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Understandings By Richard Soloyna
when you fought for the wrong side. The more I go places and see things; I nd out that it’s harder to know what’s good and bad. Zidane says that even grown-ups don’t re- ally know what’s right and wrong sometimes.
broken windmill. Peculiar incom- petence was a shared trait among Pluto Knights. “Hey, uh, General. The guys in the castle wanna know why you have the Staff of State with you.”
The rst hazy streaks of sunrise reached softly over north- ern Alexandria. Beatrix paid no attention, having been up for well over an hour. Reconstruction didn’t end at night; it would take weeks simply to identify and bury the dead. Meanwhile, there were still survivors waiting to be rescued, gallons of clean water that needed to be distributed, and a castle to
be rebuilt. There was no chance to
Freya told me that a lot
of bad things can happen when people are loyal. What does that mean? It sounds nice, and I think I want to be loyal, too, but if that means somebody could get hurt, I wouldn’t want to do it.
“Blutzen, what would your captain do if he saw you acting so untoward?”
sleep. Not that she’d been a fool. She knew better than to push it. She had healed her broken legs and given herself the minimum amount of time necessary to rest before she went off to work. At any rate, she was better now, and could help the masons stir mortar for the castle foundation.
Beatrix sighed, and then gazed down at the ceremo-
“General.”
“Aren’t you supposed to
be patrolling the east side of the castle?” she interrupted. He gave her a sheepish grin and ran off again. Beatrix watched him leave. She hadn’t quite lied to him, but she still felt somewhat guilty. Yes, she’d wanted to bring inspiration and encouragement to Alexandria. The mace was a good way of doing that.
I’m not mad anymore about when you fought for the wrong side. The more I go places and see things; I nd out that it’s harder to know what’s good and bad. Zidane says that even grown-ups don’t re- ally know what’s right and wrong sometimes.
Beatrix turned. One of her junior of cers stood nearby, with an envelope in hand. “A letter’s arrived for you, General,” she said dutifully.
I wanted to write to you because I always thought you were lonely...
“From whom?” The words seemingly tumbled out of her
The simplicity of his speech chilled her to the core. Beatrix fancied herself as proud, stubborn, diligent, and generally too com- plicated to describe with ease, but
a little boy had done it all in one word: lonely.
mouth of their own volition. “Ah... thank you, Lieutenant. Dismissed,” she said, taking the letter. Its crisp parchment snapped between her ngers. The of cer saluted again
Above all, she couldn’t walk without it.
and left“.A letter,” Beatrix repeated. “Why...?” She neatly tore the
wax seal and began to read. She straightened up in an extremely professional manner, if only to make it clear that she wasn’t dally- ing.
Why does it matter? She thought, leaving the workman’s tent. It was worthless trying to establish real relationships on the front lines. More often than not, one’s closest companions died be- fore the year was out. By the time they were promoted to a less-haz- ardous position, most soldiers were too embittered to be kind.
Dear Beatrix,
I wanted to write to you
because I always thought you were lonely. I’m not mad anymore about
“General Beeeea-trix!” Blutzen ran to her, ailing like a
Blackbird Review
30
You should really try to talk to Mr. Steiner soon, because he’s very worried about you. He doesn’t say anything, but he sighs an awful lot, and I can tell he’s sad. It must be extra hard when you’re far away from the people you care about most.
He scratched at his helmet. “Jump up and down and holler at our ‘disgraceful lack of propriety’, or something like that. So anyway, what’s with the mace?”
I don’t know if I’m go-
ing to make it home. I don’t even know how long I’m going to live. I think I would have liked to be your friend.
~Vivi~
nial wooden rod under her arm. “Alexandria’s people need hope now more than ever,” she said. “I thought it might prove helpful to provide a symbol of this country’s great tradition.”
“Wow. That’s a really great thing to do, General. And--”