Below the Peak (Sola)(7)
I pledge to the men, women, and children of Murisa
To the peace and prosperity that threads our hearts together
No beast, creature or man shall conquer us
I lay my body and pour my blood for you!
******
It was the first day of training, and all the recruits were gathered in the open field anxiously waiting for the first command. Bara stood in front of them, hands on his hips. His small smirk was the only warning they got of how hard he was going to be on them from that day forward.
“I want you to run around this wall until I say stop,” he said casually as if it was the easiest thing to do. The military wall surrounded the whole city. It stretched broad and long in miles.
Everyone looked in disbelief, thinking the same what she was thinking. They wouldn’t make it without collapsing. Nara’s eyes followed him as he got on his horse and turned to them with a scowl. “What are you waiting for?”
Nara had never seriously run in her life, chasing her little sister didn’t count. The fact that he would be watching them from the top of his horse terrified her. She stood anxious and afraid there like so many others, feet unwilling to move. One thin, tall boy who seemed confident enough broke out from the line and started out. Another boy followed him, and soon enough the rest began to jog. Not wanting to be the last one, she began to run too.
At the very beginning, everyone ran fast as they could, desperate to impress the captain and not be a loser. What would happen to the last person? will he punish the loser? And other scary thoughts crossed their minds as they ran. Anxiety reeked from their sweat and etched on their pulled and scrunched faces and fast movement of their feet. Each one tried to pass the other like fire was one lick away from their heels and cared even less they were making a fool of themselves to military officials watching them with amusement along the way. A handful of minutes had just passed and not a full quarter of the wall covered, the recruits started slowing down. Nara began to lag, lungs scorching in her chest with desperation for air. Sweat streamed down her face, her tunic plastered on her back like a second skin. She breathed heavily, her open mouth feeling like a small desert. Nara commanded her cramping legs to take a step as one recruit moved past her after the other as she fell behind slowly. She could hear the horse’s hooves loud, warning her he was not far off from her. Wincing from them sharp pain jabbing her ribs, Nara took a quick peek of other recruits nearby. Beaten to the core is what they appeared to be as they struggled to continue. From the drag of feet, someone was bound to faint any moment.
“Keep up, his right behind us” A gingered boy who looked familiar whispered aloud enough as he ran past her. Nara tried to catch up to him yet breathing turned to one difficult task she had ever done. She sharply realised how she had been taking for granted the act of breathing all her life when she started coughing. Her chest felt too tight. Her face flushed red, resembling a cherry tomato. Nara halted and crouched, holding her hand to her chest, struggling to catch a breath. Black and white spots faded in and out before her eyes as a light dizziness plagued her head.
She felt his presence before his shadow even fell on her, yet she only cared for one thing. To live. If she didn’t get water, she was going to die.
“Water...” Nara wheezed. “Water please” she begged to anyone who heard her. No one came to her help. Really, were they not going to help her? She was astounded. Nara lifted her head, eyes teary and looked at the captain who just sat comfortably and watched her. His calmness irked her. Did he enjoy her suffering? Her body shook with coughs. Her gaze shifted over his horse, searching desperately until she found what she was looking for. Strength Nara didn’t know she had left surged through her legs and managed her to stand and reach for the leather water bag tied on his saddle. With jerky fast movements, Nara undid its rope before he captured her hand. With hands shaking, she tore its stopper and brought the hole to her mouth and took a full gulp. She coughed up the water. Still, she drank more, as some spilt down on her chin. She drank until her throat was no longer dry and itchy. However, the coughs kept on going. She tried breathing through her mouth. A hand snatched the bottle in her hand. She looked up, and it was him.
“Close your mouth and breathee through your nose” Barra ordered. Not moving, he glanced at her impatiently. Warily, Nara shut her mouth and did what he ordered, wanting him out of her hair as soon as possible. When it felt like forever, her chest eased, and her breathing lightened.
“Next time I recommend not to run with your mouth open” were his harsh words to her. Nara reddened in embarrassment. Barra mounted the horse and shouted. “Stop!” The recruits all halted, all too eager and turned his way. They looked pale as death.
“Follow me and keep on walking until you can all breathe without looking like a bunch of dying fish.” He said the last words with displeasure. He turned the horse around and rode the way they came from.
When they got back, the captain made them run again, ordering them to lift their knees up while they did it. They did nothing other than running the whole day until late afternoon when they were discharged to eat. Everyone rushed to the huge dining hall like sweaty cattle rubbing against one another to get in the barn. The room consisted of a long wooden tables and benches. Three men and two women stood at the far end with large buckets sizzling with smoke that she guessed were filled with food they were going to serve them.
Nara joined the line, dragging her feet as the line moved painfully slow. She kept quiet as others engaged in small talks, familiarising with one another. Nara was in between the line of feeling nervous and excited about the new situation. Would she able to make friends here and not be the bullied or piss off anyone? Nara worried. She had never been among so many people before. Nara missed out the balls which were thrown every other week by the lords, often hosted for trivial matters, excuses for the rich to mingle and size each other up. Whenever her whole family was obliged to go, she often had found herself alone in the corner of the room watching her parents talk to other royalties. Most of the night Nara had ended up not talking to anyone except for Helle when she attended. Most at the banquets never bothered talking to her because they thought she was too shy. She was consciously aware a part of that is her fault because neither did she bother to talk to them. However, this time, she’d like to change even just a little. Eyes shifted to those her around her, to the short girl ahead of her. Maybe she should initiate first? She worried her bottom lip, palms feeling a little sweaty. You can do it, Nara, she told herself, mastering some courage.