CHAPTER 9

I mulled over going into the lounge to see if Xanile or Winfred were there, but my embarrassment at my own outburst had kept me from them for the last two days of the enrollment process for the schools new year and today there was supposed to be a speech by the headmaster that introduced the students to their staff.

The only reason I knew that in the first place was the note that Winfred had left with my schedule for the year. All of the cadets had a morning calisthenics course which they were expected to attend before morning mess that was individual pace. The more time you took to complete the course, the less time you got for chow and cleaning yourself. They gave us a pair of half trousers that came to the knees for this morning exercise.

After morning training and mess, a warning bell would ring and then the students would break down into their various classes for the rest of the day. The lunch and back at it until mid-afternoon lessons ended three hours before dinner time. After that, the first years needed to be in their dormitories, rooms or attached rooms no later than ninth bell, then you were expected to be up and ready for the next day to begin again.

As it stood, I would have the boring classes the first day of the week, Court and Elven History back to back, lunch, then Unit Tactics. Second day was a short day, Botany and then Weapons Training. Third day I had general military studies all morning, Close Quarters Combat Training. Fourth day was Magic Theory all day and on the final day of the week, I had advanced weapons training. It was the longest class available because of the amount of time it took to master a weapon, so the instructor called for the majority of a day to teach his students.

Attached to the back of the sheet was a map to the various classrooms that I would need to get to and if I used the mess hall as the hub because of its central location, I could manage finding my way around the academy grounds.

I thought about whether I should try to make amends with Xanile again or not, but I figured it would be better to wait and make my way on my own until she was ready for my apology.

For now, I would focus on improving myself and growing comfortable with my environment while excelling. All else could wait.

**

The following morning I put on the half trousers and a plain shirt that I wore the night before and boots before belting on my shuna and leaving the room to go to were morning exercises were meant to be.

It took me a minute to make it there, but upon my arrival, I found a large board written on in Elvish that gave the rules. There were older people there, instructors, most likely, who stood in the area to make sure that the cadets were moving and doing the exercises properly.

To finish the morning’s exercise, you must complete the following exercises.

25 side straddle hops

10 lunges

50 push ups

100 sit ups

4 laps around the area.

I frowned, then found that there were a couple of older students waiting for this very situation, because one of them yelled, “Like this!” And began to do the exercises with me.

The first one wasn’t hard for me, just new. Bringing my legs out and together at the same time in sync with my arms was tougher than I thought it would be and I lost my rhythm a couple times, but I got it. Then they ran me through each other exercise. The lunges were hardest, but everything else was fine.

I finished the laps around the area easily, though I was sweating a little more than I thought I would be. I shrugged it off and went back to my room at a brisk job, washed up with the water that I had run beforehand and dressed in my black trousers and white shirt to go to mess.

I ate my food as swiftly as I could before the warning bell for classes and consulted my map before heading westward to the lecture halls that I would need to be to within fifteen minutes.

The teacher for this class, Courting History with instructor Olymphia. An elven woman who looked to have only just reached her middle years but with black and gray hair that sparked a thought that she might be older than her physical appearance lead on.

Some of her introductory spiel I knew already. The founders of the original courts had various reasons to hate each other, but they had originally been sisters. Two of them more powerful than any other Fae previously born to the world as it was, wild and chaotic. While their disputes at first had been laughable, to them they had been serious and eventually became so.

One of them believed that power was something to be obtained and kept through words and perceptions. That their people needed governance in a manner that beguiled the mind and inspired the heart to think only of beauty. With her pride and vanity at stake, the eldest sister referred to herself as the Seelie, those who operated within the light of the sun so that all could see their beauty.

The other, thought that power should be taken through deed and kept through sheer strength and will. Her ideal rule would have been one that anyone stronger than her could have come along and proved that their might was right and take the throne themselves. This forced her to become stronger still, so she was called Unseelie, due to how much the opposite a force she posed to her sister.

Both of them attracted like minded followers, the most loyal of them becoming the very nobles who’s ancestors sat in this very room.

