Chapter 15: Assembling the Platoon

It was now close to the day where his one-month training regimen had finished and as that was coming to a close so too did the day where he once again had to meet with Maria. So, he now found himself now once again sitting in the empty tavern across the table from Maria. For David, he found that his heart was a lot steadier this time, he found his head clearer and he, unlike last time, did not feel the urge to run out of the room. Despite that he still felt a calming aura around her and found he could not take his eyes off this stunning beauty. It seemed to him as if her ruby eyes were looking right through him. But he would not be swayed, much like last time he sat down without saying a word and put his arm on the table.

Nothing had changed for Maria, just seeing him again made her once again feel a desire for them to be closer. He looked even more toned than before, if that was even possible, and somehow, he carried himself better, like he was more confident in himself. He had definitely changed for the better. To what extent and how though, she wasn't exactly sure. But the one thing she did know was that the malice that was in his eyes was completely gone. Well, no that's not right, there just was no malice when he was looking at her. Her guards however, he stared at them like a hurt dog trapped in a cage, his malice towards them was almost leaking out past his stoic expression. After the words he had said to her last time she had done a lot of thinking. She had cried to herself for a long time after the fact, but her heart did not waver. She was sure after a rejection like he gave her last time would have cleansed her heart of any desire to form a connection with him. But instead her resolve only grew. She was a woman of strong convictions; she also had a stubborn streak that she got from her father. As long as he hadn't outright rejected her then there was still a chance, and as long as her heart yearned for it, she would pursue it. 

As he sat down, she smiled at him brilliantly before speaking.

"I heard that you have been knighted!" She said with graceful enthusiasm. He just looks at her, his expression unchanged. 

"Yeah, I did." Well, not the greatest start, but he at least wasn't staring daggers at her so there's still hope, she just had to try to talk to him more. 

"I heard that It's exceptionally rare for a human to be knighted, I once heard my father say..." 

"Excuse me," David said, interrupting her. "If you don't mind can we get on with this?" Maria immediately felt depressed, she had failed again, was getting closer to him truly impossible?

For David, just the mention of her father brought up bad memories for him. He had finally managed to settle down to a point where he was no longer haunted in his dreams of the dark dungeon he was kept in. He finally had his own life, a stable job, and a good friend. The last thing he wanted was to think about those things again. He did feel bad for stopping her, he would rather not have to talk, but he still did feel bad being rude. Still though at the end of the day he was mad at her, even if he couldn't bring himself to feel that way, he knew he should be.

After a few moments of silence Maria grabbed David's arm and began drinking his blood. While she was drinking his blood all she could think about was how, if she was stuck with this man for the rest of her life, she wants to be on good terms with him. She doesn't need much, even if he refuses to be her friend, even if their only relationship is the few words they say to each other when they meet, then that would be fine, but she won't be able to live with this situation if for the rest of her life he kept looking at her with those cold eyes. Is it possible that he hates her? Is it possible that she was doomed from the start? Does he hate her father so much that no matter what she does she will never be able to get him to open up?

The event was over quickly, much faster than before, David didn't mind though, the euphoria he feels when she drinks his blood is so overwhelming it's hard to maintain his facade. Even if it's meaningless, even if it just makes it harder when he struggles, the very least bit of resistance he can do is to not give them the satisfaction of seeing his face contorted in pleasure. That aside, he was once again reminded how different the experiences he's had with Maria and Alice are. But it didn't matter, he offered his blood to Alice as thanks, he's here right now because he has to be. He quickly stands up, wrapping his arm as he does and starts heading for the door. Before he had fully turned around though Maria spoke up. 

"Do you... do you hate me?" 

For Maria this was her last ditch effort, if he said yes then her heart be damned she will give up on ever having any sort of connection with this man, based on what he said last time she, in her heart, already knew the answer, that he did indeed hate her. But she had to hear it from him, otherwise she may never be able to move past this. David pauses for a moment as he seems to be thinking over his answer. 

"I do not hate you. Though I may never be able to forgive you." He said as he quickly headed for the door. What does that mean? He doesn't hate her but can't forgive her? Forgive her for what? What did she do that would require forgiveness? The only thing she can think of is that, through her existence and needing his blood, he was stolen away from his home. But that was not her fault, nor would she have gone through with it if she knew. However, before she could open her mouth to ask what he meant, he had already walked through the door and left. Once again leaving her alone with her thoughts. 

