The Roar of a Dragon (7 page)

‘I’m very glad to hear that,’ I responded. ‘What did he want?’

‘Coin,’ Derrick answered snidely. ‘He knows I’m part of the White Army, and he thinks because he’s my father, it’s my job to fund his ridiculous habits.’

He was then quiet for a moment.

‘So are you going to tell me what happened?’ I asked him.

Derrick was silent a moment longer.

‘Yes,’ he said finally, ‘and you’ll be the first to know. I would appreciate it if this stayed between us.’

‘Of course,’ I responded.

After a short silence, Derrick started his story, as we began to walk back toward the castle.

‘My father is the biggest waste of space I’ve ever seen in my life — emphasis on “biggest.”’ He smiled at his half-hearted joke. ‘As far as I know, he’s never had a real job, yet he always had the coin for his ale. Me, my mother, and my sister starved throughout most of our lives. He bullied us — I can’t tell you the number of times he beat my mother and sister.’

He paused, and I could see his hands clenching into fists. I put my hand on his shoulder, to remind him that he wasn’t living in that time anymore. Derrick took a breath and continued.

‘He beat me too, but not nearly as often as he beat the women. One day, I finally realised that I was bigger than he was — that was about five years ago. I had always been scared to death of my father; he ruled by intimidation. But that day, I lost my temper. I never dreamed that fighting back on him would be so easy; all it took was one punch, and then I threw him outside, much like I did today. I told him never to come back, but he still showed up every now and again for the next three years. He hasn’t shown his piggish face for the past two years — until today. I guess he just got too desperate. Mother said he begged for forgiveness first, then blew up when she wouldn’t give him the coin.’

I understood Derrick’s anger, could feel it in my heart. I silently thanked the gods that I hadn’t grown up in a situation like that.

‘That’s why I crack jokes all the time,’ Derrick continued. ‘I found one day that laughing made me forget about my problems at home, at least temporarily. I started trying to make my mother and sister laugh, and now it’s the way I am. Laughter is the answer to pain.’

I smiled inwardly — it was something we shared in common. ‘I never thought you could be so philosophical.’

‘Don’t tell anybody,’ he replied. ‘I want them to think that I’m stupid.’

We both smiled.

After a pause, Derrick went on. ‘I’d never wanted to be in the military, much less be a knight. I joined for the steady income, so I could take care of my mother and sister. Suddenly, it was my career — I don’t really have any other skills, since my father never taught me anything.’

‘Is there… something wrong with your sister?’ I asked hesitantly. When Derrick didn’t answer immediately, I quickly added, ‘I’m sorry if that’s too forward — you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.’

‘No, no,’ Derrick said, waving his hand in the air. ‘I now consider you a brother, and I don’t mind telling you.’ I smiled inwardly at the thought of having a brother. ‘Yeah, she’s been sick for quite some time. No one really knows what’s wrong with her. I’ve been trying to save up the gold to get her to a really good healer. I would have the coin by now, but I constantly had to have things fixed — as well as buy new things — around the house due to my father constantly showing up and destroying things.’

We were quiet as we passed through the gate leading to the castle. I remember very clearly what it was like when I first saw it, on the back of Garridan’s horse, and it never ceased to take my breath away. I always took the time to appreciate it whenever I saw it; I had never had the time on that day of battle. The sun was lowering in the sky, and beams of pink light were piercing their way through the sparse clouds. The air was comfortable, on the verge of getting cooler.

‘Derrick,’ I said suddenly, ‘if you ever need anything, you let me know, okay?’

Derrick looked at me and smiled. ‘Thank you, Aidan… that means a lot to me.’

‘Don’t be afraid to ask me,’ I continued, ‘because I would hate to have to humiliate you in front of everyone. You’d have a tough time explaining how the upstart soldier with the two puny swords beat up someone who was twice his size.’

Derrick glanced at me with narrow eyes. ‘You think you can take me?’

‘Sure,’ I shrugged. ‘My first move would be to stomp on your toe… works every time.’

Derrick laughed all the way to the castle.

When I first began my formal training, it was difficult for me to get used to the fact that I wasn’t the most popular soldier in the White Army. I would try to strike up conversations with my fellow soldiers, only to see them comment snidely and walk away. I didn’t understand why at first, until I heard some soldiers talking one day about how I was the General’s “golden boy”. After that point, it no longer mattered much to me what the rest of the soldiers thought. I knew they were talking about me behind my back, and I didn’t care.

