Iron and Wood #Wattys2017

Chapter Three

"Sung!"

Shal stopped. Was this as far as she was going to get?

She turned around, seeing an older woman marching down the hall towards her. Her hair was silver-blonde, pulled into a tight bun and her face was pale and veiny, with skin clinging to her sunken cheeks and narrow blue eyes. Dairine came to a stop, eyeing her suspiciously.

"You are supposed to be resting before your role in the Turning tomorrow. Has Marius assigned you to patrol tonight?"

"No ma'am," Shal forced herself not to back away. Marius' lieutenant was the second oldest and most prestigious of the Templars, in charge of raising and training the young recruits. This was Shal and Felix's last year under her thumb before being deployed to some distant corner of the Empire, and Shal would not miss her.

Dairine looked at her expectantly. In a second, a sharp little hand flicked out, striking Shal above one ear. She cried out, her hand going up to touch it.

"Then where are you going in full armour, girl?"

"Just...to the City," Shal lied. "I thought I would go help the patrols, in case of a riot."

Dairine looked at her for a long time.

"Stay inside the walls."

"Yes, of course."

Shal turned and walked a little too quickly to the door at the end of the hall. When it closed, she knew Dairine could no longer see her and picked up her pace to a jog, running down the twisting path through the training yards to the stables.

The stable boys were grooming the last few horses before putting them in their stalls for the night. Shal lurked outside the door until one passed by carrying a bucket of grain, and she snagged his shirt, dragging him in close before he could cry out. The grain spilled onto the ground, the bucket thudding at their feet.

The boy looked up at her and paled, recognizing a Templar in a second. He was Dangyongese like her, with a flop of black hair and gangly limbs. His frightened face was not so different from hers when she was his age.

Shal pushed the remark into the back of her mind. She could not start empathizing with humans. Not if she didn't want to starve.

"I need a horse ready to ride in twenty minutes," Shal spoke quietly and urgently. "They have all already been groomed, yes? So it should not take long."

The boy nodded quickly.

"I have to ask the master-"

"No!" Shal hissed. The boy jumped. "I'm... here on orders from Captain Marius. If I'm not off quickly enough, we'll both be in trouble with him, but no one else can know, understand?"

She let him go.

"The fastest horse you can give," Shal told him. "At the west entrance to the Fortress, in twenty minutes."

The boy rubbed the back of his neck. Shal noticed his shirt was much too big for him. Scars were visible on his back when it slipped down.

Heknelt to gather up as much grain as possible, glancing nervously back at her as he made his way into the stable.

Shal turned and, putting up her hood, continued on down the path at a fast walk.

The Chosen were spending their last night before the Turning in the Imperial Tower. The Emperor and Empress lived at the top of the deep violet spire that shot up from the middle of the Fortress. It was a massive tower, the roof sharp and slanted, and the outer walls made out of translucent stones of purple, blue and red. During the day, it would gleam like an onyx in the silver sun.