Page 97 (1/1)

I left the building, relieved to be finished with academics for the day Even Corporal Dent seemed in a better mood as he formed us up in our ranks and marched us back to Carneston House He still fell back beside Gord and criticized hi him that he’d shave hih Gord strove to keep pace with us, but in truth, his legs were short, so that he lurched and jounced along rather than ued hi not a few sers from some of the other cadets Dent did have a clever wit, and the sharp observations heof his belly and how he breathed through his nose like a blown horse, were piercingly accurate and delivered in such a wondering yet sarcastic tone that even I could not keep lance in Gord’s direction to see hoas taking it, I felt a creeping shame about my secret s down the side of his fat face The folds of his neck bulged red above his tight collar His eyes stared straight ahead and his face showed no expression, as if he had long been schooled to mockery I think if he had looked flustered or eht have been able to snity, even as he stoically attempted to force his body into compliance, so the best he could; there was nothing he could have done to please Dent All amusement went out of me, and for the second time on that first day of Cavalla Academy, I discovered a worm’s trail of cowardice within my soul

Dent dis us to racket into the building and up the stairs Or so we thought A roar of outrage froht us all to a sharp halt The war veteran actually rose froing puppies with two dozen words showed that Dent had a long way to go to develop the lashing tongue and acid vocabulary of the true sergeant When he released us, ent upstairs quietly, exhibiting the self-control that we’d someday be expected to display as cavalla officers

Our respite was brief We were allowed just enough tihten our uniforrounds, this tio straight to the stables and the horses, and in truth I had looked forward to being in a saddle again and seeing what sort of mount our new Academy commander had procured for us Instead, in our small patrols we spent the better part of the fall afternoon with Dent, practicing basic drill His inexperience at teaching was as great a handicap to us as our inexperience at eant Duril had taught them to me, just as he had schooledtroops But I had never drilled with a group of men, where one must watch one’s fellows from the corner of one’s eye and match both pace and stride to the patrol

Some of the others did not know even how to do an "about-face" We repeated these over and over, with those of us who knew theued those who did not and made them endlessly shift froain It was alet us intoto becoed lines and uneven response to his bellowed coht on to drill could do nothing for those who did not, nor could we make our entire patrol look better than the worst soldier in it Gord took a heavy share of Dent’s abuse, as did Rory, for he walked with a rolling gait and bent elbows Kort had a longer stride than the rest of us, and when he attee of stuly Lofert could not seeht and left on any of the commands He was always a second behind the rest of us as he strove to go in the correct direction by spying on the cadet beside hieant Rufet’s skill I could not understand why he could not teach us calmly, until I spied Cadet Captain Jaffers and Colonel Stiet standing to one side of the parade ground Jaffers had a notebook in his hands and see each patrol under Stiet’s watchful eyes Caulder Stiet stood just behind his father and to his left, scrutinizing us as well I wondered if he contributed coeant Rufet’s apparent intolerance for the boy It was annoying that this pup seemed to have his father’s ear on all facets of the Academy, and yet were I his father and in a similar position, would not I try to teach my boy by my example? Even as I tried to justify his presence that way, I knew that my own father would have expected me to exhibit far more humility and would not have suffered me to wear a cadet’s uniform until I had truly earned it