Kaleb Cooper's seventh journal, senior sergeant in the capital city of the country Tortall

Wednesday, July 7, 154

Training has started for a new year. The current trainees have moved on, leaving their quarters empty for the newcomers. Signs have gone up around the city in these past few weeks. Many hopefuls will arrive but only fifty or so will pass the first tests. To become a guardsman, weakness is not tolerated. All the trainees will have to be strong in both body and mind.

The newest bunch of hopefuls started arriving before dawn, when the tests would start. The traditional sorts showed up—the sons of merchants, the sons of sailors, and those who had survived the harsh world of the slums. I could already pick out those that wouldn't pass the first round of tests. After years of training, I could tell which ones would be too weak, too rash, or too overconfident. If—by some odd chance—they made it through the tests, they wouldn't last a month in training.

I was among the guards that were making sure all the boys were dressed properly for what was about to come. It would make no sense to have them perform the tests in fine or constraining garments. The few that weren't dressed properly were given spare changes of clothes and told to go change.

I was reaching the end of my line when I came across her. She was standing in line with the boys, wedged between two large boys that must have come from somewhere between the docks and the slums. I stared at her for a minute, not sure what was going on.

"My name's Valeska and I'm here to become the first guardswoman," she chirped, standing straight with her arms held firmly at her sides. I tried to pick up what district she was from by her voice but there was no distinct accent I could pick up on. How unusual. A couple of the boys standing near enough to hear her laughed quietly. Surprisingly, neither of the boys next to her did. In fact, they seemed rather bored.

Out of habit, I glanced around for someone higher in authority than me. I didn't know how to handle this. I had heard girls on the streets joke about becoming a guard but this was the first one that had actually shown up when training had begun.

"Are you sure?" I asked, hesitant. The girl nodded.

"I can do this," she said confidently. Holding in a sigh, I nodded and moved on. There was really nothing I could do. She was wearing the right types of clothes for training and there were no rules against females becoming guards so I couldn't prevent her from attempting it. The only thing I could hope for was that she failed the tests or that the boys drove her out after a few days. Most people didn't know the realities that guards faced and I'm sure she's one of those. The life of a guard was no place for a woman.

As soon as the sun had breached the horizon, the tests began. First, the trainees had to run laps. Ten times around the perimeter of the building. It was a simple test but it was one of the harder ones. I'm always surprised by the sheer amount of boys that aren't able to do something as simple as that.

As the boys ran the laps, I kept a close eye on the girl. She was able to keep pace with the boys in the middle of the group, running an average pace. She stuck with them the entire time and by the time the laps were over, she was only as winded as everyone else. I considered that for a moment. Maybe she indeed had a chance at this.

After the first ten laps, the trainees had to prove that they had learned some basic hand-to-hand combat and that they could distinguish what certain weapons were. They would come into contact with many of them on the streets as they would either be using them personally or be attacked by criminals wielding similar weapons.

After the combat tests, the trainees had to show that they knew how to read and write and do basic mathematics. The guards weren't equipped to teach trainees such skills. Guards needed to be able to write reports and read missives. The literacy test was the test that sent the most boys home.

By the time the tests were over with at the end of the day, a third of the boys were sent away. They were currently unfit for this particular lifestyle. Some would come back next year and others would never think again about this day in their life. Within a week, a third of the ones remaining I predict will go home. The first few weeks the guardsmen in charge of training go out of their way to push the boys to their limits. The ranks of guards will only accept the best of the best.

Surprisingly, at the end of all this, the girl remained among those who had passed the tests. She stood among the boys remaining proudly as they watched the others being sent home. A few of the boys leaving sent scowls in her direction. I wouldn't be surprised if some were hissing comments about her reputation as they passed by. If they did, she didn't even seem fazed by them. She might have even expected them. It was, I'll admit, a typical male response.

"Kaleb, what are we going to do about the girl?" Jemison, one of the guards in charge of training approached me. I glanced over at the girl. She was standing beside the two boys she was with this morning. They looked much more tense than she did.

"Nothing in the rulebook saying she can't train," I pointed out.

"But she's a girl," Jemison's eyes widened.

"I'm not blind," I replied in a wry voice. "Do you want to be the one in charge of telling the lady knights we prevented a girl from trying to become a Guard?"

Jemison blanched at the thought. The lady knights could be quite intimidating when insulted and they would surely take that as an insult.

"But the trainees are supposed to live here and we can't have a girl living with all these boys," he claimed. I pondered that for a moment.

"Cook's daughter just got married," I remembered. "She can stay in her old room."

"Are you sure?" Jemison questioned. "Cook's known for being old-fashioned."

I stared the man down.

"I don't care whether or not Cook's old-fashioned," I said firmly. "We're only required to give the girl a chance. Whether or not she succeeds is up to her."

Instead of waiting around for more questions, I brushed past Jemison to the front of the room.

"Congratulations on taking your first step to becoming a guard. Training has officially started. You'll be given the morning tomorrow to move your things into your assigned rooms and classes will begin when the first afternoon bell strikes. Mornings and evenings will be dedicated to physical and skill training while afternoons will be dedicated to book lessons. When this year is done, not only will you have memorized the laws of this land, you'll also know how to spot, track, and arrest those who have broken those laws. You'll know the basics of everything you will need to use in this life, basics which will be refined when you leave training and become an official guard. How well you learn those skills will be what determines if you survive. Good luck."

I stepped to the back of the room, holding back a small grin at the intimidated looks I saw on some of the trainees' faces.

"Good job, boss," I heard some of the training guards mutter as I passed by. I turned to one of them.

"Get Cook for me," I ordered. The man nodded and instantly obeyed.

It has been quite an eventful day and I have yet to file an official report on the trainees this year. Lord Provost will have quite the shock when he realizes that there is a girl included in my statistics.

Sorry it took so long for me to update! Any concrit is welcome and I hope you enjoyed it! Please review!