Taking a deep breath, ZaiWin made sure he was still standing and that his feet were firmly planted on hard, solid ground.

The sound of others throwing-up filled his ears, making him feel even worse, but he forced himself to swallow the agonizing feeling and to fight back the urge to follow their example. He’d rather die, he thought, taking another deep breath.

“Gather up! Gather up!” a voice called and he turned to follow it, making his best to ignore the kid throwing-up right next to him, his bright orange coat with golden stars adorning the shoulders now completely ruined.

As to be expected all the red-heads looked perfectly fine, since they were used to being transported like that from an early age. But the rest … he was sure that for some of them that had even been their first time. Not that he’d had much experience, he sighed, thanking the Heavens for that. But at least he’d known what to expect.

The man standing on top a simple wooden box was already past his middle ages, tall but not as strong-looking as the only other Calzai he knew. More on the lean side, with long coppery hair that reached the middle of his back and an equally long coppery beard that spilled over his chest, he was all dressed in silver-gray and, even though his clothes might look simple, the fabric was clearly smooth and of high quality, glistening under the sunlight that washed over him. His long coat with wide lapels was belted by a silver chain, a thin, long-sword strapped to his back. Two equally armed men stood at each side of him, their legs parted, their hands held beneath their backs, their expressions serious and unapproachable. They both wore green bands on their right arms which identified them as belonging to the Calzai’s personal squad.

“My name is YuFan,” he announced in a loud, clear, military way, completely ignoring the sounds of people puking all around him. “And it my pleasure to welcome you all to the Seventh Year Gathering of Wen. During the next seven days you will follow my every command and you will do so to the best of your abilities, making sure your every move follows the strict codes of honor and integrity. During this seven days you will be tested in seven most important aspects of survival. Physical Condition, Sword Fighting, Hunting and Fishing, Hand Fighting, Bow and Arrow, Daitai’s Control and Strategy. Though there are seven days and seven aspects, no aspect will be tested individually, so bear in mind that your every move will be carefully observed and taken into account towards your final evaluation.”

“Every day a list with all the participants’ names will be publicly posted, together with their present ratings, so that you may all have a concrete notion of your global standing. Though you are all of royal and noble blood, during the next seven days you will be just another name under my command. There won’t be privileges or concessions. There won’t be young or old. There won’t be male or female. If you get hurt and can’t keep up with the rest of the group, you will be left behind with enough provisions to ensure your survival until the Gathering is over, time when we’ll circle back and collect you. Your final points will then be the total of points you have amassed until the moment you left the group.”

“Though some fighting and dueling are expected and even encouraged, in any circumstances are you allowed to use deadly force against other participants. Putting another participant’s life at risk is punishable by immediate disqualification and, depending on the case, can even be punishable by law. You are also not allowed to receive or look for help outside the group of participants. If by any chance you happen to cross paths with any of the local people, you are to politely keep away from them as much as possible. You are not to disturb or interfere with their everyday lives in any way. In the same way, you are not allowed to make use of any servants or retainers that may have followed you here. If you have any questions regarding how you should proceed when facing an unexpected scenery, you are to immediately report to me or to one of my men overseeing the event,” he declared in a loud, firm voice, in the same tone a commander might order his men around, and swept the participants with a cold, almost threatening glare. “Are there any questions?”

After all he’d said, silence was the only answer he got, the rustling of the wind on the leaves above their heads sounding suddenly loud and strong.

“Very well, then. I now pronounce this Seventh Year Gathering of Wen open!”

Restless murmurs echoed all around.

“Beneath that tree is a pile of backpacks,” YuFan declared, pointing out the intended direction, and every head turned towards the indicated way, where a few dozen gray backpacks had been placed on a small pile. “When I say so you must all retrieve one, and only one of them. Inside you will find several objects that will probably be useful to you during these next seven days. You will also find a change of clothes. You will all change into the clothes that are given to you. The white tent is for the girls. The green tend for the boys,” he went on, pointing the opposite direction, and they all turned to see two large tents, two sun flags of the Empire floating atop of each one. “Your present clothes are to be left inside those tents. You have five minutes to complete this task. Those of you who return late will receive deduction points.” Murmurs of contest rose from the mass of teenagers but the Calzai ignored them, his expression set as if his face were made of stone. “Ready? Go!”

Like so many others, ZaiWin didn’t lose time talking or arguing about it, quickly running towards the indicated tree as fast as he could. He didn’t even stop, grabbing a backpack and running towards the opposite direction, towards the green tent.

When he passed by the place where they had all gathered a few boys and girls were still standing there, arguing the need to change and abandon they rich and beautiful outfits and jewels. He couldn’t care less. In fact, the idea of getting rid that tight jacked only made him run even faster.

