by Hannah King
She studied my face. “Do they tame at your touch?”
“No,” I almost laughed. My contact with the creature had not changed its desire to grab my throat.
Lead Breiden did not seem surprised. “Faldir’s magic has a hold on them. Their minds are likely too strong to be tamed, much like a human’s mind is.”
She continued, her gaze steady. “This gift is specific to you, and with it, there is no one in the entire camp as useful as you.” She was staring at me with reverence. “The sight and sense of these enemies will allow us to save hundreds of lives in the future.”
I was lost for words. It didn’t even seem possible that she was speaking of me, a seventeen-year-old girl from a poor family. A Lantern’s strength wasn’t even fully developed until the age of twenty. This didn’t make sense.
“You are a fielder from the fifth rank?” Lead Breiden interrupted my thoughts.
“Yes ma’am.” At least I understood that question. “Fifth rank, fourth squadron.”
“You no longer belong there.” She was distracted now, seating herself at the table and working away at a scroll with a crow's feather. I held my breath, heart pounding.
“I’d like to remove you from it, and in turn have you join the second rank as a captain.”
My lips parted in disbelief.
“But, the second rank only holds captains,” I murmured.
“Of which you suddenly are.”
“Only five captains...” I stammered.
“Of which you have now become the sixth. You are needed there, to sense oncoming threats and consult with the other captains for our safety.” She didn’t offer me a chair, only transferred the scroll to my shaking hands.
“This will explain a few details. Report to the captain’s pavilion tomorrow morning and there you will be provided with a uniform and quarters. Send word to me by the boy, Wes, if you are not received properly.” With that she turned away from me.
I exited the tent as quickly as I could. Blindly, I let my feet take me through the hubbub of the camp. When I finally reached a quiet corner near the edge of the camp boundaries, I found a boulder to slip behind and lean my back against.
“Captain Amlai,” I repeated the foreign title under my breath. I was still panting. My body seemed exhausted, more than ever. I looked down at my hands, my fears mixing with strange excitement.
I had dreamed of becoming a captain, of working my way up through each rank, but I’d never even imagined jumping three all at once. I was only seventeen, I’d certainly never expected such a thing to be handed to me, and now that it sat in my hands, everything inside me doubted my ability.
What would they think of me? What sort of things would I be expected to do? Would I fail? I hated failing with a passion, but how could I work flawlessly at something so unknown?
I had hoped the scroll would hold the answers to my questions, but I was greatly disappointed. All it held were the names of the five captains and the rules I was to abide by. Nothing further. I would have to wait through the remaining day, and likely sleepless night ahead, with no answers.
CHAPTER SIX
TALITHA
I WENT ABOUT the rest of my day nervously, head swim-ming with questions. I tried my best to stay alert during my duties and regular drills, but the motions seemed foggy and strange knowing that the next day I would be leaving the fifth rank forever. My comrades, oblivious to this, treated me as they always did. I didn’t dare tell anyone about my change of rank. The scroll I’d been given had clearly stated I was not to tell anyone until my title was announced to the camp by the officials.
That night after dinner I crawled into my blankets, exhausted from anxiety. I whispered goodnight for the last time to the other fielders and tried to fall asleep. Six o’clock was when I was expected to report the next morning at the captain’s tent. That hardly gives me enough time to get breakfast and race over, I thought to myself nervously. Let alone look half presentable. I tossed and turned. It was hours before I would actually sleep, despite how tired I felt, but when I did, it was a thick, dreamless sleep, like a heavy canopy I couldn’t lift.
I jolted awake. Pale daylight illuminated the mildew speckled canvas above my head. The tent was empty, the beds rolled up. Instantly I knew I was late. Scrambling to my feet I ran my fingers through my hair and swore when I met a mess of knots. I’m never late, I chided myself. I never sleep in. What was wrong with me lately? The lingering weakness from the fever still seemed to hang over my body.
