“What?! Bu-but this is my first day of training. H-how can he…” I stammered. I couldn’t say more. I panicked. Somehow with luck I had won Eva. But how could I be sure that the same luck will help me tonight.
“Okay. Okay. Calm down. It’s nothing. That test is tonight but already you have mastered in your sword fighting. You have won me. Tonight you’ll be fighting with the soldiers who were in the infirmary. Don’t worry. You’ll do well” she assured. I wanted to believe that I can pass that test. But I couldn’t. I had no way. I had to take that test. I asked
“Will the soldiers kill me if I do some mistakes?”
“um… maybe. I don’t know correctly. They may kill you or they may not. I’m not sure. But don’t worry. I’ll be nearby. If they tried to kill you, I’ll come in and defend” she said, not meeting my eyes. I couldn’t believe her. How could she disobey the king’s orders? But I didn’t want to push her more. So I helped her to get up and took her to the infirmary. Then I went to the dining tent and had my breakfast. The sun was a little away from the top of the sky. So I guessed the time to be 10 am and went in. the dining room was empty except some workers who were picking up the plates which were used by the soldiers. All of them smiled at me as soon as I entered the tent and went back to work. I didn’t know why. The same breakfast was there except for some bread and eggs. I took some bread and an egg. I was not hungry. I couldn’t eat properly because I was thinking about the test that was going to kill me tonight. After eating I went to the tent for some rest. I was thirsty. But there was no water in the tent. I didn’t want to go back to the dining pavilion because it was far away from the tent. So I went to the back of the tent. At a small distance I heard some running water. So I went towards it. After a small walk I spotted a river. I ran to it. I jumped in and drank as much water I wanted. Suddenly a voice heard a voice. I thought it was the voice of the two minds arguing.
“That was a nice fight today” it said. The voice was calm and assuring. I turned and saw a man. I was shocked on seeing him. I had seen him. It was a very know face to me. But how could I see a man from the past. Then I realized the face. The face looked like Nielson’s face. I thought this was the past form of Nielson.
“Who are you?” I asked.
“I am George. I work in the infirmary. I saw your fight this morning. You fought well. I am sure that the king will be satisfied with your training” he said.
“um…thanks. My name is Oliver. I have come here instead of…”
“I know. If you are free come to the infirmary. I can teach you some first aids” he said and went away. I felt a little assured. The panic and stress slightly reduced after talking to him. Again I drank some water and went back to the tent. Then I took some rest. Then after sometime Eva came in and woke me up. She looked a lot better except for a small bandage at the side of her face. Then I came out and saw the training ground. I saw two horses standing side by side. One horse was Maximus, I was sure about it. Another horse which was standing near Maximus was white with black patches. I recognized him. He was the horse used by Eva. Now my horse was with a saddle and a rope attached from its mouth for steering purposes. I went near him and patted his face.
“How are you Max? You look good. This outfit suits you, boy.” I said. He whined like saying Please remove this stupid rope from my mouth. Except for it I am good. Eva went near her horse and patted him. She said
“I think you won’t need much training now. Already you know to control your horse. So let’s ride for a while and then we can race.
“Mm…Sounds interesting. Let’s do it. Surely, we will win the race, won’t we Max?” I asked. He whined in agreement. We mounted our horses and went for a ride. Max was smooth. I loved the way he ran. We were riding beside each other. Suddenly Eva shouted from her horse
“I know a place. Shall we go there? It will be a great place to practice.”
“Okay. We can go anywhere you want. I love riding Max.” I shouted back. Then Eva raised her speed and rode front of us. I told Max to follow. We rode for a while.
