The Ordeal

Chapter Ten

Brin goes around, inspecting everyone's form. If he sees something off he helps the student adjust. Everyone is trembling, especially the older student next to me.

When he reaches me he looks me up and down. He looks disappointed. I know my stance is solid. Was he hoping there was something for him to correct?

He moves on without saying a word. I'm doing my best to stay on form but my legs are screaming. I hope I'll last until he calls for a change in position. I'd hate to look weak in front of him.

Finally, just when I was about to stand back up straight and stretch, he calls out "Next!"

Everyone breathes a sigh of relief. I hop up gratefully, moving one spot to the right following the group. Then I groan. The stance shown on the carving in front of me is going to be harder to hold than the last one. But I won't back down with him watching. I steel myself and take the stance.

Minutes pass again. Looking around the room, I realize that they are all stances that force a particular part of the body to work hard while you hold the position, while stretching out others. It's basically a full body workout. I feel annoyed that we're not already training to fight, but I trust that Wu Zhen knows what he's doing.

When Brin comes around to me, he notices something in my stance that he doesn't like. Gleefully, he grabs my arms and forces them to turn until he is satisfied with my form. It didn't look like he was this rough with the other students. But I know now I'm on his radar, so I'll just have to do my best to keep up.

We keep going through the stances. At the fourth station everyone's starting to breathe hard and sweat glistens on our skin. I'm annoyed at myself that this feels so hard. I thought I was already in good shape. I'm also annoyed that Brin keeps finding things to fix with my stances. But I just have to power through.

As we work I look around at the other students. I already like the older one. He occasionally flashes an encouraging smile my way, even though he's struggling more than me. There are two girls and the rest are boys that look around my age. I may have seen some of them before, wandering the streets. I wonder how long they've already been here.

Finally the workout comes to an end. I'm trembling and breathing hard in a way I haven't done in a long time. I take some comfort in the fact that everyone else is going through the same thing.

Brin walks to the center of the room and everyone turns to face him.

"We have a new student with us," he says in a neutral tone. "This is Leander. He has a long way to go and we're not going to take it easy on him, are we?"

A couple of the boys chuckle. I'm starting to really, really not like Brin. I resent the fact that he can tell me what do, and that he's so close to me in age but already so far ahead in rank. All I want is to get in the ring with him. Then we'll see if he still feels like bossing me around.

"Next up, lesson study," Brin says, and the students begin to file out. The older student stops in front of me and extends his hand. I take it and he gives it a brisk shake.

"I'm Jerrold," he says. "Welcome. Don't fuss over Brin, he's bossy but also easygoing. You'll like him."

Well, I don't know about that, but I smile warmly. Nice to know I'll have one friend here at least.

We walk single file down the hallway. Now other groups of students begin to pass us, with different colored bands on their uniforms. Some give us the slightest of nods as they pass, but most just ignore us. I wonder if that's deliberate or just because they are focused on their own training.