I shook my head. “No.” Then added quickly, “Sir. I mean, My Lord.” I bit down on my clumsy tongue. I had grown too used to the relaxed ways of the Academy and couldn’t even remember the proper forms of address now.
He just rolled his eyes. “You’re in the Armed Forces now, girl. All officers, male and female, are to be addressed as sir.”
I nodded and then belatedly added, “Yes, sir.”
The mage picked up a small silver bell from his desk and rang it.
“Sir!” A young girl who didn’t look like she could possibly be eighteen popped into the room and saluted energetically.
“We have a new recruit,” the mage said, gesturing at me.
The girl didn’t look my way, merely saluting again. “Yes, sir!”
She turned and left the room, holding the door open behind her. When I didn’t move, she finally looked my way.
“Well? Are you coming?”
“Oh.” I rushed to follow her, but as I passed through the doorway, she gave me a loaded look, her eyes flicking to the mage behind us.
Belatedly I spun around and gave a clumsy salute. “Sir.”
The mage nodded without looking up from his desk, and the girl closed the door behind us.
“Phew, that was a close one.” She grinned at me, looking me over curiously for the first time. “They’re big on protocol here, but you’ll learn soon enough.”
She started further down the corridor, and I trailed behind her. I could already tell the protocol was going to chafe. When had I started to view all mages as my equals?
“That’s a nice cloak you have. Come from one of the rich families, do you?” She sounded like she felt sorry for me. “It’ll be an adjustment, but we’re not such a bad lot.” She grinned over her shoulder at me. “I’m Leila, by the way.”
“Elena.” I didn’t bother to correct her assumption about me. It was certainly a much simpler explanation than the truth.
She led me into a supply room where I was measured and given two gray uniforms. The clerk in charge of the stores looked at my boots and declared them fit for purpose before adding a supply pack to the stack in my arms.
“That’s your water pouch and such,” Leila told me as we returned to the corridor. “You won’t need that stuff here, but you’re expected to keep it in good condition anyway. They do random equipment checks.”
I nodded, still not contributing to the conversation. My brain was struggling to process my new reality. Too much had happened and too much had changed in the last few hours for me to take it all in.
“We shipped out a whole batch to the border only yesterday, so there are plenty of bunks in my dorm,” Leila continued on. “You might even be able to nab yourself a bottom one.”
We exited the main building, the full light of dawn having now arrived and showing a number of training yards not dissimilar to the ones at the Academy. A small group jogged around one, but no one else was in sight.
“The early birds,” said Leila, nodding toward them. “Sickens the rest of us.” She winked at me.
“You’re up early yourself,” I pointed out.
“I’m on officer babysitting duties this week and managed to pull the night shift.” She wrinkled her nose. “So it doesn’t count.”
“You are eighteen, then?” The question popped out before I could stop it.
She just laughed. “Nineteen, in fact, if you can believe it. Most people can’t.”
“But you’re still here at the training barracks? I thought training only lasted a few weeks.”
She grinned. “Oh, I’m not a new recruit. We don’t all do our full term at the front lines, you know. The majority do, of course, and the rest of us will cycle through for at least a year’s posting at some. But there are other duties in the Armed Forces that need doing. I’ve been given a year’s posting here. I expect I’ll be off to the front lines after that.” Her face remained cheerful, but I thought I detected a hint of fear in her voice.
She shook her head. “There are exceptions, though. There was a boy from my street who enlisted at the same time as me. He got recruited straight after basic training into one of the special squads that work with the Grays, if you can believe it. A whole three-year posting, too. If there’s one thing the mages take as seriously as the war, it’s reading!”
I frowned. It had never occurred to me that not all recruits would spend their three years at the front lines, but I supposed it made sense. As she had just said, the seekers had their own special squads of soldiers, plus we had soldiers posted all over the kingdom.
“So don’t despair, Elena,” Leila continued as we approached a long, low building. “You might get lucky yet.”
Her words jarred me from my thoughts. If only she knew the truth. I was already as different from a regular recruit as it was possible to be. I just didn’t know what consequences that was going to have yet.
She pushed open a plain wooden door and led me into a room lined with bunks.
“Ah-ha! There’s a bottom one.” She pointed at a stripped bunk. “Put your things in that metal locker at the end. The one on the left. The other one is for the top bunk. And then you’d better make the bed right now, so everyone knows it’s taken. Sometimes the new recruits come all in a rush, it’s the strangest thing.”
She chattered on as she helped me to make the bed with the clean linens folded neatly at the foot.
“The dorms for the boys are all on the west side of the building, and the girls are all here on the east. Us girls only have two rooms since we don’t exactly get equal numbers of recruits.” She smiled, not seeming to mind in the least. “But don’t expect any special treatment from the officers, we’re all soldiers here.” She gave me a stern look. “So you just watch for any of the boys getting saucy, and let them know what for. A good wallop over the head will tell them to keep their distance.”
I tried to imagine this tiny girl walloping one of the recruits we’d seen out in the yard and couldn’t help a smile of my own.
