Ballad and Song, as it turned out his sister was called, took it upon themselves to show me around. 

I could not entirely ignore their names.

They reminded me of ‘Lyric’.

But then again, I thought everything might do that, and decided to let the thought rest.

Though I was promised breakfast, I was first dragged to the stables, where the horses, pigs and goats were, then to the marks where I saw chickens, and then to the battle practice area, which Song called “the scary place”.

“It’s not scary when it’s empty,” Ballad said, tone wise, nodding to himself, but Song tugged at his shirt, and started to drag him away.

I wanted to tell them I knew my way around here, but getting a refresher proved to be a good idea.

I did not remember this place as well as I had thought I did. My memories were blurry at best.

What I remembered best was where I ate, slept and trained. Nothing more.

Because I did not need much else. That was how I survived.

“Don’t go over there. That’s where the real scary people are,” Ballad said as we walked past a small house, in which I could only assume there were more beds.

“...don’t talk to them. Or look. Run,” Song provided helpfully.

I closed my eyes to try to recall who would be there now. Some of The Fourth Prince’s extra special ‘tools’, but I was not sure if I had ever met any of them, only heard of them in passing.

I had been raised to be more brain than brawn, even though I needed both.

Giving them a nod to show I understood, they finally concluded the little guided tour and brought me to the most important place — where the food was served.

The smell of bread hit us on the way in, and though it was clearly not high quality, it was better than nothing.

We sat down after getting a serving each, and while Song and Ballad switched around their food, Song getting half of Ballad’s bread and Ballad getting half of Song’s meat, I looked around to gather any sort of information I could use right now or later.

The siblings started talking in whispers while they ate, Song sounding less shy, and she probably had forgotten I was even there, while Ballad made up stories to entertain her.

I considered how I could get rid of them. I did not want to get close to them, but had not had a good reason to do so, and somehow we had stuck together. I needed to make sure this didn’t happen again.

Maybe I could simply avoid them? Wake up early, eat early and then train early.

It shouldn’t be that hard.

But then the word “Lyric” came up in the whispers and my head whipped back to them, to the shock of all of us. Song looked like she was about to cry and I felt a bit bad, while Ballad started to laugh.

I considered if I should ask about it.

It was a normal word.

Maybe they had discussed a song or a ballad or a poem.

Maybe I had heard wrong and they hadn’t said the word at all.

But…

Maybe they had.

Ballad stopped laughing, patted his sister on the head and then looked at me.

“You look real funny in the face.” Was his only comment and then he turned to his sister, and kept talking.

I looked funny? How? Why?

What face had I worn just now?

One of shock, maybe surprise? I didn’t know.

But I did need to know why they had mentioned Lyric.

I did not get the chance, though, because just as I had decided to listen in and hope to glean some context, a man I knew from my endless nightmares walked my way and put his heavy hand on my shoulder.

“So you’re the new one, huh? You’re sort of skinny. Gotta eat some more, but we’ll work on that. Got a name?” Sir Raven, my mentor, asked, squeezing my shoulder until it felt like he was directly squeezing my bones.

“Mallis, Sir.” I said, stiff and without any emotions, just as he had taught me.

“Oh, you got one? Any parents?” Sir Raven asked, not letting up his firm grip.

“No, Sir.” I answered, not letting any of the pain show.

“Where did our graceful prince find you?” Sir Raven put his other hand on my other shoulder and started squeezing there too. I could feel his frame standing behind me. One wrong move and he would kill me.

I remembered this feeling.

It was worse the first time around, where I had no idea what was going on, but I knew now.

He was testing me.

My loyalty.

My ability to listen to orders.

My ability to answer questions.

And, most importantly, putting fear of disobeying into me.

This was the man who shaped me into the perfect sword for The Fourth Prince.

And the first man I had ever killed.

I shook my head.

Right now was not the time to think about the past — or the future, as it might very well be.

“The slums, Sir,” I answered politely, not focusing on the pain. He was about to either break or dislocate one or both of my shoulders, and I could do absolutely nothing about it. This was the start of my training.

A broken tool could be mended.

“Sir Raven, I think there’s a fight about to start over there,” a small voice suddenly shot up.

Ballad.

He was pointing towards two big men, who simply looked at each other, and did not look like they were about to fight, but Sir Raven eased up his grip, told me to stay, and went over to them anyway.

“He’s one of the super scary men…” Song sniffed, trying to hold her tears in, but doing a very bad job.

“Never get on his bad side,” Ballad whispered, but did not include any details on how to avoid it.

“Don’t get on his good side, either.” He added after having thought something over.

“Just try to avoid him. You’re air! Air!” Ballad said before he shut up and looked down.

“Now, boy, slums you said?” Sir Raven had finished whatever he needed to do and came back. He did not hold my shoulders again, but I could still feel his grip.

“Yes, Sir.”

“Good. Very good. Now, come with me. The Fourth Prince has put you in my care, understood?”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Now.”

“Yes, Sir,” I said, standing up and following him, two steps behind.

Ballad might have saved my shoulders, which I had not asked of him, but he could not save me from the training that awaited me.

Sir Raven would break me.

He had done it before.

And I would come out stronger for it.

But this time, I wouldn’t let him win.

This time, I would take full advantage and reforge myself.

I would not let him make me into a tool for The Fourth Prince to use freely.

Instead, I would let him forge me as a weapon that could only be used in The Sixth Prince’s hands.

I would need to find Ballad and Song later and ask about Lyric before they died.

But for now, Sir Raven and his lessons awaited, and I would not let them go to waste.

I might have died once, but this would be my true rebirth.