I spent the next three hours parrying and blocking Kaine’s attacks between him giving me instructions and him knocking me flat with his shield. I had my rapier in hand and my halberd strapped to my back. He was a shield bearer, so his strikes were slower, but boy did it hurt when I wasn’t fast enough to dodge one, my halberd slowing me down, but I wanted to get used to its weight. We weren’t using training weapons, so any and all strikes left deep gashes and bruises behind. I didn’t mind too much, except my body was slow to clot any of the bleeding without mana.

  I was worried Serenity would be bored, but based on the gasps, oohs, and cheers from her, she was anything but bored. We didn’t have the training field to ourselves, so of course we gathered a crowd eventually while new recruits were taking a break. I really could’ve used one myself. My knees were protesting from the abuse I’d given them earlier and my arm, back, and meck muscles were screaming at me to stop.

  I ducked under his sword, kicked his shield away and went to stab at him with my rapier when he switched up, bringing his shield down on my head, effectively knocking me flat on my stomach.

  “Yield.” He said, highly amused.

  “No.” I groaned, coughing as I inhaled dirt. I tried to roll away, but he set his boot on my back, keeping me in place.

  He set his shield down and poked me in the back of my neck with his sword. “You’re dead, give up.”

  “Fine, I yield.” I grumbled, rolling onto my back as soon as he moved his foot off of me.

  “I’m surprised you have even a fraction of the agility you’ve got, especially without your mana.” He said, holding a hand out and pulling me to my feet.

  “I think I can thank the dragons for that one.” I groaned, stretching my sore muscles.

  “Dragons?” He gaped at me. “Dragons…” He repeated again, unsure if he heard me correctly the first time.

  “Dragons.” I nodded.

  “Dragons?” He sheathed his sword.

  “Yes, dragons.” I snorted. “I trained with dragons on occasion in Deepwood.”

  “Don’t say that out loud to anyone else… they really wouldn’t like you then.”

  “Jealousy is a green-eyed monster.” I said in a sing-song voice as I walked over to where Serenity was sitting, chatting with some of the recruits.

  “Hey!” She said, waving me over. “This is my partner Rivienne. Rivienne, this is Derrek, Sneha, Jade, and-”

  “Jamal.” Jamal said, holding a hand out to shake mine.

  “Nice to meet y’all.” I smiled, shaking his hand and sheathing my rapier.

  “Watching you fight, man, that was something.” Jade said, clearly impressed.

  “Thanks.” I said, pressing my hand down over a particularly deep gash in my arm, trying to stop the bleeding. I couldn’t feel the pain yet, but once my adrenaline wore off, that would be a different story.

  “Yeah, I’d like to take you on sometime, see how you hold up to me.” Sneha said, showing me her rapier.

  I gasped, stepping closer to look at it. “This is beautiful!” I went to take it from her when she held it out to me, but thought better of it when I saw my blood-covered hands. I leaned forward instead, examining the intricately detailed guard.

  “Thank you, my parents had it commissioned from the southern kingdom’s weaponsmiths before…” Sneha trailed off. Before the war started.

  I nodded in understanding, all the more appreciative that I got to see one of their beautiful weapons again. I stepped back and unsheathed my rapier again so she could look at it. She took it from me, shrugging at the blood on the hilt.

  “Huh, it’s very simple, but still elegant. I like this.” Sneha said, running her fingers over the hilt. “It’s lighter than mine, but still effective.”

  “Let’s go, back to work!” One of the mentors called from up the field.

  “Well, see you around.” Jade said, clapping me on the shoulder before she sauntered off, followed by Jamal and Derrek.

  “See ya!” Serenity called after them as I waved.

  Sneha passed the rapier back to me and waved before running after the rest.

  “So much for being treated like outcasts.” Serenity said smugly, as Kaine walked up to us.

  “They’re new. Give it time and you’ll see the ugly side of things.” He said, setting his shield down next to us. “You’re up. I’m not an archer, but I’ve seen enough archers to know what they should and shouldn’t do. Show me what you’ve got.”

  “Sure thing!” She popped up and grabbed her bow, fitted it with an arrow, pulled the string back, and aimed. “I’m going to hit the hole in the wall over there.”

