A unanimous thudding of feet and rustling sleeves as the hands of two hundred men saluted silenced the group of teenagers immediately. Most glanced about, wondering what it was they were supposed to do in the presence of a superior. Etraon, Lance, and Aurelius, though clearly the highest ranking in the barracks by birth, simply followed suit with what the company about them had done and saluted the man who was climbing onto the raised platform before them. They had been instructed as much by Derek, who was determined to make sure these three boys were respectful to all in the barracks, regardless of their bloodline.

“Many of you know me, some of you do not. My name is General Theodore,” the man at the front introduced himself. “I have served with His Imperial Majesty for thirty years running, and you lot have the honor of being one of the last set recruits that I will oversee.”

So this was General Theodore, Etraon realized with awe. He had often heard Utarion speak of him, and when he did, it was with a great deal of respect. He had never had the opportunity to meet the general until now because the general had chosen to continue to live at his ancestral home two cities over and wasn’t the type to attend balls. The only times he was seen inside the castle was for war councils and the last one had been some years before Etraon was born. Theodore’s hair was shot through with grey, though everyone in the vicinity would have agreed that despite being nearly sixty years old, the general still cut a rather intimidating figure.

“We will now begin the band allocations. I want you all to split up into groups as I call out the descriptors. Once we have you all in decent-sized, manageable numbers, we will start deciding where and with whom you’ll be for the next year. I want those of who you are right-handed over here to my right, and those of you who primarily use your left over here.” Seven of the group moved to Theodore’s left and twenty-eight remained on his right. “That’ll do,” he nodded towards his left approvingly, “get to know each other, youngsters. You’ll be staying together.”

He shifted his attention back to the remaining twenty-eight. He quite easily broke the group down into another group of sixteen that was further split into a group of eight and six. Theodore’s face had contorted slightly into a frown when one of the eight volunteered to join the group of six. It was a girl and upon seeing that the group of six had yet to have a girl in their ranks, Theodore approved the change. That left him with a group of fourteen. Much to his surprise, the remaining teenagers shared similar characteristics, qualities, and even hobbies. Theodore tried splitting them by the occupation of their parents, hair and eye color, even by birthday and found that an overwhelming number would have one or the other and two or three who wouldn’t really fit either side.

“And here’s where I’ll have to get creative,” Theodore smiled. “All right, when I point at you, shout out your weapon of choice. Got that?” Fourteen heads nodded. “Begin!”

“Sword!” the first boy called. Theodore jerked one thumb over his shoulder and the boy stepped around him into the open space.

“Spear!” the second continued and moved hurriedly into the space indicated. Thus it went down the line. The only interruption that they experienced was when Theodore stopped rather abruptly when a girl called out ‘ax’.

“Why on earth would a lass like yourself fancy herself an ax?”

“My da’s an expert with the throwing ax, General,” she replied.

“So he brought you up with one in the cradle, eh?” Theodore chuckled. “Does this da of yours have a name?”

“Wolfe,” the girl replied. “Da used to serve in the army.”

“Wolfe!” Theodore demanded, his eyes widening and his teeth flashing a quick grin. “The old rascal’s still alive! And his girl’s here in my charge, no less.” He chortled with glee, surprising them all with a sudden change in attitude that seemed to humanize him somehow. “Well, lass, you pass this training, you tell that old wolf that he still owes me a cup of coffee. Have him look me up sometime.”

“Yes, General,” she smiled.

“So we’re going with the ax, then?” Theodore laughed. “All right, lassie, you stand over there.” Four more boys and two more girls were split into the two groups and it was finally down to Etraon, Lance, and Aurelius.

Aurelius had eagerly shouted out that he was fond of the ax and earned himself some subtle teasing from Theodore, who wondered whether the boy’s choice had stemmed from the fact that there was a female ax woman in the group that he was to be placed in or if he really had an interest in the weapon. Aurelius, indignant that they would make fun of his choice, insisted that he really did have an interest in axes and proceeded to tell Theodore and everyone else everything he knew about axes. He was quite detailed, and even though Etraon didn’t really know what his friend was talking about, he could tell that Theodore and a few of the others around them were impressed with the depth of his knowledge. With an approving nod from Theodore, Aurelius joined his group. Etraon responded to the question with sword and that was that. He and Aurelius were guaranteed to be in the same group. That left Lance.

Come on, Etraon urged him silently, trying to send his friend a signal with his eyes. But that was just it. Lance seemed to be avoiding his gaze. Theodore saw the exchange and looked down at Lance.

“Is there a problem, young Lance?” he asked. “I expected Derek’s son to be a bit more decisive.”

“I’ve decided, sir,” Lance replied bleakly. “I just have one question.”

“I don’t normally take questions, but you seem to be having a tough time of it, so I’ll make an exception.”

“We won’t have to fight the other bands, will we? And we’ll be able to work with people from other bands when the training’s over?”

“That’s two questions, lad, but I’ll give them to you since it benefits the others.” Theodore turned then and addressed the other thirty-four in the courtyard. “Lance asks some important questions here, questions that I hope the rest of you have at least considered before you came here. You will not have to fight the other bands because it is not our intention to rank you against each other, but to rank you against your mentor who will be monitoring your progress as you go through your training.” There was a murmuring throughout the groups as that sunk in. A sense of relief had come over them, knowing that they wouldn’t have to fight their friends in other groups, but they were all more concerned about the answer to Lance’s second question. “You will also have the opportunity to work with whomever you wish upon graduating,” he continued, “though I can tell you right now that not all of you will graduate and thereby have the opportunity to choose. Now,” he said, turning back to Lance, “your weapon, please.”

Etraon smiled encouragingly at his friend and Aurelius was already grinning. The three of them would be together after all. Etraon’s smile grew broader as his mind raced through all the great times that they would have training together. They’d had mock battles before, he recalled, in preparation for this day. Etraon had a wooden shortsword and Aurelius had a small hand-ax with a blunt blade to keep from seriously hurting anyone. Lance would trade off with them every other round, ready to jump in and take over at any time with his spear in hand. Etraon’s eyes widened as his memory saw the words forming on his friend’s lips before he heard them.

“Spear,” Lance replied firmly. Theodore gave him an understanding pat on the shoulder and gestured towards the opposite side of the courtyard. Lance glanced apologetically at his friends before he moved on, but he moved on. Etraon’s emotions were in turmoil, but he smiled encouragingly once more at Lance, as he couldn’t fault Lance for choosing something that he really wanted to learn. Having served as an informal bodyguard for the both of them since they were young, Etraon and Aurelius had always wanted that for him. He had always fought with a spear.

Etraon berated himself silently for forgetting in the first place.

Author's Note:

┻━┻ ︵ ＼( °□° )／ ︵ ┻━┻ Yes, yes, I know. I split the trio up, how dare I, I'm the worst. ¯(°_o)/¯

Look, folks, it would be all too easy to just keep the three of them altogether, but then our baby boy Lance will stay stuck in his role and never have a chance to grow into his own man apart from Etraon and Aurelius! This is for his good, okay? I promise you I'm not tossing him out with the bath water.

xoxo,

Elfarine