As soon as we stepped out of the building, Diane practically assaulted me.

“DAVID!” Diane yelled, which made me flinch, then she hugged me so tightly that I thought she had taken a strength potion. “They let you go!”

“No, they sentenced me to hang.” I said and she let out a little scream.

“NO!” Hope said and she hugged me, too.

“Where did you come from?” I asked and looked around to see if there was anyone else nearby that I didn't see. Not having vigilance sure did make me miss a lot of things.

“We... we can run! We can get away from here... and no one will know.” Diane said, haltingly, as if she was making it up as she talked.

“I'm sorry, I can't allow that.” Lt. Alex Smith said.

“You're one of the nicer ones, lieutenant! Please! You can't let them kill him!” Diane pleaded.

“Thank you for the compliment; but, you can't leave the garrison with the army's latest conscription.”

“NO!” Diane said and tears came to her eyes. “No... no, please.” She whispered. “I lost... I lost my husband to the army. My son... my son joined and I haven't heard from him in a year.” She looked into my eyes and she let out a sob. “Not... not you, too.”

I let my pack drop to the ground and put my arms around her. “I haven't been able to practice writing much, since I only had three pieces of paper and a charred piece of wildwood...”

“Oh, David!” Diane said and kissed me.

It wasn't a pretend kiss, either. Nope. She kissed me like she had last year when she stopped teasing John and kissed me like she was serious. I kissed her back as a pair of arms let me go. I assumed that was Hope, because Diane's grip on me tightened somehow.

“Ahem.” Lt. Smith said. “David, I need to get you sorted out to send you off to the training camp.”

I didn't let Diane go, because I felt something grow between us and I slid my hands down to her backside and pulled her in closer. Diane felt it as well, because she let out a little surprised yip and then she moaned into my mouth.

“This is not the place for a conjugal visit.” Lt. Smith said, a bit more sternly.

Diane broke the kiss and her face was red. Her tears had stopped, too.

“What's conjugal mean?” I asked.

“It's where a man and a woman get together and have sex.” Hope said.

“H-Hope!” Diane exclaimed and her face was bright red now.

“I have orders to get him prepared and that might take a while.” Lt. Smith said and Diane looked like she was going to start crying again. “However, he's going to have to stay in his cell tonight.”

Diane looked happy for a second, then she gave the lieutenant a glare.

“You can wait for him there.” Lt. Smith said.

Diane nodded, then she gasped. “Oh, no! What about my business?” She asked. “If David leaves, I'll have no one to help me.”

“Did you sell the panther pelt?” I asked.

“YES!” Diane yelled. “For actual money, too!” She started to dig into her pockets, I assumed for my share of the money.

“Keep it.” I said and she caught her breath.

“David, you have no idea what a complete pelt is worth.” Diane said.

“I have two more at the house.” I said and she, Hope, and Lt. Smith took in sharp breaths. “Or three? And two partials. No, maybe three or four? I can't really remember. I'm really tired.”

“By the Son's Light.” Diane whispered. “D-David, you... oh, David.”

“I only just got them, so they aren't tanned.” I said. “I also have a bunch of rabbit...” I let her go and untied the three rabbits from my pack. “I also have a ton of other pelts that are tanned... and the bunches of antlers that I couldn't take because the boat's too small.”

Diane took the three rabbits and I wasn't sure what the look on her face was. “I'll be in your cell when you come back.”

I nodded and Lt. Smith led me to yet another building. Inside was something like a standing tub, or so he said. There were three other people there. One was a man I didn't know and the other two were the two women that had tried to peek at me. He told me that I had to strip off completely and I gave him a look.

“We need to make sure you're completely clean before giving you a new set of clothing.” Lt. Smith said. “We also need to take your measurements and document any scars or defining marks.”

I thought about pointing to the small hole still in my cheek and instead looked at the two women. “Hi.” I said to them. “I guess it's not peeking if I can see you.”

