Red Queen

The Influence of Those Around You

"You are all to go down the mountain running with your swords out cutting down any trees that get in your way, if there is someone in front of you you must not injure them. If you fail or fall then you have to come back up here and do it again until you can make it to the bottom without any incident. Those who do make it to the bottom has to stop right away once you reach the bottom. this will help you control your balance and speed. We'll do this until the dinner hour." I thought everyone was going to complain and glare at her but they all had the look of confidence and determination in their eyes.

"I will first demonstrate it so you guys can observe my posture and everything else." The Commander went to the front of the mountain slope and before warning us of anything else she was already making her way down with her sword drawn. The Commander was gone and we could hear nothing. Just as I thought something happened to her there was suddenly trees falling and dirt rising. It seemed as if nobody was blinking. When there was no more trees falling and dirt rising we could hear a faint whistle, which could only be the Commander. Before she got to the bottom she told us that the first row was to go first and every time she blew the whistle the next row would go. Fortunately I was in the last row.

As rows went there could be loud grunts, yelling, and tumbling heard. We've seen all the ones who failed--everybody--coming back up the mountain looking ragged but they weren't complaining instead they seemed to be analyzing something that I have yet to see.

We waited for the whistle to blow. I was already sweating from nervousness but the calm energy coming from everyone seemed to calm me down a lot and instead I got a bit of confidence that I could do this. Once we heard the whistle blow nobody hesitated and started making their way down drawing out their sword. I had little practice with my brother regarding using the sword so I wasn't too foreign holding it. But cutting down trees took a lot of effort. So far I thought I was doing well but the speed was starting to increase making me lose my balance. This was probably the point which the Commander was talking about where we had to put our sword back into the shaft to reduce the risk of getting wounded or killed.

It ended as I thought. Nobody in our row made it to the bottom standing and if we did there was nobody who could control their speed to a sudden stop. Nobody was wounded but we did have slight injuries. We made our way back to the top. Of course I was lagging behind panting as if I got stabbed. I looked up to see nobody from my row, I got to admit I felt a bit dejected but I knew I couldn't keep taking breathing breaks. As I made it up a bit more I was surprised to see my group ahead. My chest got a fluttering feeling all of a sudden. I knew they could've been up the mountain by now but they decreased their pace just to wait for me. This gave me more determination I didn't want to be the one to drag them down. I ignored the aching pain in my legs and straightened my stance forcing myself to catch up to my group.

~~~~~

I don't know how long we've been doing the same thing but it was already starting to get dark and still nobody was able to accomplish what the Commander was able to do. We, the last group, got up the mountain and took our spots as before. The Commander wanted all of us to head back to our chambers after informing us about something. I thought I was going to have to hold in my breath from my hard panting but it turns out the soldiers didn't care that they were panting harder than a thirsty dog. Though they were still in the proper stance you could clearly see the exhaustion on their faces. "We will end here today. Head back to the chambers and eat a lot of food to regenerate your energy," and with that the Commander left. I thought we would all head back down the mountain but I saw everybody run down the hill again and I followed them. Did I make the right decision?

~~~~~

Mela was about to head back to her chambers when a servant came rushing up to her. "Miss, your father would like you to attend dinner with them," Mela nodded and followed the servant.

"The young Miss has arrive," someone announced and she made her way to her spot at the table. She ignored the following stares her family was giving her and put some food onto her plate. Her movements were quietly done that nobody paid attention to the pile of food that was stacked on her plate. "Oh my. Mela you must be hungry from all that training. Cook, bring more food in!" Slona yelled making the cooks hurry back into the kitchen. "Eat more. You are just skin and bones. Here you can eat my plate also," before Slona could give her daughter her food her plate was shoved back to her, "Mother you need to eat too so we could conquer the battlefield together. This daughter needs more guidance and I wouldn't want mother to weaken and not be able to guide me," and with that her mother gave her a look of admiration and it seemed as if her eyes were moist, "Daughter is right. I'll stronger myself so we can stand side by side." The three men watched the sweet interaction. None of them wanted to be the one to ruin the bond that was going on at the table. The general looked over to his oldest son, but he looked to his younger brother. Both brother turned towards their father not wanted to bear the wraft of their mother if they were to ruin this sweet mother daughter time. *Cough cough* the General didn't want to ruin their moment but he couldn't hold off of what he had to say. Luckily it caught their attention so he didn't have to do it twice but he saw the look on his wife's face and he gulped. Clearing his throat he diverted his attention from his wife's glare and stared at his daughter. "I saw that the Princess joined your troop. How is she liking it? I know it's only the first day but I just wanted to check in," the General said the last part really quick so his daughter didn't misunderstand that he was favoring the Princess over everyone else and was keeping track of her. "She needs a bit more work but she will grow her wings. If you'd excuse me," and with that Mela left the dinner table while Slona was giving her husband a hard stare.

Sorry it's taking me forever to update! I'm going to be entering college and its so confusing/frustrating. It makes me want to sleep forever and never wake up. I wanted to go towards the nursing path but I don't have any confidence in myself *Sigh*.