I took a deep breath and straightened my clothing, willing myself to calm down, but this was the most important thing that had ever happened to me, and there was no time to be prepared, not even with traditional preparation such as a clean face or combed hair. I’d missed breakfast too.
Swallowing hard I opened the tent flap and began to sprint through the camp. It was past six, I was sure, judging by the sky. When I finally reached the captain’s tent, I came to a halt several meters outside the entrance, huffing and puffing.
The guards stared at me, unimpressed. I was about to compose myself and approach when I was startled by a horse and rider thundering in, approaching the same area in a hurry. The rider pulled the reins in swiftly, just short of knocking me over.
Digging my heels into the ground I looked up to identify the rider, then bowed my head respectfully. It was another captain.
“Are you Talitha Amlai?” he asked, not even apologizing for the near miss.
“Yes sir.”
He nodded and grinned, then pushed a piece of sandy hair behind his ear and surveyed me with interest.
“I’m sorry, I know I’m late,” I fretted.
He shrugged. “I’ve just arrived, so you’re not late.”
He was a man of about twenty-two, with blond stubble covering his chin and jaw in an attempt to mask his youth. I knew him to be Captain Tratis, but I had never met him in person.
“And what code does our new captain possess?” he inquired, friendly enough but apparently out of the news circuit.
“I’m of the Lantern code.” My nervous hands felt the need to adjust my gloves.
“Lantern?” he looked surprised. “Hm. Strange.” He screwed up his face in thought, more puzzled than judgmental, as if working on a knowledge tower in his mind. I debated whether I should be worried or relieved that he was so clueless about me. Surely the other captains were more prepared with information from the leads.
This captain looked as though he’d been on some sort of journey. There were dark circles under his eyes and his poor horse looked spent. Still, the captain acted very casually, as if he’d just returned from a morning jaunt.
The tent flap opened. Someone was already coming to greet us.
“You’re late, Tratis, I expected just as much,” a slender, flaxen haired woman addressed Captain Tratis with a frown. She had snappy green eyes, a tiny sharp nose and a glorious pile of locks and braids pinned at the nape of her neck. I knew her to be Captain Gray, an astounding archer and leader with the temper of a drill sergeant.
She was a Lantern, just as I was, and yet she’d defied her limited code with her rank and her skills much like I had. It was her story that had led me to believe I might become a fielder. I’d never met her, only heard of her and seen her at a distance, and now that she was here, in front of me, my admiration melted into fear.
“Where have you been?” she demanded.
I opened my mouth to answer but was waved off. She was looking for his answer. He did not seem flustered, only hopped down and patted his horse’s side.
“Sorry,” he shrugged, passing his mount to an attendant. “There was something I had to see to.” She raised an eyebrow disapprovingly at this.
“Keep your secrets for now. I don’t care,” she huffed. “Everyone else is here to talk about her,” and she glanced at me ruefully, turned on her heels, and disappeared into the tent. The fierceness of her movement strongly suggested we follow.
My heart was in my stomach, b
ut Captain Tratis looked at me with another shrug and a near eye roll. Captain Gray did not intimidate him, despite the fact that he fell two inches short of her stately frame. I hoped I would soon feel similarly.
The interior of the captain’s tent was like a smaller version of the lead’s quarters, but even more cluttered and crowded. Several small tables with chairs seemed to serve as desks, and a larger table to the side served as both meeting and dining space. There was food on that table that did not resemble the usual kitchen grub. I could spy a variety of dried fruits, and small portions of cheese, and, is that bacon? My stomach sighed. Maybe being a captain wouldn’t be so bad.
Captain Gray stood in the corner with Captain Lewis, a handsome, dark-haired man, about twenty-four. Captain Stalvert was at the table, finishing a sort of snack. He was of similar age but looked older and more distinguished due to his neatly trimmed beard and sideburns. He rose at the activity, looking serious.
“This is she?” he stared, unimpressed.
