PeaceMaker

"Silvi," her mother smiled, raising her arms and hugging Desilva.

"Hello Mrs. Milti," Dominic greeted, giving a small nod in Mrs. Milti's direction.

The fondness in Mrs. Milti's eyes switched to hesitancy and distrust when they laid on Dominic. She pushed Desilva behind her a bit.

"I'd like to talk to the supreme commander privately," Mrs. Milti asked.

Dominic exchanged glances with Desilva before giving a nod and slight smile at Mrs. Milti, "Of course, come right in Mrs. Milti."

Desilva gave another mini-hug to her mother and bowed at Dominic before turning around and leaving the tent.

There was a tension-filled silence as Mrs. Milti strode into the room, her strides short but light, the little limp in her movement barely noticeable by how she carried herself with her walk alone.

"What did you want to talk about Mrs. Milti," Dominic asked, his eyes trailing Mrs. Milti as she inspected the tent with her piercing eyes.

"Aren't you a bit young to be leading an Army, General?" Mrs. Milti asked, her eyes drifting from the cupboard she ran her fingers across to Dominic, "I may not be part of the kingdom you're from but, when I was part of my own, only responsible, experienced leaders led the army."

She locked eyes with Dominic, dark and murky bluish-grey clashed against emerald and turned her entire body to face him. "Unless…?"

Dominic cocked his head slightly and smiled, "Who said there wasn't an experienced leader out there?"

"Hmm?" Mrs. Milti mumbled, slightly taken aback by his comment.

"My major general is quite knowledgeable and has been fighting for longer than I have, and she is one of the many out there who are very experienced. Although I may not meet your standards, I am not the only soldier out there," Dominic shrugged, "The entire field of army members are trained. Some more than the others but still strong all the same."

Mrs. Milti watched as Dominic stood up and looked out the little cut out in the tent to the people in the field. Though it had only been a week since most of the village moved in with the army, the place looked much livelier and much more of a community than the bloodied, empty mini-town the camp had looked like and the ghost town the village had resembled.

The change was deeply appreciated as many of the soldiers got better quickly since some people from the village were trained in medicine and the sickly from the village got the help they needed from the medics in the camp. Many soldiers had grown close to the villagers, the little distinct groups of people of their 'kind' they used to move around the camp had dispersed into multiple groups of mixed people from the village and the camp, intermingling with each other.

Mrs. Milti peered through the cut from behind Dominic, her expression calming a bit at the community they had built.

"I may not be strong, but the people around me are what makes an army, I simply have the honor to lead them," Dominic grinned, turning back to Mrs. Milti, "with them around me, I'm bound to pick up a thing or two about battle. For now, I'm glad they accepted me as their leader so I'll do my best to lead them through the hardships in the future. That's what makes me the Supreme commander, Mrs. Milti."

Mrs. Milti stared at Dominic for a second before stepping forward and stretched out her hand, "Memoline."

"What?" Dominic asked, completely thrown off-guard with her comment.

"Memoline Milti," Mrs. Milti repeated, "That's my name."

"Ah…" Dominic muttered giving an apologetic smile and immediately reached out and shook her hand, "Dominic, nice to meet you Memoline Milti."

"Hmm," Memoline nodded, resisting the urge to laugh at Dominic's nervous chattering as he shook her hand. She retracted her hand and brushed it off slightly, before going back into the refined pose she had walked in with.

"I accepted your greeting, general, but not that of your ancestors and family," Memoline sighed.

"Huh?" Dominic asked.

"You heard me," Memoline replied, turning to leave. She was halfway out of the tent when she turned around again, "oh, and tell that woman to stop visiting the village.. She can't repay all that happened in the past with some medic visits."