The Apprentice (26 page)

Rowan
gripped the hilt of his sword just a little bit tighter at the thought of
Darius destroying it.

“Now,
there is still the matter of this evening’s incident. You fought with one of
your fellow trainees.” Darius silenced Rowan’s protestations before he
continued. “I understand the circumstances of the argument. You did not
initiate the conflict, but that does not excuse the fact that you
did
fight, and you did so while wielding a blade. I cannot overlook that. You must
be punished.

“For
tonight, you will go without dinner. When I see you tomorrow, I will inform you
of the rest of your punishment. Now you are to return to the barracks for the
evening.” Darius waved Rowan away.

Rowan,
glad to be done with the trainer, stood and bowed before quickly taking his
leave. He walked along the path that led from the trainer’s quarters to the
barracks. Upon entering the barracks, he found that most of the boys had
returned from dinner. Rowan received a number of looks as he entered, Tenro in
hand. Most of the boys gave him little more than a cursory glance, curious to
see who had entered, but a pair of eyes followed him as he walked the full
length of the room.

Rowan
did his best to ignore Byron, but it was difficult not to notice such a hate
filled stare. It seemed that Rowan had earned himself his first enemy.

Chapter 20
                     
 

“Where are we going,” Eliza
complained. She followed Baird as they walked through the hallways, trying to
keep pace with her favorite giant. His pace was quick, which annoyed her. The
day was warm and Eliza did not want to soak her laces with sweat.

“I
already told you that we are going to the practice fields,” Baird responded.
“It is my duty to check on the soldiers in training.”

“Do we
have to go and do that? It sounds so boring.”

“Yes.”

They
made their way outside, crossing the grounds and descending to the practice fields
where a bunch of boys were fighting and practicing various arts and weapons. It
was a hot day and many of them had taken their shirts off while practicing.
Eliza scanned the fields for Rowan and found him by himself at the archery
range. There were others nearby but it was clear that Rowan was not a part of
their group. As she watched him nock an arrow, she wondered if his isolation
was self imposed or because he was left out and unaccepted. She winced as she
watched him take a shot that went wide of the target, sticking into the grass
almost ten feet away. Some of the others laughed as he went to retrieve his
arrows. She thought about waving and going to say hello, but Baird was already
walking in a different direction, towards Darius, and Eliza hurried to follow
him.

The head
trainer was standing on the side of the field closest to them, watching as two
boys wrestled. Eliza recognized Erik by his blonde hair. He was fighting
against a boy larger than him. Eliza couldn’t think of the other boy’s name, only
that she disliked him. She hoped that Erik would win and in her head she
cheered him on.

“Good
job, Erik. Byron, show some more effort. You’re bigger than him; you need to
use that advantage against your opponent!” Darius shouted at the boys from the
sidelines as they circled each other, looking for an opening to attack. He
didn’t notice Eliza and Baird approaching until they had reached the field.

“How is
the training going, Darius?” Baird asked. Eliza watched as Darius stiffened and
spun to face them. She laughed. Baird could be very quiet and stealthy for a
man of his size, and she knew that he was very good at sneaking up on people,
so Darius’s reaction was understandable.

“You
should warn me next time you arrive,” Darius said.

Baird
laughed. “That’s why I spoke to you. If I didn’t want you to notice me, then
you wouldn’t have.”

“One
day, Baird, you’re going to surprise someone and it’s going to end badly.”

“It
wouldn’t be the first time, though it was never me who got hurt. But if that
day comes, I’ll be sure that you are the first one to hear about it.”

“I’ll be
sure to gloat and tell you that I was right,” Darius said.

“Good
day, Darius,” Eliza said with a smile. She was supposed to curtsy, but none of
her caretakers were present and Baird had long since given up trying to enforce
such behaviors.

“Hello,
Princess. What brings you here?”

“Baird
insisted that we come and watch the boy soldiers train. I think it’s boring,
but it is better than being stuck with one of the tutors. They are so stuffy
and old,” Eliza said, wrinkling her nose at the thought of her lessons.

