A Knight's Journey: The Apprentice by Alexander C. Hoffman

Author:Alexander C. Hoffman [Hoffman, Alexander C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: UNKNOWN
Published: 2015-01-07T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 19

It was late in the day when Rowan finished with Darius. The evening hours had not yet begun, meaning that Rowan would have to wait for dinner. The trainers had long since released the other boys, allowing them to spend the rest of the day as they saw fit. Many continued to train while others rested or socialized.

“I am done with you for the day,” Darius said. “You are free to train as you see fit until the evening meal, after which you will return to the barracks. There is a curfew imposed on all trainees. If you are caught out after dark, you will be punished.”

Rowan nodded his assent. He did not like the idea of a curfew, but he had nowhere to go in the middle of the night and voicing his displeasure would only make his life harder.

“Am I allowed in the woods?” Rowan indicated the wooded area on the opposite side of the fields. He had no reason to go exploring, but he wanted to know what was off limits just in case he decided to spend his time alone.

“You are not allowed in the kingswood without the permission of myself or another trainer. Exercises are occasionally conducted in there when we want to teach tracking and hunting, but the forest is forbidden to you while alone. Am I understood?”

“Yes, Trainer Darius.”

The head trainer stared at Rowan with a piercing glare, but after a moment he appeared satisfied that Rowan would keep his word. Darius turned and continued speaking. “In the morning, you will rise with the other boys and break your fast. When you have finished eating, you will make your way to the fields and perform warm-up exercises with the other boys before you begin training.”

Darius then left Rowan to himself. He stood alone on the practice fields. Most of the boys were gone, likely back to the barracks, but there were still others who had elected to continue training. Several boys stood shooting targets where Rowan had worked with Trainer Caius. Caius was gone, but another trainer was watching the boys as they practiced. Other boys were wrestling and a few were even sparring with wooden swords.

Rowan looked around at the emptied fields, trying to find something that would serve to occupy his time. Working all day with Darius had drained him, but the prospect of returning to the barracks to sit and wait for dinner was not appealing. By this time, Rowan recognized most of the equipment on the fields, having practiced with much of it only hours before. He thought about joining the boys who were sparring, but decided against it. They were evenly matched in numbers and skill, and Rowan did not wish to disrupt their group. But practicing with a blade appealed to him, so he turned and made his way back to the barracks to retrieve Tenro.

Tenro lay on Rowan’s bunk, exactly where he had left it earlier that day. Rowan retrieved the blade from where it rested.

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