“I'm sorry about that.” Donna said. “I really did just want to see how badly she hurt you.”

“That's okay.” I said and looked at the other woman, Annette. “I was just showing off.”

“I... I'm sorry.” Annette said, her face a little red. “You scared me and I... well, your knife did come through the wall at me.”

“Speaking of which...” Lt. Smith said. “You can leave your things...”

“Right here.” I said and put them beside me under the tub thing.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“They're going to get wet and...”

“No.” I said. “My clean clothes aren't treated, so I need a bag for them.”

“Treated?” Donna asked and handed over a bag. It was a nice canvas bag and I had never seen anything like it before.

“I can have this?” I asked and ignored her question. They would see what I meant soon enough.

“Sure. We have lots of them.” Donna said and waved at the side of the room. There was a shelf there with stacks of them on it.

“Can I take as many as I want?” I asked and tried not to sound too eager.

“I think we have a generic gatherer keeper personality.” The man said and wrote on a clipboard.

“You don't need more bags, not right now, anyway.” Donna said. “Can you strip off? We really do need to write down what marks and scars you have.”

I shrugged. “I hope you have a lot of paper.” I said and hung my bandoleer on my pack and then took off my boots. I opened the bag and put them inside, then added the nice feather stuffed jacket and my socks.

“Oh, god.” Annette whispered.

“R-record that... he has two toes missing on each foot.” Donna said. “They look like they've healed over, so it's an old injury.”

“Injury?” I asked.

“When someone is hurt, they become injured.” She said.

“Oh. Then no, it's not an injury. The Hag took them when I defied her.”

“She took your toes?” Annette asked, her voice a little loud.

“I was just a kid and it took me months to learn how to walk again.” I said and Annette's face looked like Diane's had when she was about to cry.

“It was years and years ago.” I said and held up my hands. “She took my little fingers at the same time.”

“I... I didn't even notice.” Donna said. “Write it down.”

Annette nodded and wrote it down. When I took off my shirt, she let out a gasp and had to look away.

“I'll take over.” Donna said and took the clipboard, then she described each and every mark, line, bite, scratch, scrape, incision, gnaw mark, puncture, skin discoloration, and cuts that were scattered all over my body. Her voice never wavered as she did her work; but, her tears rolled down her face the entire time. She asked me what each one was from and I had to explain how I received all of the magical wounds.

Annette had to leave when I told the story of the Hag saving me from the brood of spiders and eating half of my belly to recover afterwards. The man left when I got to the part where I voluntarily cut myself up for the Hag. He muttered something about a learned and developed masochistic personality as he shut the door behind him. The only two to make it through the whole thing, were Donna and Alex... and me, of course. Talking about it wasn't nearly as bad as going through it. For me, anyway.

I was told to scrub myself, even though I was already clean, then the tub was dumped over me to rinse it all off. Alex stepped forward and handed me a towel. I dried off quickly and Donna took my measurements at neck and waist. Alex handed me underwear, pants, and a shirt. They were the same grey color of their uniforms, except mine didn't have any of those fancy decorations like theirs.

Maybe the decorations mean something? I asked myself. Donna was a sergeant, Alex was a lieutenant, and the CO was a commander. Maybe the more important you are, the more you have? I looked down at my basic uniform and there wasn't anything on it. Oh. I get it.

Lt. Alex Smith gave me socks and boots. “Grab your things and follow me.”

I put my bandoleer on and picked up my completely dry pack and a slightly damp canvas bag. Donna stared at the thing as I walked past her. I would have to wait until later to treat the canvas bag with the waterproofing potion.

Alex took me to another small building. “Sit.” He said and I sat. “Give him the army special.”

The man there laughed. “You know, that old joke is still funny.”

“What joke?” I asked.

“Everyone that comes in here gets the 'army special' haircut.” The man said and put a little table beside the chair with several odd things on it. I recognized the thing to straighten hair, since I used that a few times. I didn't know what the metal things were. One kind of looked like a flat bladed knife.