“Don’t
be rude, Eliza. It is necessary for you to take your lessons in order to
learn,” Baird said. He turned to Darius. “I have to come and check on the boys’
progress as they train, especially with the Revel so near. Also, I would like
to see how Rowan has been progressing.”

“Oh yes,
I almost forgot that the Revel is approaching,” Eliza said, excited at the
prospect of the coming festival. There would be a lot of entertainment, music
and dancing, which Eliza always enjoyed. But the main focus of the yearly Revel
was the competitions.

All of
the people of Estoria gathered to watch as the young soldiers tested their
skills in competition against each other in a wide range of events. There were
more traditional skills such as archery, fencing, swordsmanship, and wrestling.
But there were also events that focused on different types of skills and skill
sets, such as contests of speed, strength, and cunning. Races of various
distances were held, some focused on objectives such as tracking or stealth.
The Revel spanned the course of a week and it allowed the winners of each event
to be honored for their abilities.

“Yes, it
should make for an interesting event this year,” Darius said. “There are many trainees
who are quite skilled. Erik and Byron are both entered in several events, and I
believe they each have the potential to place.”

Eliza
returned her attention to the wrestling match. The two boys had engaged each
other and it appeared as though Byron had the upper hand. They struggled for a
moment as they each tried unsuccessfully to pin the other. Byron tried to use
his strength to push Erik back, but the smaller boy ducked underneath Byron’s
arms and shoved him to the ground, pinning his arms behind his back. Byron
struggled, trying to throw Erik off.

“That’s
enough,” Darius barked.

Erik
released his hold on Byron, who shoved the boy off of him and rejected the
hand-up that was offered. Eliza watched Byron make his way past Erik and stalk
off of the field.

“Poor
sport,” Erik muttered.

“That
was a good match,” Baird said, calling Erik’s attention. The boy’s eyes flitted
from Baird to Eliza, registering their presence, which had gone unnoticed until
now.

“Greetings,
Sir Baird. Princess Elizabeth.” He greeted each in turn, bowing to both. His
gaze lingered on Eliza, causing her to flush lightly.

“It was
indeed a good match,” Darius agreed. “However, I can still see room for
improvement from both of you. Talk to me later so that I can show you several
areas for you to work on. For now, I suggest that you go and practice some
blade-work.”

“Yes,
Trainer Darius.” The boy nodded. Before he left, Erik turned and bowed to
Eliza.

Darius
watched Erik jog across the field before he turned back to Eliza and Baird.

“That
boy is one of my best trainees. I know he will do very well during the Revel.
He is strong and well trained in many areas, rather than focused on a single
skill. He has a natural talent and is well liked. He might have made a good
apprentice. Still would, under the right master.”

“And
what of the rest?” Baird asked, giving the head trainer a look that Eliza knew
well.

“There
are others that I believe will do very well. Heath is a promising archer,”
Darius said, indicating a small, wiry boy who was practicing with a bow. “And
there are others: Damien, Soran, Kien, and Andrew. All of them are skilled. And
you just saw Byron wrestling with Erik.”

“Are
there any trainees that worry you?”

“There
are some who still have much to learn. But for the most part, they have all
found something they have a particular affinity for or excel in. Not all of
them are strong candidates for winning, but as I said before, I think we will
have a fine competition this year. There are some strong rivalries that will
drive the competition and make for an interesting show.”

“That is
good to hear. The people are always happy to see a good competition,” Baird
said.

“Yes.”
Darius nodded in agreement.

Eliza
searched the field for Rowan again. This time she found him completely alone. He
had left the archery range and the company of others and moved to the practice
dummies. He was practicing the sword, using Tenro to hack and stab at a post.

“Will
Rowan be competing in the Revel?” Eliza asked, looking to Baird for the answer.

“Participation
in the competition is mandatory,” Darius responded.

“What
will he compete in?” Eliza asked.

“The
swordsmanship competition,” both men responded.

“Rowan
is incredibly skilled with a blade, and he continues to improve. He often
trains alone because almost none of the others can match his skill,” Darius
said. “There are some other boys who have a natural talent for swordsmanship,
but I think Rowan is the most likely to win that event. Though he still hasn’t
spoken to me about which events he wishes to participate in.”

