Chapter 13

Soon, the two days had passed by and the Captain, Major, Sargent and ten other soldiers arrived at the Mayors residence to attend the party. They didn't come dressed in their armor naturally, but in regular clothes. Since they were here in town for military reasons, they didn't bring any nicer clothing other than recreational clothing to wear for when they were not on duty.

The Captain wore the nicest of his two green shirts and sun-tanned pants. Most of the other soldiers dressed similarly as the Captain did, as these were the standard issue military outfits provided. The Sargent in contrast had a rather nice blue shirt that made him stand out from the rest. The Major dressed like the rest, with a green shirt and military tanned pants. Even though she was a woman she didn't have any such feminine attire. She could have bought one dress here in town, but she had nowhere to keep it in her military tent.

The entire party was to be held in the back courtyard outdoors, for the house was too small for a larger gathering. So, when they arrived a server simply lead them around the large house to the party. They were some of the last to arrive, as most of the people lived nearby. A large fire burned in the center of the courtyard in a large brazier, while four smaller fires were lit in the corners. Off to one side was a troop of musical performers playing a song with a slow, but enjoyable upbeat rhythm.

A dozen of nicely dressed servers were tending to the guests, who were also dressed in upper class attire. It looked like there was at least a hundred people invited to the party, counting themselves. This made the military drab outfits stick out very much. If the party goers didn't know beforehand that they were from the military, they would likely have been kicked out. The Mayor and his daughter quickly spotted them and came over to welcome them.

After a moment of introductions, the military group dispersed across the courtyard to enjoy the party. some to eat other to speak to some acquaintances. Only the Major and Sargent stayed with the Captain.

"So glad you all could come!" The Mayor said sipping some wine from a small glass he was carrying. "Please, enjoy yourselves the cook did an extraordinary job tonight."

"Is that so? Then excuse me for just a moment." The Sargent said sniffing the air hungrily. Nearby was a table with some delicious looking foods and he loaded up a hardy amount on to a plate. He listened to the rest conversation between bites.

"I was beginning to wonder, Captain," The Mayor started off, "How much longer does your orders require you to stay with us? Not that I don't enjoy the extra help, but it's odd that your temporary assignment has lasted this long."

"Yes, it might seem like it been a while, but I have been sending my reports to the General and he's assured me that it won't be much longer. It's likely that after your townsmen have be trained to guard this place effectively, that he'll order us to return." The Captain replied.

Though he knew that the General would probably want to keep him away as long as possible. His scouts had no reports of any major orc movement from the cave. This meant that they had no real reason to stay at the town and could have returned at any time.

"I see." The Mayor noodling slowly.

"I hope that you can stay with us longer, Captain." The Lady Mayor said smiling at him. "I've really enjoyed your help being my escort to the villages nearby."

Over the course of the past month, not only did Mustang Company oversee the protection of the town but three smaller farming villages to the west and south. It was the Lady Mayors job from her father to go and check up on them once a week. She would make sure all was well, no major sicknesses, if anything was needed to help them that the town could provide and most importantly, to buy food from them. The town wasn't entirely self-dependent and relied on a fair amount of trade to sustain itself.

The Lady Mayor continued, "I hope you can continue helping me again tomorrow too."

"Yes of course I can." The Captain replied. "It is important to keep these good relationships with the villages and if anything, happen to you out there it would terrible."

"Agreed." The Mayor replied quickly. "Your personal safety is my highest wish. Besides that, I'm not nearly as good at numbers or haggling merchants like you are my daughter." He smiled a hugged her from the side.

"Thanks father." She said returning the hug. "I enjoy forcing those greedy merchants to give me a fair price."

"Now then, Captain, let me introduce you to some of my friends over by the fire. They have some hilarious jokes and stories you might enjoy." The Mayor said gesturing the way. The two men left the women and the Sargent, who was still eating, alone.

"Oh, pardon me, Major, I didn't notice you standing there. You dressed like the rest of the men I hardly paid attention." The Lady said giving her a glance over.

The Majors expression didn't budge but her voice sounded irritated, "It's fine I didn't own anything here to wear to the party. I'd only packed what was needed for the trip, but its length was longer than expected."

"You poor dear. You could have asked me for something." The Lady said. "I'm sure the Captain would have appreciated something better to look at other than your outfit." The Lady said.

"Oh, that's alright." The Major said giving a forced smile. "It would have been a bit tight for me to wear anyway." She tugged her shirt gently.

The Sargent swallowed, "Now this is interesting. Are they fighting over the Captain?" He thought to himself.

"Why you…" The Lady started to say something angrily in reply, but the music suddenly stopped. Forcing herself to keep quiet, less she draws attention for yelling.

One of the musicians stepped forward and spoke loudly, "We will now play the traditional dance songs for a while. Please find a partner and enjoy yourselves." He stepped back and the music flowed out at beautiful pace as they started playing again.

"Hmm, I think I'll see if the Captain would care to dance with me." The Lady said quickly and left the Major behind with a flutter of her bright red dress.

The Major was about to follow suit but stopped mid step and looked down at her cloths. She wasn't dressed for the occasion at all. It would be so embarrassing to be out there dancing like this.

"What wrong? Not going to dance?" The Sargent said standing next to her. They watched as the Lady was asking the Captain to dance who appeared to accept her invitation to dance and the joined a dozen other pairs that were dancing slowly by the fire.

"I'm not really dressed for this party." The Major said blankly.

"I don't think the Captain would care." The Sargent said shrugging. He looked at her and guessed his suspicion might be right.

"Well even if I did, I can't dance." The Major replied. "I skipped every class my mother tried to get me to do."

They continued to watch the two dance together. The firelight was behind them making it appear as if two shadows were dancing together. As they spun slowly the Major noticed that the Captain was smiling. A rare occasion.

"Well good luck then." The Sargent said turning to join the rest of the soldiers nearby.

"Good luck? For what?" The Major said looking at him.

"Oh, you know…" The Sargent said with a wink. It was clear to him now; the Major liked the Captain. He couldn't wait to tell the other soldiers this tasty rumor.

The Major ignored him and turned to look back at them dancing. Then she looked down at her ruff hands and muscular arms "Does he prefer daintier women? He's never smiled like that to me when we trained. In fact, he's only ever smiled like that to me when he saved me at the gate."

The two rotated to where the Major could see the Lady Mayors face in the firelight. That same moment the Lady Mayor glanced at the Major and smiled triumphantly. The Major tightened her grip. "I won't let her beat me."