The Seven Deadly Kingdoms

Chapter 7

The journey to the base was long and bumpy. There were several times Adelaide was almost knocked off of the carriage by the bumpy road, but Austin was always there to hold her down. They grew a respect for each other along the way, telling each other about their homes and families. Austin had two little girls and a boy. His wife passed away giving birth to the boy, so his sister took care of them while he was serving. Before he became a soldier, he was a carpenter. He started to work for the king because he was promised far better pay than his carpentry business provided, and he needed the money to help raise his children. The whole story saddened Adelaide.

Adelaide told Austin of her wonderful childhood playing in the woods and swimming in the rivers of her wood. She told him of Henry, and how brave and kind he was. She left out anything that had to do with his age, though. Austin seemed to find peace in hearing about Adelaides childhood. There weren't many as happy as hers in this kingdom.

As the sun began to set, they arrived at the base. Adelaide had never been this far out of the kingdom before. The woods were thicker here, clearly less traversed that the wood surrounding the kingdom. She had no idea where they were.

Adelaide was one of the first to exit the carriage, being led by Austin. She had found a new sense of security in Austin because of the long ride, making her feel a little less alone in the sea of strangers.

As Adelaide passed the leading carriage, one of the higher class-men that had mad fun of her earlier in the day spit on her boot as she passed. The other with him laughed as he copied the mans action. Adelaide didn't let it get to her; this was the exact way she had expected the scum to behave. "Thanks boys, won't have to shine my boots for another week." She said with a smirk, continuing behind Austin. Once again, she hadn't given the men the reaction they wanted. In response to her comment, they simply scoffed, clearly lacking the wit to supply an actual response.

Austin glared at the men. "If those boys keep harassing you, let me know. I can have them assigned to cleaning the stables." He said with a smirk. "Thanks, Austin. I'll definitely let you know" Adelaide replied with a laugh. He nodded as they reached their destination. It was a large tent that closed off, unlike most of the other tents Adelaide could see. Austin held up the fabric as she passed through. He dropped it in front of the men making fun of Adelaide, making them run into it.

"This will be where you all will sleep," Austin announced as the group was all in the tent, "You're lucky, you all are the first of your age group here, so you get the new tent. Women sleep on the righthand side, and men sleep on the left. I expect you all will be staying here for a while, so I'd suggest you be kind to one another. There are no classes here. You're soldiers now, and you all will be treated with the same amount of discipline."

"Dinner is at seven o'clock sharp. If you're late and there's nothing left, that's not my problem. Until then, take the time to explore the camp and make note of the location of every station; you'll need to know where you're going. That is all." Austin said, nodding before swiftly leaving the tent, likely to go pick up the next group.

Adelaide quickly picked the cot farthest in the back, hoping to put some space between her and the rest of the group. Apparently she had the same idea as everyone else. Once everyone was settled, the only two remaining cots were at the very front, making Adelaides already testy mood worse. She decided to roam around the camp and get a feel for her new home. Maybe this way she wouldn't have to speak to anyone.

Adelaide scanned the large camp as sh stepped back out of the tent. Hundreds of villagers walked around the large green tents, each clearly still freshly torn from their families. Some were very, very old. Clearly too old for combat. Adelaide had overheard a couple of the pre-hired soldiers talking about how the oldest men and women would be put to work at the base, never making it to the fronts, which brought Adelaide a small amount of comfort. She couldn't imagine having to spend her last days fighting for a broken kingdom.

Sighing, Adelaide headed towards the first tent she saw. It was about the size of her tent. So she guessed it was just another sleeping area. She nodded slightly as she peaked her head in, her suspicions proving true. This tent seemed to house the youngest of the new soldiers, not one of the boys or girls inside looking a day over eighteen. Some looked even younger than fifteen, but she knew they probably just hadn't gone through puberty yet. Even if that were the case, the apparent age of all of them saddened Adelaide. None of them deserved to be sent to the slaughter at such a young age.

This tent was the first of dozens of tens, which Adelaide likely wouldn't have the time to look through all of them before dinner. So, she decided to explore the centre of the camp, which was surrounded with the largest of the tents, all of which circled a large bonfire. She could see signs that were hung on a few of them. Two of the tents were dedicated to being the dining hall, one right beside it was the medical station, and the tent to the right of that was an armoury. There were three more tents that were closed off and din't have any signs hanging from the tops, so Adelaide assumed she wasn't supposed to enter any of them.

Instead, Adelaide chose to look around the bonfire. Many people sat around and near it, and some were dancing to the music of a small band stationed on a couple of benches. The people seated on logs around the fire were happily chatting with each other, some with plates of food. Many of the people dancing around the fire were men and women dancing together, as if celebrating. For a split second, Adelaide forgot she was in a war base, and instead felt as if she were right back at home, and all these people were just there with her.

But as quick as the moment came, it left quicker as Adelaide remembered where she was, her frown returning. Still, she sauntered over to the fire and sat on one of the logs, admiring how the fire blended almost perfectly with the sunset as it rose above the trees.