David gave her as straight of an answer as possible. He did not hate her, no matter how hard he tried to convince himself that he did, he couldn't bring himself to. But he would never forgive her for taking part in his torture, had she not suggested the force feeding things may have gone differently, maybe not but who knows, all he knows is that she had a hand in it and he would not forgive her for it. But even though he had overheard her father say such clearly it still did not sit right with him. Facts were facts though, so he disregarded his discomfort and kept walking. 

Several days later it was sunset on the last day of training for knighthood. David had just finished packing away his things when the instructor walked over to him. 

"Thank you for everything sir!" David said to him as he stopped in front of him. 

"Stop with the honorifics already." He said as he scratched the back of his head. "You and I are now the same rank, as of today you are officially a knight!" He said with a big smile. 

"Thank you." David stopped himself before instinctively adding "sir" at the end. 

"It's always a shame to see such young talent leave, but my job is always to send them out with the best skills possible." He said as he stuck his hand out. 

"The training area will always be open for you if you need to brush up, but next time you come just call me Dan!" He said, his smile as wide as can be. David too smiled to himself as he grabbed his hand and shook it. This man, he wouldn't feel comfortable calling him a friend, but he definitely felt a connection with him, something beyond a teacher student relationship. He was something different, he was a comrade. David had one more stop before he could head home for the day, he had to go see the princess. 

As he entered the princess' office, much like always she was expecting him. 

"Ah, good to see you again sir knight!" She said sarcastically to David. David decides, for the moment, to play along. 

"And it is an honor to once again be in your presence my lady." He said with a slight bow and the traditional Imperial salute, a closed right fist over his left breast. There is a pause before they both laugh. After they finish laughing Alice takes on a slightly more serious tone but remains enthusiastic. 

"We have several orders of business to attend to." Alice said as she pulled out a long rectangular box from behind her desk. 

"Open it." She said, her eyes twinkling a little. David walks over and opens the box slowly. Inside he sees a sword. It is a traditional Imperial blade, hand crafted by a famous blacksmith, engravings on both the blade and the hilt, a gold tassel dangling off the end of the handle. The blade itself was close in design to a curved cavalry sword which made for an excellent weapon that excelled at both slashing and stabbing. Even the sheath, made of ebony wood, was beautifully crafted, an intricate carving can be seen running down both sides of the entire sheath. Overall, as far as blades go, this was a work of art. 

"Take it." Alice said with a smile. "It's yours." David carefully picks up the sword, and looks it over, his face in awe. Of course, becoming a knight always meant he would receive a blade like this, but now that he was holding it in his hand it felt unreal. Even the weight and balance of the blade appeared perfect. He was speechless. 

"Don't go slack-jawed on me yet, my knight." She said, still in full on teasing mode. She then pulls out a cloth bag and from inside it retrieves a full military uniform. "This is also yours." David grabs it and begins looking it over. 

"I'm going to leave the room for a minute so you can try it on." She said as she lightly touched his shoulder as she walked past and out of the room. Originally David didn't plan on trying it on now, but it seemed as good a time as ever. Quickly he changed into the new uniform and while he was at it, he clipped the sword to his belt. 

A few minutes later Alice entered the room again and looked upon the fully dressed David. The White and gold uniform with its black accents fit him perfectly, the uniform seemed none too tight and allowed his skin to breath, but also hugged him close enough that when he moved you could almost see the muscles that lay hidden underneath. Even the sword at his hip seemed made to be there. He absolutely looked the part, simply put he looked dashing. But just as she thought that, her mind wandered back to when David knelt at her feet offering his neck to her. She immediately began to blush as the moment replayed in her head over and over. She turned away from David to hide her blush. David didn't notice her blushing however, he was still admiring the feel of the clothing on him. It was so well tailored and so well fitted it was almost scary. How they got his measurements so precisely he had no idea. Did Alice happen to have a skill to judge a person's measurements just from a glance? He didn't bother asking, but he remained curious.

