The Icy Prince

Chapter 9: The test

Christina
I continued staring at the general, struck dumb and motionless. I continued staring deep into his eyes trying to recall where I had seen them before. Was it in a dream? Or was I having a sudden fit of Deja Vu? The memories from the past played through my mind in snippets of images and scenes before narrowing down to one particular fragment. The funeral! Once again, I saw the coffin emblazoned with the royal insignia and was slammed in the face with the waves of the livid heat and the humid air. One thing stood out from the rest of the crowd when I caught sight of a mop of shining blond hair. The boy looks up and I was met with the exact same eyes as the one I'm seeing right. The prince!

It wasn't until I saw his mouth moving did I realise he was talking to me. I looked over frantically to Cassio for help. Instead of hearing Cassio's answer, I heard Sir Charles's voice. "The general asked for your name, lad"

"Oh! It's Christin- Christian, Sir!' I bit my tongue for the near blow up of my identity. I really need to be better at this!

"Well, Christian, I asked you to set up your tent so...SET YOUR TENT!" His voice raised by the decibel with every second as he hollered at me.

I could feel my ears ringing from the intensity of his voice and I quickly nodded before making my way towards my tent. That was when I realized I didn't know which tent belonged to me in the seemingly endless field of unpitched tents.

"Pardon me Sir but may I know which is my tent?" I said, sounding more frightened than I intended to.

"Well, the field would be separated into three different lodgings, the tents would be separated into the lodgings of the archers, infantry and the cavalry. Before every soldier is enlisted in one of the departments, the would have to go through a test to determine which department, they would do best in. And you, Christian will have to go through the test like everybody else later. Since you are not informed on which tent is yours, go and pitch as many tents as you can." General Lucas said.

I could feel myself going numb when I looked at the endless amount of tents. Cassio and I walked over to a random tent and started pitching it up. The commanders were kind enough to render their help by pitching the other tents. Only that shameless pig of a general rested in a pitched tent while we got to work.

"You were nearly busted!" Cassio grumbled as he yanked out a rope from the tent roughly.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do that."

"You had better avoid any more slip ups in the future because once they divulge your secret, you can bid Marcus adieu. Or, if you were in rotten luck, you could bid the whole world adieu."

I gulped.

"You mean...they can kill me for my secret?" I whispered shakily.

"I don't see why not, anyone who's not part of the army is a trespasser when they set foot on military terrain. And I'm certain you know what they do to trespassers."

I could feel my head spinning when I heard that. Cassio was right, I had better avoid more slip ups.

We started pitching the tent silently as I decided not to delve further into the dreaded consequences. We continued pitching until we heard the unmistakable signal of thudding hooves in the distance.

Lucas
I got out of my tent when I heard the sound of horses in the distance. The commanders and the two other men were still pitching the tents when the group of soldiers arrived. They immediately got of their horses and gave me a sweeping bow.

"We are the men reporting for duty, sir." They greeted.

I gave them a curt nod before instructing them to pitch the other tents. More and more men started filling up the area and I issued them the same order as everybody else. It wasn't long before all the tents had been pitched and all the enlisted men arrived.