Disclaimer: I don't own Narnia or any characters you may recognize from the books or the movies, I wish I did but I don't... I also don't own the Narnian Calendar. It belongs to Elecktrum who was kind enough to let me borrow it for my story. Her own stories are awesome and you should go read them too.

Summary: When it came to the assignment of Dame Sepphora's newest duty, the lady knight wasn't the only one with doubts.

A/N: This oneshot is part of my A Light in the Darkness universe. Enjoy!

Knight's Duty

ӁӁӁӁӁӁӁӁӁӁӁӁӁӁӁ

10 Quickening 1001

Oh, there were many things I would be happy to see sitting on the new desk I have in my new study after returning from a grueling three hours of training. Breakfast, for one. Or, really just a nice pot of coffee. Not gobs of paperwork. I gave the neatly stacked mounds the evil eye then stalked across the sitting room, muttering under my breath. I knew who was responsible and I don't care if he did just send me skidding across the training yard all morning, I was not doing a bunch of paperwork. I haven't even been a knight a full week yet. Even the Kentauri should have difficulty finding me that much paperwork.

Timing is everything…especially when planning to refuse whatever task the Centaur with a tiny sense of humor has assigned. I paused mid-step then shook my head. "Nah. He wouldn't know a prank if it bit him." Well, actually, Oreius was quite good at seeing the pranks (he still hadn't forgiven me for the whole flour incident in his armory), it was more the carrying out of pranks that he would never do. I shook my head. I had to get the always-serious-General to stretch that sense of humor.

I hopped in the open doorway. "Oreius!"

The Kentauri's lips pressed together in a thin line and I giggled. I'm pretty sure he was still less than thrilled with my deciding that throwing a bucket of water in his face was a perfectly suitable defense strategy (which it was…until he sent me skidding across the training yard for the next two and a half hours). The long-suffering sigh was completely undeserved, though. "What is it, Dame Sepphora?"

"You're going to wear my title to death in the first week if you keep that up, Kentauri. Now," I propped my hands and gave him a stern look as I bit out, "why in the worlds are there mounds of paperwork on my desk? I already wrote out the report and three copies of what happened with Jambres."

Oreius fixed me with an equally stern look. Okay, okay, he was about as stern and impassive as you can get and still have visible signs of breathing. "That is the limited duty roster and it is now your responsibility."

"No. I don't want it. Make Cletus or Ardon do it."

"Sepphora!"

I raised my hands, working hard to present a picture of perfect innocence. "Surely, they're more qualified than I am!" They had to be…I just sort of fell into the whole knight thing.

Oreius shook his head. Why did he have to be so stubborn? "No, the limited duty roster is your responsibility because I need a female officer to oversee it so that the women in the army will feel more comfortable coming directly to the one in charge of the roster. It will be better than the current gambit of various healers and myself attempting to organize the roster well enough to ensure everyone in the army is where they need to be and those who require limited duty are on it."

Ah ha, there was my escape. "But, I'm not an officer. I'm just a knight."

The look he gave me said volumes and I realized that Peter had once again neglected to tell me something about what these new knightly duties of mine entailed. I had been so hopeful that I could just stick to teaching Lucy how to use her knife properly. "As a knight, you are conferred the rank of captain." Oh no…

"But, you have female captains and lieutenants. Have them do it."

Oreius shook his head. And as soon as his tone gentled I knew I was not going to like what he had to tell me. "Sepphora, you are the highest ranked female officer as you have also been conferred the title of swordmaster."

I ruined my knives for this? I lowered my head. "No one told me that! I don't want to be an officer! That's too much concentrated attention! And nobody told that I wasn't going to have a choice. And isn't swordmaster a bit of an exaggeration?"

A bit of amusement entered Oreius' dark gaze (figures that is what he finds funny). "Only if we refer strictly to your use of a sword. And you need something that falls under your authority. I will need to see the roster and its updates once a month, but you will be the one deciding the length of time each soldier spends on limited duty based on the situation and what the healers tell you if it is an injury."

He also just had to assume I was going to go along with this. I crossed my arms. "Why not pick one of the healers to do it? Like Alithia. She is the head healer, after all." I scowled as another thought occurred to me. "And what if I placed a soldier on limited duty and he or she objected to it…strenuously." I didn't want to make myself a target if I didn't have to, especially for a bunch of lousy paperwork.

Oreius came around his desk and gripped my shoulder. "You will be all right. I will issue the final orders and the soldiers who protest will come to me." His grip tightened as he added, "You will not be hunted by our own soldiers, Alambiel."

And I just lost the fight. Rolling my eyes, I stepped back. "Fine, I'll take care of the limited duty roster. But I'm doing it my way and you'll just have to live with it." The skeptical look that graced the Kentauri's face suddenly made being saddled with paperwork worth it. I grinned and hurried out before he could change his mind about giving me so much authority.