Captain Lewis looked me up and down, a smile forming at the corner of his mouth.
“She’s all right to look at I suppose, in the right clothes. But we’ve already got a female captain. Don’t really need a second,” he commented wryly.
“Do you know why you’re here?” Captain Gray interrogated me, ignoring her fellow captains’ remarks.
I gaped and looked beside me, hoping Captain Tratis was near to set me at ease, but he was busy swiping a piece of bacon from the table.
“Lead Breiden sent me,” was all I could muster for an answer.
Captain Gray folded her hands and frowned. “We are hardly in need of another captain. You being placed here because you fancy yourself a hero is a bad joke, at best. However, Lead Breiden insists you take this position.” She surveyed me with such a look of contempt that I wanted to take a step backward, but I felt frozen in place. “Not one of us had an easy road to becoming a captain,” she continued. “We earned it, with sweat and blood and courage. You have not earned your place here in our eyes, and if you should begin to act as though you have, I will personally put you in your place. Lead Breiden has a habit of getting carried away with promotions, but this is quite possibly the worst in her history.”
I swallowed, understanding, but shocked by her open opinion of Lead Breiden.
“Are you aware of the urgency this rank’s work requires?” Captain Gray continued.
“Yes, Captain,” I faltered.
“Your ability should prove helpful against the shazod,” Captain Stalvert affirmed drily, “Though I’m not sure it’s enough to warrant making you a captain.”
“I’m good with the blade as well,” I began with as much confidence as I could muster under her gaze.
Captain Gray raised an eyebrow. “I doubt that has anything to do with your being chosen.”
“But if it’s true it won’t hurt her,” Tratis put in his two cents from across the room.
“If you haven’t noticed already,” he went on, addressing me now, “None of them want you in their way, under their feet, so to speak. I’ll be the one to help you ease into this…ah…”
“Makeshift position,” Gray finished.
“Yes,” Tratis nodded. “If you have questions you ought to come to me. As you can tell, this lot doesn’t want to be bothered,” he warned, gesturing to his fellow captains.
Gray glared at his casual language, then faced me once again.
“This is what Lead Breiden wants. She believes your gift may prove useful and would bode well with more training and grooming. Truthfully, there is little for you to do while we are here in this particular encampment. Here in the Elm Bed’s there have been no instances of shazod threatening our camp. We should have little need of you until we begin to travel back to the Brawl Mountains. In the meantime, Lead Breiden wishes for you to learn our inner workings, practice mannerisms, and be groomed and prepared to give advice or take command in the future. All things that many of us are far too busy to teach. You will have to learn quickly and on your feet. Observe and do not ask questions. I see no need for us to be interrupted by a fifth rank soldier when we have such im-portant matters weighing on our shoulders.”
I wondered what those important matters were at first, but then realized that was exactly the sort of question she did not want me asking.
“That’s all I have to say to you,” Gray finished with me, turning back to the table to where Captain Stalvert was studying paperwork, his thoughtful gaze no longer interested in me. Captain Lewis however was still eyeing me as he took sips from a small flask.
What was I supposed to do now? I wanted to leave and gather my bearings but wasn’t sure if I had been dismissed or not. From across the room I caught Captain Tratis’s eye, and he gestured wordlessly toward the corner, indicating that I was expected to stay. I nodded my understanding, then retreated to the corner of the tent where I began to observe, as I had been ordered.
The backtent flap opened, and I locked eyes with a familiar face. Wes grinned at me but quickly composed his expression, handing a message to Captain Tratis. He took it and handed Wes a piece of cheese in exchange. I almost laughed in spite of my swirling mind. Was he everyone’s mouse?
Wes hovered near Captain Tratis’ station a moment, as if he were about to ask him something, but he was interrupted.
“If you’ve no more messages Perimen, you are dismissed,” Gray addressed him hurriedly. Wes nodded apologetically, pocketed the cheese and disappeared. I realized I would see him every now and then as he went back and forth on their errands. It would be nice to see a friendly face in this unfamiliar territory.
