The next five minutes were interesting to me, as Dilan got up and sat next to my other side. He would ask me questions, some I could nod or shake my head too, but some I didn’t know at all on how to reply.

They were mostly questions about fighting, so I would shake my head a lot…

What was more interesting, was that I seemed to have found some kind of weakness in this man Dilan. He liked smiles.

So, whenever I didn’t know what to do, I smiled…And it was starting to hurt me…

I hardly ever smiled before, so my muscles didn’t seem to like it or something…

But, if I didn’t smile…What would be the outcome?

I didn’t know if I wanted to take that chance, he really was…So big!

Food came after that and I ate, practically ignoring anything else.

Even when I ignored Dilan, he still seemed ok with it, which was a huge change from the first time that we had talked!

I didn’t get it, but at least we didn’t have a fight on my hands, while I was still weak.

We got some bread and some kind of meal with meat in it, so it was hungrily being devoured by me and the rest of us.

The taste was good, but I had no idea what it was and what ingredients were used…

Probably just a whole lot of things put together maybe…But, I could safely say that I had never had it before today.

As a slave, I learnt how to eat fast because I was just too hungry most of the time, just like today. It was always so late and if we had taken too long to eat, we would have less time to sleep and would end up with the job of cleaning everything up. Not only that, we had only one candle and if that candle was moved to where we rested, then you had no choice but to eat in the dark.

Eating fast was what I was used to…And it seemed to have gained praise from Dilan…

“Not only good at running, you’re good at eating too! That’s a good boy!”

I felt something on my head then…And realised that someone had…Pat me…

I stopped then and looked up at Dilan…Did I become a pet?

Was this…Normal?

Dilan made me think further into these thoughts of mine, when he rubbed my head next, messing up my hair. “Haha, stand by me and I’ll not let anyone bully you, little one!”

I turned to Neil and he was speechless, so I just finished the rest of my meal and got up to put my dishes away.

I wasn’t too sure how to take in Dilan’s behaviour because I thought he wanted to bully me…But now, I wasn’t so sure…

He was big, but he didn’t seem to have any other talent that I knew of, except being able to punch hard…

If someone did bully me, wouldn’t it be wise not to rely on him? Or should I let myself think that it was ok to rely on him?

“Hey, hey…Brother, I’ll be following along with you guys then!”

I turned, seeing that Dilan had told this to Neil, whom didn’t respond but looked surprised.

Shrugging, I rinsed my dish and put it with all the others and then went to go outside. I still had candy to rely on anyway, so I wasn’t worried at the moment about bullies…That and it seemed smiling had become something I was able to use as well.

If I had known that smiling was such a good thing, I should have smiled a lot earlier!

But really, thinking back to the Billings residence, I don’t know if smiling would have worked…Perhaps it’s because I’m with different people now who don’t know me?

Nonetheless, if I wanted to get stronger, I really should see some of the things here. Then I could save myself from smiling and giving out candies so much.

Just as I got outside though, there was the Lieutenant sitting there and checking through some papers.

“Yeah Mister Field got it on target.”

“Only one, uh?” The Lieutenant said.

“Sir, he was the only one that got it in the bull’s eye, four others got the target. See?”

“Then why didn’t ya say so, you twerp! Are you trying to confuse your Lieutenant on purpose!?”

“No! I just wanted to recommend Mister Field to you!”

“So what!? There’s no point on doing things like this on the first day, what if he doesn’t hit the target for the rest of the week? Ganna defend the little shrimp then?”

“…Sir…”

“Don’t sir me.”

“Yes sir!”

“Better! Send the failures to me, here take a few of the ones that survived the running. Check to see how they are with archery.”

“Yes sir!”

I had just stood there, but when they looked at me, the Lieutenant laughed, “This one only got hit once! Let him go first!”

Surprised, I shook my head, putting my hands opened up in front of me. I’d rather watch a few people, so that I could have an idea on what to do first!

I was just about ready to kneel down and beg!

“What, you don’t want to?”

Suddenly, with his words, I felt like all those times back when people started to bully me, so I looked around and then behind me.

