A Soldier's Life

Chapter 217: Fatherly Advice

“I don’t understand,” I replied cautiously.

We were out of earshot of the others, and the nearby window let in the white noise of the ocean’s waves crashing against the rocks. Konstantin was irritated and not hiding it. He leaned in closer to me and whispered, “You held back in our contest, and I’m not talking about your spell forms. Your archery was adequate in Macha, and now you’re steadier with a bow than men who have been shooting for a decade. If I didn’t know better, I’d guess an ancient elven warrior possessed you in the city and is puppeteering you.”

I resisted saying, “You figured me out.” Konstantin’s eyes were too serious, and he has a fascination with the undead. “My archery in Macha was adequate?” I asked instead with an arched eyebrow.

Konstantin waved his arm dismissively, “For the general army, not for a legionnaire. What happened in the dungeon?” He pressed, but I didn’t fail to notice his other hand was below the table, out of my sight, and that shoulder was tense.

Konstantin’s curiosity was clearly eating him alive, and he had doubts that needed answering. I think the realization that I had surpassed him in swordsmanship was what triggered this unexpected meeting, so I focused on that. “I spent a lot of time practicing in the dreamscape, and I had time to practice with the legionnaires at the Imperial Legion Hall. I even crossed blades with Primus Scorpio.”

“Primus Scorpio, that pixie prick? You must have been at the morning sessions,” Konstantin let his loathing for the man bleed through in his words.

“His spell form is about predicting what his opponents do before they do it,” I summarized what I gleaned from the encounter.

“Not a secret and not his only spell form. But you are avoiding my question. The dreamscape—fine. But you are faster, stronger, and much better conditioned. Did you find an artifact or a cache of apex essences? Maveith mentioned a few of the creatures you killed when talking to others in the company but shut up after being pressed by Brutus.” He focused on me like a Truthseeker.

I tried to deflect, as was my inclination when someone delved into my secrets. “Was the company sworn to secrecy on the location of the Shimmering Labyrinth?”

Konstantin nodded, “And its existence altogether. Keeping Mateo and Benito’s mouths shut is Adrian’s full-time job. I am sure others have talked as well, but we were allowed to keep our gains from the dungeon in return.”

“I was worried someone might come after the company for the runic weapons,” I said, concerned.

“It is a possibility, but Castile and Adrian are alert to it. If they were not quartered in a city now, I would be with them,” Konstantin admitted defensively. He did have some loyalty to the men and Castile. “I am sure most dukes are aware of what Castile’s company carries now, and it will filter down through the ranks of the First Citizens. I expect Brutus and Donte will be gone when I return. They are too foolish to realize that all the First Citizen wants is their runic weapons when they take them into service.”

“But Brutus doesn’t even have a runic weapon,” I said, confused.

Konstantin chuckled, finally relaxing a little, “And whatever First Citizen he falls into the service of will be disappointed when he learns he lacks one.” Konstantin refocused his eyes hard again, “Enough banter. How have you grown so much—so fast?”

“Why does it matter?” I replied defensively.

“Why? Because, besides Truthseeker Yanis, there have been no less than eight requests for your service since we returned from Caelora. Most can be attributed to that centaur’s ass First Citizen Boris trying to get his hands on your amulet. But Duke Tiberius wants you to serve as his granddaughter’s personal bodyguard. Duke Octavian filed a formal request for your service after the Gnoll Garden incident as well but deferred to Duke Tiberius as a favor to him. Everyone else has too low standing to be even considered. If there are enough whispers, eventually, your name will reach the Emperor’s ears.”

Konstantin’s argument was compelling. He whispered harshly, “You need to stand out, not outshine all the other stars in the sky like the sun. You continue this path, and you will be tested on a reader.” He added the last as a veiled threat. I think he assumed I would be afraid of showing my magic affinities, but there was also a sizable increase in the potential for my physical and mental attributes.

I nodded slowly in understanding that I should have held back some. Konstantin relaxed visibly and continued, “There are three men among the pups that you should be wary of. Truthseeker Yanis didn’t have the aether to question them more in-depth, but Castian, Hadrius, and Savino were all sponsored by allies of First Citizens Boris Angella and Justin Cicero.” He paused for a moment, “They were sponsored after your own reference was accepted to the Hounds.”

“And you are just telling me this now?” I said tersely.

“I have been keeping an eye on them, and you have been locking yourself in your room at night. We will be starting the hunts soon, so I thought you should be made aware,” Konstantin noted smugly.

I rolled my eyes to show my irritation. “The hunts?”

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Konstantin grumbled under his breath as I continued to sidestep his questions. “Yes. We train you to track a man. One pup is released into the wild, and the rest have to find him in a twenty-five square mile area. We marked the borders two days ago. With so few trainers, it is going to be hard to track all seventeen of you. Normally, a Hound is shadowing each pup; we lack that luxury.” Konstantin explained, exasperated at my unwillingness to answer his question.

I needed to give him something to satiate his curiosity. I removed my glove and showed him my shiny silver ring. “A ring of sustenance. I found it in the dungeon. It feeds off aether, and I only need a few hours of sleep and much less food.”