  “What hole in the wall?” Kaine asked, squinting at the wall about a hundred yards away from us.

  “It’s in the shade of the tree, four stone blocks over from the lowest branch. 6 stones up.”

  “How can you even see that?” I squinted, trying to see what she was talking about.

  “You forget what I am and who taught me.” She turned to wink at me before turning back to her target.

  “Fine, fire away.” Kaine shrugged.

  She released the arrow and we watched it sail over the field, hitting a spot on the wall. The arrow blended in with the stone, so I couldn’t even see where it hit from this distance.

  “Did you get it?” I asked, holding my hand up to block the sun from my eyes.

  “Of course I did.” She grinned, skipping over to the wall.

  Kaine shrugged at me and we followed, headed to the wall. Sure enough, there was a hole in the stone, presumably from someone hitting it with a weapon, her arrow lodged in the middle of it.

  “I’ll be damned.” Kaine said, impressed. “We could really use a lot more of you lagonai in the army.”

  “Mm, yeah, except for the little fact that 98% of my race was pretty much forced off the continent a few hundred years ago.” She looked away and snatched her arrow out of the stone.

  “Do you know where they went?” I asked, wanting to comfort her, but knowing she wouldn’t like that. She was Shalana’s sister after all. I hadn’t seen that many similarities between the two, but I’d only just met her. I didn’t want to accidentally get on her bad side too.

  “Nope. It’s just been Shalana and I,” she shrugged. “Anyway, what’s next?”

  “How quickly can you shoot moving targets? That might be all we have time for before the mock battle this evening.”

  “Mock battle?” I groaned, looking down at myself.

  “There’s one every evening for the next two weeks.” Kaine smirked at me when I scowled.

  “Can we at least get some water?” I asked, wiping wet blood off my hand onto my pants.

  “You can get some water, the jugs are over there by the building, and then go see the healers under the tent over there.” Kaine pointed to the white tents on the opposite side of the field.

  “Cool, I’ll be back.” I waved to Serenity who only grinned at me.

  I headed to the low building by the field entrance and grabbed a jug, chugging water from it.

  “Well, look what we have here.” A voice sounded from behind me.

  I turned and grinned at Rhett who stood behind me in his armor, a couple of his squad mates with him.

  “Gods, what happened to you?” He asked, his smile vanishing.

  “Kaine.” I snorted. “It’s fine, I’m going to the healers after I finish getting something to drink.”

  “Of course they paired you with Kaine.” Rhett rolled his eyes.

  “Kaine’s not terrible, you know.” A tall woman beside Rhett said, shifting to put her hand on her hip.

  “I know he’s not terrible, but he has no concept of what’s too much for new recruits.” Rhett shook his head, his green eyes flashing in frustration. “Look what he did to her, on her first day of all things.” He motioned to me.

  “It’s fine.” I shrugged. “I’m sure I looked worse last night.”

  “Last night?” Rhett growled, reaching down to grab my arms to inspect them. “Last night, as in the… throne room… Rivienne. What exactly have you been up to?” Rhett all but snarled at me. “Please tell me the rumors aren’t true.”

  “Sorry.” I grinned sheepishly at him. “I wish I could, but yeah, the king kinda went whacko and-”

  “Sh!” The other guy on Rhett’s left hissed. “You’re just asking for trouble at this point.”

  “She is trouble.” Rhett glared at me. “Give me one good reason not to have you sent home this instant.”

  I shook my wrist in his grasp, drawing his attention to the lumpy bracelet under my sleeve. “I have two choices, I can either rot in prison for participating in the riots or I can stay in the army where they can keep an eye on me.”

  “What about everyone else? Have they been given that choice?” The woman asked.

  “I dunno.” I shook my head. “I would hope so, at least something similar.”

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  Rhett finally let go of my arms and pinched the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes.

  “Esmeralda.” The woman reached out a hand.

  “Rivienne.” I went to shake her hand, but thought better of it, remembering the blood on my hands. I showed her my hand and saluted instead. She rolled her eyes and snatched my hand anyway, shaking it firmly.