I found nothing…No rocks flying at me, no one hiding around corners…Was that just an illusion?

“Interesting…Fine, let him go last then, send ya failures here.” The Lieutenant got up and walked into the place I had just come from and someone already had a meal prepared for him.

“You, get the others who ‘survived’ the running and meet me at the archery place over there.”

He started to walk off, as I looked at him in worry. I didn’t want to get punished but I still refused to talk…What to do!?

Seeing him stop, I started to panic, but Neil came running up to me. “You’re so quick at eating! I had to give some of mine to Dilan because I wasn’t quick enough!”

The officer had come to stand in front of me and angrily stated, “You little runt, if an officer gives you an order, you obey and say, ‘yes sir’! I will not say this twice!”

“Oh, sir, he is mute.”

The officer was stunned for a moment, looking at Neil, then he turned back to me and said, “Oh, we have a few mutes in the army, they answer us with a salute like this…”

I see the officer clap his hands near his head and slightly bow, “If you clap, we hear it even if we are walking off, the bow is recognition for a higher authority, you saw it, now do it!”

I did what he did, and he nodded in satisfaction, “Don’t forget! Now, you, get the rest of those who ‘survived’ the running and get them to the archery place over there.”

He had turned to Neil for his order, but I still saluted him as he begun to walk away. He turned and pointed, “Better this time! And now you!”

“Yes sir!”

“Hurry it up now!”

Neil told me to stay there, while he went to tell the others where to go, then he quickly came back, and we made our way over to the archery place.

Since we were there first, the officer was carrying around some bags in his arms and he came with them towards us.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

He dropped them in front of me, then he went to get more bags…

I looked down at them and had a bad feeling about this…

When Neil also had bags in front of him, the officer nodded at them and said, “Left up those bags for now, while we wait for the others to get here.”

I looked back down at them and frowned.

Picking up the bags, I struggled to hold onto them, not only were they heavy, but they weren’t easy to get a hold of.

“Don’t drop them!”

I grimaced at the sudden yell from the officer and held onto the bags tighter, even though I felt like they were going to fall very soon.

“Get a better hold of them! You’ll drop em like that!”

I looked up to Neil in grievance…I can’t drop them! How can I get a better hold!?

Then I looked at the officer and he narrowed his eyes at me, making me think that I can’t get a better grip, so I just continued to try and hold them as best as I could.

“Stubborn one aren’t you. That’s good.”

These words only made me angry and frown…

Knowing that I was losing the battle of holding onto the bags, I then tried to think of what I could do to fix things. This wasn’t the first time that I had to carry things, I had to come up with something!

Putting my foot out to balance the bag, I got a better grip on it and then did the same to the other bag.

Standing up properly again, I couldn’t help but already want to get rid of them.

My arms were starting to hurt…

I panickily look at Neil, who seemed to be doing just fine and he looked back at me in worry.

“Don’t help him anymore, if he has so much trouble with them, I will make him do it all day until I’m satisfied!”

I pouted at the officer and looked down. There wasn’t anything I could do, so I closed my eyes and tried to remember to endure, just like many other times…

“You haven’t used a bow and arrow before?”

I opened my eyes to the officer talking to Neil, but then closed them again.

“Yes, but I am but a beginner. My father has made me work with him many times from a young age.”

“How old are you boy?”

“Fourteen Sir.”

“Good.”

Not long after that, people came over and the lesson was able to begin.

When the officer taught us on how to hold a bow, I was then able to drop the bags. But when his lesson had finished, he told me to hold the bags once again, while I waited for my turn.

Since the shooting had started, bags were being held by everyone, unless it was their turn, so I didn’t feel left out now…I was just incredibly sore!

Luckily, I was able to handle and somewhat forget the pain because I was able to watch people shot now, hearing the officer state a few things to each man as they went to shoot the arrow.

Upon learning a few things, I had a small amount of courage upon my turn…But, I did not do as good as I had wanted to!

The arrow had only gone a metre in front of me and I stood there looking at it in disgust.

