanted to know your thoughts on the next section for the book I lent you. It was one of my favorites."
The book was about the tactics of generals and warfare. The latest passage was discussing how one would decide when to advance and when to retreat.
Obediently, Ever described what she had learned, answering his questions as best she could, trying not to decide whether it was a test and whether she was failing.
She didn't ask.
-
Ever loved her long hair.
It was a privilege, an indulgence. Time, effort, and money that few commoners were willing to able or willing to commit to. Not to mention the extra distraction it posed in day-to-day. Something that tugged and got caught in things. Ultimately something that most just didn't see it as worthwhile to put the extra effort into.
But for Ever, that was not the case.
Her hair had always been something that brought her joy, something she truly loved. She loved the feeling of it swishing across her back, loved letting it down after a long day, loved styling it for special occasions. She even loved the upkeep. Combing through it was calming, mediative, a comforting ritual. It reminded her of simpler days when she would sit between her mother's legs, talking about their days while gentle hands nudged a comb through her tangles lightly so it hardly tugged.
So what if her hair took longer to care for? It just meant that she needed to put a little extra space in her day to do it.
Even after joining the Archane Legion, where it was liable to get crushed, tugged, blown around, singed, or any number of things during training, she kept with it. If her hair was especially messed up after a day of training, well, it just meant she had more time to think.
Ever had never shied away from difficulty. If something took extra effort, she just needed to push through.
She stared at herself in the mirror, loose strands framing her pale face, the bags under her eyes more pronounced than she had ever seen them.
She loved her hair.
Ever grabbed the scissors from the table.
-
"Sorry I'm late," Ever said, walking into the room.
They didn't necessarily need to meet up at the same time every morning, but the two of them found it helped. Making plans for the following day and discussing how things were progressing had shown to make training run smoother.
Ever had found herself late to their meetings more often than not these days.
Steiber, who looked up at her entrance, quietly took in the bags under her eyes and her hair, freshly cut and curling just below her ears.
"Did the Commander call for you again?"
"Yes." It had been a short meeting, just checking in about her progress in some of the books he'd suggested she read.
Steiber frowned, concern leaking into his face.
"He calls for you often," he started, then hesitated for a moment. "Are you comfortable with spending so much time with the Commander?"
Ever couldn't help but feel a bit of surprise. The two of them had tacitly agreed not to mention or believe in the rumors surrounding what had happened with the previous Deputy Commander but this question reminded her of a conversation she'd had prior with Liv Dwayne.
"Are you safe?" Liv had asked.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, with the Commander, is it enough that you're an Alpha? After what happened with Yuder…"
Ever had assured her friend that he had only ever treated her as a normal subordinate.
But, they were both young women who were intimitely aware of the dangers of those more powerful than them. Ever had left the conversation feeling wrong-footed for days, a persistent thought that haunted her steps once more. She'd thought those days were behind her when she'd awakened and fought off a hoard of monsters on her own yet just a few words brought those deep seeded fears back.
Perhaps she should have expected a similar question from Steiber Rendley, a man with a family he treasured, two of whom were old enough to start being concerned about others taking advantage of them. Someone who had once mentioned he saw his children, his wife, in her.
She considered what she should tell him for a moment. There were things that weren't a good idea to share with the other legionnaires, lest it start more rumors but, she supposed, this was something that her fellow Deputy Commander should be in the know for.
"It's fine," she assured him. "The Commander is training me as his successor."
Steiber furrowed his brows, frowning further and looking almost puzzled.
"His successor? He wants you to become Commander in the future?"
"Yes, I don't know how soon though."
"The Commander is barely older than you, why would he…" Steiber paused then seemed to decide something. "Do you need me to take on some of the planning and observation of your division?"
"No!" The word burst out more forcefully than intended.
Perhaps she would have reacted more calmly had she slept more last night. Perhaps she would have reacted more calmly if she had slept more in the last month.
"I appreciate the offer," Ever amended. "But I need to do this."