“There you go!” she said. “It’s not all bad here, I promise you. And talking of things which are a great deal better than they might be, you get yourself into one of your uniforms, and we’ll take ourselves off to breakfast. The latest batch of cooks posted into the kitchen actually make a decent meal.”
I changed as quickly as I could, depositing my own clothes and my cloak in the locker. Leila flitted around me, straightening my uniform, before declaring me ready to go. We could smell the food before we reached the mess hall—as she called it—and she was right. It did smell good. Better than I had expected.
She introduced me to several other new recruits, as well as some soldiers like herself who were posted to the training barracks, but I didn’t absorb any of the names. Somehow I did manage to eat, though, despite my roiling stomach. The food even helped to settle it.
“Good timing on your arrival,” said a new recruit who sat with us at the meal. “They only start basic training in batches every few days. And we all started yesterday. Means you’ll get to laze around for a few days before they start cracking the whip.”
I tried not to look dismayed. The last thing I wanted was to be left alone with my thoughts for days on end.
“She enlisted before dawn,” said Leila. “I don’t think she’s the lazing type. Right, Elena?” She smiled at me.
“Jason had the night shift on the front desk,” said the boy across from the new recruit. I seemed to remember he was one of those posted to the barracks, like Leila. “Told me she looked like she was enlisting against someone’s wishes. So maybe early mornings aren’t her usual style.”
He looked at me questioningly, but I just shrugged.
“She’s a silent one,” Leila said. “But you’ll open up eventually, Elena. We’re like a family here.”
“Sorry,” I said. “It’s all just a bit…much.” And I was afraid if I opened my mouth they would all quickly realize I didn’t belong.
The boy laughed. “That’s th
e Leila effect.”
She made a face at him and threw her fork toward his face with deadly aim, prongs first. He laughed and caught it deftly before it made contact, sliding it back across the table to her.
She shook her head and polished off the last of her food, standing swiftly. “Well I’m off to get some rest. Longest night shift of my life until Elena here arrived. Nothing but fetching old silver robe endless cups of tea as he got grumpier and grumpier. It’s a wonder I didn’t fall asleep and get myself cleaning duty.”
She turned to go and then paused. “You coming, Elena? You could do with some rest, too, I’ll bet. After your early morning.”
I nodded and stood. If the other recruit was right, and I wasn’t to start training today, then I didn’t exactly have anything else to do. We wandered back toward the barracks together, until the group we had seen jogging earlier strolled past on their way to the mess hall.
One of them called to Leila, and she crossed over to talk to him, laughter drifting back to me, although I couldn’t catch their specific words.
“A new recruit, hey?” One of the other young soldiers stopped beside me. The smile he directed at me was pleasant enough, but I didn’t like the glint in his eye when he looked across at one of his friends who had also approached us.
“I’m Tobias. You just let me know if you feel lost. I’ll be more than happy to show you around. Any time.” He winked at me, and I shifted away, even more uncomfortable now.
“Thank you, but Leila’s already given me the tour,” I said.
I stepped away again, but he followed me. Slinging a heavy arm around my shoulders, he dropped his voice into what he clearly thought was a sultry tone.
“Yes, but Leila’s only good for some things.” He winked. “If you know what I mean.”
I didn’t think, my body just reacted to eighteen months training at the Academy. Grabbing his wrist, where it hung over my shoulder, I slipped out from under his arm and twisted it up behind him.
He yelped and tried to pull free, but I just twisted it tighter. He stilled.
“Don’t touch me,” I said, my voice coming out strong and authoritative. “And you can let your friends know the same thing. I don’t like being touched.”
“I was only trying to be friendly,” he said.
“Well don’t. I’m not the friendly type.”
“Obviously,” he muttered, and I let his arm go.
He stepped away from me, shaking out the limb, while everyone around us stared at me. I looked around at them and swallowed. Had that been the wrong way to handle the situation?
A whoop sounded across the yard, breaking the moment, and Leila hurried back toward us, laughter now shaking her.
“That was smooth, Elena! I’d apologize for not paying more attention, but you can clearly look after yourself.” She put her hands on her hips and glared at Tobias.
“And let that be a lesson to you, Tobias, not to try the moves on every new recruit we get. You should know by now that I tell them all to give you a good whack.”
“I’m not doing any harm just asking a question,” Tobias said, with a sour look at her and a suspicious one at me.
“Well I have a question for you,” she said with narrowed eyes. “Would you like my foot up your—”
“Officer in the yard,” said the soldier behind her quietly, and she broke off abruptly.
All of them sprang to attention and saluted, so I did the same as best I could. The silver-robed figure moved swiftly past us, her eyes traveling over us without really seeing. The sensation of being invisible felt strange. I had thought I hated so often being the center of attention at the Academy, but now that my status was gone, I was ashamed to find I missed it.
As soon as the officer had disappeared, they all relaxed.
“I don’t know about you lot, but I’m off to get some breakfast,” said Tobias, stalking away from the group. The rest of the joggers followed him, many casting final glances at me. Only the one who had been talking with Leila hesitated.
“Nicely done, new recruit,” he said with a grin.
