The academy taught all the scions of nobles houses in Rewp. Every rumor, embarrassment, or success had political ramifications. Subterfuge was practically an informal class. Many parents encouraged their children to hone those skill and hired private tutors. Lindra never made any power plays until she set up Herp. The majority of her peers didn’t know her name before. She was a charity case. Some nobody

Now, the last few rotations everyone tasted her name on their lips, whispering her actions from ear to ear.

“-sorry,” Bori finished his apology. Geoff went before him. Now, only Herp remained.

“Several rotations ago I shamefully participated in an unprovoked attack on Lindra Hafestrus. This is not the first time, but it will be the last. I have shamed myself,” Herp eyes flicked down and he continued through gritted teeth, “and I am sorry. Please forgive me.” In the end, he bowed his head. Murmurs spread through the room. The nephew of the King lowered his head to a commoner.

Lindra wanted to let them hold that position for a while but knew she already pressed her luck.

“Please, raise your heads. I accept your words and I am sure your actions will restore your honor. Let us be classmates again and move on from this.”

The more preceptive students in the class noticed that Lindra never said she accepted their apology and even challenged their future behavior. For all his cruelty, Herp was among these perceptive students. So he held his arms behind his back to hide his white-knuckled fists and forced his face blank. Getting revenge would require a great number of resources and time, but he swore it on his soul.

Lindra limped home by herself later that evening. Exiting a door from the academy hallway, she saw Meyn walking with his sister and forced her limbs to move normally.

“Meyn! How have you been, any plans this afternoon?”

He turned to her, incredulous. “How have I been? Certainly not making nobles look like a bunch of drocks, what were you thinking?”

“Even everyone in the lower classes is talking about it too,” his little sister, Feyn, added.

“Eh, is it that big of a deal? The dean was pushing the investigator to arrest them, which he didn’t want to do, so I just offered to let them apologize and promise to leave me alone. I figured this was a better option.”

Meyn sighed. “Oh, Lindra. A noble’s image is everything. Extorting a thousand golden yits to keep quiet would have gone over better than an apology.”

A chill ran down Lindra’s spine. Her step hitched. She blundered this up horribly. These last few rotations she felt safer than in ages. Sore and in pain, but safe. Now, she’s never been in more danger.

The three walked in silence out the school and through the city streets. When their paths home reached a divergence, Meyn spoke again.

“You’ll get through this Lindra. My family can’t help directly, but I can tell some of our informants to watch out for anything related to you. For a while, you’ll be safe anyways. Don’t worry until people start to forget the incident.”

With those somewhat encouraging words, they split.

Lindra somberly limped the rest of the way home. Entering the front door, she was shocked to see not only her parents but also Verdint sitting at their table. The ex-adventurer turned guard captain solemnly looked at her.

Her father patted the chair next to him “Lindra, sit down, we need to talk.”

Once she was settled, Verdint spoke. “I heard about the apology and came to talk to your parents right away. You need political protection, this has moved beyond childhood bullying.”

Her mom interrupted, “We’re proud of you for trying to take responsibility yourself. Normally, your plan would’ve worked wonderfully. But you should have asked for help in this case…”

Lindra looked down. “I’m sorry, I know I made a few mistakes. Meyn told me on the way home.”

“Well, this will be slightly easier to explain. Your father and I go way back, he forged my weapons during my adventuring prime. So I am willing to take you in as a trainee at the barracks. You need protection. Knowing how to defend yourself will help, but the real goal of training you is to teach combat knowledge. Difficult to create new inventions without knowing what is needed, eh? Your crossbow design impressed a lot of people. Invent another few devices like that and you can earn an apprenticeship under Parvik. He is one of the only people in Koph able to protect you from Herp.” Verdint stood up and grabbed his coat. “You dreamed about working with Kopth’s greatest inventor, but now you need to become his apprentice. I am afraid you will not survive Herp’s machinations otherwise.”

With that final ominous remark, he left.

Lindra scampered to the other side of the table. Sat in her mother’s lap. Buried her face in her mother’s shoulder. And cried.

They were tears of a young, frightened girl. But deep within her, a spark of excitement and determination formed.

Two rotations later Lindra stood outside the barracks’ gates. On her left, her father carried the two bags. With that little amount of luggage, she was ready to move into the barracks for two sun cycles. This would be the second time the barracks changed her life forever.

A guard shuffled his way over and opened the locks. “Miss Lindra?” She noded. “Then this way, we’ll get you to the women’s quarters.

They walked over to a long, plain wooden building at the corner of the property. There weren’t any decorations visible. Except, carved into the door, Lindra saw a drawing of a tall mushroom connected to two hairy circles at the bottom being pierced with an arrow.