“Speaking
of my apprentice, how is Rowan doing?” Baird asked. The trio began to slowly
make their way across the field as they talked.

“He is
quite skilled and he does well with almost everything that we give him.”

“But
there’s more, isn’t there?”

Darius
hesitated.

“I don’t
think that Rowan is fitting in well with the other trainees. Most of the boys
just ignore him, but there are some who may be going out of their way to harass
him. I haven’t caught anything yet, and since Rowan is able to handle himself,
it hasn’t become an issue. But I worry that eventually something might go
wrong.”

“I
thought that might be the case,” Baird sighed. “I had hoped for better,
though.”

They had
almost reached Rowan. Erik stood a short distance away, observing Rowan as he
practiced. At least he isn’t being mean to Rowan, Eliza thought.

“Rowan!”

Eliza
called out to the boy and waved, trying to be nice. Their relationship hadn’t
begun well, and the princess was able to admit that it was mostly her fault. So
now she was trying to make up for that.

Rowan
turned around and Eliza saw a look of surprise on his face, which quickly
shifted into a slight smile as he took the trio in.

“Hello,
Rowan,” the young princess said.

“Hello,
Princess Eliza,” Rowan said. “Baird, Trainer Darius,” he acknowledged them both
by name with a slight nod.

“I
thought that you might enjoy the company of these two,” Darius said to Rowan.

“How
have you been doing, Rowan?” Baird asked.

“Everything
is well.”

“That’s
good,” Baird responded.

The
three of them knew that everything wasn’t alright, but none of them wanted to
press the issue if Rowan wasn’t willing to talk. He could deal with his own
problems and he would ask for help when it was needed.

A noise
off to the side drew Eliza’s attention. Erik had started practicing with one of
the dulled blades. He was glancing their way when she looked, as if he was
listening to their conversation. He turned away and continued to hack and slash
at the wooden training post. Darius had been right to make Erik practice the
blade, Eliza thought. Compared to Rowan, the blonde boy looked as if he was
simply trying to pummel the post with brute force.

“You
haven’t been around to practice with me recently,” Rowan said, drawing Eliza’s
focus back to the conversation.

“I’ve
been occupied with some things that have required my full attention.” A strange
look passed over Baird’s face and he seemed to lose focus for a moment.

“What
kinds of things?” Eliza asked. She had seen Baird several times over the past
couple of days and he had never seemed to be doing anything too unusual. He was
talking with her father more often, but that wasn’t necessarily strange. She
was never allowed to be around when they discussed important matters. Though
she had heard them mentioning Gannon’s name when she accidentally walked in on
them once.

“Nothing
that you need to concern yourself with, Elizabeth,” Baird said.

Eliza
stomped her heel directly on Baird’s foot. She hated it when he used her full
name, and she knew that he did it on purpose. He was usually too quick for her,
but he had been watching Rowan and hadn’t noticed her move.

Baird
let out a yelp of pain when her foot connected with his and he hopped on one
foot for a moment, playing up the dramatics. Darius watched the knight with a
grin.

“You can
stop dancing around now, Baird,” Eliza said. “You’re making a fool out of
yourself. I didn’t kick you
that
hard.”

Baird
chuckled, but he also stopped hopping.

“I hope
you haven’t missed my presence too much,” Baird said to Rowan.

“It’s
bearable,” Rowan said. “Though I miss sparring with you.”

“Even
though you always get covered with bruises?”

“Despite
that, I have still missed the training sessions. It’s been several days now
since you last came by.”

Eliza
watched as the two began a back and forth exchange that couldn’t include her or
Darius. Baird and Rowan had formed a bond as master and apprentice while they
travelled and it was something that she would never experience or understand.
She used to be very close with Baird. She still was, but it was difficult to
get used to the idea that someone else—Rowan—shared something unique with the
man who was like her second father.

“I have
some free time,” Baird said. “Why don’t we practice now?”

“Now?”
Rowan pointedly glanced at the sweat that covered his body. “As in right this
moment?”

“I see
no reason not to. It will still be light for quite a while and we’re already on
the practice fields.”