Free Homage and Honour by Candy Rae

of her build and stature. Xei
had to hunker down so that Beth could climb aboard.
    The eight of
them made it to the practice field with only a few heartbeats to
spare, falling into place at the end of the second row. Ryzcka
Ranolf said nothing, perhaps he realised the difficulties some of
the new cadets were experiencing this, their first morning of
training proper.
    He reviewed
them two-by-two, walking along the lines and adjusting harnesses
and saddles here and there.
    Then work
began. They were ordered to form a circle and set to walking round
as Ranolf corrected seat and leg positions. He was not sparing in
his comments. He told Hannah that she sat like a sack of
white-roots and that if Beth continued to sit like a hardwood board
he would go and get a long pole and shove her off Xei. Jess he
criticised for riding Mlei as she would a carthorse and told her to
relax. Tana and Tavei he brought into the circle where he forcibly
pulled Tana’s lower legs forward as he explained in a loud and
carrying voice that if anyone sat perched forward as Tana was doing
they would tumble over their mount’s head as soon as he began to
gallop.
    Once Ranolf was
satisfied that the cadets were more or less in the correct
position, the Lind edged out of a walk and into a trot and, if they
thought walking was bad, trotting was a hundred times worse. Their
thighs ached with the strain of gripping and Tana especially began
to long for the bell signalling the end of class. Being on the
small side and Tavei so solid, she was finding the situation
difficult. Nor was she the only one, Beth and Hannah were in tears
and Jess’s face was set and strained.
    Their legs
protested when Ranolf ordered them to dismount. Tana’s buckled
under her as her feet hit the ground and she had to hold on to
Tavei’s neck for support. Beth crumpled to the ground with a
stifled sob.
    “You’ll have to
do better than that,” declared Ranolf, “now there’s the bell, same
time tomorrow,” and he watched, with barely concealed amusement as
the cadets limped out of the practice field on their way to their
next class. It was always the same and the cadets wouldn’t thank
him at this moment for telling them that, within a short tendays,
their muscles would begin to get accustomed to the exercise. The
first tenday was always a painful one except for those lucky few
who had paired at a younger age and had been taught basic riding
skills while living at the nursery domta.
    The cadets
forced their trembling legs to walk up the shallow hill to the
barracks where they unsaddled their Lind. It was with relief that
they entered the classroom and settled down to two bells of book
learning. It would give their protesting muscles the chance to
recover.
    After lunch
they headed to the salle where they were to begin their tuition in
sword-work, not a few of them expressing audible relief that they
would not be undergoing mounted arms-practice yet. A good half of
their Lind accompanied them to watch although they had not been
ordered to do so. It was, however, encouraged and many wanted to
know how their human partners were likely to handle a weapon.
    Of the quartet,
Tana fared best, drawing a commendation from the Weaponsmaster as
she displayed proficiency with the wooden practice blade despite it
being much longer and narrower than she was used to. Argyllian
infantry fought with a short flat stabbing blade unlike the rapiers
Vada used. Jess and Hannah were no better or worse then the
majority of the others.
    Beth soon
proved herself to be worse than useless and was relegated to a
corner of the salle with three others who were also rank beginners
under the tutelage of the Weaponsmaster’s Second who had, as
Weaponsmaster Rhian knew, far more patience than she had with the
kura-handed.
    At the end of
the class they were all gathered together and informed that from
now on the class was to be split into three groups.
    Tana found
herself in the smallest group of the more able