ӁӁӁӁӁӁӁӁӁӁӁӁӁӁӁ

I could hardly believe my ears as the newly knighted Dame Sepphora spoke with Alithia, laughing about her latest defiance of the General. "Of course, I protested, Alithia. I wasn't going to quietly do it without at least finding out why the Kentauri arbitrarily decided to send it to me."

I just shook my head as I went back to sorting through herbs. Why General Oreius was so tolerant of the madcap filly had been a mystery until we finally learned of her past. Now, I understood that he was motivated by pity. Though giving her charge of the limited duty roster was…foolish and I never thought to use that word to describe the General.

"Tanith?"

I looked up at Alithia's call. Dame Sepphora was the one who spoke, though. "Do you have any names for the limited duty roster?"

"Not at the moment. I turned in the reports to the General yestereve."

She nodded then pushed back the white strands of hair that now framed her face. "Then I have everything now." She fairly skipped out of the healers' wing. I would have to bring this up with the General…

ӁӁӁӁӁӁӁӁӁӁӁӁӁӁӁ

11 Quickening 1001

My concern over this new development regarding the limited duty roster drove me to seek the General out as soon as I knew he had finished training their majesties for the morn. He was in the armory, sharpening his claymore. I hesitated then quietly approached him. "General Oreius?"

His dark gaze was arresting as he looked up at me. "Tanith. What is it? Tell me our sovereigns have not somehow injured themselves on their way to breakfast."

I shook my head. "No, I am pleased to report that they were in no greater danger than suffering their sisters' scolding for being late when I saw them." I paused then stepped closer to him. "General Oreius, might we speak in private? I assure you it is a matter of importance else I would have waited for a more convenient time."

A slight wariness appeared in his dark eyes before it was hidden behind his usual stoic expression. I felt a blush creep up my cheeks as I realized the General might have assumed I only wished to speak to him to broach the subject of courtship. Other Centauresses, especially the less reserved fillies among the archers, had approached him before (it was one of the army's favorite topics to gossip about) and had always been turned down, but I was content to wait for the timing to be better so he could give himself time to consider courtship. While it was true that I had been disappointed when last summer passed without the General approaching me or at least my uncle (who had introduced us) about exploring the possibility of courtship, I was not about to force the issue. Still, the General was gracious enough to agree to speak with me privately. We walked through the southern gardens, passing the maze until we reached a quiet stretch of trees. The branches arched just above our heads, providing shade as well as privacy.

Glancing at the General as he walked beside me, I nearly lost track of why I had asked to speak with him. I quickly redirected my gaze to the newly opened leaves. "General Oreius, thank you for agreeing to speak with me. I would not bring this up, but I feel I have no choice."

The General crossed his brawny arms and nodded. "Go on."

"It concerns the limited duty roster." I stopped when he did and turned to better face him. "I understand that Dame Sepphora is someone you pity for the things she suffered in her past, but she is not…responsible. Everything is game to her; even orders are games to her. She barely pays any heed to the Four or you, much less anyone else. I have doubts regarding the surrendering of such a vital duty to a madcap filly. It seems…foolish, if you will forgive me for being so bold as to say so." The stern lines of the General's face were etched in an impassive look as they usually were, but I pressed the bounds by touching his arm. "General Oreius, I know the previous way in which the tracking of limited duties has been carried out was imperfect. However, it seems a great risk to take this measure. Please let the healers tend to the matter. Alithia has spoken to me of how we might refine our methods before now. Might we not be given more time to do so?"

I could only hope he saw how sincere I was…I had also thought the times we spoke when I was the one who brought him the healers' reports had meant something to him. But, his duties as the general no doubt required his full attention (and rightly so). Perhaps my visits were too distracting for him? However, I did not believe that Oreius would breach manners by telling me so when we had not even discussed courtship yet. The General glanced at my hand but he did not step away as he had so many other times when other fillies would touch him similarly and that gave me hope. "How well do you know Dame Sepphora?"

The question surprised me. "I- I have not interacted with her much at all. I am often accompanying one of the patrols and when I am not preoccupied with my duties here, I…I have only interacted with Dame Sepphora on a handful of occasions but I have witnessed her behavior as well as hearing the reports."

"I see," he said gravely. I removed my hand from his arm as he continued, "While I appreciate your concerns, Tanith, I have already given over the limited duty roster into Dame Sepphora's care. I thank you for bringing the matter up discreetly."

"Her past is most pitiable, but how can this be wise? Dame Sepphora follows none of the protocols put in place."

The General shook his head, dark eyes boring into me. "You mistake me, Tanith. I do not pity Dame Sepphora and, as such, my decision was not affected by pity. She is without a doubt cheeky and can make quite a pest of herself, but these traits can be refined or at least redirected at something that doesn't involve my armory."

