Soul of the Fire

Captain Tolbert pointed at Annette and asked her to name a fair punishment. She thought a moment and then said she thought the boys should apologize. Carine and Emmeline, the other two Haken girls, spoke up that they agreed. He asked Estelle. She pushed back her dark Ander hair and said the boys should be kicked out of the army. Marie Fauvel agreed, but added they could be let back in the next year. The four boys, when asked their idea of fair punishment, said just to be told not to do it again.

Captain Tolbert turned to Beata. "You hope to be a sergeant. What would you say was a good punishment, if you were a sergeant?"

Beata had her answer ready. "If we're all equal, then we should all be treated equal. Since the four of them think it's so funny, the whole squad should have to dig a new latrine instead of having dinner." She folded her arms. "If any of us gets hungry as we're digging, well, we have these four boys to thank."

Captain Tolbert smiled with satisfaction. "Beata has named a fair punishment. That will be it, then. If anyone objects, they can head home for their mothers' skirts because they don't have the courage it takes to be a soldier and stick up for their fellow soldiers."

Estelle and Marie, Anders both, cast dark glares at the Ander boys. The boys hung their heads and stared at the ground. The Haken girls weren't any happier about it, but the boys were more worried about the glares from the Ander girls.

"Now," Captain Tolbert said, "let's finish the drill so you can all get to digging when the dinner bell is rung."

No one groaned. They had learned better than to complain.

Sweat ran down Beata's neck as they marched two abreast along the narrow road. It was a path, really-just two ruts from the supply wagons. Captain Tolbert led them, Beata was at the head of the five soldiers in the left rut, and Marie Fauvel marched to her right, at the head of the five soldiers behind her.

Beata felt pride marching in front of her squad of soldiers. She had worked hard the two weeks of training, and had been named sergeant, just as Lieutenant Yarrow said she might. Beata had the stripes of the rank sewn on each shoulder. Marie, an Ander, was named corporal-second-in-command of the squad. The other eight had earned the rank of soldier.

Beata guessed the only real earning to it was that if you got kicked out before you finished the training, then you didn't get to be a soldier. None of them that started got kicked out, though.

The uniform was uncomfortable in the afternoon heat, although she was getting used to it. They all wore green trousers. Over that they wore long padded and quilted tan tunics cinched at the waist with a light belt. Over the tunic they wore chain mail.

Because the mail was heavy, the women had to wear only vested chain mail, without sleeves. The men had to wear mail with arms of mail, too, and it was longer. They also had to wear hoods of mail that covered their head and necks. When they were marching, they swathed it down around their necks. When they had to wear it, they wore a leather helmet over top. They all had leather helmets.

Beata was thankful the women didn't have to wear all the rest of it, though. Being the sergeant, she had to sometimes pick up the men's mail to inspect it. She couldn't imagine marching all day with that much weight. What she had was enough. The fun of marching with a heavy sword had worn off; now it was a chore.

They each had a long cloak, but with it being as warm as it was, the cloaks were only buttoned to their right shoulders, letting them hang to the side. Over the mail they wore their sword belts. Additionally, they each carried a pack and, of course, their two spears each and a knife worn opposite their sword on the same belt.

Beata thought they looked a smart squad. The pikemen she had seen back at the Twenty-third Regiment had been the best-looking soldiers. They were a sight. The men were handsome in the pikemen outfits. She had pleasant dreams about those men. The women somehow looked dull, by comparison, even though they had the same outfits.

Beata saw something dark ahead, standing up above the field of grass. As they got closer, she thought it looked to be ancient stone. Off behind it, closer to them, were three squat stone buildings. The roofs were shingled, maybe with slate.

Beata felt a twinge of dread at seeing the huge, silent, awful thing.

It was the Dominie Dirtch.

The Dominie Dirtch were the one thing of the Hakens the Anders kept to use. Beata recalled the lessons she learned about how the Hakens murdered countless Anders with these weapons. They were terrible things. It looked as old as it was, its edges softened over time by the weather, the wind, and the hands that tended it.

At least now that the Anders governed them, they were only instruments of peace.