By the time I joined the others, they were already assembled in the front of the camp, into four straight lines. I positioned myself behind Antonia. Her scent filled me with sorrow. We were all anxious and sweaty. One of the masters then climbed to a small wooden podium that was set up just for this occasion. She was an older woman with gray hair and gray eyes.
“Today you begin your new life, a life of high importance and responsibility. As participants – but not full members of the government – everything you do will reflect on the Cohort. Remember that! Now you'll receive a scroll with your masters’ personal evaluations of your strengths and weaknesses. It would be advised to take their praise and critique with seriousness.”
It was Academy all over again. Another older master, a bald man with blue eyes, walked to each of us and handed us our scroll. They gray-haired master on the stage continued:
“You are now dismissed for the day. Go to your rooms and pack your belongings. Tomorrow at sunrise you’ll head for the Northern Temple. Pledges of the Cohort, congratulations.”
With that she descended the stage and went back inside the large building. Everyone relaxed and started chatting. I touched Antonia’s shoulder, unsure of what to do or say.
“Congratulations,” she said with a quiet voice. She seemed tired.
“Thank you, I guess.”
“You don’t seem pleased.”
I shrugged my shoulders. Then Otho came to us, happy, with a big grin on his face. I raised my hand, stopping him and said:
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“Not now!”
He was startled by my growl and retreated. I returned my attention to Antonia, took her hand and mumbled:
“Let’s go to the lake.”
She nodded and we went. We had a secret spot, far from others, surrounded by old thick trees. There we sat on the soft ground and stared at the lake.
“I’ll miss you,” I finally said, almost choking up.
“I’ll miss you too, but that is the way of things. It would get quite boring if everything stayed the same all the time. You know this.”
“I do. Are you bothered they passed you? For the mission?"
“Not at all. I already suspect what they have in mind for me, and let me tell you, it ain’t so bad,” she said with an enigmatic smile. Right then I realized how awfully childish my ill mood was, compared to her unburdened acceptance of life as it was.
“Tell me!” I jokingly demanded.
“That I cannot do.”
“Do you even know?”
“I’ve been given hints. You know how masters are,” she winked at me, “But you, Antonius, need to stop with this childish moping. You knew this day would come and you know that if they hadn’t chosen you for the mission you’d be in sour mood just the same. So, stop it, it doesn’t suit you.”
“I agree,” I said, coming back to my usual self. “Want to read these scrolls they gave us?”
“No,” she responded, “Not today. Today is about laughter, love, sun, this lake we have here, blue sky and us two.”
She took her clothes off and, guess what? I blushed! She then jumped into the lake and started swimming on her back. I sat there for a while, watching her, serene and beautiful, gliding on her back through the soft dark blue water. I will never forget this image, I thought, and took a deep breath. Then I stood up, dropped my tunic and jumped into the cool lake.