The Templar

6 The Shadow of the Wall

Despite Mat's prayers, the pace kept steady for the next couple of weeks, only interrupted by drop-outs and the occasional lad who fell with exhaustion and was sent home under the sickly satisfied eyes of Templar Sawyers. Or at least Mat thought that he took mad pleasure in watching the lads fall to their eternal shame and pronouncing the sentence of their exclusion from the Temple as he would give the order to let down the guillotine. There were no new signs of the Shadow from the underground and everything had a sense of routine and order about it. Mat was pleased with it since her body started adjusting to the training regime and was taking it slightly better than it did in the very beginning.

On the fifteenth morning, as she went to face her usual corner she was stopped short in her tracks by Templar Sawyers' voice.

"Come back here, red head."

She took in a sharp breath, turned on her heel and bowed low. "Yes, Templar?"

"You are allowed to join the others for breakfast from now on. But at the first mistake I see, you shall go straight out the gates. Am I clear?"

"Crystal clear, my lord."

She straightened up and walked through the polished doors with her head held high, slightly proud of herself for winning enough of his appreciation to be allowed inside. Although the taste was bitter-sweet as she would have had this privilege all this while, had she not been a girl and had she not told the truth. But lying about such a thing was never an option she would consider.

The smell of food took her mind off things for a moment as she joined Ash on a bench along a very long wooden table. She reached for the bread and hesitated a moment, taking the time to choose between the silver platters lying in front of her. She decided on butter, cheese and meat which she spread on her bread. The room was filled with chatter as the trainees spoke amongst them at a separate table from the Templars who were scattered across the room, sitting at the many tables available. She spotted without difficulty the Templars she new, such as Sawyers, Laggard or Liam Ravens. The thought of her duel with this last one made her stomach turn angrily and she took a big bite of her meal.

Her gaze traveled around the room, taking in the armors on display along the walls, the banners of the Temple hanging from the ceiling and the three hearths along the wall opposite from her, the one behind her being covered with nothing but windows and curtains, cold torches ready to be lit again being hung at regular intervals around the room on all the walls, as they are in the entire Temple. The bricks of the walls presented a warm and reassuring shade of yellow while the tiles on the floor were perfectly white despite the many pairs of boots which trampled them every day. Mat wondered who was in charge of washing the many dishes and tiles on the floor and shuddered, wishing that she would never find herself in that position.

A cold wind tickled the nape of her neck like an icy breath and she whipped her head around but could not see anything other than a great window a little ways behind her, giving a wide view of the training grounds. She touched the spot but did not feel anything out of the ordinary either, confusion starting to rub into her skin. It was either her imagination or she must have been going mad with all of this orderly routine which was starting to be as boring as it was tiring.

The small lad beside her patted her gently on the shoulder to catch her attention. "Are you perhaps feeling sick? Don't tell me you will drop out too..."

The corner of her lips tugged slightly upwards at his remark and her emerald eyes met shiny blue ones. "Do not worry Eden, I am alright. Just not fully awake."

"As you say. Just try to wake up before we go outside or you might find your death. Who knows what they will make us do today."

"You never know..." Her voice trailed off as she looked at the back of Templar Sawyers' head who seemed to enjoy something one of his comrades was saying. Indeed, no one among the trainees knew what could possibly be running through the man's mind.