Silver Dragon (3 page)

Sir Amos led her farther down the hallway outside his office to a staircase that went up and down. He led her down two levels and then through a door. She paused to take in the tabards and paintings hanging on the stone walls, each depicting a battle between the forces of Leander and an enemy. She didn't recognize the men or creatures in the paintings, save for one that showed a warrior wearing armor decorated with the blazing sun of Leander standing against a dragon that towered over him.

"That was Sir Gareth,"
Sir Amos said to her. "More than three hundred years ago, he fought a dragon that was ravaging the northern reaches. Back before this land had been properly tamed and civilized, dark and savage creatures roamed these lands and what few people eked out their existence were tribal barbarians without education or proper religion."

"What happened?" Aleena asked, her eyes riveted to the picture. She picked out details in the painting that she'd missed at first. Sir Gareth wasn't alone, but he stood ahead of his force of armored knights. One of them
who caught Aleena's attention sat on a horse in the foremost ranks. The knight's armor was different from the others, more shapely and conforming to her body. She wore a helm with the guard down, but Aleena saw golden hair spilling out from beneath the helm around her neck.

"Sir Gareth struck the dragon a mortal blow, but he gave his life in doing so. The dragon fled to the mountains and died there."

"Did anyone go looking for it?"

Sir Amos
turned his attention from the painting to Aleena. "Why would someone seek such a thing?"

"To make sure it was dead."

"There have been no attacks by a dragon in all these years. Do you doubt the reports of the faithful?"

Aleena shook her head. "Of course not,
Sir Amos. My father taught me to make sure I saw a thing with my own eyes before I believed what someone told me, that is all."

Sir Amos
smiled. "A wise man, your father. But in this case, the history and teachings of the Church of Saint Leander are above reproach. Honesty is one of Saint Leander's core tenets."

Aleena blushed at his gentle rebuke. It struck her doubly because she was attempting to pass herself off as a boy instead of a girl. Staring at the painting
, she wondered if she was making a mistake. A woman wore the armor and livery of a knight; didn't that mean she could be accepted? She turned and studied the other paintings but found no other signs of a woman bearing arms.

"Come my son, let us see if you have any skill with a blade,"
Sir Amos bade her.

Aleena followed him through a door and into a room filled with weapons and armor. She picked her head up when she heard the echo of steel agains
t steel, followed by a grunt. The noise came from an opening that led to a training room.

Sir Amos
cleared his throat, pulling her attention back to him. He looked at her before selecting a slender blade. Aleena took the weapon when he offered it to her and was surprised by its weight. She studied the sword closely. She could see the edges were rounded and the point was dull. The training blade had nicks and scratches along its length.

"Come, there's a straw dummy in here. Show me how you would attack a man."

Aleena walked ahead of him into the training room and saw two men sparring while three others looked on and waited their turn. One of the men fighting glanced at her and faltered. He lost his focus and allowed his opponent to knock him off balance with his shield and then smash him square in the chest of his battered training armor with his mace. The stunned warrior fell backwards.

Aleena turned and saw
Sir Amos scowling. He shook his head and walked ahead of her. "Celos! Mind your focus, boy. Now get up and pay attention next time."

The triumphant warrior reached down and helped Celos back to his feet. "I'm sorry,
Sir Amos, the new recruit surprised me. He's kind of young, isn't he?"

Aleena felt her cheeks warm. She stiffened her back and raised her head up. "I'm eighteen."

"Oh, my apologies. You just look small for your age," Celos said. He earned chuckles from the other warriors.

Aleena wasn't small for her age. If anything
, she was a little big. Maybe she'd never have arms as thick as Alto did, but she was strong for a girl. She opened her mouth to retort but then realized that she wasn't a girl. Or at least she wasn't supposed to be. And all those boys were already so far ahead of her. They knew how to fight, or were learning. They could wear armor and swing a sword. Aleena's only skills came from swatting a drunk with her platter when he tried to pinch her as she passed.

"Back to your training,"
Sir Amos admonished them. He turned to Aleena and motioned towards one of the straw dummies in the room. "There, imagine he'd just called you a coward. Now have at him."

Aleena turned to the target and raised her sword. She stepped closer to it and wondered what she should do. Hack at it? Try to cut off its head? Run it through? She'd seen Alto and Tristam spar a few times so she had an idea how they fought, but the dummy just sat there. It was a nonthreatening lump of straw and cloth
, bundled about a wooden post.

"What's the matter?"
Sir Amos asked.

"Nothing," Aleena said. She raised her sword again before lowering it with a sigh. "It's just that this dummy didn't do anything. It called me a coward, you said? Well
, that's no reason to kill it."

"It's reason enough for some men," the priest said.

"Well, I'm not like those men," Aleena responded. Rather than giggle at the other differences between her and men like Sir Amos spoke of, she spoke of what she knew of Saint Leander. "The priest I knew taught me that Leander is a kind saint that personifies dignity and kindness, as well as humility and common sense. Leander is also merciful, he said. What mercy is there in me striking down an unarmed man for insulting me?"

"You show wisdom, rare for one so young. Tell me, Alin, what priest did you learn these things from?"

"Karthor," Aleena slipped out before she could stop herself.

Sir Amos nodded. "Karthor is a good man. He shows much promise and it is good to hear him speak of such things." The priest paused and looked over at the sparring warriors. Celos was regularly scoring strikes against his opponent now. "Perhaps an armed target would be better?"

Aleena's heart leapt in her chest. They knew how to fight! She wouldn't stand a chance against them! She saw
Sir Amos was waiting for her answer. She swallowed and nodded, not trusting her voice to not squeak.