"Of course," I stepped back, bowing my head. "I did not mean offense, General Oreius. I was merely concerned."

"Tanith." I stopped and the General's look softened slightly. "I know you were and I thank you. However, I believe Dame Sepphora will prove herself more than up to the task, if she is given the chance to do so."

"Yes, General." I paused as another thought occurred and turned back to him. "General Oreius, does Dame Sepphora have any experience with the bow? With her knives destroyed and her current…gaps in knowledge of the sword, it might be easier to keep her safe during combat if she joins the archers as opposed to the main melee fighting."

The General considered it then nodded slowly. "You have given me something else to consider, Tanith. Thank you."

I smiled a little, bowing my head. He had taken at least one piece of my advice, even though it was not the advice I had hoped. But, still…if Dame Sepphora were among the archers, she would have less chance to get into trouble and further distract the General (as he had invested such attention to her training).

ӁӁӁӁӁӁӁӁӁӁӁӁӁӁӁ

Carrying the extremely neat and orderly stack of paperwork into the Kentauri's study was surprisingly gratifying (not because of all the paperwork, of course…it was the stunned look on his face that I found quite satisfying). I grinned as I set the stack on his desk. "Done!"

Oreius looked from me to the stack then back to me. "I see."

I arched an eyebrow, mimicking the seemingly universal Centaur habit. "Well? Do you want me to explain my system?"

He looked so uncertain, I nearly laughed. Instead, I was quite good and managed to squelch the laughter into a small…well, mostly small smirk. "Oreius?"

Clearing his throat, the Kentauri nodded. "Yes, I believe it would be wise if you explained."

Grinning, I stepped forward and flipped the top. "Okay, the roster is longer this time than I think it will usually be, due to the whole first run-through and proper filing. But the basic system is as follows: the first section will be the high priority names, soldiers who are heading out or scheduled to head out within three days for patrol or battle assignment whom you will need to adjust their orders and intercept at times to keep them off patrol or the battlefield. Right now, there are ten soldiers you will need to pull, three of whom are on limited duty due to maternity, by the way. The next section will be the short-term limited duty due to injury names and I've included as many estimations of how long they'll be on the list as Alithia could provide me. Third section is for long-term limited duty and I've divided this one between physical injuries and battle shock." I had considered labeling it PTSD, but no one calls it that here, although every officer and the other veteran soldiers are trained to recognize the signs of what they knew as battle shock. "Fourth section is the maternity leave and I have marked it so you know which of the women are able to carry out specific lighter duties and which of them have been pulled off all duties except maybe paperwork due to the healers' recommendations. Fifth section is the disciplinary limited duty, both long- and short-term. Sixth section is the miscellaneous section where if a soldier gives indications of needing to be put on limited duty or they request a specific time of limited duty but do not feel as though they can share the reason for the request, well, they'll be listed here."

I waited for Oreius to say something. And waited…and waited…and then I decided to stop waiting. "Oreius?" The Kentauri was still looking at the stack. "Do I need to change something? I'm also very sure that I can compress the limited duty roster into a smaller file now that the groundwork is laid."

Oreius shook his head. "I am astonished at the detail. I would not have thought of using the sections you are, but they make sense and," he looked at me with approval, "I am quite certain they shall be most efficient due to your diligence."

I just shrugged. "I did what made sense to me…fortunately, it also makes sense to you, so all you have to do is sign off on this puppy and we'll be done here."

The Kentauri frowned at me. "Puppy?"

I opened my mouth to try to explain then thought better of it. "Figure of speech, Kentauri. Just sign the papers so I can go find something else to do." I waited until he had turned his full attention to the roster then turned to sneak out.

I had only gotten two steps closer to the door when Oreius' dry tone filled the room. "Before you escape again, Sepphora, there is something I must ask."

"I didn't cheat." I have no idea how I could possibly cheat on organizing the limited duty roster, but that is what came out of my mouth. Hmm, I should probably curtail that automatic protest; otherwise, people will start to suspect me of doing things I shouldn't…well, more than they already do.

Oreius just gave me an odd look. "I do not know how you could." See? The Kentauri continued before I could agree with him. "Are you familiar with the bow?"

"Yes, it's a stick you use to send a pointier stick at someone. Preferably someone you don't like because otherwise it's very awkward."

He didn't appreciate my sense of humor. "Tomorrow you will begin to train with a bow." I had a bad feeling about how that would turn out…I really did. If something goes wrong, I'm blaming Murphy and his dratted Law for haunting me again.

ӁӁӁӁӁӁӁӁӁӁӁӁӁӁӁ

A/N: Please Read and Review! And the archery lesson Kat has the next day is covered in my oneshot Target Practice.