The time was six when Eva woke me up. I went straight to the dining and ate as much as I could, reminding me that lunch would be skipped that day. I ate three plates full of Bacon and sausages, twenty bread pieces and one plate of fruits and almost five glasses of juice. When I finished eating it was almost 6.30. Then I went to the tent and started to dress up for the war. Today the armor was easy to wear and I didn’t seem so big. Then I remembered how much I have eaten that morning. When I was about to wear the helmet Eva came in and asked
“Are you ready?”
“Yeah, almost. Just the helmet remaining.”
“Wait. Don’t wear the helmet now. There’s a little ceremony remaining. As you are the new commander the king will present you the helmet, shield and Carlo’s sword.”
“Carlo’s sword? But I’m okay with Sea Slicer. It suits me perfectly.”
“No, Oliver. You must fight with Carlo’s sword.” she said and came in and took my helmet and shield.
“See you in five minutes at the king’s tent.” Then finally she gave me something and said
“Attach this to your armor. It is a cape, a small decoration for the ceremony. Wear it. Don’t be late.” It was a red cape. But the cape did not bother me. What bothered me was the fact that I should not fight with Sea Slicer. It was lying there on my cot. I watched it. Suddenly I heard the voice in my head. It had not spoken for days. It said ‘Use it Oliver. That sword is your strength. Do not leave it here. you are nothing without it an you’ll die without it.’ Then I said to myself ‘No matter what happens I AM GOING TO USE YOU.’ I went to the king’s tent after attaching the cape to my armor. The cape was pretty good. When I went in the horns blew on both the sides of me (that sound made me jump but I didn’t show it.) I resisted the urge to cover my ears. That day the tent was decorated differently. All the ministers’ chairs went lined in a row next to the king’s tent. The men who blew the horns were standing in the old place of the ministers. The lighting of the tent was also different, like red and yellow colors mixed together. I saw many paintings on the wall. They were mostly of the king. The king killing a tiger, the king riding an elephant, the king conducting his court and many more. It was like I was being watched by all the portrait kings. That day Eva was also given a chair next to the king. The king was wearing long tunics which were made of silk. The tunics were embroidered by a golden thread. The tunics were purple in color. The crown shimmered on his head. His face was bright. From that I guessed that the king was in a happy mood. When he saw me he clapped twice and the music stopped. I bowed to him with one knee down.
“Welcome boy. I’ll call you commander today. You are a commander, right? A puny little commander.” He said and laughed. The whole tent laughed except Eva. I saw her. She gave me a look and mouthed ‘stay calm’. The king continued
“Okay, people. Don’t laugh at our commander. You are crumbling his hope that he can fight the war and return alive.” He said the whole sentence by stifling his laughter. My head was facing down. I gritted my teeth and was tightening my palms. Then the king pulled himself together and said
“Okay, silence. Jokes apart. Today you are going to fight your first war, right? As you are our commander, shield, helmet and the sword giving is a ceremony of ours. Now stand up.” I did as I was told. The king clapped once. A man brought my helmet and another brought my shield. Both were polished and they were shinning. The king took the helmet and softly rubbed the horse’s fce at the top of the helmet and said
“Classy helmet, Will it suit you? I feel that your head is too small for it. Let’s see.” Some laughed this time. The king placed the helmet on my head. The horns blew.
“Ah…somehow it suits you perfectly. I thought it would cover your eyes.” He gave me a sarcastic laugh. After that he gave me the shield. Then he clapped twice. A woman brought a tray which was covered with a golden cloth. I was sure what was in that tray. Carlo’s sword. It’s hilt was alone revealed. It was golden colored hilt. A horse’s face was in the end of the hilt, similar to my helmet. The king pulled the cloth from the tray. The horns blew a little louder this time. He took the sword and weighed it in his hands as if he was going to fight the war. I saw Eva. She gestured me to kneel down. So I knelt down and got the sword from the king. This time the drums also blared and everyone in the room clapped their hands. But certainly I did not like the sword. It did not balance at all. It was heavier and a little longer, if I fight the war with this sword I would be dead in seconds. The king asked sarcastically
“How is it?”
“It suits me perfectly.” I lied.
“It suits you?” there was a serious expression on his face as if he were expecting that the sword would not suit me. Then the expression changed but he was definitely hiding something. He said
“I knew it. I knew that the sword will suit you. Okay people as this is the first day of our new commander let us pray to God that he doesn’t die.” I closed my eyes and prayed to God that I should win this war or at least hold the army until 6 pm and come back to the king and say I’m alive. The prayer was over and we came out of the tent. I was the first one to come out. The soldiers were getting ready. Some were collecting their weapons and somewhere getting armored up. Eva came over to me and said
“Hey, forget all those insults that the king gave to you and forget those who laughed at you and…” before she could complete I interrupted
“It’s okay. I have gone through this type of situation many times. Not only here but also in my time. Okay, you go to the army and arrange them. I’ll go to the tent and pick up my weapons and bring Max and Bella.” I was sure she was going to refuse that but before she could I ran away from there. Then I turned and looked back and saw Eva was running towards the gathering point. Then I went to the tent and took my cavalry sword. I searched for a place to hide Carlo’s sword. Then I decided to hide it in the most common place that I always used to hide my things, under the cot. Then I took Sea Slicer and inserted it in the sword holder in my shield and mounted my shield at the back of my armor and went to the stables. There was Max and Bella armored up and ready. Max seemed more excited that day.
