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"Not if you open the curtains," Kort observed dryly as he walked to theand pulled back the drapes There was a faint pearliness to the night sky "That’s the druround by the dawn horn Reuely" I yawned

Spink was sitting up on his bed, blinking owlishly Natred had his pillow over his head and was holding it doith both hands I saw an opportunity to be first at the washstand and seized it Kort unceremoniously jostled me aside to share it as we shaved As he passed Natred’s bed on the way to his closet, he kicked the end of it "Get up, Nate! Let’s not be the ones to give Dent an excuse to harangue us today"

I was struggling into my boots before Natred rolled out of his bunk Nonetheless, he was ready to go ere Nate patted his downy cheek happily as he left the washstand "I love being fair My father told !"

Spink had made up his bunk for him, even as he promised ominously that it was the first and last time he’d ever do it and that Natred noed him a favor We were immensely proud of how tidy we left our room and hoell turned out we all were We left our floor, calling to the laggards who reet in trouble As we clattered down the stairs, uniform hats clutched under our arms, cadets from the other floors joined us until we spilled out of our dor onto the parade ground in the dimness of predawn

The dawn horn had not yet sounded, but Corporal Dent was there before us He deave us no ti us that he expected us to arrive as a group, for we’d soon learn that the men in a cavalla patrol look out for one another He used the e our appearances He asked Spink if he’d slept in his uniform and then demanded that Kort describe a boot brush to him and tell hiht and warnedattitude, he’d find a cure for it that I wouldn’t like He walked all round Natred several ti hi he’d been walking on two legs and when he thought he roped for a reply, Gord arrived He ca up alone, cheeks red and one of his buttons already giving way to his girth Dent appeared to forget all about Nate as he turned to a new target "Look at yourself, Gorge!" he conored "Stand up straight and suck that gut in! What? That’s the best you can do? Who’s in there with you? Or have you a baby on the way?"

Dent went on for some time in that vein as Gord squir to keep fro I was torn between sympathy for my fellow cadet and my own suppressed aut, the redder his cheeks grew I think he ht have burst if he had not been rescued by the arrival of the rest of our patrol They dashed up, out of breath, and Rory’s shirttail was only half tucked in Corporal Dent sprang on them like a tole kind word or encouraging comment for any cadet Not one of us met his standards and he doubted that any of us would survive our first term as cavalla cadets If he couldn’t think of some fresh insult for a man, he si to his next victim He pushed, prodded, and bullied us into ranks until he was either satisfied or too frustrated to try anymore He took his position in front of us when the dawn horn finally sounded

Then we stood there I kneere supposed to keep our eyes straight ahead, but I risked a glance at the others In the dawn light, we all looked alike: forest green uniforms, tall hats, black boots, and wide eyes Only the lack of stripes on our sleeves distinguished the first-years from the upperclassmen Each dormitory had formed up separately We were Carneston Riders, named for our dormitory Carneston House, and our colors were a brown horse on a green field Each dormitory housed cadets from all three years I noticed that two of the first-year patrols were substantially larger than the other two I wondered if this was a breakdown of new nobles’ versus old nobles’ sons The cadet officers had forht I envied the at their sides

I don’t kno long aited Eventually four junior officers ca down our lines and criticizing us as the corporals hovered, wincing at each derogatory comment as if it applied to him personally It dawned on me that it probably did, that ere most likely Corporal Dent’s first command, and his ability to whip us into shape would be considered theof syhter and focused ht ahead