Disclaimer: This is a work in progress as part of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). You are reading the work product of a first draft writing session and not a finished product. Comments are welcome, but bear the first draft nature of the work in mind. Thank you and enjoy!
Chapter 12
The next few weeks were a blur for Cori and the rest of the members of second platoon of Stag Company. It seemed that they never stopped running, drilling, or shooting. The were the first legionnaires up each morning, before dawn, and the last to return to camp, well after dark, if they returned to their tents at all. More often than not, the entire platoon spent the nights on the cold ground huddled inside their cloaks. The whole time, Sergeant Neale never let them forget that it was Cori’s fault that they were being singled out for this treatment. Cori knew that he hoped the pressure from the others would convince her to quit. And it was working. She was nearing her breaking point.
Then, an interesting thing happened. Cori stumbled on one of their forest runs and as she was struggling to stand on her own, Geb and Kieran, who were behind her, lifted her back to her feet and helped her regain her footing to keep going.
Kieran whispered in her ear, “Don’t give up. Don’t let him beat you.”
She caught a nod from Geb as she looked at him. The platoon didn’t hate her for what was happening to them. They were mad at Uncle Vernon for inflicting this on them in her name. They would help her through this, and the platoon would make it through the punishing training as a group or not at all. That was the turning point for them all, she later realized. While the rest of the platoons in the Legion were resting, they were working harder and getting better at nearly every aspect of their practiced warfare on the march. When the companies assembled for archery drills, it was the second platoon of Stag Company that excelled. When they practiced sneaking up on each other’s groups in camp on the road south, it was second platoon that was successful more often than the others. Second platoon members were more successful on foraging parties, and so they ate better than the others. It was all coming to a different conclusion than Cori had expected when the new Sergeant took over the platoon’s training.
Sergeant Verell moved up to become the company’s senior sergeant, leaving Vernon Neale to command all of second platoon on his own. The platoon members started out as angry at Cori, then angry at Sergeant Neale, but as they saw the success of their stepped-up training, they began to push themselves to be better. They began to anticipate the challenges their sergeant placed in front of them and to innovate in the ways they overcame those challenges. They became harder, stronger, and tougher because of it. Cori knew she had found an inner strength she didn’t know she had in the midst of all this training. Her arms no longer ached from holding her practice weapons during extended melee drills. Her archery, already among the best in the Legion, sharpened and she was able to make shots while winded from exertion she would never have made before. And the rest of the Legion stepped up to try and catch the progress made by Stag Company’s second platoon. They were already good and getting better, but now it had become a contest between the companies, and within the companies, between the platoons. By the time they arrived on the outskirts of Rhodes City, the capital, the Legion was ready for war in a way they hadn’t been just a few weeks before.
A place had been made on the green next to one of the outlying villages near the capital for the Legion to camp while they waited for their ships to be ready to embark on the journey to Verona. The legionnaires made camp and settled in to wait for their embarkation orders to arrive when a stir went through the camp. Princess Alvina was coming to review the troops who had arrived. She had requested, in particular, to see the Legion of Solon troops when they had settled in camp. As the crown princess, the eldest of the twins who were the King and Queen’s first-born, she was held in the same regard as her parents by the people of the Kingdom of Rhodes. The younger subjects, especially, held a fondness for her since she would be their Queen someday. Cori knew her as a friend, and almost as an older sister, the one she never had.
The Legion’s sergeants went through and made sure that each legionnaire was wearing their cloaks and company clasp pins. They made sure their clothes were as clean as possible and that they were all presentable to meet royalty. Cori found it all a little amusing. Alvina was not one to stand on pomp and circumstance, and she often told Cori on their visits that she envied her the ability to go out hunting alone or nearly alone. Cori lined up with the rest of Stag Company in the front line of two ranks. The other companies, Panther, Wolf, and Hawk, were arrayed to their left. The company captains and their sergeants stood just in front of each assembled company and watched with the rest as the royal party approached accompanied by Lord Logan. The princess was tall with long flowing brown hair and a fur-trimmed cloak over a black and gold dress. She wore a silver circlet around her brow as a sign of her position. She was trailed by her brother, Prince Kyle, her twin brother, younger by only eight minutes. He was her protector and eventual military commander when she became the queen. He was in the Royal Heavy Horse Regiment now, with Cori’s brother Rad. The royal party passed down the line of soldiers, Princess Alvina looking them over as she walked by. Then the party turned and returned to the center of the parade ground, where she turned and addressed the assembled legionnaires.
