a turn I don’t exactly like.
The final straw is laid when she asks the question, “Do you have a girl waiting at home?”
My eyes narrow slightly. I look at her and say slowly, “Do you fancy me?”
She’s taken aback. “No! Of course not.”
That answers my question. “Whoa,” I say quietly.
She denies it again. “Of course I don’t! Sure, you’re big and strong, but I don’t fancy you! What gave you that idea?!”
“Nothing,” I say quietly, anxious to get out of the situation. “I need to go get some sleep. I suggest you do the same.”
Then I turn around and leave her in the courtyard.
She pretends that the scene never happened. She does revert back to her old self, but she’s much less aggressive. She apparently meant her apology.
“Hello,” she says with a slight smile as she passes me at breakfast, wearing her steel armor proudly.
“That was weird,” James observes. “What happened?”
“We had a little talk,” I say before taking a bite of meal.
“Like a… talk?” he says as he punches his fist into his open palm.
I shake my head. “A little different.”
He raises his eyebrows. “A… talk?” he repeats, making a kissy face.
I shudder and he laughs. “Heavens no,” I reply quickly. “She… apologized.”
“Really?” says Percival.
“Yes. We sort of… settled our differences,” I say.
“Right,” says James. I roll my eyes and take a large drink.
Genevieve comes back to our group and says, “I just wanted to say that I’m sorry.”
Everybody raises their eyebrows. James’s jaw drops.
“I haven’t treated you fairly, and I’m sorry,” she continues. “What are your names?”
It takes my friends a moment to compose themselves and answer her. Naturally, Percival is the first to recover.
“I’m Percival.”
“Jericho.”
“I’m Nathaniel, Kadmus’s brother,” says my sibling, holding my shoulder.
She looks to James. “You, soldier?”
He smiles slightly. “James. My name’s James.”
She nods. “I’ll do my best to remember. I’ll see you for training after breakfast.” Then she walks away.
“That was really weird,” says James once she’s out of earshot.
“Told you,” I say. “I wonder how training will be.”
We meet in the training grounds in the southeastern part of the city, where stands a tall barracks against the city wall. A large courtyard, with the floor made of large stone tiles, lies in front of it. Stripes of dirt and grass line the courtyard and it is on these stripes that practice dummies are set up. A long dirt track runs along one side, where men bearing lances and spears ride horses into dummies at the end. We stand in the middle of the courtyard, subject to all the heat from the sun. The season is waxing, and though there is still some time until summer, the days are warm. The armor only traps the heat and exhausts us.
Training goes well. Genevieve tests us each individually, teaching us different moves and techniques. I, Jericho, and Percival are each well-suited to this because we’ve already seen some battle and survived. We learn quickly. James, however, takes some extra help.
Though she has changed for the better, her fiery attitude is still there. She pushes him as far as he will go, which isn’t far because he’s still recovering from the fracture in his arm. Still, he manages to learn and grasp concepts and techniques that will save his life.
Jericho has a different trainer because of his axe and shield. Genevieve trains with a sword, and so Percival and James are each able to learn from her, though each carry shields. I and Nathaniel work with somebody by the name of Dorgr.
Though I am, in his words, “a mighty warrior by instinct,” he is still able to teach me some useful tips and skills with the warhammer that I did not know before. I absorb the information and cling to it.
All of us take a training class to teach us proper blocking, with and without a shield. As they teach us, I find that I had already been using some of the techniques and tricks.
“Very good!” I hear Genevieve say as James blocks another hit and lunges at her. They’re using wooden swords, so as not to kill each other. “But not good enough!”
She hits one of James’s legs and he drops to a knee. Then she holds the sword to his head. After a moment of triumph, she lowers the wooden sword and offers her hand to him. Reluctantly he takes it and she helps him up.
“Good job today!” she compliments the entire group. “But we’ll have to see if it’s enough to keep you alive.