Elise found a large crowd gathered at Fort Airde when she came back. Young men – the right age for military service – lined up outside the guardhouse, where Commander Baines, Eza, and Ulrick were sitting at a table. Some looked eager to report. Others looked scared. She stood in line with them as it slowly inched forward, impatient to get to the front.
“It ain’t gonna do no good,” the man behind her said. He was older, with graying hair. Not quite old enough to avoid military service, it seemed. “They don’t care if you’ve just lost the man of the house: they’ll take your brother all the same.”
That’s not what I’m here for. She kept that to herself, though. Smiled and thanked him for his concern.
Commander Baines frowned as she approached the table when it was finally her turn. “This ain’t the check-in for the fort, kid: you could’ve just gone home instead of waiting in this line.”
“I know,” Elise said. “I was coming to enlist.”
Commander Baines’ sighed, rubbing his temples. Ulrick looked horrified. If Elise wasn’t mistaken, though, she saw a hint of a smile on Eza’s face.
“You are aware that we sent the call out for men, right?” Commander Baines asked. “We aren’t looking for nurses, or camp followers. We’re looking for soldiers.”
“Where does it say a woman can’t be a soldier?”
“In most laws Caithia has,” Commander Baines said. “Now, quit wasting my time.”
Elise stayed right where she was, frustration rising up in her chest. She’d thought it would be easier than this. These were the same people who’d allowed a woman to not only enlist, but rise to the rank of commander. What was the difference with her enlisting? For the gods’ sakes: Eza was standing right behind him!
Commander Baines raised an eyebrow. “Miss Brewer, I certainly hope you don’t plan on causing a scene.”
“I’m not moving until you let me sign that damned book.”
Commander Baines stood up. “You have five seconds before I-“
“Let her sign it.”
Commander Baines and Ulrick both gave Eza a look.
“What the hell are you-?!”
“You said it yourself: we need soldiers,” Eza said. “If she makes it, great. If she doesn’t, great. What the hell do you have to lose?”
Commander Baines stared at Eza. Ulrick had a pleading look in his eyes as he looked at Silas.
“Miss Brewer: if you sign that book, there’s no going back,” Commander Baines said. He didn’t take his eyes off Eza. “You’re here until your enlistment ends, or until you die. You understand that?”
Her heart began to flutter in her chest. “I understand.”
“Then sign that damned paper.”
The men behind her began to murmur amongst themselves. She felt all of their eyes on her as she picked up the quill and signed her name, her hand shaking.
Gods, did life have a way of turning itself upside down.
“Fantastic,” Commander Baines said. “You better run along, now. Before I change my mind.”
***
“Are you out of your damned mind?!”
The man who said it was Instructor Ellis, one of the men in charge of training the next generation of Watchmen. They were all gathered in one of the many meeting rooms in Fort Airde, looking over the list of people who’d start training the next day. Obviously, the fact that a woman’s name was on that list hadn’t gone unnoticed.
Eza gave him a look. “Is there something wrong, Ellis?”
Ellis opened and closed his mouth a couple times, like a fish trying to breath out of water. He was flustered, of course; that man could stand on his soapbox and spout bullshit for forever. Or, at least, until faced with any sort of opposition.
“Why is there a woman on this list?” Instructor Chapman asked. “Is she supposed to be training as a nurse with Doc?”
“No: she’s going through, just like anyone else,” Eza said.
The men in the room still didn’t seem to understand.
Why is this so hard to understand? She thought to herself. How the hell do they think I got here?
“Isn’t there a law against this?” Instructor Gowen asked.
Are you fucking kidding me?! She might as well be talking to a brick wall, these men were so dense!
“There’s no law, and in case you haven’t already noticed, there’s already precedence,” Eza said. “We need more people if we want to win this war, and this woman wanted a chance to get back at the Giskens.”
They still seemed uncomfortable with the idea.
Eza sighed. “How many of you would say that you trust me to watch your back in a fight?”
All of the men agreed, nodding their heads. Except for Ellis. Fuck Ellis.
“Then why the hell is the concept of another woman joining the Watch so damned hard for you to understand?”
Instructor Davies shifted in his seat, uncomfortable. “Well… she isn’t you.”
“Caithian women aren’t quite like Kurzhian women,” Instructor Nayler explained. “They’re softer. They’ve never known anything but comfort.”
Eza could say the same about Caithian men: even the most wretched of Caithians lived in a dream compared to most Kurzhians. Everyone knew about the invasion, the cannibalism. What they forgot about was everything that had happened before then. The Sorrows. The War of Unification, the largest civil war Kurzh had ever known. And the saints knew there were plenty of those. Between the Blight that ravaged the country and the struggle to unify the tribes of Kurzh, she’d never known peace in her life. She’d watched men be dragged away by the Blight, screaming. Had watched one kill her parents before turning on her. Had watched her countrymen kill each other until hardly anyone was left standing. Had watched as Giskens killed everyone in their path before the Blight had a chance to. She knew a thing or two about fighting a war. And she knew that she’d rather fight alongside a woman who’d faced evil and was still willing to fight it than a man who’d never been forced to stare his own mortality in the face.
