Page 60 of The Wild Prince’s Favorite (The Dragon Empire Saga #3)
Tievin almost felt sorry for those tribes, but at the very least, that dragon was finally getting slightly more useful than problematic.
The orange beast was now just most likely attacking any human or animal who didn’t have the survival instinct to crawl into the nearest hole, having turned its wrath into a hunting game.
Kassein didn’t stare long at his dragon but turned around to walk further inside the camp, Tievin following behind him.
He knew all too well why he wasn’t willing to let Alezya out of his tent, and why, right now, he was pissed that his sister was keeping her away for so long.
Not only that, but he was pissed at Lorey for having brought her out.
Even if she was still healing fast thanks to his last vial of Lake water, she was still hurt.
And she was a woman in a camp full of men.
Men who hadn’t seen a woman in a long time. .. Hungry dogs.
“Which brigade failed to warn of the attack early?” he asked.
“Th-the twelfth brigade’s fifth and sixth units, sir,” Tievin said, glancing down at his notes.
“General Sazaran’s. They weren’t supposed to be the ones in charge, but apparently, they were assigned to replace the first and second units after causing a ruckus during lunch.
They might have been not as... dedicated as they should have been.
I need to mention it is one of our problematic brigades, sir.
Sent half a year ago, mostly on forced military duty.
They are on their third warning for this week alone. ”
In other words, they were criminals sent here because their crimes were too severe to ever allow them back into society.
Most did not last long, either dying in service or breaking under the brutal conditions.
A few might still cling to foolish hopes of redemption, but units like these were made up of the worst men, those who treated their punishment with defiance and spread their disdain for the rules to others.
Usually, the generals assigned them to the most miserable tasks until they either broke or fell in line. Some, however, remained troublesome.
Moreover, Tievin would never have the guts to voice it out, but Kassein had gotten slightly complacent since that woman’s appearance, and some might have seen this as an opportunity to push the limit a bit further... at least until now.
“...Sazaran’s gone soft,” Kassein groaned.
Tievin wanted to remark each general had more brigades under their command than they could possibly handle correctly due to the constant inflow of new recruits, but seeing which direction Kassein had taken, he held his tongue.
The Commander in Chief was now taking the route to the training grounds, and Tievin could easily guess he intended to tackle that issue himself.
“You,” Tievin grabbed a unit that was walking back with shovels. “Have the twelfth brigade’s fifth and sixth units be summoned to the training grounds immediately. Make sure General Sazaran is informed as well.”
“Yes, sir!”
The men left immediately to execute his orders, while Tievin let out a faint sigh.
Well, maybe Sazaran would have a bit less on his hands after today.
.. In most cases, he would have tried to relieve Kassein’s anger and made sure to dissuade him from killing or mutilating people, but those units were almost entirely made of criminals, and Tievin had very little pity for them.
No one was sent to the North Army for small crimes like petty theft, illegal gambling, or tax fraud.
The Central Army, stationed in the Imperial City, usually handled more problematic but victimless offenses like merchandise trafficking, bribery, and forgery.
The men sent north were those whose crimes were too severe to be allowed back into society, but not proven enough for execution.
Murderers, rapists, arsonists, wife-beaters, kidnappers, and human traffickers.
Men whose fates had teetered between execution and exile, spared only because of insufficient witnesses, contested circumstances, or lack of prior offenses.
Tievin didn’t feel an ounce of pity for them.
None of them would ever live normal lives again.
Their only options were to survive as part of the North Army’s workforce or die.
Those units were tightly controlled by their superiors, kept busy with the worst tasks from dawn until dusk or throughout the night.
They were sent with no expectation of return, which meant no one cared how they ended.
Either they behaved, or they risked their lives.
Those already on their third warning for failing to stand watch properly had long since pushed their luck past the point of no return.
Following Kassein, Tievin quickly double-checked his notes.
He always carried a notepad filled with the latest reports, and reviewing the ones he had gathered recently only reinforced his opinion.
Good riddance. There wasn’t a single redeeming character among those units, and it wasn’t like Sazaran hadn’t tried to keep them in line.