"You look nice." Alice said to David as soon as she calmed herself down. "Then again, it should be a given that my knight looks good in uniform, so I should say good job for living up to expectations." David felt good, not just because of the uniform or new sword, not just because his friend complimented him, he just simply felt good, so rather than responding to Alice's snarky comment he just responded simply.

"Thanks." He said with a genuine smile. 

"Ah well, when he goes and looks like that there's no fun in teasing him anymore." Alice thought to herself, although she was just happy that David seemed pleased with everything. She walked past David and went to her desk pulling out a document. 

"So, here's the plan, tomorrow, you and I are going to be scouting members for your new team. Ultimately you will get to decide who we pick but since it's technically under my command I'll be there too. So, think about who you want in your team." 

"I already have." David said confidently. Alice looked at him slightly surprised but then decided that if he's that confident then he must have a plan. 

"I'm glad to hear it." She said as she leaned her head onto her hand and sighed. "It's good that you finished your training, but now you have to manage your own team, you are going to be busier than ever." David smiles at her. 

"I miss you too." He said, reading between the lines. "You know you are always welcome at my house; you should come have dinner sometime and you can beat me in chess for the 100th time." 

"We actually have only played 23 games of chess." Alice said sarcastically, ignoring his comment. 

"Well we can play our 24th game of chess and share dinner sometime." Alice looked up at him and smiled. 

"That sounds nice." 

After changing out of his uniform David went home.

After dinner that night, David was wandering through his house before bed when he noticed one of the empty rooms open. He entered it and looked around, nothing seemed suspicious so it's possible that a maid just accidentally left it open. He was about to leave when he suddenly turned around and took another look at the room. 

"This room would be perfect!" He thought to himself as he ran off to find Sebastian to make the plans. Finally, he was going to make his own gym. 

The next day David heads to the princess' office, almost making the mistake of heading to the training field again. He is nearing the office when two vampires, whom he recognizes as knights, knock him over with a rather heavy kick from behind. "

Aw look at that, the human fell over." One said in a mocking voice. 

"Maybe rather than playing knight he should be learning to walk correctly first!" The second said as he laughed. These two had been bothering him since day one, in fact they were the ones that accosted him the first time he came to the castle. Still he didn't want a fight, so he quickly got up and left. As he was leaving, he could hear them calling him a coward from behind, he ignored them and kept walking. When he arrived, Alice was waiting for him. 

"You ready?" She asked as she noticed a few tufts of dirt on his pants which seemed out of place on his otherwise spotless outfit. 

"Yeah." He replied before brushing himself off and letting her lead the way. They both leave the office and start heading to one of the many areas he had not been to in the Palace, the assembly square. 

Once they have arrived, he sees hundreds of soldiers lined up in organized lines. He knew that this was nothing but a small fraction of the army but still he felt small just looking at this huge number of people. Clearing his nerves, he got ready. Luckily, he was prepared for this, pulling out a piece of paper from his pocket he began to call out names. Yesterday, before he had left, he made sure to tell the princess to ensure that the names on his list would be appearing at this selection process. He had hand picked several people from the entire army who he thought would be helpful. However, to those who saw him calling these people up would describe these people as "outsiders." 

For example, he selected a young man who refers to himself as Clarisse, he is a well-known drag queen in the army, but his special talent lies in his ability to use makeup to entirely change his face. He could be an old man one minute, and then a middle-aged woman the next, he truly was a master of disguise, a tool he used to use when he was a performer on stage. Next there was a boy, who if you didn't know any better looked like a girl, in fact he was so androgynous that he was picked on for it. For infiltration being able to be unrecognizable is an asset and if you can't even tell the gender of the person then it's even better. Another one was someone less obvious in the ranks, despite his looks, talent, and physical ability being about average he was known for his obsession with birds. David didn't know the first thing about birds, but he knew that in an era without radios or phones, birds were the best way to get messages around. It would be especially helpful if he could use birds indigenous to certain areas to send messages to blend it in more efficiently. These were only a small handful of the people he had selected. However, he had a quota of 50 people to fill and so far, he had chosen no more than 11, so he had to do the rest by eye.