“My fellow Rhodians,” the princess began. “I am proud to know that you all have come forward to serve your kingdom in this time of war. I know from your commander of the sacrifices you have already made to prepare for the coming battles. I am even more proud to know that I have a friend among your number. Lady Corinne Westgate has seen fit to join the Legion of Solon as a trooper just like each of you. I know of her bravery and dedication to the kingdom and know that her dedication carries over to each of you as well.” Cori shuffled a little in place, uncomfortable with the royal attention, even from a friend.
“I wish to take this opportunity to announce an additional commitment from me to all of you since I cannot go to war as my friend has done,” Alvina continued. “I here, and forever forward, name the Legion of Solon to be the Princess’s Own Regiment. I will personally see to your outfitting and armoring, and will count myself fortunate to be the eventual ruler of such heroes as yourselves.”
A cheer went up from the assembled troops of the Princess’s Own Legion of Solon. Their new designation gave them a recognition that would put them among the elite of the troops from the Kingdom of Rhodes. It also meant that they would someday become the Queen’s Own Regiment when she eventually assumed the throne in her own right. The royal backing also came with an additional small pension for them upon completion of their service that would make a nice addition to many of these soldiers and their families after the war. Cori was glad for the appellation and for her comrades. They deserved it for their hard work in preparation for war. Now it would be up to them to live up to that recognition. Each would be allowed to wear a crown insignia on their cloaks that showed them to be a royal regiment, a badge that would lend to the already high esprit de corps among the legionnaires. The assembled troops cheered again as the princess and her group turned to leave the field and leave the troops to return to their preparations.
Those preparations included outfitting with the wagon loads of material that Princess Alvina had brought along with her announcement. Each member of the Legion received a lightweight leather and chainmail armor jerkin on which was affixed the royal regimental crown. The all also received new soft leather boots as well as uniform brown leather breeches and green cotton shirts. Cori knew the armor was most appreciated. They all knew how lightly armored they were. As a scout unit, they couldn’t utilize much in the way of armor without giving up their biggest advantage of secrecy and surprise. The added expense was also something to consider, so the provision of the armor by the crown was a huge advantage, and Cori knew that Logan was already making arrangements to funnel the funds previously earmarked for armor into other resources for them all.
When the time came to get fitted for their armor, the members of second platoon of Stag Company were positively giddy. They slapped each other on the back and laughed about the way they felt invincible in their new armor. Cori had to admit the weight of the chainmail sandwiched between stiffened leather felt formidable. Cori wondered how the mail would sound when a group of them moved through the forest but when she jumped in place, she didn’t hear any of the metal-on-metal sounds that would carry and sound out of place in the woods. Her fingers lingered over the embroidered crown patch on the left breast that was the symbol of the princess’s favor. The Legion was already considered an elite unit by the people of the frontiers and northern province of Solon. The addition of the crown insignia would raise their worth in the eyes of allied regular units as well. It was a shrewd move on the part of her friend and future liege lady.
Cori was still considering the patch when Vernon Neale arrived back with the platoon from a meeting with the other sergeants from the company. “I see you all have your armor on. Good, I’m curious if you can run as fast with the extra thirty pounds of weight on your backs. Grab your weapons and packs. Let’s see how far we can quick march with this new gear.”
A groan went up from the someone in the platoon.
“I heard that, Sami,” Sergeant Neale said to the recruit in the back of the group. “Folks, you can thank Sami for the fact that we are sleeping in a cold camp on the road tonight. You’ll find out how the metal in your armor takes the cold night air and channels it right into your bones.”
Cori shouldered her pack and quiver, grabbed her bow and took off at a run after the departing sergeant. She was glad to see that she was not the last in the group to leave the camp. Some had been in various states of undress after trying on their new armor. They were going to have to sprint to catch up with what would already be a punishing pace.
Second platoon arrived back in camp at mid-morning on the following day to find the Legion was striking camp. Their orders to disembark on their ships bound for the coast of Verona had come, and they were to load on the ships that afternoon to leave on the evening tide. Cori and her platoon mates were exhausted from their long march and the cold night in the forest, but they had to set immediately to tearing down their tents and limited gear to pack for the march to the harbor in Rhodes City. The excitement of finally getting on the road was evident in the lack of complaining she heard from the other members of the platoon. The aches and pains of breaking in the new armor with a long march and run through the forests surrounding the capital were forgotten. They were going off to do what they had enlisted to do. They were bound for the war in the east.
There wasn’t very much work to do, the Legion was meant to travel light, and the camp was packed up and ready for the march to the harbor in less than an hour after the platoon’s return. Wolf Company took the lead, followed by Panther, Hawk, and Stag Companies. The Legion of Solon, nearly four hundred strong, headed to the boats that would take them to the war for which they had been waiting.
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Disclaimer: This is a work in progress as part of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). You are reading the work product of a first draft writing session and not a finished product. Comments are welcome, but bear the first draft nature of the work in mind. Thank you and enjoy!