Ren shook the hands of his newest employer; “Good morning, sir.”
“Good morning to you, or, as you’ll be hearing from now on, si vales bene est, ego valeo.” the older officer said, with an unusual yet formal, almost-welsh accent. “Come along.”
Walking down the hallway with Ren in pursuit, he continued speaking. “Your paperwork is in good order, and your recommendations have been considered. Quite a record you have. To my knowledge, no outsider has the experience you do.”
“Is that so, sir?” Ren said, surprised. He had always thought of himself as dime-a-dozen among his comrades.
“Indeed, indeed. You have several options from here, being several more than most other recruits do.” the officer said, lost somewhat in thought. “Ultimately, the Empire receives what the Empire requires. I do think, however, that you’ll be able to serve in a capacity to your, ah, liking.”
As the two made their way out of the facility, the officer’s uniform was made more clear in the morning sunlight; a mostly creme-white uniform, clearly more dressy than most, with red-and-gold epaulets, its golden bullion fringes waving with his strides. The cuffs, central lining, waist-strap, and standing collar shared a similar gold-and-red color scheme, while the trousers were almost entirely red.
Further ahead, a large, yellow vehicle stood waiting; it appeared to be something akin to an early military transport truck. In front of the truck, a smaller, car-sized vehicle, similar to the one Sara had owned, idled; both with the same military insignia.
“By the way, how is your lingua romiana?” the officer said, taking back Ren’s attention.
“My…what, sir?”
“Well, that answers that.” he said, chuckling. “Normally, new trooper recruits would be left largely on their own to learn Novolatin. Luckily for you, I think we’ll be able to get you in the newly-established language academy, especially considering your… unusual circumstances.”
A guardsman, presumably the driver of the smaller motor-carriage, stepped out and opened the doors to the back seats before doing an about-face and throwing up a Roman salute, shocking Ren.
“Ave cohtarch!”
“Ave imperii.” The officer, evidently a “Cohtarch”, replied. “Come along. We’ll be riding north from here.”
• • •
“I’m sorry, but I can’t accept.” is what he had said.
Ren did explain himself somewhat; that he wanted to establish his own roots in this new life of his, that he had great opportunities lined up already that seemed promising, and so on.
Regardless, though, Sara still felt somewhat… disappointed.
Slowly starting to wake up, yesterday’s encounter had kept her mind busy for much of the night. Still somewhat half-asleep, she nonetheless continued to review the previous day’s encounter in her head. She, frankly, didn’t expect him to reject her offer; it was almost a rhetorical question, in intended nature. Admittedly, she never previously had any male servants beyond periodically-contracted private guards, chefs, and chauffeurs, but nonetheless didn’t imagine that it would've make a difference.
Sara took off her sleepwear, folding it up before looking in the mirror; perhaps her status as an Upyir had continued to scare him away, fearing that she would prey upon him? Or perhaps her small figure wasn’t up-to-par with what would be expected of a mistress? Both of these problems had plagued her seemingly futile attempts at courtship over decades; perhaps this goes beyond just courting?
As she continued to review these thoughts, changing into her daily black-and-white dress, a knock came at her bedroom door. “...yes?”
“I think we just got a letter, I don’t know who from though! I’ll leave it at the table.” her younger sister replied.
Sara sighed. Clearly family issues were becoming nightmarish once more, following her other encounter the previous night. She had no doubt that this too had the mark of a relative. “I’ll be out in a moment.”
Yesterday's questions would have to be put on hold. Tying her red ribbon and amulet on her collar and quickly brushing her shortish grey hair back into place, she did a quick twirl in front of the mirror before heading out to investigate today’s drama.
