Commander Qureshi entered the human castle through a six feet window. Neal was sitting on a chair waiting for him in the room. The room was as big and as spacious as the commander remembered from the meeting held two years ago. Neal called it the Starlite Meeting Room.
The commander saluted him. "Your Highness."
He was a lanky man, measuring an inch above the prince. He had no doubt on the reason behind the meeting.
Neal requested him to sit on the chair opposite to himself. He signalled his lone servant to bring tea, who lwft as soon as his work was done.
"Colonel Hossier wishes to leave the guardians in a few months," Neal said without ceremony. "I think that you will be best suited to be his successor."
"I'm honoured," Qureshi replied sipping the tea. "But I'm afraid I'll have to decline this generous offer."
Neal looked at the commander as his fingers tapped his own cup. "Are you too planning to leave? I know it's very rare to be with the guardians for as long as you have."
"I love this job," the commander said with a smile. "I wouldn't dream of retiring. I plan to die as a commander in the guardians."
Neal smiled knowingly. "But not as a colonel?"
"I'm content as a commander. I don't want any increase in my responsibilities."
"I can understand," Neal said. "I do hope that whoever I end up appointing your colonel gets your full support."
"He will, Your Highness."
"Or she," Neal added.
"Of course."
Commander Poles soon found himself in the same position as Qureshi, sitting across the table from the prince with a cup of tea in his hand.
"Commander Qureshi felt that he was too old for the promotion," Neal said to his guest. "I see where I was mistaken. A young person with his whole life ahead of him is obviously the best choice for the promotion. I suppose you have great plans for your future."
Poles was one of those men who looked too young to be their age. He had been twenty five when he had joined the guardians, more than a year ago. Still, he looked younger than the prince. Colour rose to his white cheeks as he said, "Your Highness is right. I do have plans for the future."
Neal waited for his answer, tapping his fingers on the cup he was holding.
"I am about to get married," Poles said with a smile. "And I'm also about to--"
"Leave the guardians because she refuses to live on the grounds," Neal completed his sentence for him feigning disappointment. Poles had been engaged to Valaery since his twenty fifth natal day. But he didn't know that Neal was aware of it.
"Valaery would've, but she has a job in the mountains."
"Congratulations are in order, then," Neal said. "Is she a warrior? We need more females in the guardians."
"I'm grateful for Your Highness's kindness, but she is not at all suited for this job. She is a seamstress."
"A new colonel and a new commander," Neal said closing his eyes, "no, two new commanders." He asked Poles, "Do you have anybody in mind?"
"In our team Qureshi has already said no, Jenson is not in it for long, Will's no good," Poles counted on his fingers. "Antofurota. From the seven of us, I think Commander Antofurota is the best suited for the job."
Neal smiled kindly. "Someone for your post?"
"Oh," Poles flushed again, "I do know the perfect man for my job- Captain Carton."
Neal welcomed the fourth person on the list, "Commander Roberts,"
"Your Highness." He saluted.
He saluted back."I suppose you know the reason behind our meeting."
"Yes, sir," the ex-soldier replied. He had a hard face with thick eyebrows and a thicker moustache.
"And what's your answer?"
"I don't think that it'll be wise for me to leave my current team and take charge of another team. If the post of the colonel was vacant in my team, I would have happily grabbed the offer."
Neal pinched his nose. "Thank you for your time, commander. I'm sure I will find someone."
The next person that the prince called in the meeting room was Colonel Hossier himself. The colonel was a seasoned man, cheerful in a somber way. He had green eyes that gave the impression that he could see your soul. He had developed a slight pouch at his stomach after his thirties.
"As you know, we have a total of twenty-one commanders in the three teams," Neal said to him. "Any one of them can be your successor. After our talk about you leaving, I called in some of these men."
"And has Your Highness reached a decision?"
"Yes," Neal said, "I've decided that you are the best person for the job."
The colonel's brow furrowed. "But I wish to retire."
Neal chuckled. "And that you shall. But not until you find me your replacement." Neal explained, "you are the best person to select your successor."
"Who did Your Highness talk to? Who suggested this idea?" Hossier was befuddled on the turn of events. Last he had met the prince, Neal seemed to have known who he wished to appoint.
"Nobody suggested it." Neal rolled his eyes. "I offered the job to a bunch of people and they all rejected it. So I want you to give me a name who will be happy to be the next colonel."
"I'll need some time to think. It's a big decision."
"It's not that big," Neal replied. "I've already eliminated Dukes, Qureshi, Poles and Roberts. That takes the number to seventeen. You can take all the time you need. The day someone accepts the post, your six months' notice period starts."
"I'll get to it."
"One more thing," Neal said. "Don't make promises to anybody. The offer will come directly from the castle."
Colonel Hossier knew one thing when he left the castle- he will choose someone from his own team.
Neal's tea meetings had not gone unnoticed. Everyone among the guardians had the unofficial knowledge of Hossier's impending resignation and the hunt for a new colonel. Since the posts of colonel and above were to be filled only by promotion, every commander who wanted the post started giving their job the ytmost importance.
The losses of lives and hearts across the wall decreased dramatically. The troops found out how tough the captains could be and the captains found out how efficient the commanders could be.
The captains prayed for their commanders to get promotion as it left room for their own promotion. Although the commanders could be directly recruited, it was not uncommon for captains to get the empty position of their commanders.
There were people who had told her that she was next in line for the promotion. She was sure that if the offer was made she would accept it, but if it wasn't, Sophie didn't plan to sulk over it. With about six months of experience, she had surpassed the average time of employment. The retention ratio of the job was quite low. The official reasons were that the starlites found it difficult to live among the humans, or missed their family. Sophie believed that the men who had resigned in the first few weeks had only joined the guardians to ogle at the nymphs. This fascination was short lived.
In order to avoid getting buttered up, Colonel Hossier had not revealed his role in the selection process. But he had talked to all of the twenty one commanders, even the ones that had declined the offer. He wanted to know the general inclination of the group. When he had asked Colonel Antofurota, she had told him that it was natural for her to be biased towards herself.
It was exactly one month after the end of the championship when Colonel Hossier met the prince to tell him the name of his successor.
The prince took his answer with a smile. "Commander Antofurota is a good choice. I shall arrange for a meeting with her tomorrow."
"Yes, Your Highness. She is young, enthusiastic, dedicated, hardworking, tough and for some reason loves the grounds. Also I think that having a female colonel will boost up the morale of all women and we may be able to recruit more females in the future." He wasn't unaware of Neal's wish to create a gender equilibrium.
"All excellent points colonel," Neal said. "But what about her fighting skills? That is the most important part."
"Forgive me sir," Hossier smiled. "I didn't think that her skills needed citation. She is the best sword-fighter we have. Everybody knows that."
"Do you think her to be a good leader?" he countered.
"I would not say that it's her strongest suit. She is too fearless and blunt." The colonel agreed. "But perfection is rare and in my opinion, overrated."
"If that's your opinion, I shall offer her the post tomorrow. If she accepts, you can make the formal resignation. But not a word before that," Neal warned.
"As you wish, Your Highness."
Soon, Sophie received a letter from the prince. She grinned as her fingers traced the prince's royal seal. The letter was a formal tea invitation to the castle, scheduled for the next evening. Everybody knew what the tea meeting meant in the prevailing scenario. Sophie slept that night with a big smile on her face and dreamt of her promotion.