"You won't be doing anything if you're too tired to think."
"I know," she said quietly.
It was something she had been wondering when she had been going over her schedule, wondering what she could and should drop to handle the increase in duties and expectations from the Commander.
Keeping up with how the others in her division (and outside of it) were doing and spending time with them were some of the first things that she had considered.
(It had made her wonder if that was part of why the Commander had chosen Yuder first. Someone who avoided others would certainly have more time and energy. It was the only reason she could think of that he would choose the one legionnaire so isolated and largely disliked to be his successor.)
However, with the knowledge of what she was training to become, Ever had decided that it was not something she was willing to give up. She couldn't see how she could take up command of people she didn't know. If she didn't know their needs or wasn't approachable enough for them to come to her with concerns, how could she possibly lead them successfully?
Ever had considered that the Commander was doing just fine as he was, that he had planned on putting someone in his place who was not close with anyone else. She had thought about becoming a figure similar to him. She had pondered how she could possibly turn into the person that the Commander expected her to become.
Ever had thought over a lot of things after her long days, supposed to be asleep but unable to truly rest because of her exhaustion.
She had decided to walk her own path. It was possible that this was the wrong one, that it would be better for her to become an impossible figure to her subordinates like they already functioned. However, Ever couldn't find it within herself to accept that.
Whether or not this was the right path, it was the one she'd decided to walk and nothing would stop her. Ever had always been told that she was stubborn and it had served her well in training, had gotten her to the role of Deputy Commander and training to replace the current Commander.
"I think it's important practice," she told Steiber. "I'm going to stick it out."
He gave her a rueful smile, "I can see this isn't something I can talk you out of. Just tell me if it's too much, I'll see what I can do to help."
Ever smiled back gratefully. "I will. Thank you."
"'Course. We're in this together, no matter what you might think."
It was a nice reminder.
"You should come for dinner tonight. My wife has assured me it's delicious and the kids are always looking forward to hearing more training stories. Apparently their old dad telling them isn't enough."
Ever had been invited over twice already, the table, almost too small for six people to eat at but surrounded by joy and laughter reminded her of simpler times before.
Before she joined the Archane Legion. Before she had awakened. Before she'd grown up. Before before before.
Every time she left, it was with raucous goodbyes and arms filled with leftovers and day-old bread that hadn't sold but was still perfectly good to eat.
"I'll make it there," she promised.
-
Extra:
Ever was still trying to find her feet when the news came in.
The expansion of the Archane Legion throughout the Empire just before she became Commander had led to her being rushed off her feet, even with the help of Steiber and several assistants that they had begun training.
The letter from the southern branch had sent her rushing down to Charloin to deal with the situation.
"What's going on?" she asked Kurga. "Your letter was vague."
The Head of the Southern Branch looked a bit sheepish, though the bags under his eyes were familiar. No doubt he was already busy and the addition of such a stressful situation didn't help.
"Sorry, it was big enough that I thought it would be better to send a message already even though we didn't know much."
Ever nodded in understanding, a building exploding and causing suspicions of large-scale enslavement of awakeners in the city was more than enough for them to contact her. As Commander of the Archane Legion, she was the most suited for solving whatever was happening.
"What have you figured out since?"
It had been a week since she'd received the message and surely longer since he'd sent it in the first place so they'd certainly had time to investigate.
"Things are pretty chaotic and no one trusts us here," he admitted, "but we were able to find out that the building that exploded had fighting rings and were holding kidnapped awakeners in the basement. Since the building exploded, there's been a sort of uprising and a group has been taking over other similar establishments and destroying them."
Ever nodded, making mental notes of what they could interfere in and a few ideas of how.
"What do you know about this group?"
"Well… we know they're all awakeners. We're pretty sure that they were all being forced to fight. And…" he trailed off.
"And?" Ever prompted after a few seconds.
"We aren't completely sure but…" Kurga hesitated. "We think the leader is Yuder Aile."