Red haired girl

Chapter 2

Will rubbed his eyes. He had had a comfortable night of dreamless sleep. He had woken up from the change of the blackness of the night into the dull greyness of just before dawn. A smile started tugging at his face, as he loved to wake up at this hour, until he remembered something… The training! He was late, he realised. As usual. But he couldn't be late today! It was the first day! Will rolled out of his bed and rushed in his clothes. He slid down the stairs, heading for the door. He took no time taking breakfast, but immediately started running to the special training square, just outside of the town. It wasn't far away, but Will felt like he was running for hours. Fortunately, he had spent quite a lot of time out in the open with his father. With his father being a knight and all, they had done a fair amount of exercise-like games, so Will had decent endurance.

            When he arrived at the square, the sunlight already streamed over the land. Will received several contemptuous looks from his classmates as he hurried to step beside them. The tutor stepped to the middle of the square, an annoyed look on his face.

"You're late," he stated. He didn't give Will the opportunity to explain why, but for once Will did not mind. What reason could he give? 'Yeah, sorry. I was still asleep.' There was no way the tutor would ever think of that as a good reason. Will looked into the eyes of the man in front of him. It was a tall, muscled man. His dark hair wasn’t cropped like many of the knights had. Instead, it hung over his forehead, just reaching to his eyebrows. He had piercing brown eyes that seemed to see right through Will. He was about twenty-five years old, which gave him the opportunity to look superior and relatively friendly at the same time. He didn't look like he was unreasonable, but he didn't look very nice either. The tutor held Will's gaze for a moment, before he focussed on the entire group.

            "You are not here because you're special," he started his spirits-lifting speech. Yeah, I guessed that much already, Will thought bitterly. He was here because he was nót special, and because his father hoped the training would make Will less... less what? Probably less less. Scowling, Will followed the tutor with his eyes, as he paced in front of the line, his arms crossed at his back. Where was his speech going to? "You are here, because you have to become special. Today we will start to test you. We are going to find out all about you. All your secrets will be revealed to us, so that we will become able to recognise your skills and talents.” Will noticed some of the others shift uncomfortably at this. He suppressed the urge to smile. It wasn’t honourable to laugh at other’s weaknesses. He knew that first-handed. Will didn’t have anything to worry about; besides the fact that he was everything a knight should not be, he didn’t have any secrets. “We will be your worst nightmare, but we will as well be your future. We will train you to become warriors. To become noble men, but not the normal noble men. You will be the elite. You will be the best of the best," the tutor paused a moment. "But not every one of you shall stand the training. Some of you will fail." Will noticed the amused looks the other boys exchanged and he even saw one of them pointing at him. He ignored them.

            They didn't know Will had brains. He could be creative, and he could improvise instead of blindly following orders. He smiled slightly. He might not be the most popular boy in town, but he was one of the smartest. His smile faded away. But without any strength, he would not survive. It isn't fair, Will thought. But what could he do about it? What Will didn't notice, was the tutor who looked at him curiously, before he continued his speech. "There are six of you standing in front of me. Only one will pass the final test. Today, we are going to start with your training. Does everyone know what to do?" The tutor paused for a moment. None of the other boys said anything and Will wondered nervously whether he had had to prepare himself in some way or not. The tutor looked every one of them in the eyes, ending at Will's. At the moment he was about to continue, Will raised his hand.