“Enjoying daydreaming in my class, cadet?” Her soft voice and stern gaze drew me back from the books I had read and the memory of their words. “Perhaps you would like to explain what came after the formation of the Seelie Court?”

I stood up the way that I thought she might expect and cleared my throat. The other students chuckled to themselves as I licked my lips and she looked as if she were about to have me retake my seat when I spoke, “The Middling War.”

Her expression turned odd, slightly but she stayed quiet so I assumed she wanted me to elaborate. “Seelie and Unseelie alike knew that there were untapped resources in the Middling Forest and as such deigned that it should be theirs to own and control. At this time, the middling elves hadn’t known about the creation of the two kingdoms, or that they were coming for their land and resources and expected nothing.”

I frowned, the retelling in the books that I read getting a little vague at this point, “Then when the two of the clashed inside the Middling Forest, something made them stop. Something that almost wiped out the two kingdoms entirely.”

She cleared her throat and nodded, “Correct, you may return to your seat, cadet…”

“Saemus, ma’am.”

“Very well, cadet Saemus.” She turned to the rest of the class, then back to me, “At least try to look engaged, may help keep you from getting picked on a bit?”

Some of the others snickered and though my cheeks burned softly, I nodded wordlessly and she went back to the lesson until the bell rang for the end of the class.

I stood and made my way toward the door when instructor Olymphia called, “Wait.”

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I stopped and made my way back through the crowd of students and stood in front of her desk, sure I was about to get a reprimand. “You came from the Middling Forest, didn’t you?” I nodded, surprised. “I see, that explains it. Though you are the first in forty years of instruction who ever knew all of that without a little guidance from me. You like to read, I take it?”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Good. Keep reading.” She patted her desk. “Most assume that the results of war are dealt with through might, guile or outwitting your opponent. What truly matters at times is knowing exactly who and what you are dealing with. Knowledge is power, and the power of a good book in the right hands is nearly limitless. Dismissed.”

I did my best to appear unfazed by her words, or at least look like she had imparted some great wisdom. Really she was just reiterating what my parents had taught me.

My other history class was no more enlightening than the previous one and lunch was surprisingly quiet though I still got a fair amount of staring eyes shifted my way whenever I moved.

Unit Tactics was about what one entering the military might expect if they had read the books I had. The spent time introducing us to the rank structure that all branches used which was interesting and good to know but until you were assigned to a leaf, you weren’t eligible for a rank so I didn’t particularly care about that. We relieved a book for this class so I could just read it in my free time and learn it on my own anyway.

Blessedly, I was free of the class in only a few hours with the promise that our next meeting would include going through what they called “drill,” and how to move as a cohesive unit. The concept was laughable, but I understood the need for something to make all of the potential cadets and recruits work together. Or at least into a group that could follow orders.

I found myself in my room soon after class and had a few hours before we were required to go to mess again so I decided to work on strengthening myself by going back to the training grounds.

Rather than the emptiness of the training grounds that had been there in the morning, I found a large set of logs that had been erected into a course of some sort.

They started low, like you were meant to move over or through them.

“Hey!” Someone called out and moved closer. It was a gray elf child my age, his hair cropped short to his head and someone just a bit older followed. “You can’t be here right now.”

I blinked at them, they looked like brothers to me, but the younger one looked to be the more forceful of the two. The elder brother hung back a little bit to assess me and see how I would react, not like he was worried, but more that he was seeing how I would react.

“Are we not supposed to see this yet?” My eyes widened and I moved around them so that my back was to the structures but I could still see them. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know.”

“It’s more that those place is dangerous right now with the construction going on.” The elder brother spoke, watching me still. “Why are you here?”

“I wanted to train some more because I have time before dinner.” I motioned to myself. “I’m smaller than everyone else. Younger too. I need to be better if I’m going to keep up and thrive.”

They looked at each other, a look of understanding passing between them before the younger one nodded and looked back to me, “Give us fifteen more minutes and we’ll let you test it.”

I nodded and turned to look back at the structure but the older one grunted, “Don’t peek.”

