CHAPTER 1
The valiant who met Seri at the entrance to the command hall was a woman. She was on the short side, energetic, with close-cropped black hair. Her name was Raya, and her armor—heavy, dark-colored, and decorated with several menacing spikes—seemed entirely at odds with her cheerful personality. There was a mark on her face just below her right eye, the symbol for courage in the face of danger. She eyed Seri with no small amount of skepticism as Seri stammered out an explanation for why she was there.
“Yes,” she said, when Seri finished. “Captain Turi said something like that in his reports. You’re the new aide.”
Seri nodded slowly. She clutched the wooden chit the captain had given her in one hand, feeling the edges press into the skin of her palm. She had no idea what she had done during the journey to make the captain think she was worthy of this role. All she’d done was keep an inventory of their supplies, and she had a feeling they’d only assigned her that task to keep her out of the way.
“Turi had good things to say about your work.” Raya watched as Seri shifted uncomfortably on the platform outside the door, still dressed in the damp, mud-spattered clothes that had seen her through five days in the rainforest. “Come in. The commander’s office is this way.”
The headquarters was simple as far as buildings went, but after five days in the wild, it seemed an unimaginable luxury. Seri’s mind was spinning, trying to make sense of rooms and structure and not the chaotic tangle of trees, roots, and vines that made up the world below. She was sure she was staring and quickened her step, not wanting Raya to think she was dawdling. If Raya had noticed Seri’s lapse of attention, she didn’t show it, opening the door to a room at the end of a hall and stepping back to let Seri peer inside.
The room smelled strongly of ink and the oil the valor used to tend to their armor. Inside it, Seri could see a low writing desk with a well-worn cushion placed in front of it. A cot rested in the corner of the room under swathes of insect netting, neatly folded and put away.
Seeing Seri’s gaze drawn to it, Raya spoke up.
“The commander’s using the office as her quarters at the moment. We haven’t gotten around to building the barracks yet, and the valor wouldn’t hear of her sleeping outside. Don’t worry, though. With as little time as she spends in here, you’re not likely to bump heads.”
“Um…,” Seri said. Her mouth was dry—she wondered if she should have stopped to get a drink of water before racing all the way up here. “What exactly am I supposed to do?”
“Turi didn’t explain?”
Seri shook her head. “He said that Commander Eshai”—even saying the name out loud did not help any of this feel real—“that the commander needed a personal assistant. And he thought that I would be a good fit.”
Raya frowned in thought, cupping her chin. “Hmm. Well, you’re to help the commander keep herself organized and on schedule and help her with anything else she requires.” She inclined her head toward the writing desk. “The commander should have a list of things that need doing somewhere in that mess.”
“Where is she right now?”
“On patrol. She should return soon. I’ll leave you to it, but I’ll be outside if you need anything.”
With a nod, she left, Seri lingering in the doorframe. Seri took a deep breath to steady herself before walking forward, feeling the gentle give and sway of new flooring beneath her feet. She dropped her pack and knelt beside the cushion, not wanting to dirty it with her traveling clothes. The desk was made of new wood, like everything in the settlement. She could still smell the resin and sap.
Less than a week ago, she had been a nobody in her home village, just another face in the crowd when Captain Turi and a few other valiants had come through. It was the last stop on their tour of the border villages, looking for volunteers willing to settle a new spreading tree. Now, she was sitting in front of Eshai Unbroken’s desk. Eshai Unbroken, the youngest person in history to command an entire valor. A whole company of valiants, sworn to protect the People. The girl who had slain a legend.
Seri pinched herself, but when the world failed to dissolve, she realized she wasn’t dreaming. Feeling oddly disrespectful, she reached out, sorting through the scraps of rough-pressed paper and the wooden chips the valor favored for their expeditions, before finally pulling out a string of small boards, each one with writing on them. They were tasks, as Raya had promised. A few looked simple enough—“Set up platforms for the settlers,” “Name the settlement,” “Arrange patrols.” Others looked a little more complicated—“Found provisional government,” for one. Another was simply labeled “Turi???” Some of them had been scratched through with what looked like the point of a knife, in a vicious way that suggested satisfaction. Many of them—most of them—looked untouched.
She was still sorting through them, letting unfinished tasks dangle from her fingers, when she heard someone clear her throat from the doorway. Seri startled and dropped the boards, letting them clatter onto the desktop.
A girl stood at the door. She was young, somewhere in her late teens, and taller than Raya. Seri wouldn’t have immediately called her pretty, although she was striking in her own way. If Seri had seen her out on the street, she might have marked her for a valiant, but not for a hero. That was, of course, if Seri hadn’t seen the pale, milky white of her armor, the marks that snaked their way up what was visible of her arms, marks of excellence and leadership and resourcefulness in battle that stood out sharply against her brown skin.
She wore her hair long, which was a vanity Seri wouldn’t have expected. Black as night and straighter than Seri could ever hope to get hers. It fell to the small of her back, cutting through the white of her armor.
She realized she was staring and scrambled to her feet, thrusting her hands behind her. The valiant tilted her head to the side, unamused.
“So, you’re the one Raya and Turi decided to foist on me. What was your name?”
“S-Seri, Commander.”
The valiant sighed, stepping into the room. She loosened the ties on her gloves, slipping the armor off her hands. The name-mark on the back of her right hand read ‘star.’
“There’s no need to call me ‘Commander.’ You aren’t part of my valor. I’m Eshai. But from the way you’re acting, you’ve figured that much out already.”
Seri nodded, her heart thudding. She hoped her nerves didn’t show on her face. Eshai put her gloves down on the desk, flexing her fingers and gently rotating her right wrist. Seri wondered if something was bothering her. An injury?
Noticing her gaze, Eshai gave her a chagrined smile.
“Hurt it in a training session. Most of the valor fight well enough to keep me on my toes. I hope that doesn’t disappoint you too much.”
“N-Not at all.” Seri looked away. “I didn’t mean to stare.”
Copyright © 2022 by Elisa A. Bonnin