He let out a quiet sigh. At least His Highness would relieve his nerves and kill some time before the women returned.
“Which one’s worse?”
“That would be the sixth, sir,” Tievin answered right away. “Poor Sazaran already asked them to be removed from his command twice, but we had to follow the rules.”
Luckily, the General was about to have his wish granted, and two fewer units to watch out for.
Kassein took out his large sword from his back as he entered the training area for the second time that day.
Naturally, a unit had quickly cleaned the area behind him and his sister, thus the place was perfectly ready and the sand on the floor had been raked and leveled for the next training session.
Unfortunately, they’d soon have to replace it with fresh sand.
Kassein walked toward the end of the arena, unclasping his cape as he moved. Without warning, he tossed it in Tievin’s direction, the heavy fabric nearly dragging the poor man off balance as he caught it with a grimace. Why wear the damn thing if he was just going to take it off…?
He kept the thought to himself. Adjusting his grip on the ridiculously heavy cape, Tievin hauled it along as he made his way to a nearby bench behind Kassein, where he’d be out of the way.
By the time he perched himself down, Kassein had already settled, resting one hand on his sword and the other on his knee.
Setting the cloak aside, Tievin pulled out his notepad, flipping through the piled-up reports.
If they were going to be here for a while, he might as well make use of the time.
It didn’t take long; General Sazaran arrived, along with the entire twelfth brigade.
Tievin raised an eyebrow; the General wanted to make this an example, then.
“Commander,” the General greeted Kassein more ceremoniously than usual.
While Kassein didn’t reply, Tievin noted the attitude of the rest of the brigade.
It was easy to spot the fifth and sixth units; they were the only ones stupid enough not to greet Kassein, but instead, they were playing around with arrogant attitudes.
Tievin rolled his eyes and went back to his notes while the General took charge.
“Units One and Two, guard outside the training area. Nobody comes in without permission. Units Three and Four, to the sides. Units Seven and Eight, make sure nobody leaves this place without my order. Everyone else to the sidelines.”
All the units obeyed quickly, and Tievin realized most of them had no idea what they’d been summoned for.
The General had been smart not to make it too obvious.
Moreover, Units Five and Six were still acting up as they were the last to get to the sidelines and were being loud and rambunctious under the General’s glare.
Those from other units who had actually spotted the Commander in Chief though weren’t laughing at all.
Instead, they rushed to their posts with pale faces.
“Units Five and Six!” Sazaran barked. “In the arena!”
He was met with a disordered wave of laughs, taunts, and protests. If they mostly did what they were told, those men were also making sure to act up and do it in the most annoying way possible. Tievin shook his head. Sazaran ought to have been internally celebrating...
“Units! Draw your weapons!”
This time, there was a hint of confusion in his men’s eyes, as even those on the sidelines had to take their blades out.
Once again, the twelve men gathered on the training ground didn’t obey, or did so by playing around with their weapons.
Then, Sazaran turned around and bowed to Kassein before exiting the training area, walking up to stand next to Tievin, hands behind his back.
“Happy to be relieved of the circus?” Tievin asked without raising his eyes from his notes.
“Some criminals do not deserve redemption,” Sazaran scoffed under his beard.
“Indeed. Especially when they don’t bother to even try and earn it...”
“Garbage, the lot of them. This place wouldn’t be half the shithole it is if only His Highness stopped dumping this kind of trash on the Commander in Chief...”
Tievin didn’t bother to remark on the blasphemy; he agreed with Sazaran.
He couldn’t help but feel that the Emperor was testing his younger brother by sending so much trouble their way.
They both turned their gazes to the arena as Kassein finally stood back up, facing the twelve men.
They had all stopped laughing, suddenly rendered nervous about facing the Commander in Chief while everyone else was on the sidelines.
“Attention, all units!” Sazaran thundered, causing Tievin to grimace and cover his ears. “Today’s training is a deathmatch! Forfeiting is not allowed! All units, you have the order to kill anyone who attempts to leave the training arena until only one victor is left!”