I muttered an apology and turned back to where I had been looking before and made a show of watching the wall as if it were going to move if I took my eyes off it.

I whistled a soft tune to myself and made sure to fully recognize my surroundings on just this side of the place. According to my map, this training area was on the opposite side of the simulated forest where we would receive our training with animals and everything. Or forest operations seeing as though the majority of the fighting the two courts did was in my homeland.

“Alright, you can turn around now.” The youngest called out to me and I did as I was told.

The course was shorter than I likely could have been if it were spread out, but the majority of the obstacles looked like they were meant to be done in rapid succession.

The two gray elf children looked like they were content with their work and motioned for me to start at the end in front of a set of low logs that would hamper movement forward.

The youngest explained, “This is where you begin and as soon as you vault this log, you’re to move with intensity and purpose as swiftly as you can manage.” He pointed to the log, “Jump over it.”

He put his hands on the log and hopped over it, moving to the next set where a thin, highly polished rod of sturdy wood hung between two tall wooden logs. The elder of them took this one and hopped onto the bar with soft “hup” and explained, “You’ll throw your feet forward, then up and over this and roll around it before you get off and move on.”

He nodded to me and though I tried it, I wasn’t tall enough to reach the bar by myself. The younger brother walked over to me and pointed to the log. “It’s thin enough that you can use it as a way to climb up. I have to do it all the time. Try again.”

True to his recommendation, I was able to climb up the pole and get to the bar above. Getting up and over it wasn’t so bad, as I had to do similar things to help get the fruit from our trees in the grove.

From there, it was a running vault over a slightly higher log on two small poles and then up onto a log that was a stepping stone to jump onto a bar with similar rods lashed to it. “These, you swing your legs through and rest them on the bars like so.” The older child demonstrated, then grabbed the bars his legs were on and lifted himself up and shimmied down with his legs motionless to where the bars grew to be log sized again.

I followed his example and ended up just missing the bar above me by less than an inch and landed funny. The shift of the log below me caused me to pitch backward and land heavily on my back with a wheeze.

“You alright?” The younger one watched me as his brother tended to the faulty work.

I nodded breathlessly and tried to remain calm until I could breathe once more. What good was high luck if I couldn’t use it? I thought about my stats and maybe putting a point into Might or Dexterity, but resolved to do this properly at least the first time.

A heartbeat later my breath returned and I could get back up. “Same trick for this one?”

The younger elf nodded and I got right back up and tried again. This time, I managed to get up and onto the bars and sidled down to the logs. “Now, climb up onto the logs and run down them!”

It was just a little much to run down two of them, but I could balance and run down one side and get to the bar that stood like a line to try and cross. “This one is harder without momentum for someone our size, try sprinting down the log and jumping as hard as you can.” The young one called in support and then added hastily, “Do not jump straight at it. You want to try and go over it. It hurts to hit it.”

I nodded and took a deep breath to steady my swiftly fluttering heart as I walked back up to the top of the log just to sprint right back down it and throw myself over at it. I caught myself in the ribs but my arms went over and I hung on.

“Don’t let go!” The elder brother roared as I was about to fall. “Kick your legs left and use the side of the pole there to clamber over. Go slow and keep that grip!”

I grunted and growled as I pressed my legs leftward and tried to do as he said to do. I fought to keep my balance and held on for dear life. At this height, the most that would happen was a sprain or something that would heal quickly unless I broke my neck.

That made my movements a touch more adrenaline filled and I managed to get myself up onto the log where I lay, miserable and breathing heavily as the elder brother spoke with a smile in his voice, “Great work!”

The log shook and I yelped, grabbing it only to look up and see him laying there the same as I was. “Now, there’s a trick to this and I want you to do it, okay?”

“What’s that?” He motioned with his eyes for me to look over the edge of the log. It looked much higher from here. “Oh.”

