We all stood in a line with our hands behind our backs, at attention. Our sergeant was in the middle of giving us the business.

“...worthless fucking peons. Not a single brain between the lot of you. All of you so desperate for a single morsel of authority and yet you turn on your own head cadet. Who’s been nothing but nice. You should have seen how my head cadet…”

Bhufo was trying to ascertain who snuck out to get the honey. Enough was taken that it interrupted the chefs’ menu. We all stood at attention, none of us knowing who did it.

I looked over at Ghala, he was covered in bandages and red bumps from the ants. He stood there, sitting behind our sergeant, glaring at all of us. Sergeant Bhufo snapped at me, drawing my attention back to him.

“Did you do it, Cadet Eres? Jealous of Ghala’s prowess and wanted to undermine him?”

“Sir, no, sir!” I replied, “May I suggest a possibility of what happened, sir?”

“No you may not. Drop and give me forty.” I did so, knowing that even though the push-ups might hurt, at least I was not stung one hundred times with red ant stings.

“Pray tell, Eres. What is your genius suggestion?” Bhufo asked.

“Whoever got the honey had to have the key, right?” I suggested as I dropped on my hands and started the push ups. They all knew I had Paladin magic, but I had kept my Elven magic to myself.

“I’m the only one with the key, dumbass!” Ghala said.

“That’s enough, cadet!” Bhufo said, “He’s the only one with the key, dumbass.”

“Then it must have been you,” I suggested, sweat pooling on my forehead, passing the halfway mark.

“Why would I pour-”

“Ghala, THAT’S ENOUGH!” Bhufo demanded, “Why would he pour honey all over himself?”

I didn’t speak, I had to focus on the remaining pushups. When I finished, I locked eyes with Ghala and said, “You must have snuck out in the middle of the night. You stole honey from the kitchen and when red ants got on you, it was your opportunity to blame the missing honey on someone else.”

“Yeah? How do we know you didn’t do it?” Bhufo asked, then turning to the group said “If anyone has any information of who stole the honey, that person will be spared the drills.”

I tried my hardest not to look around. I didn’t want to give away my guilt. Instead, I stared at the open window with the curtain covering it, wishing these little fuckers had invented window panes yet. Did anyone see me? Admittedly, I had the biggest target on my back. Surely, I was stealthy enough…

“Permission to speak, sir?” Ghala asked.

“Denied. Doesn’t matter who did it. The reserves of honey were stolen by one of our own. That’s a deep shame and it reflects on me. Which means it reflects right back at you. You all will be running drills all day today and once you’re done, you can help clean up the kitchen for the poor tired chefs who now have no honey to make a fruit cake. You understand me?”

“Sir, Yes, Sir!” We all screamed in unison, Ghala smirked as he sat there, in a gift-wrap of sympathy. His smirk disappeared when Bhufo turned to him and said, “You too, Dotbunny.”

We all laughed. A Dotbunny was a harmless rabbit that had spotted orange dots on it to better camouflage along a group of wildflowers. Bhufo glared at us and we immediately quieted. He snapped his fingers and suddenly the day of hell began. He made us climb walls, hold weights for long periods of times, everytime one of us fell behind we’d get whacked by a cane. Much harder than Ictar whacked me. Kaavi, one of the older boys, held firm, clearing us in athletics and never letting any of the torture get to him. While we were running a mile, Kaavi held back to run right next to me.

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“I know,” he whispered.

“What? Speak up, Kaavi. You’re so damn silent.”

“I know. I saw you with the honey.”

I glanced at him. He kept his gaze on me, waiting for some reaction, no doubt, “No you didn’t, Kaavi. I think we can all safely agree this was a cry for help for Ghala’s sugar addiction.”

“Your muttering woke me up. I’m a light sleeper on account of the bandits that came and set my town on fire.”

I tried not to look at Kaavi. His story plucked at my heartstrings, I kept running, “Sorry about the bandits, Kaavi. But I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.”

“I won’t tell anyone. In fact, I’m glad you did it. Ghala sucks. He thinks he’s better. I’m a more better fighter than he is. More faster too. You know why he’s head cadet? It’s cuz he’s the Princep’s nephew! Princep ain’t got kids so he spoils his nephews.”

I stopped running. Kaavi did the same, “You’re telling me that that little turd is a nepobaby??”

Kaavi looked at Bhufo walking up with his cane. He pulled at my arm and we started running, “I don’t know. But I know he’s the head cadet because of his uncle.”

“So how did you do it?” Kaavi asked me as I was buckled over on my knees having just finished laps. We were both by the well while the other boys were taking a break, laying on the grass before our next punishment. I sized up Kaavi. He was a square boy. Broad shoulders and a waist to match. His face had a permanent glazed look to it like you couldn’t quite tell what he was thinking. I couldn’t help but wonder what it was he wanted.

“Still not sure what you mean, Kaavi.”

“You can tell me, Egen. I know you did it. What I don’t get is how you picked the lock. I saw you muttering, it was what woke me up. But you opened that door. That’s not a paladin power. Are you a rogue?”

“No.” I said simply, then thinking it over, “Not yet at least.”

“Fine. I don’t need to know how you did it. I just wanted to tell you I know.”

“Why, Kaavi. Think for a second and reflect on the fact that if I were the guy that you say did it, and I’m not, I would be wondering: Why? Why are you telling me this?”

The young kid couldn't have been more than nine years old. I was dumping a lot on him. We both looked up as one of the other boys stopped next to us to get water. Kaavi and I exchanged glances. We said an awkward hello and the boy walked away, his cup filled with water. Once he left, I sighed and sat down, my back against the well.

“His uncle’s the princep.”

“Don’t seem fair, huh?”

I thought about the man I’d met who ruled the city-state. Beard, nervous quality to him. I looked at Ghala, who had gotten to lounging on a chair, complaining his ant stings hurt him too bad to run. If I squinted I could see the family resemblance.

“He ain’t the head cadet ‘cause he’s the best. I’m the best. He’s the head cadet because his uncle rules the city.”

“So… The reason you won’t tell… and again, I didn’t do it, but the reason you won’t tell… is because you hate that guy too?”

“He’s a jerk! I want to be the head cadet. It should be me I’m stronger”

He was right, he was incredibly athletic. Kaavi had hardly broken a sweat this entire time we’d been made to do drills. If there was a wall, Kaavi could climb it. If there was an obstacle, Kaavi could jump it.

Bhufo was rounding all the kids up. All but Ghala. We were going to do jumping jacks until we fell to the ground, dead tired. Kaavi had kept my secret through all of it. And why? Because he’s got the same chip on his shoulder that I do. The sun sweltered above as I got up, beads of sweat dripped down my face like a cold drink in the heat. I stared at Ghala. He had a rich uncle. He was the system. That guy would get everything after Junior Paladin handed to him. I looked at Kaavi. He was placed here because, after surviving a bandit, the knights of Skorwind picked him up and had him try-out. He was here because of his natural aptitude. He had nothing to lose and everything to gain. In other words, he was a fighter.

When I looked back at Ghala, he was staring right back at me. He stuck his tongue out and held his fingers up by his temple, mocking my pointed ears.

“I didn’t steal the honey,” I said, “But… You do deserve to be the head cadet. How’d you like my help?”

“Help?” He asked.

As we approached the group, my voice got quieter, “How’d you like my help to become head cadet?”

“I’d love it!” He shouted.

The other boys turned and I slowed my walk to a crawl, “You just have to help me be in charge of this duchess mission first, then I’ll make you head cadet. Got it?”

Kaavi’s dull eyes sparkled, “Got it!”

“Then we have ourselves a deal.”

How the hell are we going to pull this off??