Charlotte blinked.
"Excuse me?"
Alexander leaned forward.
"I said no," he turned serious for a moment. "The truth is you need me. I would rather die than ever change my style of fighting."
General Lannes shot to his feet, gripping his sword hilt.
"You insolent bastard, I shall cut you down where you stand!"
Alexander stood to his feet, readying his stance.
"Go on then, I've been itching to hurt you, since the moment I–"
The room plunged into a slow, deafening silence.
Both Elizabeth's and Lannes's eyes widened, but for different reasons.
Alexander was cut short by a gush of wind and a blade to his throat.
"My, my, to distract her majesty like that, I expected better of you, Alex…"
Alexander gritted his teeth as he looked up to see Donna looming over him.
The smell of booze and steel was strong on her robes.
"I should've known you were here, I've never seen Charlotte without you."
Donna smirked, pressing the blade deeper against his throat.
Blood ran down his throat as she tightened her grip.
Lannes sat down as Elizabeth gripped the table.
"Let him go, Donna. You made your point!"
Donna ignored her.
Keeping her blindfolded gaze on Alexander.
Charlotte watched as he squirmed in her grip.
"Alexander, I don't know what happened to you. And quite frankly I don't care, but your blatant disregard for my authority cannot be tolerated."
Alexander smirked against the blade to his neck.
"I don't give a fuck about your authority. Kill me, torture me, burn me alive, and feed the ashes to the hounds."
He looked to meet her gaze.
"I already lost everything, my home, my family, my friends… and for a while even my pride."
He gripped Donna's wrist and pushed her to cut deeper.
"You think I'm afraid of death? No, I fear losing and I'm done losing, it's either win or die."
The smell of his blood didn't make him flinch, instead, it hardened his resolve beyond belief.
Charlotte stayed silent for a moment.
Part of her knew giving Alexander what he wanted, (independence or death) would be a waste of a prime weapon.
But she also knew Alexander would refuse any help that was outside his goals.
So she compromised.
"Donna, let him go."
Donna didn't release her grip immediately, instead, she flicked her blade to the side.
Drops of blood dotted the table as she made a "tsk" Sound.
"Shame, I wanted to see how far he'd go."
She stepped back as Alexander stepped forward, not bothering to clean his neck.
Elizabeth rushed to him, her delicate hands pressing against his neck. "Oh, my love…"
Charlotte narrowed her eyes.
"If you're so confident in your methods, then I wish to learn from you. I offer my previous deal, except this time Davout will study under you."
Both men looked at her with curious eyes.
She continued.
"Show this old man how real war is waged, bring your kingdom to victory, and show us how wrong we were." She smiled, leaning closer. "It'll be the ultimate victory, you'll change how an entire kingdom conducts its warfare."
Alexander let out a low, breathless chuckle as Elizabeth cleaned his healed wound with a handkerchief.
"Now this is my language, there's a reason you're Queen and it's this right here." He then turned to Davout. "Get ready old man, the future is now."
He laughed, turning to leave with Elizabeth on his arm.
Leaving the room in a stunned silence.
When Alexander finally left, Davout was the first to speak.
"Will I truly study under him?"
Charlotte gave him a knowing look.
"Obviously."
His stern expression hardened into professional outrage.
"Your majesty, I have served longer than his father has lived! You cannot mean this, this… foolishness."
"It's an insult to the entire officer corps!" Lannes added, "This'll be the death of our nation, our people!"
Charlotte chuckled softly.
"Hold your anger and let me finish."
She pressed a hand against the table.
"You'll do more observing than anything, note what works, discard what doesn't. If he dies in his first battle, he dies. If he lives… then I want you to point out where he failed and ask what he'd have done to change that. Make him painfully aware of every flaw and how you'd have handled it. He'll either adapt, or fail."
Davout's expression shifted to one of reassessment.
"I see, so you've tricked the boy into accepting your original offer by changing the environment of the classroom. Instead of teaching from books I'll be teaching from his failures."
He stroked his chin, a grin forming.
"He'll be forced to learn logistics to win. What will he do when he secures a village, and now his men are trapped within it? I'll be there to subtly nudge him into creating reserves. When he realizes he has to trade bullets to make space for feminine products, he'll be forced to either scrap the support core, or go through the paperwork of expanding his logistics… every problem he faces, will be born from logistics."
He laughed, a genuine sound.
"You're a genius, your majesty."
She joined him.
"The best part is, he can't deploy his marines without his support core. The same support core that will force him to source specialized equipment. He can't just buy from a stockpile, he'll have to create it."
Davout laughed harder.
"The irony, how marvelous!"
Even Lannes and the other generals seemed to catch on, laughing as well.
Alexander, the Grand Commander of the Colonial Marines, had just played himself to win an argument.
— — —
A week later Alexander was in his office, smiling confidently as he waited for his new arrivals.
Outside he listened to the sounds of construction and men training.
A few minutes later there was a knock on the door.
"Sir! We have visitors claiming to be here for…" the sound of whispering, "…a support core and tutelage?"
The soldier sounded unsure.
Alexander quickly stood up, slamming a hand on his desk.
"Let them in, I'm on my way!"
Moments later, Alexander and his two high-ranking sergeants stood before a group of seven.
Five dressed in the red robes of the royal pathfinder core.
And two dressed in the officer dress uniform.
One woman and one man.
Alexander grinned.
"Welcome to my humble abode ladies," he turned his attention to Davout.
"And, old man."
He chuckled, his eyes twinkling.
Davout simply smirked.
"Hello, young man."
Alexander clapped his hands together.
"So, introductions," he turned his head and gestured to his sergeants.
"This is Sergeant Major of the Colonial Marines, Klaus."
Klaus gave a crisp salute.
Alexander moved on, "and this is First Sergeant, Wagner."
Wagner gave a less-than-enthusiastic salute.
Turning back to the new arrivals, Alexander waited expectantly.
The first to step forward was the female in a dress uniform.
Her red eyes were sharp, and her hair pulled back tightly in a bun.
"I am Captain Inés, quartermaster corps," she stated, looking over Wagner and Klaus. "I am assigned to oversee the establishment of this new support unit."
She gestured a hand behind herself to the pathfinders.
"These are sergeants of the Royal Pathfinder Corps. They answer to me and any questions or orders you have for them, will be relayed through me."
She gestured a hand to Davout.
"This is Field Marshal Davout, he has been assigned to you personally as a student."
Her eyes seemed to flicker with indignation at that last word.
Alexander grinned at it.
"Wonderful."
He stepped forward, "Ladies, you're to join Klaus, he'll explain everything. Any questions you have for me, relay them through him."
He turned towards Davout.
"Come on, old man. We have a date with reality."
Davout eagerly stepped forward.
"Please, show me this… 'future' you bring."