Here's the next part (finally). ______________________ Alex wasn't certain what he was going to say when he saw George. No doubt the jackal would want to know why the patrol had returned early, and Alex had spent almost the entire trip back to Metamor contemplating what sort of response he could give. One of the first responses he had come up with was to see how many of the patrol master's bones he could break before anyone could get him off of him. Incensed as he was, he could not justify such a course of action. George's orders had been given based on orders he himself had received. Neither could Alex blame any of the people who passed the orders to George. Lois was an unknown to the security, not yet having shown himself trustworthy at all, and it was going to be hard enough protecting the Duke and his wife-to-be given how much more public this activity was than the Duke's daily responsibilities. Everyone who might want the horse lord dead would like nothing more than to do it on this day, one that would mean so much to the Keep if it succeeded. No, the fault rested with none of his superiors, and not with Lois himself, at that. It had been a standing policy for years that the Keep would forgive almost anyone the sins of their past if they would lay aside those same sins in their future lives. Lois, as long as he was not asked for by any who he had wronged in the past, had the same right as anyone to try to start from scratch. This patrol was not a punishment as much as it was removing any chance of Lois continuing his past in the worst possible way. Shifting the blame did him no good. In the end, Alex had been given a job to do, had promised to do that job, and in the process of trying to do that job he had caused the loss of two valuable team members. Questions ran through his head, questions of how they could have prepared better, what they could have done different, if perhaps there was a way he could have stayed behind, saving both Gerard and Lois, and dying with far more honor than he now lived with. He didn't care if the lutin mage had slowly flayed him alive, he would have preferred it to what he now felt. And so he turned another unfamiliar corner, finding that it opened out into one more unremarkable hall, but one that had a familiar doorway at one end. He turned the other direction and took a few steps, but stopped. No, he would not hesitate. He had to do this now, or he might perhaps find a way to shift the blame to another. He walked to the door and entered unbidden, stepping into the small room where George's assistant greeted and delayed visitors while George untangled himself from whatever business he found himself involved in at the moment. As he entered, the assistant's eyes widened a little. She apparently recognized him and somehow knew that he shouldn't be there. If that was true, he admired her memory. Regardless, he introduced himself briefly and asked to see George. The assistant popped her head into the room and quietly announced Alex's presence. The lynx tried his best to ignore whatever reaction George had to his presence, but he could hear the surprise, perhaps better said, the shock in the jackal's voice when he heard the announcement, and Alex found himself being ushered into the room with no hesitation. George was elbow-deep in paperwork, clearly not having the time to see anyone, but recognizing that the early return of a very important patrol meant that he had to make time. He shifted some of the papers around so that he had some room to work on the desk. His brow was already set in a worried ridge as he waited for Alex to sit down. The lynx almost collapsed into the chair and sighed deeply, waiting for George to speak first. "Alex? You're not supposed to be back for several days yet." "I know. We didn't return by choice," Alex responded. "We ran into some trouble in the north; there was a large group of lutins, with no identifying marks visible anywhere. We tracked them for several days, trying to figure out what they might be up to. The last day we were there, we all set up around the camp to see if we could find some way to identify them. Another group came in early in the morning, with a mage at the head. He was displeased with how careless his subordinates had become, and he made an example of the interim commander. Immediately after this, he noticed our secondary party around the border of the camp. We were forced to fight a vastly superior force with nothing but the four of us, and they had so many numbers that getting away cleanly was extremely difficult. "I took Gerard and tried to lose some of them by moving north and hooking back around to the camp. Lois and Lucy were left behind, and Lucy ended up engaging with the lutin mage while Lois... Well, I don't know exactly where he went, but Lucy says he chase after the pursuit, trying to divide them and give us a better shot at escaping. "Gerard and I made it back to the camp without too much trouble, but Lucy had just lost her battle with the mage. Gerard jumped in to cover her, and told me to take her and run. He had some sort of enchanted sword, and managed to hold off the mage long enough for me and Lucy to make our escape, but I was forced to leave him behind." George took a deep breath, evidently sensing the direction that the conversation was headed. "And Lois? Did you see what became of him?" Alex shook his head and sank back in his seat, holding his head in one of his hands. If his fingers still had their former length he would have been massaging his temples. As it was, he did whatever he could do to try to ease the pain that he felt. "No, I never saw what happened to them. Once Lucy and I got clear of the camp I recommended that we turn back, but Lucy was physically exhausted and completely