By noon, we arrived at the first military post on the east.
The soldiers were quick to respond to our arrival and welcomed us warmly. The captain then went out of his tent to greet us personally.
"How are things going here?" Fergus inquired at the captain.
While he was asking, I roamed my eyes to inspect. Making sure that they are not living in vain while on duty.
There are posts not far away from here. They could use it as makeshift houses. It is big enough to be a cabin, but I don't know what led them to use tents.
Their surroundings are clean and tidy. There are several barrels on the side. Maybe a storage for the food and beverages. There are also ashes in the centre being surrounded by rocks. I bet it is their campfire every night. I can also see barbed wires tied from a trunk of a tree to another with clothes hanging from it.
I went near the captain and Fergus. "Excuse me captain, there are several posts around here. I think it would be convenient to live there instead of the tents."
The captain bowed slightly at me. "Thank you so much for your concern Duchess Victoria. I have discussed it with them and they found it best to stay in the tents. After all, the area assigned to us is specifically within this parameter. As the front defence of this country, every coordinate is important, but thank you for pointing it out to us Duchess."
I understood his sentiments. "Well then, I'll just wait until both of you are done."
While they continued the discussion, I roamed within the vicinity to check the surroundings multiple times. Some of the soldiers greeted me and gave me a salute as a sign of respect and some did not. I understood it though because most of those who did not give a salute are new faces, which I haven't seen before. They probably have never seen me as my image was concealed from everyone. Even the ceremony was a little private. Only my name was announced but never my face.
I served in the military for years before I earned my military medal. After earning it, I continued to serve for a couple more months before I was dismissed to study geopolitics and diplomatic relations. Even so, I still have the medal that is deemed to serve as a soldier's highest honour.
After walking a little more, I spotted an old comrade who came from the same batch as me.
"Lieutenant Mcbeth," I approached the man who was busy giving angry remarks to the fellow soldiers. Probably because of the training.
"And who are y—" his eyes widened a fraction when he saw me. I grinned at him.
"Sergeant Major Ross!" He shouted happily. The soldiers he reprimanded earlier looked at me in confusion.
"Good to see you," I offered him a hand which he gladly took.
"I'm a colonel now. I was promoted months after you were dismissed." I congratulated him. He was often my partner whenever we had activities that required a pair.
He was talking more about his military promotion when the juniors went to us.
"Col. Mcbeth, who is she? And I heard you said that she was dismissed. Isn't it the rule that a dismissed soldier can never enter any barracks again? Regardless of the violation committed that led to dismissal." The man in the centre said. Probably one of the aces or a struggling soldier in class.
The latter angrily turned to the junior.
"How dare you say that! She has every right to go on and out of the barracks because her family funded the military to build every barracks in the country." The confusion on their faces became more evident as the Lieutenant spoke.
"She was dismissed because she already received her military medal and a badge of the king of scotland. She did not violate any rule but instead, she followed the rules that is why she was dismissed."
"I'm sorry it is confusing, Colonel." A junior in his glasses said.
"Let me tell you," I interrupted, not wanting to make matters longer.
"I was not dismissed from the military. My title as Sergeant Major is retained. As per royal family rules, every royal by birth must attend a military training adhering to strict protocols and military laws. I got mine earlier than the expected time but I still served in the military until I was dismissed when the time came."
"Royal family? Which one are you?" Again the centre man asked.
"Shut your mouth Private Hill! Pay your respect to the Duchess of Duncan."
Just like a bomb being thrown at them, all the soldiers present fell into silence.
It was approximately five minutes before they regained focus and kept on begging for pardon.
People often say I am cold-hearted and harsh. Yet I was neither of those when I know people did nothing wrong to me.
I am not shallow.
I condemn those who betray and curse me. Just like every anger and every wrath, all of the things said and done are equipped with a reason.
I told them to go off as newly appointed Colonel Mcbeth and I talked.
"We are just visiting and checking every military barracks. To secure the people of Scotland, we must secure the defence first. It is now unknown that Britain and Scotland had always been in feud. No matter how much some of them and some of us appeal for a treaty, it won't work. We're preparing for the worst case," I explained while we were walking towards the captain.
"You always say 'we', tell me SGM. Ross, who are you with?" He questioned the pronoun I used.
"You see that man, talking to the captain?" I pointed at Fergus who did not notice our presence. Col. Mcbeth nodded his head.
"Well, that's my husband. We got married yesterday." His eyes rounded in surprise.
"Congratulations! Although I am disappointed. When we were in training, you promised me that you would invite the whole alpha team, especially me, to your wedding." Well, I did promise them that.
"It was a little too late to send invites, but I'll surely attend your wedding and give you a big gift as a compensation." From the start he already knew my status in the royal family, but to respect me, he never said a word about it. Neither did.he took advantage of being my friend. He often exclaimed to us that he does not want expensive gifts, what he wants is a big gift. Regardless of how cheap it is as long as it is big enough, he would love it.
"Okay, I'll take that as an oath then. I'll head first and greet your husband."
I watched him strode quickly and cheerfully introduced himself to Fergus. The latter then eagerly replied which made the former extremely jolly and happy.
"Don't mind him, he is just like that," I told Fegus when I reached his side.
He looked at me with his knitted brows.
"You know him?" I shrugged my shoulders.
"Colonel Jonathan Mcbeth. 26th class, former lieutenant of the alpha team. He's a friend and a co-junior during my military service."
I called out Col. Mcbeth to get his attention.
"Colonel Mcbeth, meet my husband. Fergus, meet my friend." With that, they shook hands again after I formally introduced them to each other.