  “Xander.” the other guy said, also shaking my hand.

  “Nice to meet you both.” I nodded.

  “Rhett’s told us a lot about you, causing trouble everywhere you go.” Esmeralda chuckled. “At least your reputation is holding up.”

  “I’ve seen you with Princess Igraine, haven’t I?” Xander asked.

  “More than likely.” I shrugged.

  Rhett finally sighed and dropped his hand, glaring down his nose at me. “I expect to see you every evening from now on. Even if it’s just you walking past with a wave. If I’m not paying attention, you wait until I see you.”

  “But Mom-”

  “No buts.” He crossed his arms. “I’m serious Rivienne. If I don’t see you, I’m coming to find you.”

  “Aww, look at mother hen checking on her chick.” Esmeralda laughed.

  “Ooo, you’re in big trouble now.” Xander chuckled, hiding his mouth behind his hands.

  “You can’t keep her safe from everything. Especially if she’s out on a long patrol.” Esmeralda said, laying a hand on his shoulder.

  “I made a promise to Ramira Nightingale and Torgrud that I would keep an eye on you and I plan to do just that. If you’re going on a long patrol, I expect to know about it.”

  “Rhett, I’m already having to check in with Queen Elincia and Lord Silvo, I can’t ju-”

  “Good. What’s one more person?” Rhett asked leaning closer. “I’m deadly serious Rivienne.”

  “Fine, Rhett.” I took a deep breath. “Every day, I’ll come find you. Don’t you have other people to worry about, though?”

  “Rivienne.” He glared at me before leaning closer to whisper in my ear. “Think about James.”

  With a pang, I looked away.

  “Let’s go.” Rhett said, walking away.

  “It was good to finally meet you, Riv.” Esmeralda said, patting me on the shoulder as she walked passed.

  “Agreed.” Xander said, grinning as I looked up at them, watching them walk away.

  “Damn you, Rhett.” I sighed, before drinking more water. “Damn you for using James against me like that.” I looked up and watched Shalana hit 6 targets in quick succession before I set the water jug down and turned, making my way to the healers’ tent. My adrenaline was starting to wear off finally so I was starting to feel every cut and bruise, but I knew the pain would be gone soon.

  I ducked into the tent and locked up when all six healers' attention turned to me, glaring as I’d interrupted their conversation.

  “Um, hi.” I waved awkwardly. “I was told to come here?”

  “I’ll say.” One stood up, her blue eyes boring into mine. “Samsara, isn’t this one yours?” she called over her shoulder.

  “Unfortunately.” Samsara rolled her eyes, leaning back in her chair. “You’re closer though, go for it.”

  “I swear, Samsara… It’s a wonder you’re still a healer.” The woman in front of me said under her breath. “Sorry about her. Here, sit on this cot.” she said, pointing to the one next to us.

  I sat down and waited for her to pull up a stool

  “She was just talking about you, the new “green-haired idiot” as she called you.” The woman chuckled, shoving her blonde hair behind her ears as she leaned forward to grab my arm to heal it. “She won’t stop talking about you, I think she’s smitten.”

  “Oh, please.” Samsara said, from where she lounged. “Smitten? With that one? Absolutely not.”

  “Ha, so you can hear me.” The blonde woman laughed.

  “Selectively.” One of the guys chuckled.

  “Whatever.” Samsara rolled her eyes.

  The blonde woman let go of my arm and grabbed the other one. “My name’s Sarah, by the way.”

  “Hi Sarah. I’m Rivienne, but I’m sure you already knew that.” I looked away.

  “I didn’t, actually.” She smiled warmly. “Though, I have heard the rumors about a green-haired mage in the capital.”

  I sighed. “Which ones?”

  “Just the fact that the Order is intimidated by you, rumors from last night, rumors about some riots, and a few other things, but I’d rather not add to the gossip.”

  “I wish I could say they aren’t true, but from what I can tell, I guess most of them are…” I sighed, wishing I could be buried under a pile of blankets and pillows right now instead of here.

  “Based on your injuries, I’m sure there’s a lot more that haven’t gone around yet that are true.” She glared at me then, tipping my head back to look at my neck.