Alice had no idea what David was thinking by picking all these misfits. She understood that he must have a plan to have chosen them beyond pity, after all most of these people are hated by their superiors and fellow soldiers alike, even with how little she had kept up to date with the military matters she was aware of who a few of them were. But when she asked David if he was ready yesterday, he had a real confident look about him, so all she could do was trust that he knew what he was doing. 

David now went up and down the lines of men, selecting the most average looking men amongst them, which proved more difficult than he thought it would be. Apparently, these men were gathered here because they were exceptionally strong, or big or talented. As much as David would love to make use of them, in order to make this work he needed the men who stood out least. As he kept going down the line, he stumbled upon something surprising. A man he recognized, the man whom he had saved from the human traffickers, the man with the board. He looked a little different from how he last remembered him. He was tall, had a very muscular build, deep blue eyes, and a scar across his cheek that wasn't there the last time he saw him. Overall, he failed in every possible way for intelligence gathering, but he had seen him in action, and more importantly, he had saved his life, if nothing else David wanted to be a man who paid his debts. So, David called him forward. 

After a bit of work his 50 people had been assembled and the rest of the crowd dispersed. As soon as they were gone, he addressed his new team. 

"All of you standing here today have been chosen to be a part of a brand-new team under the crown princess Alice Cantora. This is a special team; we will not be training like any other part of the army. We will be learning different swordsmanship, using different weapons, different methods to train, as such your affiliation to the general army is over, your new life begins in the Hawk Platoon." He pauses to let everyone take this in for a moment before continuing. 

"While here, you will learn stealth, information gathering, assassination, cloak and dagger, and whatever else the Empire requires of you. In this platoon you are the Empire's very first Intelligence Agency." He pauses again. 

"Later all of you will report to the eastern army training field at 1000 hours. Dismissed!" He yelled. 

Soon after he finishes, they all disperse, as soon as they are all gone and the tension breaks he immediately slumps a little. He had taken a month of leadership training in theory class, and even practiced it at home, but it does not prepare you for the real thing. Alice turned to him after a moment. 

"How are you feeling?

"Exhausted." He replied. 

"It's still the morning." She said sarcastically. 

"Yeah, well some of us aren't groomed from birth to command and lead others, so forgive this plebeian for not being good at this yet." He said back, equally sarcastic. 

"You'll get used to it." She said with a grin as she patted him on the back. "Come on, sleepyhead, let's go back to the office and drink some tea before you have to go out and train your new team." She said now leading the way. 

"By the way, what's a platoon?" 

"Ah, it's..." He begins to explain as they walk off into the Palace.

Several hours later the training had begun. David really had to make up everything from the beginning, because despite his best efforts in all the books he read, in all the documents he looked through, even when he asked Alice, he found no record of an intelligence agency existing in the form he imagined. Alice had told him when he asked about it, that whenever they needed to gather information, they would just send some knights to take care of it. It not only was incredibly inefficient, but it was often counterproductive as many of the knights were anti-human, and as they were primarily being sent to human-filled areas their methods of information extraction were... direct, and so many people refused to cooperate with them. So that is why, when he was hand selecting his platoon, he made sure it was 100% human. Not only were there more humans in this world by far, but despite the Vampire's best efforts many major areas couldn't help but have at least 1 human working there. 

"Unless of course you're a human hating bigot named Frederick Velma." He thought to himself. 

Even in the Palace where his presence seemed out of place, did in fact have human servants, he had just never seen them because the areas he had been in. The area the princess' office is, was in the half where no humans were generally allowed due to class differences. Overall it just made more sense to use humans as intelligence agents. Having some vampires in the mix would have its uses too, but as it stood, most vampires probably wouldn't be willing to take orders from him now anyway. 

"Besides," He thought to himself as he watched his men do a log tossing exercise "Exercises like this only work because everyone is human, if there is an imbalance and a vampire were taking part his team would have things way easier." He thought as he saw some of his members struggling. 

"Well for now, I have to build up their stamina and endurance, then I'll focus on teaching them the rest." Of course, all the cloak and dagger he was about to teach them either came from his minimal experience or from TV documentaries, and while that might not sound impressive, to a world that had never seen something like this, anything he remembered would give them an edge. So, he would have to try his best.