Chapter 2:Lord Deimos

"What's going on here?"

Everyone turned to where the voice came from. A man stood at the entrance of the gates. His glossy armor shone in the light like stars in the sky. He stepped forward and stood before the two opponents. His eyes fell on the commander.

"Lord Deimos," the commander said lowering his head in respect or rather fear.

When everyone heard what the commander called him, they lowered their heads in respect. Only a fool would not do so. Maybe there was one fool among them.

Jasmine was surprised when she heard what the commander called the devilishly handsome man before her. She did not expect to see him on her first day here. He had a pair of cerulean blue eyes. Even the armory could not hide his well outlined body. Jasmine snapped out of her thoughts and slapped herself mentally.

The man, precisely Deimos, felt a burning gaze and turned back to look at the daring person. His eyes met with a pair of black obsidian eyes gazing at him fearlessly. The little thing looked surprised, but he could not sense any fear in her. He stared at her without averting his gaze. He wondered if she was oblivious of who he was, or she was playing brave.

Jasmine did not know what happened to her the moment Lord Deimos turned to her. It was like she was spellbound by his eyes. Talking of his eyes, she noticed even though they were blue, they were mixed with a hue of green that made them more beautiful.

"I asked what is going on here?" Deimos' voice rang across the air sending a chilling aura to all.

The commander felt as if his heart was about to leap out of its cage. He looked down on his toes and explained the situation with a choked voice.

"Lord Deimos, forgive my negligence. Th... the lady here wanted to be recruited as a warrior and when I politely asked her to leave, she challenged me on a duel. As a... warrior it would be cowardice to back off or refuse."

Jasmine stared silently at the commander watching him urning the situation in his favour. She knew being caught in the wrong by Lord Deimos would be disastrous. Since the commander wanted to play, she would play along. He should have known better than trying to devise against her. She waited to see if the reputable Lord Deimos was as ruthless as it was rumoured. Would he punish her without listening to her explanation? She wanted to know so she did not say anything.

Deimos waited for the little girl to retort but nothing came. He averted his gaze from the commander to the girl again. He stared into her eyes trying to decipher what she was thinking so hard. She then suddenly looked up at him with a certain glare as if waiting for him to punish her or something.

"Follow me, both of you." He said looking at the two opponents and moved ahead to the palace. Before leaving he gestured for the others to continue the recruitment.

Jasmine was dumbstruck but she recovered quickly. She took large strides and followed behind with the commander. Before disappearing into the palace, she looked at Laris and gave her a reassuring smile or else Laris would invite trouble for herself trying to go after her.

They followed Deimos into the palace. This was the first time Jasmine had ever stepped foot into the place. It was more than she had ever imagined. The castle in her dreams was nothing compared to what she was seeing now. It was big enough to accommodate her entire village and another. She could only imagine how it looked inside. Everything inside must be worth a fortune.

Deimos led them into a large chamber which was built a bit away from the castle. The walls were covered with black curtains. In the corner of the room there was a simple desk, neat and orderly, with a few scrolls stacked in the middle. In the centre there was a large seat and a table.

Deimos sat down leaving the two people standing.

"Lord Deimos, why did you bring us here?" the commander asked not able to contain himself anymore. The silence in the room was killing him slowly. He wanted to escape from here as soon as possible.

Jasmine wanted to know the reason too, but she didn't dare ask.

They both waited for Deimos to reply but he just remained silent. The tension in the room increased. None of them knew what was coming to them next.

Jasmine cleared her throat and finally said, "My lord, I apologize for troubling you with this trivial issue. I only wanted to join the recruit. The law of the land does not forbid a woman from doing so thus I decided to try. I didn't know I would cause a commotion."

The commander wanted to shout at Jasmine to shut up but he knew better than to do that. He only prayed for Lord Deimos not to get angry, or he would be implicated too.

Deimos listened to the little girl's explanation. At least she wasn't dumb as he had started to think. And why did her voice sound so melodic? He pushed that thought behind and focused.

"My lord, I told her to leave because the battlefield isn't meant for women, but she challenged me."

"You weren't willing to listen to me and I bet you would have had me thrown out if I didn't leave." Jasmine retorted.

"Yes, I would without a second thought."

"Then don't blame me for challenging you. You are one of those men who look down on women."

"Women are fragile, very fragile creatures."

"You are the fragile!"

"You!"

"Enough!" Deimos could not take in more of their yapping. "Aren't you two tired of living?"

Jasmine and the commander lowered their heads.

"Commander Orson, women aren't fragile as you say and miss, it's not every day we have a little girl walk in the palace wanting to be a warrior so don't blame commander Orson."

Jasmine looked at the commander with a look that said, 'So your name is Orson? What a name!'

Orson was on the verge of pouncing on the woman. He didn't know how many times she had angered him since he met her.

"So, to calm all this I have made my decision."

Both of them looked him impatiently waiting for his verdict.

"Little girl, you will be under my command for the next thirty days and if you are able to prove to me you aren't fragile as he says, I'll allow recruitment of women right away. You will be the first one."

Both Jasmine and Orson were taken aback. They did not expect that.

"And as for you, Orson. You will be the one recruiting the ladies after her test."

Orson almost staggered hearing him. He who hated dealing with women was given such a task. He glared at Jasmine chanting inwardly it was all her fault. He only hoped that wouldn't make it.

"Anything objections?"

Orson wanted to shout yes but dared not. He lowered his head and kept quiet only complaining internally.

"I accept," Jasmine said shocking both the men especially Orson.