At Last I Take My Stand

Chapter 1: Break Of Dawn

Iris, age 16

I felt my muscles groan as I heaved the last stack of wood into place. Rows and rows of building supplies lined the warehouse's wooden wall. Looking up into the dim light, I wiped the sweat from my brow and threw the tail of my dark braid over my shoulder. From head to toe I was covered in a grimy mix of sweat, dirt, and Spirit knows what else. My hands were cut and bleeding from the rough cut wood despite my callouses. As a lowborn apprentice, it was my job to do all of the manual labor at East Kennel. This had been my job for the past five years. Occasionally I had help when one of the highborns did something reckless and got caught and punished. But that was far and few between, and I knew better than to expect help. 

 "Iris, girl, where are you?" a voice bellowed from outside. "Iris! I swear..."

Sighing I made my way to the door and stepped out in the freezing dawn air. 

"Damn it's cold," I murmured as my arms hugged my body.

The dropping temperature bit into the thin fabric of my old deerhide cloak. The constant use rubbed almost all of the hairs off the hide, and I desperately needed a new one. Problem was I didn't have a dime, and good hides were expensive. Apprenticeships didn't offer payment, just food and board. Holding my arms in hope of warmth, I squinted my eyes against the biting icewind to look for the voice. 

Master Greer, one of the kennel's nicer teachers, stepped out from the matching wooden building across the ragged road. With only a few strides he crossed the snowy footpath and stopped just short of me. He was thick with crude muscle and his shaggy red beard went all the way down to the base of his neck, where it narrowed into an icy braid. His roughly cut curly hair was graying on the edges, but the brown eyes that stared reproachfully into mine showed nothing of his increasing age. 

"Please tell me you're not late again," he groaned. Whether he was shaking his head in disappointment or disbelief, I couldn't tell.

"Well, 'fraid I'm not sure."

We glared at each other, daring the other to break eye contact first. After a moment, I looked away. I was smart enough not to challenge a Master, at least directly. 

In answer, Master Greer gripped my elbow and began walking towards the kennels. I gritted my teeth, knowing it was best not to protest. He set a brisk pace, not bothering to acknowledge my shorter stride. At 5 foot 2 I was dwarfed by his huge frame. 

We hurried down the main road, which was hardly wide enough to even be called a road. East Kennel was a small town primarily used for the training of wolves and wolf riders. East was the smallest of the four major kennels in Enid, and it was the only kennel that was willing to train me. The cavalry traditionally only accepted highborns, but with unrest on our borders, the demand for riders was more than the nobility could provide. 

Being so small, the Council had decided not to provide funding for stone roads, which meant that with the newly fallen snow, the dirt roads had turned to a mushy brown slush. We sloshed through it all without a second thought, passing by the rows of makeshift buildings. Every structure except the blacksmith's was made of the same weather worn spruce wood stacked in the classic windowless style of the region. The only interruption in the monotony were the various stone fireplaces sloppily attached as if the original builder hadn't thought them necessary. I huffed at that. He must have been from down south.

Accompanied by thinning thatch roofs, the town looked rather run down. Master Greer and I made our way to the outdoor kennels where a dozen or so lesser nobility stood in a semicircle. A few gave me their signature sneers, but most just ignored me. One of them even had the audacity to push me in front of the Master, and I stumbled a few feet before regaining balance. Snickers were passed around, but the Master just waited for me to get in formation.