Battle Horse

Chapter Three

   Ena woke bright and early the next morning, eager to start her first day as an apprentice under Sir Ulf. She dressed in her most simple dress and pinned her hair up, before leaving the dormitory. Will stood at the door, with his pack on his shoulder and his hand on the door. He looked as if he was debating whether or not he should leave.

"Running away isn't the answer, Will." She said softly. They all saw what happened yesterday at the choosing. Will was absolutely gutted, and never returned to the dormitories.

"I'm not running away, Ena." He laughed, smiling briefly before returning back to his solemn look. "I'm headed off to my craft master." Ena rose an eyebrow.

"You were accepted? By who?" She asked. He glanced at her fearfully.

"Ranger Halt. I'm going to be a Ranger." His voice cracked. Ena was silent for a minute. A ranger?!?

"That's fantastic, Will!" She said happily. He glanced at her curiously.

"No it's not! You'll all be afraid of me!" She scoffed.

"Will, we will always remember who you are. No Ranger craft will change that. People are simply afraid of rangers because they don't understand them. And no, we won't ever believe you have dark magic." Will's eyes softened at her words and he embraced her tightly.

"Thanks, En." He said.

"What are friends for? Now off you go! Don't be late, or the ranger will turn you into a toad!" She teased. He went slightly pale, but laughed anyway. He hugged her one last time before leaving to head off to the ranger cabin. Ena left shortly after him, not even waiting to say goodbye to the others. She was so excited she couldn't wait. She ran most of the way to the horse school, only to slow down before she reached it so she wasn't winded. As she walked into the school, everyone gave her curious glances. A few boys whispered here and there, but she ignored them, and kept her gaze fixated on Ulf.

"Ah, Ena. Glad you could make it." He said. "Go stand over there with the rest of your year." He pointed over to where around ten boys stood, staring at her in as much shock as the older students.

"Welcome to Horse school, lads, and lass." He directed the last part towards Ena. "Here, you will work in teams to care for the amount of horses your team is assigned. Teams have been posted on the notice board." Ulf stepped back, revealing a board with several sheets of parchment tacked up. Ena and the other first years stayed behind while the older boys checked which teams they had. Not before long, older students came and retrieved Ena's fellow first years. She was the last one to be retrieved. A boy with Sandy blonde hair came to fetch her. He looked vaguely familiar.

"You're on our team. Come on, come meet the rest of us." He said. She followed him over to where two more boys stood, whispering to each other. They both threw her nasty glares as she approached. "Ena, meet Jaryn and Kerry. And my name is Malvin." Ena nodded once. Jaryn looked like a third year, and Kerry a second. Malvin looked the oldest, probably a fourth year.

"How many horses are we assigned this year?" Jaryn asked. Malvin pulled out a sheet of parchment and scanned the writing.

"Seven. Four of which are broken, three need to be heavily trained."

"Seven? That's two more then last year!" Kerry scoffed.

"That's the point of Horse school, Kerry. We train them up. Meaning we get new horses each year." Malvin rolled his eyes as the younger student. "You two, get to class. Meet us up in the stables after class. Ena, come with me." Kerry and Jaryn trudged off to class, and Ena followed Malvin off towards the dormitories.

"This is the first year dormitory. Sir Ulf explained how you came last minute, so you'll have to sleep with the other boys since we hadn't planned on your arrival." He explained.

"That's alright." She smiled. She set her pack down on the bed closest to the door, claiming her bed. Several other packs could be seen from the other boys.

"I'll now show you around the school." He lead her out of the dormitories and down the corridors. "That's Ulf's study." He said pointing it out.

"Yes, I know that much." She smirked. A sudden dawning came across his face.

"You're the girl from night before last!" She nodded sheepishly.

"That would be me." She said. He smiled.

"Well, come on then."

***

Malvin showed her around the school and stables. Making sure she knew where everything was. They finally ended in the stables, in front of several horses paddocks.

"These two are ours. This one is named Dancer, and this one is Kicker." Ena smiled and stroked Kickers nose.

"So what exactly do I do with the horses?" She asked. Malvin bit his lip and ran his fingers through his hair.

"Well, since you're a first year, you feed and water the horses, you also clean up their manure." He said.

"That's it?" She asked. He nodded.

"Second years can lead them around. Take them to their training sessions. Third years can bathe them and get them desensitized to armour and such." He said. "Fourth years are the only ones who really train." Ena felt disappointed, but was glad that she was at least accepted. Kicker suddenly nudged her shoulder with his nose, and she smiled.

"Well then I will do my best to keep them clean."

***

I put Kicker in! :) Thought it'd be kind of funny if Ena knew Horaces horse before he did. Please comment and vote!

~Avis