"Celos! Durak! Stand at rest,"
Sir Amos called out to the sparring pair. "Celos, I want you to spar with Alin. Let's see what the lad has."

"He doesn't have any armor!" Celos pointed out.

Aleena bit her lip and glanced down at her stolen boy clothes. Armor would be handy, but she had no idea how to even put it on, let alone use it. She felt sweat down her back and gather between her tightly bound breasts.

"True," the priest said. "Come, we'll find something for you to wear first."

"I'm fine," Aleena said, shaking her head. If Sir Amos tried to fit her for armor he'd find out she wasn't a boy. "I don't know how to use it, so I'd rather go without for now."

Sir Amos
frowned. He turned to look at Celos and shrugged. "Very well, let him attack you, Celos."

The other men chuckled, earning a quick look from Celos to silence them. He turned back to Aleena and walked forward. Each step in his training plate armor clanked with the sound of a nail being driven into her coffin. She raised her sword and pointed it at him. It took both hands to steady it.

Celos snapped his own sword up and saluted her, and then pulled it back in a defensive position and stood with his shield held between them. Aleena nodded and stepped closer to him. She'd seen Tristam and Alto fight like this plenty of times, except they'd always worn armor and they knew what they were doing.

She swung her sword into Celos's shield, making the steel ring out and her hand vibrate from the strike. She clenched her teeth to keep from crying out at the shock.
Celos snorted and pushed out with his shield, sending her sword nearly flying from her fingers.

Aleena backed up and wiped her hands on her pants one at a time, trying to dry the sweat on them. She grabbed her sword in both hands again and swung it harder, trying to smash the man's shield aside. He stepped into the swing and absorbed it on his shield with ease. Aleena grunted from the impact that time. The shock from hitting the shield made her wrists ache.

"You can't kill a man by striking his shield," Sir Amos rebuked.

Aleena nodded and lunged forward as quick
ly as she could, trying to drive the point of her sword into his stomach. Celos swatted her blade out of the way with his own, making her spin in the process. She kept going, remembering a move she'd seen Alto do before, and used her momentum to add speed to her next strike. Celos caught it high on his shield. Her move had surprised him enough that her deflected sword cracked into the side of his helm. Celos took a step away and shook his head. She heard him growl through the slits of his faceguard.

Aleena was in close now. Too close to use her sword. She fell back on her training as a barmaid and drove her knee up between his legs. The metal codpiece left her knee bruised and stinging but Celos's growl turned into a grunt of air. He staggered back a step.

Aleena pushed her advantage, thinking she had him off balance and that victory was going to be hers. She saw a blur of motion to her right but didn't realize what it was until the world was spinning around her. It came to an abrupt stop when she crashed into the ground. He'd struck her with his shield in the head.

"You were supposed to be defending,"
Sir Amos accused her opponent.

"I used my shield!" Celos
pulled off his helm and stared at the ding in the side of it. His voice sounded strained, prompting her to look up and see him for the first time. Her lips parted to let a small gasp through them. His blond hair was matted to his head from the helmet but she saw that it was wavy and would frame his masculine face. His eyes were what made her lose herself for a moment. They were dark green and so intense.

Sir Amos
squatted down beside her and pulled her attention back to him. "That was unconventional and sloppy," he said. "Are you all right?"

Aleena nodded
and denied herself the chance to sneak a peek at Celos. She wasn't here for him; she was here for herself, so she and Alto could have a future together. "My ears are still ringing."

"I expect they are. Get used to it
. There's nothing easy about the path of a recruit."

She lifted her head up and stared at him. "You're accepting me?"

"You'll need to eat hearty and do a lot of exercise to get stronger and bigger. You'll need training and much time spent studying the teachings of Leander. Can you read?"

Aleena nodded. "I can. I know numbers well enough
, too."

"Good,"
he said. "You have ambition and wisdom, two things that are not often seen together. Being a recruit means little, though. Any infraction can set you back or get you kicked out. If you are willing to work hard and understand the importance of Leander's teachings, you will go far."

Aleena rose up slowly, testing her balance to keep from making a fool of herself. When she was standing fully
, Sir Amos had also risen. "Sir Amos, that painting we spoke of. I saw a knight who was different from the others in it."

"Oh?"

"Yes, in the front ranks behind Sir Gareth there was a woman."

Sir Amos
frowned. "Yes, there was. Her name was Lady Gwendolyn. It is rare that a woman petitions to join the ranks of the Knights of Leander, and only twice has one risen to the station of paladin. Lady Gwendolyn was the last and only one other woman became a knight since her."

Aleena nodded. "Then in the spirit of fulfilling the tenets of Saint Leander's teachings
, my name is not Alin; it is Aleena. I was afraid you wouldn't take me seriously if you knew that."

Sir Amos
nodded without betraying his thoughts on his face. "I understand your feelings, daughter, but I do not excuse you. That is a mark against you, but had you not admitted it to me, I would have turned you out before the day was over."

"So I get to stay?" Aleena whispered.

He nodded. "No more violations."

Aleena nodded but couldn't keep the grin off her face. She was going to train with the Knights of Leander! She'd made it! Alto would be so proud of her! It would be hard work, she knew, but she'd be able to adventure with him. She'd be taught to wear armor an
d ride a horse and use a sword.

Aleena turned to follow
Sir Amos out. He'd said something about showing her where she'd stay. On her way out, she heard the hushed voices of the warriors who were training. One in particular, Durak she thought, she heard ask, "Did you just hit a girl?"