"Lieutenant?"
I heard a voice behind me.
I was still standing before the lieutenant a hand-span of minutes later. I'd have given anything to be somewhere else.
"Captain Caldwell," Lieutenant Elmore said. "You'll want to see this."
I risked a glance over my shoulder. Another man in mail and plate was striding toward us, his cloak marked with a captain's insignia.
The captain frowned as he approached.
"What is it, Lieutenant? We still have wounded to tend and scouts to send."
"Sir..." Elmore hesitated, something I'd never expected an officer to do. "I believe you should hear this recruit's report yourself."
Captain Caldwell’s eyes settled on me.
“Recruit,” he said evenly. “Lieutenant Elmore believes I should hear your report.”
“Sir.” I pointed toward the bodies. “The goblins attacked from the woods. I killed the first three with my spear before the big one broke it.”
My fingers tightened around Old Man McCallam’s sword.
“I couldn’t find another spear, so I used my sword on the last four.”
Captain Caldwell looked from me to the bodies.
“You killed all seven?”
“Yes, sir.”
“What are your weapon skills?”
“I don’t have any, sir.”
His eyes sharpened.
“None?”
“No, sir.”
“Show me your System Status.”
My stomach dropped.
“I can’t, sir.”
“Explain.”
“I haven’t unlocked the System yet.”
Captain Caldwell studied me for a long moment.
“How old are you?”
“Twelve, sir.”
“And let me guess…” The captain’s voice hardened. “You ran away to join the levy.”
"No, sir." I met his eyes. He needed to understand. "I received the levy as head of my household. My family needs the money."
For a moment, I was back at our kitchen table with Anna sitting across from me.
“You could tell them they made a mistake,” she said. “Tell them you’re only twelve.”
“They didn’t make a mistake. The levy has my name.”
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“Then don’t go.”
“Anna, it’s a silver a day.”
“We still have the odd jobs.”
“And the quest board. I know.” I had counted the coins between us twice before she came downstairs. Counting them again wouldn’t have made them multiply. “We ain’t making it. Not enough.”
“We could find more work.”
“Where?”
Her mouth tightened.
“A silver every day,” I said. “I can send most of it home.”
“You could die.”
I looked down at the coins.
“If I stay, what happens when those run out?”
She didn’t answer.
“I’ll come back,” I told her.
“You don’t know that.”
“No,” I said. “But I know what happens if I stay.”
The memory released me.
The captain stared at me.
"What kind of man sends his twelve-year-old son to serve in his stead?"
I lowered my eyes.
"A dead one, sir."
Captain Caldwell looked at me for a long moment.
Then he turned away.
"Corporal."
"Sir."
"Check over your squad. I want a full accounting of the dead and wounded."
"Yes, sir."
The captain looked back at me.
"Recruit Rowan."
"Sir?"
"Remain here."
"Yes, sir." I said in confusion had i done so terribly in my first battle?
"Lieutenant."
"Sir."
"Walk with me."
***
"One of you close the flap," Captain Caldwell said as he lowered himself into his camp chair.
He rubbed the grit from his eyes and let the silence linger before looking at Lieutenant Elmore.
"You believe we have an unusual recruit."
"Yes, sir."
The captain turned to the corporal.
“Tell me about him.”
The corporal shifted his weight.
“Elias Rowan. Joined us two towns back. Stable hand. Hard worker. Doesn’t complain and doesn’t talk much.”
“How is he at drill?”
“Pays attention. Never has to be shown the same thing twice.”
The corporal hesitated.
“Sir, he has the best spear thrust in the company.”
Caldwell raised an eyebrow.
“Among the recruits?”
“Among everyone I’ve drilled. I assumed he’d unlocked a Spear Skill and wasn’t talking about it.”
Caldwell looked toward the sergeant.
“Anything else?”
“Quiet. Literate. Reads and writes well enough to send letters home. Sends his pay with them.”
“Prior weapons training?”
“None that we know of, sir.”
“How long has he been with us?”
“Nine days.”
Caldwell sat forward.
“Nine days?”
“Aye, sir.”
Caldwell held out his hand.
“Get me the company register.”
"At once, sir."
Moments later, the worn ledger lay open on the captain's field desk.
"Gilfordshire..." Caldwell murmured as his finger traced down the page. "That's where we picked him up."
He found the entry.
Elias Rowan — Head of Household.
Caldwell frowned.
"Head of Household," he read quietly.
"No age recorded."
He turned another page.
"No ages on any of them."
The kingdom knew what they owed in taxes, what village they came from, and whether they were fit to march.
It had never bothered to ask how old they were.
"What should we do, sir?" Lieutenant Elmore asked.
Captain Caldwell closed the company register.
"There isn't much we can do about his age." He was quiet for a moment. "Nor his circumstances."
He looked up.
"But we can do something about the soldier he'll become."
The three men waited.
"Sergeant, whenever Recruit Rowan isn't marching, standing watch, eating, or sleeping, he's training."
"Yes, sir."
"Start with the spear. It's already becoming second nature to him."
Caldwell glanced toward the sword hanging from the tent pole where Elias had surrendered it before waiting outside.
"After that, that shortsword of his. If we can find a serviceable shield, I want him learning sword and shield as well."
"Every day?"
"Every day."
The sergeant nodded.
"Aye, sir."
Lieutenant Elmore frowned.
"That's a great deal of extra instruction for one levy recruit."
Caldwell met his eyes.
"You've seen what he accomplished after nine days."
Silence settled over the tent.
"Imagine what he'll be capable of by summer's end."