Tratis read the message quickly, set it down and began filing through the parchments on his desk impatiently.
“Can’t see a blasted thing over here…” he complained. “Where’d all the candles go?”
“There aren’t any,” Stalvert grumbled. “Use the dinner lamp.”
He huffed and grabbed a rusty lamp from the main table. After removing the chimney, he brushed the top of the thick wicking gently, as if stroking a dog’s head. A flame rose up to meet his fingertips and he pulled them away casually. It burned steadily. He placed a glove over his left hand and began to write.
“You’re a Fireholder,” I gasped without meaning to. He looked up, pleased by my childish admiration. I had never personally known a Fireholder before, and therefore had rarely observed the ability up close. The few Fireholders within the Sustainers had naturally found their way to higher ranks or taken jobs as smiths.
“Fireholders are quite commonplace,” Captain Gray re-marked with disinterest, her perspective just as damp as her name. “There are hundreds of them.”
“And not one of them enjoys it as much as I do,” Tratis smirked at me boyishly. I wanted to see more of what he could do.
“She needs a uniform,” Captain Gray remembered in agitation, rising brusquely and leaving the tent.
“Do you think Gray will ever get over this?” Captain Lewis chuckled.
I felt Captain Lewis was a friend when compared to Captain Gray, but I couldn’t be sure. I knew he was a master at the sword and crossbow, and good with the ladies. He was a Strongbearer, his body made sturdy and powerful by his code and brought further by diligent exercise. I could see why some girls liked him, but there was something about him that was lacking for me.
Captain Stalvert, pouring over some sort of reading, didn’t look like a weakling to be sure, but his code was his sharp mind. He belonged to the Engletron code, or, as we called them, the Wiseones; those who were blessed with a higher wisdom. Captain Stalvert was one of the best. Everyone knew he belonged in the second rank because of his deft ability to solve problems. He helped strategize our raids and selected the safest sanctums. It was rumored he could speak ten languages, but he would rarely say more than a sentence or two in conversation.
Captain Gray was returning now. She thrust a bundle into my arms.
“If they don’t fit, you’ll have to take them
to the seamer.”
“Thank you,” I breathed. Getting something altered by the seamer? Such a service had never been available to me.
“However, they ought to fit,” Tratis figured. “Both of you are tall and skinny.”
Gray seemed annoyed by his comparison and hurried on to get back to her next order of business.
“You’ll sleep here,” Tratis told me, motioning to a low leaning tent attached to the side of the main. I peered within. They were simple quarters, much like the ones I’d inhabited in the fifth rank.
There was one bed, a low straw mattress strewn with wool and fur, but kept surprisingly neat. For a moment I thought this bed might have been prepared for me, until Tratis pointed to the other side of the cramped space, where a thick fur hide had been placed unceremoniously on the grass. This would be my bed.
“I’ll get them to bring you some extra bedding,” he promised, glancing wryly at Gray who was working hard to ignore us. I got the impression that it had been her job to arrange my sleeping quarters.
“This will be fine,” I assured him, bedding being the least of my concerns at the moment. It was thinking about being alone with Gray in such close quarters that made me grimace. Just me and her? I was used to at least ten girls sleeping in one small tent.
I squeezed the bundle of clothing I’d been given, recognizing their significance with a shiver. I was expected to wear something so prestigious? Once I put these on, I would be seen by the whole camp as a captain, but here, among this rank, I doubted they would ever treat me as one of them. I left the bundle in my allotted space and timidly returned to the meeting tent, hoping for further orders.
Captain Gray’s back was still turned to me, and after grabbing a leather book and a covered basket, she left the tent without a word.
“Have a seat Captain Amlai. She won’t be back for a while, she has a meeting with Lead Talrinious and will visit Captain Warner after,” Tratis explained.
“I see,” was my reply. Captain Warner. The captain I had not met yet.