I couldn’t help but smile back at him, and he gave me a mock salute before hurrying off after the others. But his words gave me a pang. He spoke as if I was one of them, but I had seen the looks the others had given me. It wouldn’t be long before someone discovered just how much I didn’t fit in here at all.
“That was…unexpected,” Leila said as we continued on toward the dorm. “You should have seen your expression. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t sure you’d be able to handle yourself, but I can see I was wrong.”
She looked at me with a calculating expression, and I quickly looked away.
“There’s something different about you,” she said when I didn’t respond. “You don’t carry yourself like any other recruit I’ve ever seen.”
I bit my lip, still remaining silent. I could hardly explain to Leila that I had spent too long now turning myself into a mage to slip comfortably back into my old commonborn self. And once the officers realized what had happened and who I was, I couldn’t even imagine what they would do.
When we reached our dorm, Leila dropped straight to sleep, despite the light pouring in the windows. I tried to do the same but only succeeded in tossing and turning in my bunk. Eventually I gave up and got up, straightening out my covers. I ate one of the cookies from home, but the familiar taste brought tears to my eyes, so I put the rest away.
The hours passed painfully slowly, but I didn’t want to go wandering around the training grounds in case I ended up somewhere I shouldn’t be. I tried not to make any noise to disturb Leila, so when she suddenly swung her legs out of bed, I jumped.
“Sorry…” I started, but she shook her head.
“It wasn’t you. It’s just time for lunch.”
I stared at her. “But you were dead asleep. How do you know that?”
She winked. “You learn all sorts of skills in the Armed Forces. First among them is to never miss a meal.”
Together we started back toward the mess hall. I watched her out of the corner of my eye as we walked. She seemed a lot more cheerful than I had imagined for a soldier. Was it because she hadn’t been sent to the front lines yet or just her natural personality? I still couldn’t believe she was nineteen. She looked more like fifteen, and it was almost impossible to imagine her charging a line of enemy soldiers. If that was what they even did on the front lines.
I had saved Clemmy, and I had been working for months to develop the skills to save myself. But confronted with Leila, I realized that would never be enough. I couldn’t save myself and leave the soldiers serving around me to die. But then how much could one person do—even if that person did have the powers of a mage? I had managed to make a difference in Abalene, but I hadn’t done any of it alone. If my magehood was now to be rejected, and I was to be abandoned among the commonborn, even my power would prove unequal to the need around me.
I had fought so hard to become a mage, but conscription had undone it all. The commonborn soldiers would soon realize I didn’t belong with them, but neither would the mage officers welcome me to their ranks, I was sure. I would be stuck endlessly between the two groups, impotent despite what I had learned at the Academy.
And all of that was assuming I wasn’t executed for attacking Lucas.
We ate the midday meal with an entirely different batch of soldiers, although I recognized one from the front desk. Jason, I think the other soldier had called him.
He greeted Leila and me with good cheer, looking a great deal more lively than he had on my arrival. No doubt he had spent the morning sleeping, as well. When we finished eating, the three of us left the hall together, the two of them discussing their plans for the afternoon—which included some combat practice, apparently—and their upcoming night shifts.
When a flash of silver emerged from the main building, however, they both snapped to attention, falling silent. I followed a beat behind.
This time the mage officer
strode straight toward us.
“You. New recruit. Elena.” It was the man who had taken down my name earlier. “Come with me.”
Leila raised both eyebrows and exchanged a look with Jason that told me this wasn’t normal. My stomach dropped into my feet.
Chapter 20
The mage started back toward the building, and I followed reluctantly. Had the Royal Guard come for me then? Was I about to have the shortest ever enlistment in the Armed Forces?
As we entered the main building, the mage gestured for me to hurry up, eyeing me with mild annoyance and a great deal more curiosity than he had done when I first arrived.
“The colonel has asked to see you,” he said as he led me up a flight of stairs. “Asked for you by name. Can’t say that’s ever happened before in the time I’ve been serving here.”
I bit my lip. Excellent. I really was setting a record.
The colonel’s office was at the top of the stairs, marked with a large silver star. The officer with me rapped at the door once and then opened it without waiting for a response. I followed him inside, trying not to let my knees shake.
I still hadn’t recovered the energy I spent binding Lucas, and it had been a long day after little sleep. But it seemed it was about to get longer.
An older woman with silver hair that matched her robe looked up from her seat behind a large, solid desk. She had a lined, no-nonsense face, and she didn’t look pleased to see us.
My eyes raced around the room, but no one else was present. Not a single red or gold robe, or even red or gold uniform, in sight. I told myself not to feel relieved. They had probably just sent instructions for the Armed Forces to deliver me to them.
“Elena of Kingslee?” she asked, her voice rough and weathered.
I nodded.
She narrowed her eyes, scanning me up and down before nodding a dismissal to the mage who had brought me. He left, casting a reluctant glance at me as he did so. I could feel the curiosity radiating off him, but he didn’t question his superior’s orders.
When we were alone, the colonel leaned back in her chair and stared at me for a silent moment.
Voice of Command (The Spoken Mage Book 2) Page 18