Change of Command

[Zero]

@Sir Zane
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Victoria was a fairly serious person, but even she was not immune to the desire to cut loose and take it easy from time to time. Considering how hard she worked it was certainly not something that could be held against her when no soldier was expected to be on duty all the time. None of that kept the young woman from feeling somewhat guilty for sitting in the common room in the barracks at a table with a few other captains gathered.

The past several weeks had been more stressful than normal, what with the old Commander finally retiring. Several of the highest ranking officers had become somewhat competitive and aggressive with one another, and cracking down harsher on those under them; all because they'd had some misguided notion that they had a chance at gaining the vacating title.

That wasn't how it really worked, and Victoria knew it. Things had only gotten worse when it was made known that some quite young lord would be getting the position. Commander David Zamt'ris, the High Lady's brother, taking quite the powerful position in the capitol. Shouldn't have surprised anyone, the High Lord had already given two other prominent positions to two of his other brothers-in-law. Why would this one be any different?

It didn't make it sit any better with those high-ups, but what could anyone do?

Personally Victoria didn't really care one way or another. David Zamt'ris would either be competent and everything would be fine, or he'd be some spoiled little rich brat that would end up Commander in nothing but name.

Far more interesting and important was the goings-on at her table. A growing pile of coins rested in the center of the table as bets were placed and dice were rolled. As her turn came up she took a drink from the mug of ale before her and pushed a few stray strands of hair behind her ear before scooping up the dice. Before she could roll, or really think of rolling, a small commotion disturbed the room quietly. Every pair of eyes at her table had been drawn somewhere so Victoria helplessly turned to see what had gotten everyone's attention.

A young man had entered the room, although truly he wasn't too young. Definitely a man, with darkish hair and green eyes, not unfortunate looking either, but alone he wouldn't have been unduly remarkable – just another young soldier, except for the two blazing crests on his black coat.

Apparently the new commander had arrived.

[Zane]

"At ease." The Commander said just after entering the room, halting the movements of the few captains nearest to him as they went to salute. To Hell with formality. The day had been a long one, and the common rooms were traditionally a place where anyone could relax. Well, anyone of Sergeant rank or higher. For everyone else, there was Hallows, the name given to the mess hall that all students at he Citadel shared.

Sure, maybe his rank was a bit too high to just be hanging out in the common rooms of one of the various barracks that composed the Citadel, but honestly, it was curiosity that brought him here. And if questioned, he could play it off as becoming well versed in the layout of his new station. In truth, a little more than a decade ago, he'd been a student here. That was another story for another time, but he'd always wanted to know what the common rooms were like. Since students officially held the rank Private, he'd never had the opportunity.

Well now he did.

Walking to the far end of the room, he smiled to see that there was a cask of ale tapped in the room. He grabbed himself a mug and filled it up. David almost drained half the glass before turning around and looking over the room- pointedly ignoring the few sets of eyes that tried to lock with his -before he caught sight of what was undoubtedly a game of dice. He allowed a fond smile to tug at his lips.

Walking over to the table, he noticed the dice resting before a young woman. A Captain guessing by her age and apparent build. Gently laying a heavy gold coin on the table, he calmly proclaimed, "Gold Mark says that Captain rolls a seven. Any takers?"

[Zero]

For several moments Victoria was rather helpless to do anything but what everyone else was doing - stare at him. After finishing her assessment of his general appearance she was thinking the same thing probably most everyone else in the room was thinking - what had brought their young Lord Commander down to rub elbows with the lowbrows like them?

Well, it hardly mattered, did it? Putting the whole thing out of her mind, Victoria was one of the first to turn back to what she was doing before the interruption, which was study the pile of gold on the table calculatingly. Now gold was something to think about. A soldier's pay was alright, but it was always nice to get a fat pot from a game to splurge a little. Or in her case, to save for a rainy day. What would she possibly spend it on? Unlike her male compatriots she didn't blow her coin on booze and women.

The three men at her table did not bring their attention back to the game, however, and Victoria scowled in annoyance. Until the heavy gold coin was put on the table, that was. She couldn't help but look up at David with a tight smile. Getting a look at him up close was a lot different. The lines of his features were more pronounced, she could see now that her previous assessment was correct in that he was a good-looking man, but that was pretty inconsequential. The more pressing question was if he was competent as a leader or not.

