None of the lieutenants looked Quint in the eyes after Marena’s comment.
Quint laughed. “I get a bonus for being a Level 3 anyway.”
“You’re really a Level 3?” the senior lieutenant said. “I thought you said that in jest.”
“I don’t feel like a Level 3,” Quint said. “I feel like a regular soldier in the wizard corps.”
“Suit yourself,” Marena said, rising from her place and returning to her prickly ways.
Quint noticed she had eaten everything on her plate. He returned to his room to study for the rest of the night.
Chapter Eleve
n
Quint reported to the colonel’s assistant when he arrived at the division headquarters.
“Here is your schedule for the rest of the week. You are expected to make your schedule from this point forward. You get a new badge to wear in the building. It will give you greater access. Most people here are commissioned, so that isn’t a unique badge.”
“Thank you, ma’am,” Quint said.
“Flip it over.”
Quint turned the blade over.
“You have access to the third floor, including the library. Colonel Seffaro gave you the privilege to remove books from the library. They are expected to be returned, Lieutenant Tirolo.”
“They will be, ma’am,” Quint said.
She gave Quint a frosty smile. “You no longer call me ma’am. My name is Zoria Gouta. You can call me Zoria if we are alone or Sergeant Gouta if in a group, sir.” The smile warmed up a little bit. “You have enough time to go to the mess and review your schedule. The first floor has a supply room for notebooks, pencils, pens, and ink. You will be expected to write proposals and papers.”
“I will, sergeant,” Quint said as he saluted and left the colonel’s office for the officer’s mess.
Quint had emptied the garbage and the trash in the mess on his servant assignments and knew where the supply office was. He had used that, too, for cleaning supplies.
The schedule was fuller than Quint expected. He didn’t work directly for the colonel. Quint was faintly disappointed that he didn’t, but he was still in a state of wonder and confusion.
He withdrew writing materials from the supply room and jotted down his observations of how he should approach his calendar. Quint had seen calendars on desks throughout the division while cleaning and had been nosy enough to know how to set one up for himself.
A staff meeting was scheduled in a few minutes, so Quint left the mess to arrive early in the meeting room. He resisted the temptation to order the chairs and empty the trash.
He expected mixed reactions when the attendees entered the room. Chairs had been set in two sections, and three planning groups were supposed to start their day with this meeting. Quint sat in the back of the room. One of his flatmates entered with two colleagues and nodded to Quint, making him feel less isolated.
“Tirolo?” a middle-aged man with a captain’s badge stopped. “Our group sits up front.”
“Yes, sir,” Quint said, following his new boss to the front room.
“Sit on this row,” the captain said before taking a seat in the row ahead. In a few minutes, Quint sat in a group that took up three rows.
“Rise,” a voice said from the back as Colonel Seffaro walked in and sat in the front with two officers he recognized, who attended the meetings in the colonel’s office.
“Be seated,” the same voice said behind Quint.
“Good morning. We have a new face to introduce. Lieutenant Tirolo, would you stand?”
“Yes, sir,” Quint said. He looked about the room to a mix of various expressions. He didn’t see venomous expressions, but Amaria wasn’t in attendance.
“I have given your captains action reports on the recent battle with the Barellians. This week, I’d like you to critique what happened. Most of you worked on our battle plan that was chosen to be ignored, but that isn’t the standard to evaluate the battle. I want a fresh analysis. Am I understood?”
“Yes, sir!” the room said in unison. Quint didn’t know how to respond, so his reply was a silent nod.
The colonel sat on a short row of five chairs in the front while one of his underlings announced the statistics generated by the battle.
“See if your plans would have worked and come up with suggestions for improvement.”
Colonel Seffaro stood.
“Dismissed,” came the same voice from the back of the room.
The colonel sat back down and his staff stayed seated as the wizards filed out.
“Room 4 on the third floor in fifteen, Tirolo,” the captain said. “I will get you a desk after we meet.”
Quint saluted when he saw others doing the same thing. He spotted Amaria walking up. She snorted in disgust as she passed him and proceeded into the same room Quint had just left.
