A new companion

After the distribution of the awards, the festivities continued with Aymon at the centre of the attention. Everyone started to surround and congratulate him for the achievement, in an attempt to get on his good side. As soon as he got a moment of rest from all the presentations and handshakes he took the opportunity to sneak out on the balcony.

"Sigh... finally away from all the chaos, any longer and I would've gone insane."

"Well you still have a few hours in front of you"

Surprised by a sudden response to his mumbling he turned to the left where the girl from the ceremony was standing. Her long white hair were openly dangling down until they reached the waist. A black dress was hiding her relatively slim figure whilst creating a contrast to her pale skin. The deep blue eyes captivated his gaze onto her beautiful face, dragging him deeper and deeper into the ocean coloured pupils.

"With whom have I the honour to talk?" Aymon's perplexity increased when he witnessed the beauty of the girl he was talking to.

"Samira is my name. I think you've been already introduced quite extensively so we can probably skip that part." She had a slightly sarcastic tone as she spoke.

"Ah yes, I would've rather not be introduced that way but it is a pleasure to meet you"

"I would say you probably are the only person in that room who would've preferred to not be officially recognized and awarded. Not to mention that you dared to talk back to the council members and even gave them conditions for you to accept the promotion. And the best part was when you made both factions decide whether to allow or deny them, probably knowing that the high Elfs have too much pride and would refuse your conditions. Or am I wrong and you're not even nearly as interesting as I thought?"

"You praise me too much, I only did what I deemed necessary to create the best unit possible. But enough talking about me, what is such a beautiful girl like you doing out here?"

"Like you, I'm trying to escape the duties and formalities of such an event but it seems that I can't avoid them any longer." The high Elf who stood on the stage before, approached them as she was talking.

"I see that you already made yourself acquaintance with my daughter Samira. I hope she wasn't too cheeky towards you since she is our little rascal." They exchanged sharp looks when he mentioned her rebellious side.

"Not at all, I just wanted to invite her to a dance." Aymon stretched out his hand while slightly bowing himself.

"With pleasure." She grabbed his hand with a smirk on her face.

Hand in hand they walked on the free space in front of the stage where some couples were already dancing.

"I might have acted too rash there, I don't come from a noble family so I never learned how to dance" He directed his look towards the floor from the embarrassment.

"Pfft, I'll guide you just follow my steps." Samira could barely contain her laughter after that.

She took him by the hand and dragged him on the dance floor. With the other hand, she grabbed around his waist and started to move in harmony with the soft melody. By taking the lead she could hide Aymon's clunky movements that gradually improved as he moved. First the right foot then the left in sync with Samira whilst slowly rotating around themselves.

"See this as thanks for saving me from my fathers nagging."

"Well, I can't leave a damsel in distress after all, especially given that she just wanted some rest."

"You are quite the big talker for inviting out the most wanted girl to a dance without even knowing how to dance."

Only now he noticed all the jealous looks directed towards him from young men standing on the sides of the dance floor.

"I couldn't have imagined that a 'rascal' would have such a reputation"

"Than you better take responsibility for inviting this rascal to a dance and deal with all the jealousy that those guys are pointing towards you."

With a last gentle tone, the orchestra stopped playing while in the same moment the dance finished with a last pirouette. She swiftly liberated him from her grip and disappeared in the applauding crowd.

"Quite the rascal indeed, leaving me behind whiteout saying anything." His eyes looked out for her but without success.

The festivities slowly came to an end as the participants were gradually leaving including Aymon and Aiduin.

Two days have passed since then and finally, Aymon could stand in front of the platoon assigned to him.

"This are the thirty men assigned to the Eagle Unit fifteen from the GRE and fifteen recruited from the high Elfs. One council member also insisted on giving you an upper Sergeant to help you with paperwork and commanding." Aiduin talked to him while the soldiers were standing in front of them.

"And where is this so-called staff Sergeant?"

"I'm here! sorry for being too late, it took me a while to reach this village." A person came running from the street and immediately placed himself in front of the troops whilst saluting.

The female voice was unmistakable it was Samira.

Eleven weeks before winter, the Eagle Unit was dispatched behind enemy lines and find allies and supplies for the impending invasion.