Free Zachania by Joseph Henry Gaines

guest of honour was Talon who
they found amid a bunch of men huddled around him at the far end of
the hall standing next to the bar which was serving the ale.
    General Chow
gestured Talon to come over to him then began his greeting by
introducing the respected General at his side “Talon, this is
General Krustov, you will be seeing a lot of him in the Palace
land.”
    “It is a great
honour to meet you General, I have studied your soldiers doctrine
on countless occasions.” Talon replied humbly as he bowed his head
gently.
    “Ah…my book on
the principles of a soldier! ......... Written in my youth while I
studied at the school you shall soon be attending.” Krustov
answered before he turned to Chow.
    “Are you still
using that old book Chow.” he added.
    “That book will
be used for as long as there are military schools.” Chow
replied.
    “Nonsense!”
Krustov barked in cheerful embarrassment.
    “On the
contrary General your doctrine is a masterpiece of literature, it
cuts through all the nonsense and gets straight to the point, it
reaches the feelings of a cadet and echoes what one is thinking. I
owe much of my advancement to the hours spent studying it.”
Interrupted Talon
    General Krustov
calmly raised his head, as he felt impressed at the cadet who stood
before him “ articulate, confident ... And full of self-belief,
this cadet is worth watching.” he silently thought as he studied
Talon’s face.
    “General Chow
has told me many good things about you Talon, he tells me that you
have been his finest student since many a year, I will look forward
to seeing you in the Palace land, and I hope that you are prepared
for the task that awaits you. The Palace land can be quite daunting
you know.”
    “I feel that I
am ready sir!” Talon replied as he showed a confident nonchalance
in his tone.
    “Yes I believe
you are.” Krustov silently thought as he smiled and half turned
around lifting his arm in a waving motion to Chow to move on.
    General Krustov
waited for Chow to walk by before he turned his head back towards
Talon
    “I shall
celebrate well tonight sir.” Talon suddenly commented to Krustov’s
shock as the General leaned towards him.
    “How did you
know that I was going to tell you to celebrate well?” Krustov
snapped in surprise.
    Talon raised
his shoulders and smiled confidently “it seemed the thing to do
General!” He replied
    The old General
held his beard as he gazed deeply into the eyes of Talon, he felt
suddenly fascinated by him and which was worse he began to feel
intimidated by him, Krustov nodded his head in mutual respect for
him before he finally
    Turned and
walked away.
    As the General
walked away he found himself puzzled by the confidence and mature
arrogance of Talon. It was not just a man feeling proud at being
chosen, this was something different. It was not like a braggart
who was boasting his success, it was more of a confidence, a
self-belief that he was totally in control of every situation that
arose, but the way Talon did this in a very mature and
unthreatening way left Krustov deeply impressed.
    As Krustov
mixed with the other cadets he could not help himself being drawn
to Talon, he could hardly take his eyes of him. Krustov positioned
himself in the background and silently studied the young cadet; he
stood motionless for ages as he watched his every move.
    Krustov called
out to General Chow who he noticed passing nearby.
    “How does he
get on with the other men?” Krustov asked Chow as he pointed out
Talon.
    “He leads
them.” Chow replied as Krustov suddenly noticed Chow’s pride in
Talon, almost like a father’s pride.
    “How do you
mean?” Krustov asked.
    “He is like a
magnet to them, somehow he always seems to know what the other
cadets need or want to hear.”
    “Yes, I have
noticed how the other cadets flock to him. Chow I want you to bring
me his papers first thing tomorrow morning.”
    “Is anything
wrong?”
    “No not at all,
I just want to