He did care, however, about having to get undressed in front of so many other people, he realized when he and a few other boys stormed into the empty tent. Everywhere boys were simply rushing in and taking off their clothes as fast as they could, looking inside of their backpacks for the new ones they would have to wear.

Hurriedly making his way to the back of the tent, he searched his backpack for anything that might look like pieces of clothing, and took out a pair of gray pants, a simply beige tunic and leather belt. Quickly looking around, with his back as pressed against the tent’s fabric as possible, he quickly took off his expensive white jacket and tunic, and swiftly pulled the new one over his head. He sighed in relief when he managed to quickly slip his arms inside it, and hastily went about changing the rest of his clothes as well.

Grabbing his backpack, he ran out of the tent, wondering if he’d be on time, and feeling sorry for the beautiful, uncomfortable jacket that ZenTar had especially provided for him, and that would probably be thrown away together with all the other bright and shiny clothes.

When he reached the gathering place a few others were already there, since he’d lost precious time hesitating about what to do. Even a few girls had been faster than him, most of the kids still breathing hard from having run all the way there.

It was kind of funny and inadequate, he thought, looking at them. They were all now dressed in plain clothes, very similar to what the soldiers wore on the training grounds, but their hairs were still perfectly combed, the gold and precious stones adorning their heads and ears glistening under the sun.

He was glad he had been able to put his foot down about that, he sighed. Not that he didn’t like beautiful and shiny things, or that he couldn’t appreciate how elegant the other boys and girls looked, with their long hairs carefully combed and braided. But his Province was just too poor, with too many urgent matters to solve, like making sure every village had clean water to drink. There was no way he was going to spend precious coin on such unproductive things.

ZenTar, of course, had insisted that he borrowed some of his jewelry that, although obviously not as ostentatious as those of an El’Gin or El’Lin, were still a lot more than he had. But he had terminally refused to do so. Wearing that expensive jacket and the simple feather-shaped, blue hairpin gathering his black hair atop his head, had been the only things he had been willing to compromise with. Even his boots were his everyday boots, none of the shiny and sometimes even silly shoes the others were wearing.

So what if he looked out of place? So what if he looked like the poor kid of the lot? He couldn’t care less about what any of them thought about him. He was long done with worrying about that, with trying to be accepted by them, with trying to please them. And in the end, look at the irony, he thought with a smile. All the fancy clothes had to be left behind. All the shiny, heavy jewelry would only be a hindrance. And all the new shoes would only make their feet hurt and blister.

A shove from behind made him stumble forward and clash against the boy standing right in front of him who, turning around and seeing who it was, immediately gave him an angry glare.

“I’m sorry,” he apologized, but before the other boy could say anything his hair was yanked back, forcing him to lift his head and clench his teeth to silence a complain.

“You filthy mud-head!” came FeiWan’s all too familiar voice, the warmth of his breath against his ear sending a cold shiver of disgust down his back. “How you can stand to look at yourself in the mirror is beyond my understanding! Allowing this filthy hair of yours to grow so long! Your whore of a mother at least had some sense! Always making sure it was kept as short as possible! But don’t worry. I will personally see to it and make sure you are thoroughly reminded of your place, Nox-lor,” he added, his words dripping with sarcasm, and finally released him, allowing him to straighten his head.

Looking back, ZaiWin glared at the boy who was only three years older than him, but that, because of that small difference in age, was at least one head taller.

In the past he had always admired him, and he had always been afraid of him. Wen FeiWan, even though not the oldest of the El’Gin, was undoubtedly the most confident, the most outgoing, the most talkative and the most mischievous of the El’Dur’s sons, irreverent and brave, untamed like a true flame. As a child, he had wanted very much to be accepted by him, to be one of the kids that always surrounded him, basking in his bright smile. After all, they always seemed to be having a lot of fun, even if sometimes fun meant being scolded by the Janwan. At the same time, since he had never been accepted and since FeiWan seemed to simply detest him, he had also lived in fear of him, of the way he and his friends always bullied him at every chance they got.

But now all that was in the past, together with his mother, together with his birth name. That had been the tiny world of a sheltered six-year-old boy that, even though he hadn’t really been a happy child, he had still had his mother’s arms to hold him and comfort him, to dry away his tears.

Now all that was gone. In fact it had been gone for a long time and, in the six years since then, he had learned a lot, and seen a lot, and experienced a lot. Now he neither admired or feared any of them, and his cold, hard gaze seemed to catch FeiWan off guard.

“We will now proceed to the first location where we will make camp for the night. Please try your best to keep up!” the Yu Calzai declared, interrupting all the parallel talks going around, and ZaiWin took a deep breath, reminding himself that he must do his best to survive the next seven days without standing out too much.

Quietly and quickly sliding amongst the crowd, he slipped his backpack into place and followed one of the Calzai’s men, who was already leading them towards the woods. And with every step he took he couldn’t help silently cursing ZenTar for forcing him to attend that stupid Gathering.