Chapter 11

"I feel ridiculous." I huffed to Elizabeta, turning around in the mirror before me. I was currently decked out in a complete set of armor, minus the shield and helmet.

I picked at the hard metal breastplate, annoyed at how uncomfortable it was.

"You'll get used to it." Elizabeta assured me, smoothing down the green jerkin. "Though it is a shame we had to cut your hair. It was so beautiful." She looked about ready to cry, plucking pathetically at the short bob tied at the back of my head.

"It'll grow back." I smiled wetly at her. My hair was still a sore spot.

Sighing, I strode out of the room, walking awkwardly in the thick boots.

Today was my first day of training as a recruit, and I was to report to the Royal Guard's center in half an hour. Alfred had found an old set of armor in the back of the forge, and spent the weekend fixing up all the rusty joints.

'Why the hell is this so heavy?' I complained to myself. I resolved to build my own armor as soon as possible- there was no way I could efficiently move in this tank.

Following the map Alfred had given me, I followed a trail of other recruits, trying to fit in and walk with the same stride.

We filed in to an open clearing surrounded by trees. Looking around, I saw rows of tents formed orderly lines.

"Hey! Get out of the way!" Stunned, I turned around to slow. To late, the man crashed into me, tackling me to the ground. "Ha, that was close, wasn't it?" the man huffed in my ear.

The catapult rolled slowly over us, wooden wheels creaking. I would have been crushed.

"Uh…thanks." I shakily got to my feet. The man stuck his hand out, roughly dragging me to my feet. For the first time, I noticed he had white hair.

"I'm Gilbert. I just saved your life. I'm awesome."

'Not a bad deduction…' I mused.

"I'm…" 'Crap.' I faltered. 'What's my name?' "Uh…" 'Quick Amelie! Quick!' Suddenly, I spotted Alfred across the clearing. "A…lfred" I finished. "I'm Alfred."

"Alfred," Gilbert repeated, quirking an eyebrow. "Ya sure about that, blondie? You don't sound like it."

"I- am!" I stammered.

Gilbert gave a bark of laughter. "I'm kidding with you, dude! Come on, you look like a newbie, I'll show you around."

"Uh…thanks," I finished weakly. I was slung under his arm. 'Damn.' He was at least one head taller than me.

I looked over my shoulder; Alfred was really here. 'Huh.' I thought. 'I thought he wasn't allowed to join the Armed Forces…'

"Antonio!" Gilbert hollered, coming up to a tent. "We have a guest~"

"Eh?" a man with brown hair and green eyes clambered out. "Oh, hola! Newbie! How are you? I'm Antonio!"

"I'm Alfred." I said. 'Gosh that sounds weird.' "I'm fine." My voice sounded so small.

"Yep," Gilbert said, now slinging his other arm over Antonio, weighing the smaller man down. "We're the best of buds. We've been through, like…everything together."

"Everything?" My eyes popped. "How long have you known each other?"

Gilbert sniffed, looking at Antonio. "I dunno. Hey Toni, when did we invade Spain? That's where we picked up Antonio," Gilbert added to me.

Antonio shrugged, giving me a happy smile. "Long ago, mi amigo."

'Interesting,' I thought. 'A Spanish man fighting for England. Whatever…'

"So, did you get captured or something?" I asked Antonio.

"Yep." He said. "Actually, both Gilbert and I did. Gilbert's actually from Germany."

"Oh," I said. 'I suppose it's safe to tell them I'm from France then.' "I'm from Northern France." I said. "I was captured as well."

"Cool." Antonio said. "I guess we're all refuges then. You'll fit in just fine with us. Do you need a bunk?" Antonio asked. "We've got space in our tent."

"No thanks," I said quickly, backing away from them. No matter how nice they were being to me, I was not ready to share a room with the two of them. "I actually have a separate tent, somewhere. Thanks for the offer, though. I guess I'll see you guys around then?" I squeaked

Gilbert shrugged "Whatever dude. See you later."

I slid away, towards where I had seen Alfred. Thankfully he was still there, looking very imposing.

"Hey Alfred." I sighed in relief. At least I didn't have to pretend around him. Alfred pushed off the tree he was leaning again. I noticed he didn't have his crutch with him.

"Where's your crutch?" I was confused.

"I left it at the castle," he replied. "The other boys make fun of me for having it. It's a sign of weakness."

"Oh." I said. "Right. I didn't think you were allowed to come over here. Isn't it closed off to just the recruits?"

"And their training officers." Alfred added, smiling at me.

"You're a training officer?!" I gawked at him. "I didn't think you could be! How did that happen?"

"I actually have been for a while. I just don't get deployed because of my injury. I'm still good for training new recruits though." Alfred rubbed behind his head sheepishly.

"Sounds pretty good to me." I smiled up at him. "Can you show me where my tent is?"

"Of course," Alfred said, taking my arm. Suddenly, he dropped it. "I probably shouldn't do that while we're here, huh?"

"Right." I said, leaving my arm at my side. "I need to act more manly. How do I do that?"

"Pffft" Alfred puttered. "It'll rub off on you eventually. Just watch and learn. For now, just lay low and try not to be noticed."

"That won't be hard." I grumbled. "I'm so short compared to all these guys…"

"You're not that short!" Alfred put a hand on my head. I barely came up to his shoulder. "Okay, maybe you are, but you can pass it off as long as you say you're French."

"Hey!" I punched his arm.

"Owe," Alfred playfully looked offended. "Anyway, this is your reserved tent. I tried to place it as far away as possible. Luckily, you're only a few tents away from where I'm quartered with the rest of the trainers."

"That's good." I sighed in relief.

Turning back to him, I asked "So what should I call you here? Sir Alfred? Prince Alfred? Trainer Alfred?"

"Commander Alfred, actually" Alfred stroked his chin thoughtfully. "What about you? What's your name? Initiative…?"

"Alfred." I replied glumly.

"Wow." Alfred said sarcastically. "You are not very creative. Don't worry; I'll get you a nickname. How about…Alfie? That can kinda go both ways…"

"Alfie. That'll work. Good night Commander Alfred. I'll see you tomorrow." And with that, I disappeared into my tent, content with my new 'home.'

Author's Note: Sorry, I've been super busy lately, so I won't be updating as frequently as I have been - sorry! And YAY new characters! They've finally come! Review and let me know what you think, and sorry again for being so distracted, I'm honestly not really focused on this; perhaps some reviews may convince me that this is more important :P