The guard awkwardly coughed, “Maybe we should knock first.” He did.

Lindra tugged on her father’s shirt and pointed to the carving, “Do they go hunting for mushrooms here?”

Both her father and the guard burst into laughter. She couldn’t understand why. The door opened to reveal a workout-clothed monster of a woman. A scar bisected her cheek and eyebrow. Her biceps bulged as she crossed her arms. The men quickly sobered up.

“Ahm, here is the new trainee, Miss Lindra. Cap’n said to bring her when she’s settled,” then the guard scurried off.

The woman eyed the two of them. “Well, come in then,” she said and beckoned, “my name’s Fiona. Your bed is next to mine in the back.”

The duo followed her, between two rows of beds, to the back wall and the only empty mattress. Lindra’s father placed the bags down.

“I should go now, Lindy. Watch out for yourself. Come visit frequently, your mother is going to struggle to see you so little.”

Lindra simply nodded and ran into his embrace. A minute later they separated. She watched him walk away until the door softly clicked behind him.

“You’re a bit young, but we’ve had younger trainees. At least your face says you’ve been in at least one fight before.”

Lindra simply nodded. Eleven sun cycles felt too young to leave home, but many children left for apprenticeships by their ninth sun cycle.

“Let’s get you to the Cap’n then.”

Together the woman and girl walked through the facility. They passed a familiar archery range, an open field of dirt filled with drilling soldiers, and the men’s quarters. Strangely, their door didn’t have the mushroom hunting symbol carved into it. When they reached the last building more people scurried about doing various tasks. Finally, they entered Verdint’s office. Parchment lay scattered around his desk, his brows furled.

“Sir!” Fiona snapped a salute, her right arm bending at a right angle horizontally across her sternum.

But when he raised his eyes to look at Lindra they softened reassuringly. Some of the unease she felt since her father left melted away.

“At ease Corporal Whild. Lindra, good to see you. Convenient the two of you happened to come here together. Starting today, Whild will be in charge of your training, assign your duties, and keep you in line. She’s one of our most versatile fighters with a keen mind for strategy. Whild, you are to focus her on self-defense, escape, and introduce a wild variety of tactics. Our little crossbow inventor needs inspiration.”

Fiona gasped. “That was you? Jill would’ve died during last patrol without her crossbow,” she smiled down at Lindra before looking back at Verdint. “I’ll teach her all I know Sir.”

Warmth bloomed in Lindra’s chest, knowing that her invention saved someone. “Thank you Fiona, thank you Verd- I mean Sir. I will do my best.”

“Ugh,” Lindra groaned as she stood back up. After finishing their talk with Verdint, she and Fiona headed to the small arena they passed by earlier. To her relief, two healers waited nearby and quickly took care of her bruises. It was the first time she saw healing magic. Although visually nothing happened, no healing glow or magical aura. But internally she felt warm bliss spread through her tender flesh. Leaving unmarred skin behind.

The whole rest of the rotation she practiced basic footwork and three parries.

Today, she discovered why healers were stationed at a military training center.

Using her wooden sword as a cane, she leaned against it and waved a healer over again. He shook his head as he reached her, “Fiona shouldn’t be roughing you up like this, it’s your second rotation.”

“Actually, I asked her to do whatever would teach me the most. Yesterday she told me I saved one of her friends. If pushing myself means one less person dies, how could I not? I realized how much I can make a difference.”

The healer sighed. “I understand. At least my healing magic is getting plenty of practice. Alright, you’re good to get beat up again.”

With a laugh, she went to do just that. Fiona drilled Lindra’s muscle memory and mind. She would perform one of three blocks. Then, based on what errors she made, Fiona would make another attack. This way, not only was Lindra learning how to block, she learned what kind of opportunities she gave for different types of mistakes and therefore what attack Fiona might make next.

Blocking with too much force left her guard out of position. A wrong angle left her unable to recover in time for the next attack. Blocking too fast caused Fiona to strike elsewhere. After every blow, they would pause to discuss improvements. Healing served as breaks.

“Ready?” her teacher asked.

“Ready.”

Fiona lunged forward in a simple thrust. Lindra caught the tip of the woman’s wooden sword with her guard and pushed it away from her torso. As she did, she realized the tip of her own sword was too high. Fiona noticed too and circled her blade out of the parry. Quickly bringing her tip down, Lindra tried to block in the other direction. She partially succeeded, the wooden tip jabbed into her thigh instead of her gut. Lindra flinched but grit her teeth.

The older woman back off. “Good, you saw the flaw in your parry and almost recovered. Eventually, your errors will be smaller and less punishing. Make sure to move back to create distance and give yourself more time to react.”

“Got it. I’m ready to go again.”