"A seven? Ha!" Marcus Finch practically crowed with a laugh as he set a two coins on the table. "I bet she not only doesn't roll a seven, but I bet she rolls right out of the game."

A few more coins were deposited on the table from the other two men, one of which leered at Victoria in the slimy way that he often did. "After she rolls out I know somewhere else she can roll."

"That would first require you having something to roll on." Victoria said as sickly sweet as she possibly could as she snatched up the dice, the other two men roared with laughter while the creep, James Milton, glared daggers at her.

A moment later everyone was breathlessly watching the dice as the clattered upon the table top, rolling to a stop - seven.

[Zane]

With a cool confidence, David reached across the table to collect the coins from each of the other three players. Setting the small stack of coins on his own mark, he looked over the currency before uttering, "Nalt." and adding his winnings to the pot. With that, he took a seat.

"So, you going to end your turn or take your seven and try for the pot?" To win the pot, one had to throw sevens thrice. Statistically unlikely, and every throw you had to add money to the pot, but it was the risk that made it fun.

While waiting on her answer, David went to get a better look at the other faces of the table. Two of them were of little consequence. A pervert and a blowhard. Typical really. The third face, he knew. It caused his shoulders to tense. So far, it didn't look like Aron Lagaris had realized he had a history with his new Lord Commander. Good.

Thanks to his coat, no one would have noticed that David's shoulders had tensed. Which was doubly good. "So, what will it be, Captain...?" He drew out the emphasis in the word captain, giving her time to fill in her last name if she show wished.

[Zero]

All the while David was collecting his winnings, Victoria was simply staring in disbelief at the dice. That was some damn fine luck. She'd honestly thought the Commander was throwing his gold away with a bet like that. Well, that roll put her one step closer to the pot. She drew he eyes up to look once more at the pile of gold on the line before looking at each disgruntled face of her three competitors.

More than just the gold it would be quite the prize just to beat them. If she wasn't shrugging off comments about a woman's proper place or how a woman would never be as good of a soldier as a man, she was listening to them bitch about a woman drinking or dicing with them.

The bastards had even gone so far as to call her bad luck in the barracks before - just because she was female.

Victoria let her attention be drawn to the Commander, he'd invited himself to the table. It was something to consider and she turned her eyes back on the gold, lightly rubbing at her chin in thought. It was unlikely she'd roll a seven again, but she wanted that pot.

"Don't bother Commander, no way she'd roll another seven, besides, a woman's got no balls to take a chance like that anyway." James sneered, reaching for the dice.

Her fish slammed on the table, barely missing the offensive hand as she glared at James spitefully. He gave her hell more than anyone else and she'd be damned if he was going to push her turn out of the way - fuck her chances of rolling another seven.

"It's still my turn, Milton." Victoria grabbed her mug, downed the rest of it, lightly slammed the empty mug on the table and threw a couple coins into the pot before snatching the dice before one of them could try to muscle in again. The dice rattled across the table top again and she stared disbelievingly as they stopped on seven again.

"You cheating whore!" James roared as he stood up and pointed an accusing finger at her, causing both Marcus and Aron to jump slightly in their sets.

[Zane]

David's hand went to his forehead, the commander looking equal parts bored and incredulous. "Milton, was it? You accuse her of cheating. Why? Because she met your challenge and won? Are you throwing a tantrum?" He turned to Victoria, "Is it a common practice for the Citadel to enlist children? No?" Turning back to James, "Sit. Down." His voice then carried all the authority he could muster.

The commander took a long drink, leaving his mug empty of ale before reaching into is his coat and producing his own dice and setting them before Victoria. They were distinctly from the carved dice they had been throwing, for one, these looked professionally made, rigid edges and red pain. "You'll use my dice for this throw, I'd hate for someone to think you were cheating."

[Zero]

James opened and closed his mouth a few times, face darkening and flushed as he glared at Victoria, who had merely looked at him levelly from the moment of his outburst. No doubt all his anger was directed at her. She was the woman, so naturally it was her fault. James was a misogynistic pig, that's all there was to it and nothing she could do about it.

