Chapter 19 - The Adjutant
Over the next nine years, Antonius distinguished himself again and again.
Campaign after campaign.
Achievement after achievement.
By the age of twenty-three, he had been appointed Commander of the Royal Guard of Imresia.
No one objected.
No one could.
Andri's rise was nearly as remarkable.
After surviving the brutal apprentice training of the Nikēphoroi Knights—a training regimen many would have called abuse had they witnessed it—he was knighted at fourteen.
Thereafter, his battlefield accomplishments accumulated with startling speed.
Then, shortly after his fifteenth birthday, orders arrived from the capital.
A transfer.
He was to join the Heavy Infantry of the Royal Guard.
The document bore a familiar signature.
Antonius Imresius.
Commander of the Royal Guard.
After several campaigns, Andri's advancement through the ranks proved unusually rapid.
His immense strength and extraordinary physical abilities left little room for argument.
And so, not long after turning seventeen, he was entrusted with command of the First Unit of Heavy Infantry.
Naturally, not everyone welcomed the decision.
Command positions were normally reserved for hardened veterans in their thirties or forties.
Not seventeen-year-old boys.
"I am your adjutant."
Inside the Royal Guard commander's office, Antonius found himself in the unusual position of losing an argument.
"I had every expectation that I would remain so."
Theodoros, Adjutant to the Commander of the Royal Guard, sounded distinctly unconvinced.
Antonius had no response.
None whatsoever.
No matter how he twisted the facts, there was no logical justification for transferring Theodoros Megara from the position of adjutant to the commander and assigning him to the First Unit of Heavy Infantry under Andri's command.
It was, unmistakably, a demotion.
Worse still, there was no rational military reason behind it.
And Antonius knew it.
This had nothing to do with merit.
He simply wanted someone he trusted watching over Andri.
Resting his elbows on the desk, Antonius pressed a hand against his forehead.
His head hurt.
When dealing with ministers, nobles, or even the king himself, he could devise a hundred arguments before the other person finished speaking.
That did not work against Theodoros.
The man knew every trick, every loophole, every piece of questionable reasoning Antonius had ever employed.
Unfortunately, Theodoros understood something else as well.
Antonius was genuinely worried about Andri.
And, much to his annoyance, he felt the same.
Andri was capable.
Loyal.
Kind-hearted.
And dangerously unstable.
Several incidents involving Andri losing control had been reported over the years.
The Royal Guard knew all about them.
Keeping a closer eye on him would benefit Antonius as much as anyone else.
A long silence followed.
Then Theodoros smiled.
"We require appearances."
Antonius looked up immediately.
A very bad feeling settled in his stomach.
"What are you plotting?"
"A demotion everyone will accept."
Antonius narrowed his eyes.
"That expression never leads anywhere good."
Theodoros inclined his head politely.
"Your praise is greatly appreciated."
Ten minutes later, furious shouting echoed through the Royal Guard barracks.
