Rosemarked by Livia Blackburne

Author:Livia Blackburne
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Disney Book Group
Published: 2017-11-23T05:00:00+00:00

Trials for Neju’s Guard start at dawn. Naudar and I climb out of bed before sunrise and march, bleary-eyed, to the training fields.

“Nervous?” he asks.

“I don’t know enough to be nervous. People don’t actually die in these, do they?”

Naudar purses his lips. “Not often,” he says.

Not the most comforting reply, but the threat of danger feels right, somehow, like an old friend. I wonder if it’s normal to feel this way. “So why did you decide to try out?” I ask him. “Walgash convince you too?”

“I’ve been watching Neju’s Guard march out of the city since before I could grow a beard. I’ve always wanted to wear their colors, serve the empire as best I can.”

I’m starting to see why the others tease Naudar so mercilessly. With his idealism and unrelentingly immaculate appearance, it’s hard not to. “You really are insufferable, aren’t you?”

His grin is unrepentant. “You’re just jealous. Don’t feel bad. Everybody is.”

There are scribes seated at a table out front, and we take our place in line.

“Dineas, no family name,” I tell the scribe.

“Neju’s Guard, Dineas?” I jump. I hadn’t realized Arxa was also sitting at the table.

“Yes, sir.”

“You understand that the trials are hard?” he says matter-of-factly. “We make no allowance for the recently ill. Many healthy men who have been training for months do not make it through.”

I square my shoulders. “I understand, sir. I want to learn my limits.”

Arxa holds my eyes for a second, and then motions toward the training fields.

I take my place among the soldiers on the well-trampled grass as we wait for everyone to drift in. The hundred current soldiers of Neju’s Guard are lined up at the front, facing us, wearing the black-and-silver sashes of their unit. I see a few familiar faces—Walgash, Masista, Cas. I reach into the pocket of my tunic and pick up the flower Zivah gave me. It’s dried by now, and I take care not to crush it. I’m already looking forward to the next time I can make it back to the rosemarked compound. Walgash and company are friendly, but nobody listens quite as well as Zivah. I can let my guard down around her without worrying about saying some stupid amnesic remark that the guys won’t let me live down for days.

Also, she smells better. Though some of her potions could rival Walgash’s post-training musk. I make a silent resolution that the next time I see her, I’ll tell her that her gift brought me victory.

One of Neju’s Guard steps forward. “Commander Arxa of the Amparan Empire,” he calls.

The slap of sandals hitting dirt echoes across the field as three hundred soldiers snap to attention. Then there’s only the sound of Arxa’s footsteps as he walks to the front.

“Swear fealty to the emperor,” he commands.

We salute a portrait of an older man with a silver crown, purple robes, graying hair, and a long gray beard. “Long live Emperor Kurosh,” we say with one voice. I look at the emperor’s face with interest. So this is the man we all serve.

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