We spent the next few weeks training. Ghala was still the head cadet, but I was allowed to run point on some team drills to get me in the hang of leadership. It was a great slow introduction and most people were cooperative. Obviously Ghala did not like the new dynamic.
After the exercise, I needed bandages for my ear. Ghala had done some damage to the outside. My hearing was fine though. He had the point right on me when he dropped into the mud and it must have nicked me when he fell. Bhufo asked what happened and Ghala cried to me, begging me not to tell him what happened. I told him he’d need to behave for the actual Dutchess escort if he didn’t want me to tell about the dagger. He agreed heartily. He was still an indignant little shit during practice though. We practiced different formations for all sorts of enemies. Big, small, many, few. Most of the boys were happy to be learning such applicable skills. We finally switched to real swords and wore leather armor. It was A LOT heavier. The first few days were spent readjusting to the added weight. I collapsed in my shitty cot, eager to make it home.
The weekend before the trip, I asked Kaavi if he wanted to come have dinner with us. Apparently when he didn’t stay at the barracks, he slept at the monastery for Vesta with the other orphans. I figured he could spend some time away from a cot and a cafeteria. He stayed in my room with me and my mom had Hestiana fetch some celery to make some snacks for us.
My mom came in and introduced herself then basically begged me not to go.
“You know you don’t have to say yes, right?” She asked, “It’s okay if you want to sit this mission out. You’ve never been outside of the city area before and Memphis is far away!
I shook my head, “I’m the team lead. They’ll fall apart without me. Besides, I’ve got the toughest junior paladin in the class to protect me.” I slapped Kaavi’s shoulder and he let out a soft pain-grunt.
I could tell that did not put my mother at ease. Since her belly started to grow, her worries about me had increased. You’d think if she had two kids, her worries would just get divided in half, but that wasn’t the case. She still tried to convince me not to go so I figured I’d step out for a while. I told Kaavi that I was going to walk to the Copper Ring to see an old friend Clary. He joined me as we walked outside the city limits and landed at Clary’s mom’s bakery.
We knocked on the door and Clary’s mom treated us to some carrot cake and dates. Clary, Kaavi, and I played tag. It’s funny, I’d spent these last few years learning as much as I could about Elven, Sylvan, being a paladin… Hell! I even learned monkey! I’m not sure I had allowed myself a single day of play. Tag was so much fun, and I taught them the concept of freeze tag, which is actually almost impossible to play with just three people. They said nice things about it but I could tell they hated it. I totally blew it. I had inevitably set back tag by like one thousand years, probably.
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We all laid under a tree to give us a break from the heat. “So, have you just been baking or… maybe training other ways?”
Clary looked embarrassed again and looked away, “Kaavi’s the perfect guy to talk to! “ I said, “He’s training to be a paladin! If anyone knows about following his dream, it’s him.” I looked at Kaavi, “Clary wants to be an assassin!”
“Wow!” Kaavi said, “I want to kill people too! Just for a god.”
“Uhm… well actually… I went up to Billy and asked him to teach me sleight of hand,” Clary explained.
Billy was an old beggar that wandered the Copper Ring, “That sounds awesome! Can you show me?”
“Sure. Stand up.” Clary instructed. I did so. She walked by, then bumped into me and kept walking. When she turned around she had my wallpass, the scroll I needed to leave the city freely.
“Woah!” Kaavi exclaimed.
“Woah is right!” I said, “Clary! That’s amazing!”
“Oh please,” She said, blushing, “I almost dropped it when I took it out of your pocket. Besides, it’s not like there’s going to be a lot of pick-pocketing if you’re in the Jade Spider.”
“Still!” I said, “It’s a start! Eventually you’ll be gutting people so silently, they won’t even know they’re dead!” I raked my thumb across Kaavi’s neck and he let his tongue out and pretended to die. Clary giggled.
I placed my hand on Clary’s shoulder, “Get better at being a rogue! You won’t regret getting better at your dream. You’ll be an assassin in no time.”
“Do you really think I could… you know,” She mimicked the throat cutting action with her thumb.
“Try it!” I said, “If it’s not for you, it’s not for you! But you’ll never know unless you try.”
Clary nodded, thanked me and we decided it was time to play another game of tag. I brought up freeze tag again and they were like… “Maybe!” But then we never got around to it.
Before we left, I repeated what I told Clary. I know it seemed like I was being pushy but let’s face it… the first way you grow up is by giving up on your most childish dreams.
As Kaavi and I walked back, we talked about how excited we were. How much this mission was going to rule. I realize now that even though we were different ages mentally, I was being as naive as he was. We were not playing soldier. We were about to cross the unprotected badlands of a fantasy world… and it was going to turn out to be one of the most harrowing experiences of our lives.