Some quiet days (1)
The days after the attack had been rather uneventful. Everything seemed to be going their way. But they did not push their luck and stuck to the forest, not stopping for any town anymore. The men continued to be vigilant to their surroundings. Lia did not want to remain idle either.

She had been wondering what she should do, moping in the corner when Tim approached her, asking about what she knew about their country. To be honest, she did not know a lot. The handful of information she had was based on Tamara’s stories. The rest were just gossip she heard on the streets and that was it.

To be really honest, she did not really care.

Her blank face must have been enough answer for Tim as he plopped down next to her, taking a fallen branch in his hands and drew what seemed like an organizational chart of the entire government. Tim look back and gave her a funny look.

“You have to know all of these if you are going to take the exam. Everyone has to know this and it’s part of the common knowledge part.”

Lia realized that he was teaching her for the exams and she did need to know the general stuff if she wanted to pass.

From what she could gather from Tim, he was a son of scholars and came from a long line of advisers to the King. His family expected him to follow their steps but he was more interested in military affairs.

If there was anyone in the group capable of teaching her politics, it would be Tim. As a bonus, he even taught her the basics of the language part. Lia enjoyed that part the most. She had trouble reading Tamara’s books before. But she persevered, spending a lot of time reading and studying the books in her mother’s bookshelves until she had a perfect command of the language.

Lia also did not slack off with her training. Eldric trained her still but he got a million other things to do. On days that he could not personally train her, he instructed Gaston to aid her. Gaston was big and bulky, towering all of them. He intimidated the heck out of Lia that worried her to no end the first time she heard that he would be the one to train her. Her worries faded away when she realized that despite his appearance, Gaston was just the less friendly-looking and more stocky version of Santa Claus. They even had the same belly laugh that cracked her up every time.

“Remember to only pull out your dagger when you get close to your enemy. Don’t be hasty,” Gaston would say.

“Or better yet, don’t pull it unless you’ve convinced your enemies to lower their guards around you,” Joaquin quipped in. Sometimes he would drop by their training and watch lazily on the side, offering his advice every now and then.

“Act like a damsel-in-distress first then stab them. Noted,” Lia said, the corners of her mouth quirked up.

The two men snickered at her remarks.

The sun was still high when their training ended. Lia stood by the hill, a few meters away from their camp. Below, she could see rows of building before her. The expanse of it finally dawned on her. She was finally in the capital. Tomorrow she would step inside this great city. A whole new kind of danger awaited. She pouted her lips. She was starting to get used to these dangers that she was beginning to be desensitized about the whole thing.

Then she felt another presence behind her. She stiffened for the briefest moment before realizing who it was and allowed herself to relax again.