2.2 CHAPTER EIGHT: THE RETURN OF SAGMA

2.2 CHAPTER EIGHT: THE RETURN OF SAGMA

Lucian Urian stared at all his knights. They had returned to the country the night before, and some fared poorly with sea travel. Despite that he had them resting the whole night, half of his troops were still experiencing seasickness.

With a sigh, he raised a hand to signal them to stop. He heard plenty of appreciative comments as they all plopped down on the dirty ground.

He sighed once more.

"Your happiness is escaping," Uli remarked as he settled down next to his commander. "Remind me again why we seem to be in a hurry, Lucian? We've just returned! After three long years of war, you'd expect we at least take it easy on the journey home,"

Lucian stood his ground. He crossed his arms over his chest. "We have been gone for three years, Uli. These knights have families to go home to,"

Uli raised a brow at the statement his commander had just spoken. "Are these men really the ones who cannot wait to be home, or are you, Lucian? You would not want to be delayed at seeing the lady de Serin. After all, you are still newlywed. "

The Sagma knights' commander refused to meet his vice-commander's gaze as he turned his back. He cleared his throat and started walking away without a word.

It took Uli a minute. He stared at his friend's back in shock and mouth agape when he realized that Lucian did not deny it. He was merely making jest. He was not expecting to get such a reaction. Once he had recovered from the surprise, he jumped to his feet and made haste to catch up with his friend.

"Oi, it cannot be, right?" Uli pressed. "Please tell me you are just making jest,"

Lucian only grunted in answer as he ordered some of the men not affected by seasickness to patrol the area. But Uli was not satisfied. He caught up to his friend and put a hand on his shoulder, forcing him to face him.

"Do not tell me you have fallen for the de Serin lady?" he asked, his voice holding venom when mentioning her name.

Lucian had had enough. Uli may have been his friend, but he was crossing boundaries he should not have. He glared at his vice commander. He stepped up toward Uli and whispered in sternly;

"She is married to me, Uli. Whether you've accepted that or not, she is now my wife. I expect you to give her the same respect you give me,"

The two of them glared at one another. Until Uli sighed and nodded. He raised his hands in a 'surrender' sign before walking away to work.

Lucian sighed as well before he spun and turned in the opposite direction. He walked into the woods. He needed the peace he would not be able to get in the sea of excited men returning home.

He found a rock big enough to sit down at, and he did. He rolled his shoulders to try and take the stiffness out of them. He looked over the horizon.

Three years.

He was gone for three years. How would Karme react when she sees him? Would she be happy? Would she welcome him home like he had been dreaming for years?

He sighed. He could understand where Uli was coming from. Before the marriage with Karme, Lucian had never expressed any interest in women. Much less with the daughter of a royal duke.

But he could not allow her the disrespect Uli had been giving her since the wedding. He wanted to treasure her.

He took a deep breath, stood up, and walked back to the spot they camped out. His knights had already assembled the tents. A campfire roared in the middle of the busyness.

A few knights returned to the camp, pulling the body of a boar they had hunted.

"Commander! I will be cooking the boar tonight. Expect it to be delicious!" Lykaios announced, saluting his commander.

Lucian gave a small smile as he said he would be looking forward to the dinner. The younger man happily walked away and toward the knights gutting the catch.

Lucian walked toward his tent that had been set up. Upon entering it, he sighed once more.

"Your happiness is escaping," a voice stated.

"I've heard that before," Lucian answered. "So, what are you doing in my tent, Sen?"

The wizard laid back down on the commander's makeshift bed. "It's relaxing here, commander. Your knights do not want to set my tent up,"

Lucian rolled his eyes. "I believe you will be more efficient with tent building than my men. You can stop them from moving with a snap of your fingers, and you can't build your tent?"

"There are plenty of things I can and cannot do, my lord," he answered. "Building a tent is something I've mastered but chose to not do,"

Lucian gave up on thoroughlyy understanding the mage in his ranks. Sen Anki was an anomaly in the sea of outcasts. Unlike all of them, Sen was actually accepted into high society. He just chose not to.

He once had been invited to join the ranks of royal mage, but he had declined for reasons unknown. Yet he forced himself into Lucian's people and did not accept any answer but 'yes.'

"I need the peace and quiet if I were to gather information about the routes we would take," Sen explained as he closed his eyes.

"Aren't you just going to sleep?" Lucian answered, but the wizard did not reply.

Lucian walked out of his tent once more, unable to lie in his bed. He watched as his men busied themselves with their respective duties. Uli was now getting on Lykaios's nerves.

He looked over his side and saw a figure looking in their direction. He walked towards it with a frown and a hand on top of his sword. As he neared, he could see that it was a woman. One with fiery red hair.

His eyes widened in surprise as he hastened his pace.

A sudden fluttering of a wing made Lucian turn away from the figure. Shocked, he looked up at the sky and saw something red fly away. He let out a relieved sigh and turned toward the figure's direction once more, but it was gone.