“Sit still.” Alex said and nodded at the other man, then left. The man got to work on me and hummed the whole time. It took a while for him to finish.

“Whew! You made me work for that one!” The man said and rubbed something on my head and quickly wiped it off with a towel. “You look like a proper solder now.” He clapped me on the shoulder. “Good luck, recruit.”

Alex came back in just in time. “Let's go.”

I grabbed my pack and followed him.

“Normally, I would put you in the barracks.” Alex pointed to a building far off to the side of the garrison. “The CO says you can't be mixed in with the regular troops until you've been trained properly.”

“Trained for what?” I asked.

“To be a soldier.” Alex said and led me back to the holding cells. “We'll be arranging for you to be shipped out as soon as possible.”

“I need to make a trip back home to get some things.”

“The army will give you everything you'll need for the next...” Alex stopped talking for a second. “...for as long as you're in it.”

_______________

You have a choice to make. It will be crucial for you and for Diane.

A) Go anyway. B) Plead. C) Reason with him. D) Go to the CO. E) Stay silent. F) Choose any two.

Ha ha. Okay, that's sneaky. I thought. Well, I'm technically not conscripted yet. I can leave, as long as I'm back before the morning. I might get in trouble for that, though. I looked at the CO option. I doubt he would listen to me, especially since I wouldn't really be going for myself.

I really had to think about it, then decided.

All right, I'll threaten to do A and then do C and then B.

Now who's being sneaky?

Ha ha! You guys are great. I thought. You can cancel that request to get that other guy permanently assigned to my account.

We never put that through!

As the popup disappeared, all I heard was laughter.

_______________

“I'm not in the army until tomorrow morning when I'm supposed to die.” I said and Alex gave me a surprised look. “I could run right off this base to go back home and no one could stop me.”

“You can't just... I mean, you shouldn't test the CO.” Alex said.

“I don't want to.” I said. “All I want is to go back home for a quick visit, pick up the things for Diane, and then come right back.”

“You really shouldn't.”

“I need someone to help me and I need a much bigger boat.” I said. “Seventy sets of near-deer antlers takes up a lot of room.”

“Seventy!” Alex exclaimed and stopped walking in front of the building with my cell in it.

“And dozens and dozens of pelts, pieces of smoked meat, and a few other things.” I said and he didn't say anything in response. “Alex, I wouldn't ask if it wasn't important for Diane.” I said and he looked at me with slightly wide eyes. “She needs those supplies, even more than I thought she did. When I saw how thin she was, I didn't know what to think.”

“Your potions healed her.” Alex said.

“Potions only do so much. She still needs to eat and she needs money for that.”

“You can have the army send her your pay.” Alex said.

“I get paid?” I asked and he started to nod... then he stopped.

“Actually, I'd have to ask the CO. We haven't had a conscript in our section before. I know all normal soldiers get pay...”

“Then Diane needs these supplies. She needs them to live.” I pleaded.

“I... I don't know.” Alex said.

_______________

You have another choice to make. Will it be the right one?

A) Tell the truth. B) Lie. C) Stay silent. D) Only tell him enough to convince him.

Definitely the last one. I'm too tired to successfully lie and I am never telling them that the Hag is gone. So, I choose D.

_______________

It was then that I decided to tell him something important. “There are thirty full crates of general health potion and twenty full crates of healing potions at the house.”

Alex looked stunned and he stared at me with his mouth open in surprise.

“Each crate has thirty six potions inside and a dose of the general health potion lasts from six to eight months.” I said. “I didn't have a lot to do during the winter, so I made potions.”

Alex was quiet for several minutes. “That... that's 1,800 potions.” He whispered and then his eyes hardened. “That's why you really want to go back. You want Diane to have the potions.”

I nodded.

“We really will need a big boat.” Alex said.

I didn't correct the 'we' part, because he was already convinced and I didn't want to un-convince him.