Night Watch I: Eliza, Ward of Andrew

*Andrew’s POV*

When the call for Watch hit, I felt relief wash over me. As enjoyable as my Nights off with Eliza had been, it had, in a sense, been almost intolerable to be away from the Watch for so long. I could hardly stand the thought of what developments I might have missed! What news Scouts might have brought back, that I had not been the first to hear.

I was resolved to try and keep an air of nonchalance, however. I didn’t want Eliza to feel as though I hadn’t liked spending time with her. I also didn’t want to give Blasko the satisfaction of knowing that giving us time off was an effective punishment.

After I had sharpened and cleaned Snakebite, I carefully housed her back where she belonged, with Juliet’s things. Internally, I thanked her for her service.

Strapping Little Johnny Rickfield, in its scabbard, around my waist was easier than putting my boots on. I went through the ritual of arming myself with several throwing knives, my dagger, and decided on a shield I could strap to my scabbard, instead of a spear. My spear would be unwieldy if I was going to be regularly explaining things to Eliza.

As I was buckling my gauntlets on, Eliza returned, already armed to her bloody teeth. I couldn’t help but grin: she certainly was a walking advertisement! I reminded myself that, should we have time, it would be ideal for her to practice unsheathing her swords.

We made our way to the Officer’s Podium, and had a pleasant surprise to find Doyle there early as well. Eliza took a step to the far edge, out of the way, as I approached him. “Blasko’s got some kind of bug, so he’s asked me to stand in.”

I nodded. It was understood that Doyle might have required another Second Officer to step in due to his injuries, but, in practice, was still the more senior of the two of us, in administrative matters. I certainly didn’t envy him that. I almost, desperately, hoped that the two of them might, somehow, outlive me. Dealing with budgeting and other such matters wasn’t my favorite way to spend my time.

As the Changing of the Guard ceremony took place, I couldn’t help but notice Ashley admiring Eliza’s weaponry. It made me smile smugly to myself, feeling satisfied.

As soon as the formalities were over, I caught up with Doyle, Eliza following close behind. “How is Nico?”

Doyle frowned. “Alive. Wait a bit, eh?”

I scowled as I followed Doyle to the Meeting Room, Eliza on our heels. That was a bad sign. I knew exactly what he was doing. He thought I was going to lose my temper, so he was taking me somewhere private to give me some bad news. All manner of possibilities ran through my head. Was Nico paralyzed? Blind? Was the enemy that did this coming for the Soul?

Doyle stalked into the Meeting Room and sat at the wide table. He motioned to us both with a dour expression. “Sit.” He rubbed his eyes with his hands, then glanced at Eliza. “Watchman, if Second Officer Andrew attempts to harm another Watchman, I order you to restrain him.”

My mouth fell open in shock. I saw Eliza rise and stand in front of the exit closest to us with a nod, her eyes narrowed thoughtfully. “What in the nine hells happened, Doyle?”

Doyle pointed at me. “You just try and keep your head, and I’ll tell you.” I nodded. “You and I both know that there have been far too many trolls in the area, something is off.”

He glanced at Eliza and briefly filled her in. “Trolls are amoral, like most ‘brutal’ species. If they attack, it’s usually in a smaller raiding party. I’m sure you’ve heard of the terrible attack that happened three years ago. That was also heralded by unprecedented amounts of scouting on their part. If you’ve ever studied history, that generally means that there’s some controlling force that’s taken hold of them, that’s directing their tribes for their own purposes. Trolls just don’t organize that efficiently on their own.”

Doyle cleared his throat, and I struggled to be patient. “Well, we’ve been trying to keep track of the recent increased scouting. We anticipate that they will come for the Soul again. We’re also trying to learn what we can; we want to capture their scouts. So far we’ve been unsuccessful. Our goal is to identify what kind of power is behind them.”

Again, all things I knew already. I had to stop myself from tapping my foot. “Well, Andrew, Crilly’s scouting party ran into trouble last Night, as you saw.” Doyle looked at Eliza. “Crilly was the head of a group of scouts with six men: Crilly, Nico, Jim, Adam, Josh, and Nikki-“

I had to burst in. “-Not Nikki Misery, that you knocked out, there are several Nikkis-“

Doyle cut me off, irritated. “-Obviously! As I was saying, they were out tracking trolls. Long story short, Crilly was intent on being the first to bring one back alive. That kid is ambitious, wants to make a name for himself. They actually had one, but he got careless on the way back. They were ambushed, and Nico almost died. He still might die. Crilly gave the order to leave Nico and bring the captive troll, but the others insisted on carrying Nico back instead. They only made it back here because Whiplasher and his lot ran across them, gave them a hand.”

I saw red. I heard Doyle’s words: ‘Crilly gave the order to leave Nico,’ repeating over and over in my head. What kind of Watchman left their man to die?

I felt Doyle smack my head, which got my attention. “Andrew, Crilly didn’t know about what Papa can do, he thought there was no hope for him. He made the wrong decision, but he’s been disciplined.”

I frowned. “How?”

Doyle sighed. “Crilly was demoted to an initiate for another year. Honestly, though he wasn’t glad, he seemed to care more that Nico was alive.”

I grimaced and shook my head. “I hope that’s enough to learn his lesson.” I paused, envisioning Wednesday putting Crilly through his paces. “I’ll visit Nico after Watch.”

Doyle eyed me carefully. “Are you good?”

I nodded, and Doyle looked slightly placated. I rose, thinking we were finished, but was surprised when he turned to address Eliza. “The order still stands. If you see the Second Officer get worked up, and try to go after the young man you saw in the Healer’s Tent, hold him still until he calms down.”

Eliza nodded, and I snorted. Doyle grinned at me. “Just in case, kid. And will you sit back down, there’s one more thing.” Automatically obedient, I sat, curious.

I was interested to see that Doyle’s manner changed a bit. He was usually fairly self-assured, but now he seemed a bit reticent. “Listen, Andrew. I’ve been working on my mobility, and I’ve been thinking of starting combat training. I like what I do at the armory, and with the kitchens, but I miss being at the Walls too. I feel like I’ve made a lot of progress. I’ve already talked to Blasko about this, and neither one of us wants to lose you as Second.”

I took a breath, not sure how I felt about what Doyle was saying. Was I being demoted? Like Crilly, who had left a man to die? “We had Tobias do the research, and there is standard for this happening in the past, though not recently. Apparently it’s not a problem to have more than one of a given Officer be combat-active. I just wanted to make sure you were on board-“

I interrupted him. “-Doyle, you are my Commanding Officer. If you are fit to return to combat, I welcome you by my side in battle. Do not hesitate on my behalf.”

Doyle raised his hands up. “Whoa, whoa! Not quite yet! I was just thinking that I’d start training, so that I’m not utterly useless, when the time comes. Because, as we all know, that time is most likely going to come very soon.”

I shook my head, frankly astonished. “Leave it to you to take on enemies with only one leg and one and a half hands! Maybe you should have been a Berserker!” We all laughed.

Notes

feeling a little bummed that this story has fallen so far in popularity, but i feel like it's inevitable, given how long it is. i just don't think most people have the patience for ultra-long stuffs. i still love it, anywho! and i do, most definitely, have a plot outlined in my head. :O)