“It’s only as high as you think it is, but the object for this is to maintain a low profile so the enemy can’t see you.” He pointed to the ground with a smile, “So. When most people hop down from here, they hang and drop into a squat, which is fine. However, that can do lasting damage to the body over time and we don’t want that for someone so young, so I’m going to teach you how to roll it out. Watch me.”

His legs went over the side of the wall as held on and then when he stopped swinging, he dropped and as soon as his feet touched the ground, he rolled onto his back and threw his feet over his head and came to a standing position.

“Transference of motion and energy keeps you moving longer.” He smiled up at me and motioned for me to drop and try it.

I took a deep breath and did as he had, it was a little easier to hold myself up with the rest I’d had and when I dropped, the ground found me faster than I had anticipated and I landed on my rump. “Ah!”

Both of them chuckled and the younger brother came over to me and said, “Normally we would have some old wood chips here to help keep you all safer, but we haven’t had the time for it. Let us show you the perfect way to do this, okay?”

They both spread their legs shoulder’s width apart and squared, waiting for me to mirror them. “Now, roll onto your back like a turtle!”

The younger brother giggled as his older brother spoke and did that with an, “Ah” of his own. I snorted and did as I was told. We practiced this a couple times and each time it was a little easier to feel out when I was supposed to throw my legs up and my feet over.

“Well done, lets go!” They both turned and sprinted at a low wall fifteen feet ahead of us. The elder got to the wall first and sat against it, making a basket with his feet that his brother used to step into. Together they pushed the smaller of the two of them over the wall and the elder stayed there to wait for me.

Though I wasn’t as tall as he, I felt like I could make this if I just timed my jump right. My legs churned as I bolted toward the wall and leaped into the air. I caught the lip of it and snarled as I yanked myself up and over it, landing in a crouch on the other side.

The younger brother cheered wildly as the elder joined us and we moved on. Using what they had showed me so far, the latter portion of the course was easy and the high rope climb at the end was a breeze thanks to a trick my father had taught me. He claimed to have learned it from my mother, but the secret was to use your legs grabbing the rope with your feet and making a winch of sorts for yourself to stand on and rise with.

“That’s a cool trick!” The little brother howled and pointed to my feet, “Can you show me?”

I nodded excitedly and stood at the bottom of the rope and with my left leg, I put the rope over the left foot and reached as high as I could, “Do this, and then pull up and step on the rope with your other foot like you are standing up.” I did as I said and had him watch me do it. “After that, bring your feet to your chest and then stand. Once you stand, just put your arms up to the next highest point you can reach. Simple.”

Both of them practiced a little more before getting the hang of it, laughing as they went up and down the rope with ease.

After they climbed down, they stepped closer to me and the youngest one smiled at me, offering his hand, “I’m Shalie, and this is my elder bother Vidda. We’re part of the support staff here at the academy. Mom is one of the teachers too.”

“Oh, that’s nice. I’m Saemus.” I shook the offered hand and pointed to the course. “Is this all done?”

They nodded and I grinned, planning to spend some time getting used to it before tomorrow. One of them looked at my shirt, dirty and covered in grim already. “You going to wash that?”

“I had been washing them in the tub with clean water in the night and allowing them to dry by hanging them off my chair.” I was embarrassed but it had been working so far.

“There’s a chute in your room beside the tub along the wall, if you put your clothes in there, they’ll be washed and folded for you by morning.” Vidda nodded more to himself after he was finished speaking. “Also, if you need more uniform items, I’m pretty sure you can just get more by saying that your others were ripped or damaged—just don’t do it too much because they’ll catch on and ask for proof.”

Honestly, I was flabbergasted at that. I had known them both maybe fifteen minutes and they were teaching me how to game the place for more things?

“It’s all paid for already, by the way.” Shalie muttered confidently. “The courts pay a premium to the gray elves to run and stock the place so that the other doesn’t get anything over on them. It’s all above board so don’t feel bad.”

“Was it that obvious?” I tried not to sound disheartened that they had read me so well.

“Just to us.” Vidda grinned and pointed to the course, “Go again?”

I grinned and forgot my worries at that, thinking to myself, Is this what having a friend is like?