  “Samsara!” She suddenly barked, turning to glare at the woman in question.

  “What, Sarah?” Samsara asked, glaring at her as she sat up.

  “Get over here and explain to me exactly why you didn’t heal these this morning.”

  “Just as soon as you explain to me why I was the mage put in charge of her.”

  “You’re the mage Lord Silvo chose. The rest of us have our own squadrons to handle while you didn’t have one yet.” Sarah answered evenly. “Now get over here and do your job.”

  “Fine.” Samsara said, glaring at us as she stood and walked over. She held her hand out and stopped, her brows pinching together as she focused.

  “You can’t heal, can you?” I blurted out before slapping a hand over my mouth.

  “Of course I can.” She snapped. After a few seconds, she was finally able to start healing the bruises on my neck.

  “Hmm, I see.” Sarah said to herself as she went back to healing the rest of the bruises and gashes on my shoulers and back.

  “See what?” Samsara snapped.

  “Nothing, Samsara. However, you and I are going to have a conversation later. No, there’s no getting out of it. As your superior, I reserve that right.”

  Samsara was quiet for a moment, before finally nodding. “Yes, Ma’am.”

  Sarah waved Samsara off after a few minutes and took over healing the bruises on my neck.

  “You’re lucky he didn’t crush your windpipe completely.” Sarah said when she was done.

  “I was lucky in more ways than one.” I sighed. “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome. Now, I don’t want to see you again today, understand me?”

  I stood up and saluted. “Yes, Ma’am, but there’s a mock battle today and I can’t promise a whole lot-”

  “Fine.” She sighed exasperatedly. “I just don’t want to see you covered in that many wounds again. Ah, one more thing.” She said, using her magic to repair the holes in my clothes.

  “I hear you, loud and clear. Thank you again.” I said, before I turned and left the tent, jogging to where Kaine and Serenity were. I waved to Rhett, Esmeralda, and Xander as I passed by them, standing to the side, watching the new recruits.

  “Took you long enough.” Kaine said as I jogged up to them, just in time to watch Serenity unleash a volley of arrows from her bow.

  “How is she able to do that?” I gaped.

  “Something about a specially made bow given to her by Shalana from another family member.” Kaine shrugged, glancing at me. “Glad to hear you have your full voice back now.”

  “Samsara and Sarah healed it.”

  “Samsara… healed?” He snapped his head around to look at me.

  “Sort of…” I shrugged. “It looked like she was having a hard time.”

  “Hmm.” He hummed before turning away again, his eyebrows scrunched in thought.

  I looked up as a horn sounded from the other end of the field by the healers’ tent.

  “Well then, time for the mock battle.” Kaine said, grabbing his shield from where it rested on the ground at his feet. “Are you ready?”

  “Of course.” I said, giddy with excitement. It wasn’t a real battle, but I’d get to see how I fared with other knights beside me.

  “Let’s go then.” He said, headed over to where Captain Burkhardt was standing on a platform waiting for all the new recruits to gather up.

  “Come on, I don’t want to be late!” Serenity said, grabbing my hand and pulling me with as she took off at a run. I let out a laugh and followed her, matching her pace. She was quite a bit taller than I was, but thank the gods I’d gotten used to running through the trees chasing the dragons and fae as they flew overhead.

  She veered to the left and I followed, realizing she was headed for Jade, Jamal, and Derrek who waved as we ran up to them.

  “Hey guys!” Jade said, grinning from ear to ear.

  Her excitement was contagious and I found myself grinning too.

  “Think we’re gonna get put in a group for today at least?” Jamal asked, his tall, lanky form letting him peer over peoples’ heads with ease.

  “I hope so.” Derrek said quietly, glancing around.

  “Listen up!” Captain Burkhardt bellowed, getting everyone’s attention with ease. No longer the kindly man I met earlier. “Soon we will have our first mock battle, this time, small squadrons against each other! We’re starting earlier than we normally would, so that our Captains have time to go around and rearrange groups. 5 people need to group up together, spread your groups out around the field. Each group should have one shield bearer, two melee, one ranged, and one mage! Now-” He paused as someone stepped forward to speak to him.