drained magically. I couldn't go back and take on the entire camp, even a greatly depleted camp, by myself." "You don't have to defend your decisions to me, Alex, you've proven yourself trustworthy before. I'm sorry about Gerard. I know that the two of you went through a lot together. As for Lois, I don't know much about the man, but I can see by your reaction that you aren't happy about losing him either. I didn't mean for this to happen, Alex." Alex nodded. "Almost any other day I would have tried to yell you into a corner, tried to make you admit that you sent them to their death, but I've had too much time to think this over to do that and still feel like I was being honest with myself." His voice was a mix of laughter for the bitter irony of the situation, and sobbing for the loss of his friend. "Right now, if I'm honest I have to say it was my fault. Sending my patrol into that situation was dangerous, and I knew it. The information would have been useful, but the chance of failure was too high to justify risking it." "Alex, it was a command decision, and you are the commander. That's why we have you out there, it's your job to make the tough decisions." George leaned back in his chair, staring at Alex intently. "I think you're overthinking this. I sent you and yours out there because you're good. Lois has a good reputation where stealth is concerned, and I understand that you thought that you had reason to trust him. If these lutins bore no identifying marks it means that something odd was going on, and this close to the Duke's wedding I would have to agree with your decision." "All the same sir, I do not feel comfortable remaining in a command position when I've caused this much damage through one of my decisions. I want to take this opportunity to submit my resignation, as well as to request reassignment to another unit." "Alex, we need you out there. You proved yourself in pressure situations during the Assault," George insisted, tapping the desk for emphasis. A paper slipped from the desk and floated slowly to the ground. "Making one mistake in that length of time is a deal I would gladly take from any of my commanders. We're at war, casualties are to be expected. No one want to say it in so few words, but anyone who is honest with themselves cannot believe otherwise." "Whether I believe that myself or not, I work with a group of friends, and I made a decision that put those friends in danger. If you assigned me a group of total strangers to replace the men I've lost, how can you believe that I would be more careful with them? Sir, regardless of what you believe of me, I have no confidence in my own command abilities. At least reassign me until I regain some measure of confidence. You could even promote me after I've proven myself again, but I cannot command in my current state." His pleas were punctuated by trembling gestures and a cracking voice. George considered him for a few moments, then turned to the door. He called Diane into his office, and she quickly checked to see what he needed. "Please take down a note for me." The look on Diane's face made it clear that she had probably expected something more along the line of a food order, but she nodded and took a pen and paper. "Write that scout commander Alexander ard'Valius is to be removed from command before his next assignment. Also note that Lucy Aetherchild is to be assigned to the same unit, pending her recovery from her last assignment." The assistant dutifully wrote the required note on a parchment laid out on a hastily-cleared area of the scout master's desk. She realized that she was writing about the man who sat opposite George at the desk, but did her best to look neutral about what she was writing, although her increased pace seemed to indicate that she wanted to finish as soon as possible. Her surprise was evident when the lynx gave a small smile and quietly thanked the patrol master. As she finished her job and confirmed that that was all that George needed, she slipped out as quickly as politely possible. "All right, Alex. Here, just sign this document and I'll make sure it gets done as soon as I can." Alex was more than happy to comply, reading the document first to be sure that Diane had not been clued into writing something else instead. Everything seemed to be right, though, and he signed the parchment, making it as clear as his paws allowed. "All right, Alex. Unless there's anything else you need, I'd say you need some rest." Alex nodded, giving a sigh of relief that he had been able to go through with his plan to resign. Now that it was done he agreed with the jackal. "All right, I'll go get some rest. I'll give you a written report if you need it later." George nodded and motioned to the door, watching as Alex left. He walked as though a great burden had been lifted from his shoulder, but George was skeptical. Alex was a proven commander, one that he would trust with almost anything within his jurisdiction. He would hate to lose him. <span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;line-height:115%; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri;mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi; mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA"> As the lynx left, George watched the door close behind him. He looked at the paper that Alex had just given to him, slipping his fingers through his fur a few times, then scratching at his jawline. Well, even he realized that paperwork had its purposes. He placed the paper on the empty part of the desk and walked over to the other side of the desk. He picked up a huge pile of papers, arranging them carefully into a high stack, then dropped the entire ream on top of the newly-minted notice of resignation. !DSPAM:4e910294154901366210097!