Konstantin’s eyes brightened as some understanding came to him. “Put the glove back on.” He eyed the back of a soldier washing plates. “And it works in tandem with your amulet?” I nodded. “So, you still have it then. Medusa’s curse, Zyna.” He said angrily. “She was supposed to take it from you and promise to return it after your training.” Konstantin’s mind was racing as his eyes darted at this complication.

Finally, he ordered, “Don’t use it. Don’t bring anything out of your space in front of the others, in fact. And I hope you didn’t tell anyone you had it with you, for Saturn’s sake.”

“I have been careful,” I said defensively. And wasn’t he the one pressing me for answers right now?

Konstantin waved his hand, annoyed, “You have Durandus’ collector in there as well?”

I tried to maintain a stoic, impassive visage but slowly nodded, admitting it. Konstantin wasn’t surprised. “Gods above and below. I had to kill Flavius to keep that secret. If the opportunity arises during training, I will give you a window to use it.” I was in shock at so many things he just said that I couldn’t speak.

“Do you want some of the essences?” I asked when I finally recovered.

He chewed on the question. “If you see fit to give me one, I wouldn’t refuse. Seeing Maveith train this last month, I assumed you two had quite the harvest in the Shimmering Labyrinth. Maybe I underestimated how great a harvest.” He rationalized my gains were solely from essences and started to stand, waiting for me to say something else.

When I didn’t, he added, “Always keep your secrets close. I thought I taught you better than this.” He turned and left with a purposeful stride, and I think I was supposed to feel guilty. The soldiers doing dishes averted their eyes to their task as he climbed the stairs. I rose and descended to my cell.

When I was in my room, I couldn’t decide if Konstantin was angry at me for not confiding in him, that I had surpassed his swordsmanship skill, or that I was showboating in front of the others. I ended up assuming it was a mix of all three. I took my two essences before settling in for the evening. Even though Konstantin had told me not to use the amulet, I did keep to my routine but only spent enough time inside to create the tomes in the library.

The next week was as Konstantin had told me. The morning beach training was shortened as we just ran two miles to the salt flats and back. The salt flats were large, very shallow pools the soldiers filled with saltwater. The sun evaporated the water, and the soldiers scraped the salt. The pools themselves were extremely old, from a long-forgotten empire. The soldiers sold salt for a little extra coin.

My own taste for Empire salt greatly diminished when I noticed the sea birds liked to bathe and defecate in the shallow water pools right after they were filled. I had thought salt came from salt mines, but the Empire had no salt mines when I asked Hearne. And being surrounded on all sides by enemies meant importing rock salt was only doable by sea.

I managed to restrain myself in combat practice. I never lost, but fought down to the level of my opponents. It was almost frustrating facing the other pups as I was not getting any better from it. Konstantin had chosen not to cross blades with me again, but Hearne and Jansen were willing.

Both men relied on their speed in combat. Before the Shimmering Labyrinth, I would have been at a disadvantage against them; now, I assessed their skill at a step below Konstantin. Seeing this, Konstantin frequently had both men attack me at once. The two worked well together, and I usually gained a bruise or two after a contest against the pair.

We started our tracking lessons in earnest as well in the afternoons. One Hound would hide in the twenty-five square mile zone, and we would all have to find him. At first, they would leave obvious signs of passage but got more and more devious and stealthy. When they started setting crippling traps, we learned this was no longer a game. I stepped on a concealed small pit and got two metal nails through my foot when I was sprinting after Cato in the low light. I cursed as Konstantin didn’t want me to heal in front of the others and was forced to limp and find healer Lithe.

Konstantin was also right about Castian, Hadrius, and Savino. They shadowed me under the pretense of staying close to the prodigy and constantly hinting that we should form a pack together for the hunts. Maybe it was Konstantin’s warning, but I sensed their duplicitous nature now.

The most useful part of the day was Hearne’s lectures on the creatures of Desia. It felt like there was a never-ending stream of horrors that could kill you: goblins, giants, elementals, owlbears, gnolls, dire animals, dryads, undead, giant insects, dragons, drakes, wyverns, gargoyles, trolls, troglodytes, ogres, pixies, golems, bugbears… the list seemed endless. Hearne had over one hundred creatures he planned to educate us about. I wanted to follow up his lectures by reading my own bestiaries in my mind space for comparison, but I was limited to leaving notes from the lectures to review later.

We finished archery practice against targets on a big rope swing. Hitting a moving target was magnitudes more difficult than hitting a stationary target. Still, with the slower-swinging targets, I was accurate at 25 yards. Distances over 30 yards or with faster-swinging targets, and my hit rate dropped considerably. Hearne told me it just took practice, and soon, it would become instinct on where I would need to aim.

Konstantin suddenly stopped the lesson. “Enough time with your bows. Retrieve your arrows!” Everyone rushed as his tone indicated haste. As we were inspecting our retrieved arrows, Konstantin roared, “It is time for your first Pup Hunt! Whoever catches the prey tonight gets tomorrow off!”

Everyone was silent as we were told this was coming. The gleam in Konstantin’s eye told me I was not going to like his next words. “Tonight’s quarry is Eryk. You have a two-minute head start! Starting now!” Fuck you very much, old man. I shouldered my quiver and sprinted into the trees.

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