Change of Allegiance

[Omi]

"I don't think you quite understand me, Capitaine Valcourt," came Lucie's reply, so quickly that it almost cut Céline off. The cigar suddenly seemed more like a baton, Lucie pointing it at Céline imperiously. "Quétineau is not here. Valérie Quétineau is not here. Not on my ship, not in this squadron, not within even three or four days worth of space travel. I don't care what you fear from her, Valcourt, because it is utterly irrelevant. Our beloved ex-Grande Maréchale is no longer in any position to dictate anything aboard this ship - aboard any of my ships."

Lucie paused for emphasis, taking another long, slow drag from her cigar.

"You say she's 'sent' you to me, isn't that so?" A note of something crept into her voice as she continued, though it was anyone's guess as to whether it betrayed contempt, or the merest tinge of pity. "Packaged you up, like some sort of parcel. Something to curry favour with; nothing more."

She leaned forwards in her seat, fixing her gaze firmly on the still-bowed captain.

"Perhaps nobody has appraised you of what we do here, Capitaine, but I am not in the habit of leading an army of slaves. We are the best Gallia has to offer, the First Fleet of the Gallic Royal Navy. There is no place here for mewling, timid individuals." Her tone could have cut glass, yet Lucie's fury was directed at something beyond the slight girl before her.

"Quétineau will not interfere," she declared, once again wielding her cigar like a conductor's baton. "You are under my command now, indentured in service to the Royal Navy - and to me. As long as you serve under Gallia's banner, there is no higher authority than me bar His Majesty himself. Is that clear?" Her glare was piercing, her frustration evident. Quétineau had done nothing for Gallia, nothing at all - it was herself and Xavier who had picked up the pieces Quétineau and her predecessor had left in their wake. It was they who had set the Royal Navy on the path to greatness once again. The thought of the ex-Grande Maréchale's influence creeping back into the Navy once again disgusted her, and it was only now that Lucie realised she should not have let it show so clearly.

"You have nothing to worry about, so long as you carry out the duties ahead of you." she added belatedly, recovering her composure with remarkable speed. A brief puff on the cigar, and once more Lucie LeBlanc could have been carved from stone. "Of that, you can be certain."

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