“If you are so upset about it, then you will practise more from now on! Next!”

I was upset!

I wanted to know all these knew things, but it wasn’t just in listening, as it was a lot more practical than I thought!

Actually, I never had a clue on how hard it was to use a bow and arrow until today! Looking at the bags, I started to understand why the officer wanted us to carry them in our hands…It was probably to toughen up our arms…

The next problem…Was that it hurt my hand. I wasn’t bleeding but I could tell that if I did this a lot, it was going to be a lot more painful for my hand…

Neil had wanted to boost my moral, by stating that it was good for a first try, but I was still not satisfied!

We had three rounds, and I did get better, but it wasn’t good enough and I was known as a ‘failure’. I also felt like a failure!

The last two arrows didn’t even make beyond half way towards the target!

“Don’t worry, there’s heaps of things you can learn!”

I looked around the area and sighed.

I guess he was right. I hadn’t held a sword before, maybe I would be better with one of those.

The officer had just let us stand there at the moment, many knowing that it was the end of today’s training, and that it would probably be dinner time soon!

We had a late lunch, so the sun by now had almost fully descended, making it time for torches to be lit.

I yawned, covering my mouth and I heard chuckles.

“Big day, little one? Don’t worry, I’m pretty sure you can rest easy now, they probably won’t do training in the dark.”

I looked at Dilan, who seemed to forever be taking one side of me now, while Neil was still on the other.

With Dilan doing this, I was completely confused.

But what I did see, was that he wasn’t going to fight or tease me, so it should be fine!

Perhaps giving him a candy was the best idea I had come up with since being here!

The officer finally walked over, having finished his papers and said, “Time to eat and sleep, to rise at dawn to train once again. We don’t accept tardy people, you will get punished, but not kicked out to go back home! Take it from me boys, just go by the rules and train as best as you can, punishment here is no fun!”

A couple of people gave a dispirited word or two, but most of us didn’t say a word and started to walk out.

“I knew it! What I tell you!”

Dilan put a hand over my shoulder and I shrank to the side and turned to look at him in question. It wasn’t something I was used to…But, another thing that just got way to close…Was that of the sweaty smell that was coming from Dilan…

It was bad, I didn’t want to be near it…

“Oh, sorry, I just thought we were good buddies. I’ll wait…”

I don’t understand…

“Oi, you can drop the bags now! Leave them here!”

I looked down and saw that I was still holding the bags.

Thank god!

My arms were so sore right now. I don’t think they had ever ached so much!

Seeing that many bags had already been dropped, I put them over to the rest of them and walked back to Neil and Dilan once again.

Dinner was a mess!

The men were so loud and even giving each other nasty comments, that really made me question things.

A few of them had said things to me, one of them really nasty, while the others were just ‘playing around’, as Neil had put it.

Dilan seemed to have come in handy then, telling the nasty man to ‘bugger off’ because the little one was his!

But I was nobodies…

I don’t understand men…

Another man came up and happily introduced himself to me, just because I was mute…Which was strange to me. He told me that his mother was mute and that if I wanted to, he could teach me some ways to express saying something without saying anything.

I had only nodded to him and slightly smiled.

I wasn’t really mute, I suppose if I tried, I could still talk, so I had no idea on what to do…

When in doubt, smile…

That seemed to become a big motto of mine, that worked half the time…Dilan liked it a lot and a few others too, but I had no idea why. Was smiling really such a good thing? If it was so good, then why hadn’t I known about it earlier?

Maybe…They were just strange people…

After dinner, but before going to bed, the Lieutenant had put us all together and spoke to us about the rules and where people were sleeping.

The punishments depended upon what rule was broken, but most punishments included cleaning, cooking and doing laundry.

Since it was all ‘women’s’ work, it gave men more reasoning's to comply to the rules, just so they wouldn’t lose their own pride.

The worst of the punishments included being whipped but having no down time. If one is whipped, one is quickly patched up and then sent into the ‘women’s’ work, not able to lay down…Unless of course it was night time…

Since we had come in households, we were going to sleep in households, so Neil was able to stay by my side, even in sleep, which strangely made me feel better.