But anyone who thought that I had it easy because Sir Garridan had taken me under their wing was clearly out of their mind — if anything, that made things a great deal harder than it probably would have been. Since Garridan had discovered me, and taken me in, he paid much more attention to what I was doing, and I was under even more pressure to perform to the best of my abilities. But that was fine with me — I was determined to thrive under any conditions, and prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that I was worthy of Sir Garridan’s attention, as well as anyone else’s.

One day, while I was in the barracks, Derrick approached me and told me that Garridan wanted to see me. This drew a great deal of snickering and spiteful remarks from those around me — I heard the term “bootlicker” uttered more than once.

Ignorant fools
.

Letting their meaningless ramblings roll off my back, I nodded to Derrick and followed him out of the armory.

Garridan wasn’t at the castle — he was in the Industrial District of the city, having his sword tended to. Derrick and I conversed during the walk to the blacksmith, who worked in the Western Business District. Garridan was watching the dwarven blacksmith work on his sword. The shop was hot from the burning forge.

‘You wanted to see me, sir?’ I said, addressing Garridan formally.

Garridan turned his head toward me, a small smile on his lips. ‘No need to stand on ceremony, Aidan, this isn’t a formal meeting.’

‘Understood,’ I said, relaxing a little. ‘Is everything okay?’

‘Indeed,’ Garridan answered, standing stoically. ‘I just wanted to inform you that a problem has arisen in the west, in Boulton, and we’ll be sending soldiers over there.’

I looked at him expectantly. ‘I know you’re not informing
all
of the soldiers like this — what’s the catch?’

Garridan sighed deeply. ‘I am needed here, so I won’t be going. Sir Norvin will be in command.’

I smiled derisively.
That figures
.

‘I know you two don’t like each other,’ Garridan went on, ‘but on the battlefield, you
do
have to follow his orders.’

‘I have no problem with that,’ I answered confidently, ‘but every time he makes me clean up after his horse, I
will
remember it.’

Garridan shook his head. ‘The knights may be in command, but that authority is not to be used to make the soldiers their own personal handmaidens. I will have a talk with Sir Norvin.’

‘No, don’t,’ I said, putting my hand up. ‘That won’t help my relationship with the rest of the army.’

Garridan was confused. ‘What do you mean?’

I hesitated before I answered. ‘They see me as your “golden boy”. They’re not very fond of me.’

Garridan sighed again. ‘I’m sorry, Aidan. That wasn’t my intention.’

‘There’s nothing to be sorry for,’ I answered. ‘My road to becoming a soldier has been no easier than anyone else’s. They can’t help their own ignorance and jealousy.’

‘Don’t speak so of your comrades,’ Garridan chided.

‘It also doesn’t help that Aidan routinely defeats them at sparring sessions,’ Derrick said brightly, clapping me on the shoulder. I accepted this praise with a proud smile.

Garridan turned toward me and looked me in the eye. ‘Even as I tell you not to speak of your comrades in derision, I tell you not to let the insecurity of others stand in your way.’

I stood straight. ‘I have no intention of that.’

‘Why can’t he simply be under my command?’ Derrick asked. ‘I’ll make sure that little weasel stays out of his business.’

Garridan gave Derrick a look of admonishment, then answered.

‘Aidan’s still not a knight, Derrick, I cannot put him in your unit. As it is, Sir Norvin still outranks you, Derrick. You are a Knight-Sergeant, he is a Knight-Lieutenant. In my absence, he will lead the army.’

As far as knight rankings go, there was a Knight-General, a couple of Knight-Lieutenants, several Knight-Sergeants — who each commanded their own unit — and the rest were simply knights.

Something was just starting to occur to me. ‘So, as you are Knight-General, if and when you step down, Norvin would likely be the next general.’

Garridan sensed what I was thinking. ‘That will be a
very
long time in coming, Aidan. Trust me on that.’

‘I don’t think I’m coming back from this little excursion,’ I said, turning to Derrick. ‘I may just have to set up permanently in Boulton.’

‘Make room for me,’ Derrick muttered.

He took a risk making that comment — such remarks, as we were making, were considered treasonous — but we always backed each other up. I was half-joking, but really, what difference did it make if Norvin was to be the next leader of the White Army?

‘There is no need to start packing your bags yet,’ Garridan said sternly. ‘I am still in command here, and have no intention of relinquishing that.’

‘I would hope not,’ I replied.

