As they were sitting down and eating, James started to whisper some of the rules in Thomas’s ear. “Always own up to your mistakes if you get caught. If you get in a fight, never tell who it was you fought with. Come up with some lame excuse like ‘I ran into a tree’. Duke Winthor will know it’s an excuse, but more than that he’s proud that you won’t sell out your brothers. Take any punishment without complaint. They hate when you complain about what they just gave you. Also, we’re allowed to town, but if they hear a word of us getting in trouble you’re out. So, you got it?”

“Um, I think so?”

“Good enough.” Said James patting him on the back and almost making him choke on food. “I’ll show you the training grounds after we’re done eating.”

Thomas finished eating quickly, eager to see the training ground, so James had no choice to hurry up too. When they got up to leave, one of James friends asked, “Where are you going this early in the morning?”

“Exploring.” Said James with a grin.

“Don’t get into too much trouble.”

James pulled Thomas along until they were out of the mess hall and started walking in what felt like a random direction. At one point, James pointed down a hall and said, “That is where you’ll have most of your classes.”

He continued walking, and when they left the building, there was a wide expanse of grassland with some equipment here and there. “This area here is the training grounds. Anything physical will take place here, with of course, some exception due to weather.”

“Some time later you’ll get to choose a horse. Well, more like they choose you.” He muttered. “You’ll find that pretty interesting. Horses are excellent judges of character, so they will choose whoever they would want to. In fact, some people in the realm like to believe that a horse and their owner belong together. Maybe they were always destined to be together. My horse is wonderful, but a bit of a brute if you ask me.”

“So, the horses choose us, not we them?” Thomas asked confused.

“Exactly, they’ll pick you if you match them in character. Smart things they are. My friends tell me that my horse is the spitting image of me, but I disagree. I’m not nearly as high tempered as Maneater.”

“Maneater?”

“Yeah, that’s what I named my horse. He has this thing about biting people. You know what? You are lucky this year, they say there is supposed to be a king of the horses, and many other well-bred ones. Although that king is going to be a piece of work if he doesn’t want to get along with anyone.”

“Where to next?”

“Well, there’s not much more to explore. Tomorrow, I’ll show you where each individual class is, when we get ready to go to them. For now, you could probably go back to your room. I’ll come and get you when it’s time for lunch. See you!” Said James already on his way back towards the page barracks.

“Goodbye.” Thomas said quietly to his retreating back.

Thomas decided that he would try to find his way back to his room, but the minute he took a turn, he was lost.

“Lost freshie?” Yelled a voice.