Riiga

Jonathan Enos looked up over his papers in his hand at the soldier in the door. The man simply nodded and Enos stood and followed him to the main room, which was near-empty, save a few more soldiers. 

"I see," Enos said. "I may have to recruit more from the town itself. I'm sure there are plenty of able men out there."

"Of course, sir. Shall I put up the advertisements?"

"Do. And have it state they are to see me personally if they're interested in joining this 'expedition'."

The soldier nodded and left abruptly.

[1]

"Come in," Enos replied. He was looking over the profiles of all guards in Elcheane on paper. There were around a hundred. Most of them didn't impress him, but he had no interest thus far. Without looking up at whoever was entering, he kept speaking, "So tell me why I should hire you for this mission..."

Enos looked up and right into Alex's eyes. He held the gaze for a minute and a very slight smile crept onto his face. 

"You must be Alex. None of the others on my list are young enough. Well, Alex, in The Guards, we salute our superiors and call one another by our surnames. I am Commander Enos."

He wrote something on the paper and filed it away in his draw. After folding his hands on the desk, he stood and guided Alex back to the main room. 

"I've had little interest - only two other men in fact - but I believe that's enough. This is only marked as a scouting mission. You three men have until this evening to do any preparations you need to do before we set out. Dismissed."

Enos saw Alex leaning against a wall and walked to him. He also leant against the wall and folded his arms, looking up at the ceiling. 

"You know," he began, "I had a similar soldier to you a couple of years ago. He also insisted he was called by his first name and also thought he had very little to lose. The only thing you need is yourself, right?" He looked down at Alex. 

"I have nothing to do until the others are ready. We can talk, unless you'd rather not. Of course, if you say that, you'll remind me even more of this other boy."

"Cole," Enos said, looking away again. "Cole Ryland. He insisted to be called by his first name and also had that sort of uncaring look about him, though I know he did care." He paused and drew a breath. "He also refused to wear the uniform. I'm guessing by your outfit that you are also refusing. I'm fine with that. You have your emblem and that's identification enough, when it comes down to it. I don't want to bore you with stories about my men, though. Do you have any tracking skills?"