Garridan smiled, and there was a short silence as he turned back to the blacksmith. Finally, I moved on to the next matter at hand.

‘What seems to be the trouble in the west?’

Garridan gazed into the fires of the blacksmith’s forge as he spoke. ‘A little less than a year ago, the kingdom’s supply of copper was beginning to run a bit low. You may remember hearing about it?’

I nodded.

‘His Majesty sent out small groups of men to all corners of the country, searching for copper mines. A few months later, some men reported seeing some mines off to the west, right on the borders of our country and the country of Boulton. They weren’t being used, so the King sent the miners out there to begin their work. Apparently, a week went by before some soldiers of Boulton saw them and arrested them, claiming that the mines were theirs and we were stealing from them. King Baladir was outraged, but sent an emissary in an attempt to settle things as diplomatically as possible. The king of Boulton sent the emissary back, with a message that was… let’s just say, not so pleasant.’

My eyebrows raised a little at this.

Garridan nodded. ‘King Baladir took this as a declaration of war.’

‘You mean —’ the realization was beginning to set in ‘— we’re actually going to war?’

Garridan nodded again, hands behind his back. ‘Yes, Aidan… Delmar is officially at war.’

My gaze was distant for a moment as I tried to come to grips with that knowledge. I had a feeling that it would be a long time before that happened. I was excited (my first war!) but at the same time, I was petrified.

‘This is your first war, Aidan,’ Garridan continued, ‘and I know that you have so much on your mind. But, to be straightforward, I wouldn’t expect this to be much of a war.’

‘Why do you say that?’ Derrick asked. I’d forgotten he was even there.

‘You know that Boulton, compared to Delmar and other countries, has always been underdeveloped,’ Garridan responded, mirroring my thoughts. ‘They’ve always been desperate to gain a foothold in this world, to be considered a legitimate threat. I believe this business with the copper mines was simply the excuse they needed to go to war. Whether they’re ready for what that means or not remains to be seen.’

I remained silent, still trying to absorb all of this information.

‘Go on, back to the barracks, Aidan,’ Garridan said, stepping forward to put a hand on my shoulder. ‘You have much to prepare for, and the army marches in three days.’

***

Those three days went by in a flash. I spent nearly all of that time training and preparing for the weeks-long journey. I had had yet to see Norvin, but had no doubt that he was lurking about somewhere, watching us, maybe even making preparations of his own — who knew with him?

Finally, the day came. We were all awoken from our cots
very
early that morning, and were brought to the mess hall for a hearty breakfast — it would be our last good meal for a while. Then it was back to the barracks to get suited up. There weren’t nearly enough people around to assist everyone with their armor, so I put mine on myself.

After we were suited up, I did what most of the other men did; I sharpened and polished my weapons for battle, including the dagger I kept in my boot. This would also be the first time I was heading into battle with two shortswords — after my first battle, I had realised that the sword-and-shield method wasn’t for me. I was much too small for a broadsword, not well suited for handling spears, and archery wasn’t my strong suit either. But with a shortsword in each hand, I felt right at home.

Standing there, in my armor, with my swords sheathed to my back, I felt
invincible
.

Finally, we were mustered to the grassy hill outside of the castle, making ready for our departure. This experience was so different from my first battle. Before, I was thrown into battle, there wasn’t much of an army, and there was little time to prepare. This time around, watching everything that was happening, I gained a much better understanding of how soldiers prepared for war.

We settle into ranks — the general army in front, with ranks of archers on the flanks, and the knights behind, separated into different units. The archer units of the knights were settled into the rear of the army. Sir Norvin, on his horse, rode to the front and walked slowly across the front ranks, observing the army. Then he stopped.

‘Soldiers of Delmar,’ he called out. ‘Our king and our country have been threatened, and insulted. We head out to war today for one reason: to send a message that the country of Delmar and its people will not be treated like sewer rats. We go today to show them that Delmar is the mightiest country in all the land.’

The soldiers yelled and cheered, but I couldn’t bring myself to join in. I believed in Norvin’s words, and his speech was a good one. The problem was that Norvin sounded less than enthusiastic when he was making it — in fact, he sounded downright
bored
.

It hardly instilled me with any more confidence and pride in my country than I already had.

As we marched out of the gates, into the city, Norvin posted himself by the gate and watched us pass. I kept my face forward, as I was supposed to, but out of the corner of my eye, I glanced at Norvin — to find that he was watching
me
.

Maybe this war wasn’t going to be as glorious as I hoped.