Consequently there was nothing James could do about the command to sit except stiffly obey.

Once the fool had resumed his seat, Victoria felt a slight tension leave her shoulders that she'd not noticed enter them. Apparently she'd been ready for a fight. It wouldn't be the first James or one of those like him had picked on with her thinking that as a woman she would be an easy target - they were generally proven wrong. Not that they ever learned.

"How do we know your dice aren't loaded?" James blurted out without thinking, although Victoria wasn't sure if it was anger or alcohol that produced that lapse in judgment.

"Are you accusing our Lord Commander of being a cheat?" Victoria asked icily, dark brown eyes almost black with anger. Marcus and Aron shifted in their chairs looking extremely uncomfortable with the amount of tension that had suddenly surrounded the table.

"No one's accusing the Lord Commander of any such thing Walsh. Right James?" Marcus suddenly spoke up, shooting a hard look at the offensive asshole at the table.

James shrank in his chair, looking nervously at David, a man who could actually give him hell if he saw fit. The man was a bully and was not ready to pick a fight with someone that could actually fight back. "Of course not."

Victoria shrugged as she picked up the dice. There was no way she was going to roll a third seven in a row. She'd probably lose the pot, but this wasn't really about the money at this point, was it?

No, not really.

Knowing at least three sets of eyes were on her, she squared her shoulders and dropped the Commander's fancy dice onto the table, watching them spin and tumble until they bounced to a stop.

On seven.

Victoria couldn't stop herself from gaping in disbelief at the red cubes. She had won. The gold was hers, she could add it to her savings. Marcus and Aron were cursing under their breath as they lost, but James's eyes were bulging as he bit his tongue to keep from accusing either Victoria or David of cheating again.

[Zane]

David watched the quick altercation with cool impassive eyes, not saying or doing anything. The dice were loaded. Loaded against sevens. They would never throw a seven except for when they were in close proximity to him, this was because he always threw seven. Not that he could explain it. Not that such luck really ever was displayed elsewhere.

His gaze didn't change as the situation quickly defused itself. James was someone to watch out for, his temper was akin to black powder. And he apparently was friends with at least one back stabbing scoundrel. At least they were only captains.

He pulled a small harmony clock from his pocket, It was nearing midnight, his rooms were up at the top of the spire. Well, it least his legs would be getting a workout. "Congratulation." He slowly started to stand, not making to take his dice. "Since you four were kind enough to let me intrude in your game for a moment, I will let you in on something. There is going to be a War Games between the Six Regiments in about two months time. It's not going to be announced for another week, but tomorrow the Master Strategist and I will be having all the Captains submit reports as to the status and progress of the cadets under their tutelage. Now you four can get a head start is you wish."

He stood fully and started to walk away, making it a few feet before turning back around. "Captain Walsh, sate my curiosity, would you? Throw the dice again please." He knew that they wouldn't land on seven, not loaded as they were, not as far as he was from them.

[Zero]

Victoria was still in a small amount of shock that she had managed to win the game by rolling three sevens in a row. The odds were astronomically small to do that. In fact, it had never happened to her before in her entire life. If she didn't know better she might have even considered the possibility of cheating, but it had happened with two different sets of dice. So either it was a coincidence or someone was using some very subtle and shady magic.

Her attention perked up at this announcement of War Games. Why would he give them a heads up on such a drill? Letting him sit at their table for a few minutes hardly seemed worthy of being given advance notice of something like that. Well, she could take the extra time to make sure her soldiers were especially prepared, but it felt a little like cheating to know before everyone else.

Clearing her throat, she stood respectfully when the Lord Commander rose to leave. It was getting very late, collecting her winnings and returning to her room to sleep before morning drills seemed like a great idea.

Victoria was reaching for the coins when the Lord Commander asked that she roll his dice again. Confused as to the point, she picked them up and tossed them again anyway.

Snake eyes.

"Good thing the game is already over." She muttered, picking up the dice again and turning back to the David, holding out the fancy dice. "Don't forget your dice, Lord Commander."