“She had to fight her way out of an occupied town, nearly died doing it,” Eza said. “Even after that – even after watching them murder everyone she’s ever cared about – she still wants to fight them. Are you men really saying you don’t want to give her the chance to settle the score?”
None of them said anything.
That’s what I thought.
Eza stood up. “Selections are tomorrow morning, bright and early. I expect all of you to give every candidate – regardless of what they might look like – a fair chance.”
“And if some candidates aren’t worth their salt?” Instructor Ellis asked. Of course, it was Ellis: he had a problem with anyone who wasn’t a Caithian man trying to become a Watchman. They’d had hundreds of Gisken and Kurzhian refugees come through since Eza had arrived, and he’d made certain that none of them had been able to become a ranger, the most revered title in the Watch. It even seemed to make him squirm when he had to take orders from her. Saints, did she cherish that.
“You’ll let me worry about whether or not some of them should even be here,” Eza said, giving him one of her signature glares. The other men began to shift in their seats, uncomfortable. Ellis, though, met her gaze. She could see him bristling from where she was sitting, knew full well that he wanted to give her what’s for.
Do it, Eza dared him. Give me one reason to bust you down a few ranks!
Instead, he sighed. “Yes, ma’am.”
Next time.
“Get some rest,” she said. “We’ve got a long day ahead of us, tomorrow.”
***
Elise looked into the mirror the next morning. Eza had gotten her Milo’s old uniforms: Milo had been a little taller than her, so the clothes were baggy on her, but they were good enough. She thought that she’d feel something in her gut when she looked at herself in the mirror. Thought that she’d feel some sort of confirmation from the Gods that this was where she was supposed to be, that she’d made the right decision. She didn’t feel any of that. As she looked at herself in the mirror, she didn’t feel like a soldier. She felt like an imposter. Like a little girl who’d decided to play dress-up with daddy’s old uniform.
She took a deep breath and forced those feelings out of her mind. She didn’t have time to worry about that. Not that day.
She went through the steps of that day as Eza had explained them in her mind as she walked to the parade ground, where the other people that would make up her training class were to gather. Eza had called that day “selection day” the day before, when she was explaining what would happen. The day they determined the role she would play in the Watch once she’d finished her training. They’d put all of them through a gauntlet of events, meant to show them where their strengths lay. Once they were done, the instructors would sort them into groups based on job.
She’d also warned her that none of them would be keen to take her on. That she’d better show them what she could do if she wanted to be anything other than a cook.
Elise had been up all night thinking about it. Even as she stood there on the parade grounds, surrounded by men and boys wearing equally ill-fitting uniforms, it was all she could think about. That, and the fact that all of those men were staring at her, like a fish that had flopped out of the lake and started walking around on the dock.
They stood, lined up shoulder to shoulder, until Eza showed up. She had her rifle slung over her shoulder, and a scowl on her face.
“Listen up!” she barked. “Shut your damned mouths and pay attention: I don’t feel like repeating myself!”
None of the men seemed to take her seriously. One of them – a burly man standing in front of Elise with a good couple inches on Eza – even went as far as to laugh.
Eza glared at him. “Is something funny, boy?”
The man folded his arms over his chest. “First off: who are you, callin’ me boy? I don’t care that your daddy’s probably some sort of general: he ought to have taught you some respect.”
Elise winced. That was a mistake.
Eza didn’t start screaming at him, however. She simply raised an eyebrow. “I’d bet you had the best right hook in whatever backwater you’re from.”
“That’s right.”
“I’ll tell you what, then,” Eza said. “If you can beat me in a fight, I’ll make sure you get whatever job you want. You won’t even have to do the rest of the events.”
The man snorted. “I don’t punch little girls.”
Eza raised an eyebrow. “Is it punching a little girl you’re worried about, or is it the little girl putting you on your back?”
That seemed to be enough for him. He stepped out of line, stood right over Eza. “Alright: you’re funeral.”
Eza unslung her weapon and tossed it to the side.
“So, when are we going to-“
Without warning, Eza sent her knee into his stomach.
He gasped, doubling over.
Eza simply backed up and watched.
He looked up at her, rage in his eyes. “You little bitch! I-“
“Do you really think the Giskens are going to ask if you’re ready?” Eza asked.
The man stared at her for a few more seconds. Then, with a roar, he swung his fist right for her head.
She ducked to the side, his fist passing harmlessly to the side. The momentum carried him forward, making him stumble. She punched him in the back, right in the kidney.
The man cursed, turning, grabbing his side.
Eza landed a punch to his nose.
There was an audible crack as the man stumbled backwards, tripping over himself. Blood dripped down his arm as he held a hand to his nose.
“You broke my nose!” He yelled, indignant.
“And you just earned latrine duty for the next week, you disrespectful shit,” Eza said. Not a hint of remorse in her voice. She looked to the rest of the men, all of whom were staring in shock. All, except for Elise: she’d seen that girl in action, before.
“I suppose I ought to introduce myself,” Eza said, picking up her rifle, again. She slung it over her shoulder. “I am Commander Kurzhakova, this training battalion’s commanding officer. And the one overseeing the selection, this morning.”
The crowd of men hardly dared to breath.
“I hope all of you prayed to your gods when you woke up, this morning,” Eza said. “All of you are going to need them.”
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