POV: Malia Moon
"A demonstration," Commander Reid repeats, "requires an opponent. Someone equally matched, or better."
His eyes sweep the yard before settling, deliberately, on Vargus, lingering there with the same unhurried precision he's shown since he first walked into this training ground.
"You," he says. "Shadow, isn't it? You'll do."
Vargus's jaw tightens almost imperceptibly, though he steps forward without hesitation, expression carefully neutral in a way I recognize instantly as his own version of alarm.
"Commander," he says evenly, "She's a first year. This hardly seems..."
"I didn't ask for your opinion on the pairing." Reid's tone doesn't rise, doesn't sharpen, simply carries the absolute confidence of someone accustomed to instant obedience. "I asked for a demonstration.