  “Apologies, I still have not gotten used to the change… No mage. Two melee and two ranged. Again! One shield bearer, two melee and two ranged. Get moving!” He bellowed, before turning away to speak with the captains.

  “Cool, they’re leaving it to us.” Jade said, bouncing on her heels.

  “I’m our shield bearer.” Derrek said, tapping his shield where it was leaned against him.

  “Serenity and I are our ranged.” Jamal said, showing us his bow.

  “I guess that leaves you and I.” Jade said, grinning at me, hefting her axe into the air.

  “Sure does!” I smiled back. “Where’s Sneha?” I looked around for her.

  “She’s with her friends over that way somewhere.” Jade said, jutting her chin out in the general direction.

  “Ah.” I said, shifting my halberd on my back so it sat more comfortably.

  “Let’s go over that way.” Serenity said, pointing to a spot closer to the wall, away from the others.

  Jade and Jamal chatted about some of the other people as we walked to the empty spot, wondering which group we’d be put up against first.

  “Which weapon are you gonna go with for this one?” Serenity asked, bumping me with her shoulder.

  “It depends on where we’ll be fighting at. If there’s room up high for me, then I’ll probably be up there if at all possible to start with.”

  “Why would you be up high?” Derrek asked, leaning against the wall.

  “We have a cool new way of fighting.” Serenity grinned before telling them our method.

  “Sneak attack, I like it.” Jade grinned, hefting her axe onto her shoulder. “Definitely not something they’d be expecting.”

  “That’s the idea.” I nodded.

  “We’ll then, we’ll draw them out and you three do your thing, and I think we’ve got this in the bag.” Jade nodded, humming to herself.

  We stood in relative silence, watching and waiting as other groups were split apart and re-formed with other members, some groups were sent ahead to another part of the training grounds, presumably to where they would be having their mock battle. One of the other captains passed us, nodding in approval, heading to the next group.

  It felt like hours went by before it was our turn, the sun hanging low in the sky now. The captain came up and motioned for us to follow, so we did, waiting for Derrek to heft his shield onto his arm.

  We walked silently through the grounds, veteran knights stopping what they were doing to watch us pass, sizing us up. I instinctively ducked between Derrek and Serenity, Jade and Jamal in front of us.

  “What’s wrong?” Serenity leaned down to whisper.

  “Nothing, yet.” I whispered back, wishing I had a hood to cover my hair with.

  Derrek gave me a strange look, but said nothing. We kept walking, leaving the training grounds completely, headed into the city itself.

  My eyes widened in surprise as I realized several of the many city squares had been turned into battle arenas of sorts with stands for people to sit in and watch if they wanted, a barrier placed in a circle around the area, mock buildings set up in the middle to represent a city street. The stands were full of onlookers, people watching as they bustled passed.

  “The rules are as follows.” The captain cleared his throat. “No deaths, no maiming, and no hurting the civilians.” He said before pointing us to go stand in a box just inside the barrier. “Ranged fighters, you can climb the buildings once the whistle blows.” He said before he walked away.

  “Okay, here goes.” Serenity said, nervously rolling her bow back and forth in her hands.

  “Just do what we’ve practiced.” I said, trying to sound more confident than I felt, my heart racing.

  “We’ve got this.” Jade said, her face now uncharacteristically serious.

  “Of course we have this.” Jamal grinned, holding his bow up. “Just do what you do best and Serenity and I have your back.”

  Derrek nodded, moving to stand in front of us.

  “Left or right, Jamal?” Serenity asked, nodding to the buildings just in front of us.

  “Left.”

  “Perfect.” Serenity smiled, visibly relaxing. “What about you, Riv?”

  “If I’m looking at it right, I think there’s a gap between the building in front of the building on the right, so I’ll drop down in that.”

  “Sounds like a plan.” Serenity nodded.

  “What if we aren’t able to draw the other squad out?” Jade asked, looking back at me.

  “Then I’ll swap to my rapier and, as you said, do what I do best.”

  “Huh, I like you.” Jade flashed a grin at me before turning back around, serious again.

  I chuckled, shaking my head. Genius and madness, meet our good friend chaos.