The scary thing…Was sleeping only with men…

I had only ever slept with females. So, this was…Something I was a little worried about.

What was also hard at the moment for me, was going to do my personal business. I knew where to go, but they weren’t very…Friendly to the opposite sex.

It was also something that didn’t particular smell and look good either!

It was just a closed in section that had dirt and leaves on one side and on the other side, it looked like a slowly flowing river?

I hardly believed that this place was very suitable!

But, this was where the business was done, as I had come out soon after I first walked in and pointed back there in question.

It was, this was the right place!

Luckily, I had help while I was in this type of position, as Neil kept guard for me outside and that was the only reason I was able to finish my business, but…I started to think that acting as a man might be harder then I realised now.

I honestly did not believe that I fit in at all and really did think that my gender would be found out in no time!

And…It was just the beginning…

The war was already in need of us new recruits, so we were told that we could only train for a week. Then, as we head towards the battlefield, our positions will be told to us just before we get there.

So, depending on how we go in this week, depends on where we are in the army.

If the war wasn’t in such a dire circumstance for reinforcements, we would easily be at the barracks for a month, but time was of the essence and it seemed that each officer, sergeant and the Lieutenant knew of this and acted accordingly, which in turn made many of the new recruits become a lot more serious.

There were the usual men that played and laughed around, but I was one that took everything seriously!

I was so used to being a slave and always doing as I’m told, that perhaps it was somewhat embedded into my bones now. I wasn’t sure what it was, but I really was trying hard and wanting to find something that I had a talent in!

And for a tiny reason…

I still had two men to beat up!

But of course, there were bigger reasons to pay attention and do the best I could…

I wanted to become strong so that I wouldn’t die!

I wanted to do good, not for my family, but for me.

This was me being free now and I plan to make every day worthwhile!

And it was, my first day here was full and I had no regrets…Except maybe for giving away one of my precious candies…

***

As the week went by, I did not improve much with my archery, even when I stubbornly held bags everyday for an hour or two.

I got better at running, never being slapped again by the evil Lieutenant, I had also tried out swordsmanship, but I found that too, as well, being something that I had trouble doing.

The wooden swords had been alright to begin with, but I was already using two hands with those, when they had preferred people using one.

The more people that could hold a shield was highly sought after in the new recruits but obviously I couldn’t be one of them.

I liked the whip!

The whip was interesting and unique, but it wasn’t considered as anything that would look good to any of the men around. They laughed at me over not being able to hold a sword or being able to use a bow but able to use a whip. Their remarks only made them look stupid to me, because I was weak, and I was a girl…So, all they were doing was telling the truth…But it still annoyed me that they did that!

I have to try a little harder not to look like a girl!

So…I tried daggers, I mean, they are sharp and manly right? They kill…So, they had to be something that would make me look less girly…

Funnily enough I found that I could hold them much easier then that of anything else!

Having to learn how to use daggers, was different to what I thought.

I did a few things wrong, but the reasons why I liked the dagger so much, was because the things I did wrong, seemed to be something I was able to fix!

If I thrusted wrong, they told me why it was wrong and showed me how to do it instead and that seemed to be enough for me to do it right the next time.

Since I wasn’t as fast as I should be, I had to learn a technique where a dummy repeated itself from side to side and I had to go faster and faster.

After the first time of doing that, they gave me a second course and third course. I had to learn how to duck and move to the side and thrust. Faster and faster…

But, after doing these courses for two days, I was a lot better with daggers and even had a round with somebody that was learning as I was.

Even though that person was at the same level as me, I took great pride when I won the duel!

I thought that it was absolutely fabulous!

Daggers became my favourite weapon, and since that was so, I also had to learn some marital arts.

Kicking was what they tried to teach me the most, but they obviously saw that my strength wasn’t very much, so they made me lay on my back and lift bags with my legs for a while. It wasn’t just having the bags sit there either, I had to move my legs up and down…

The week was short, because I was so busy!

But I had learnt so much!