Chapter four: Passing days

The next morning started as well as yesterday had gone. Yallara woke up along with everyone else and got in line for the limited bathroom space first. She got down to the mess hall quickly, got her food, and sat down next to Kirem, Naomi, and Justin, they were also joined by Trainee Lilia. Kirem, who always seemed to know what was going on, told them all that today they were to start archery.

Yallara looked over at Kala. "I wonder how good a shot Kala is," she said to the others. "I've heard that centaurs are born archers but I've never seen one before."

"I heard that female centaurs are hard to please, they always want stuff," Lilia said. "I wonder what kind of things centaurs like."

"That doesn't seem right," Yallara told them. "Kala didn't seem that way when I talked to her yesterday."

"And she was mad at you," Justin added. Kirem nodded.

"You guys, this sounds to much like gossip for my liking. Change the subject or I think I'll go sit somewhere else." Naomi said. Yallara winced, she hated gossip.

"There's no where else to sit, Naomi," Kirem told her. "I guess you're stuck with us."

"I noticed," Yallara told them. "There are so many trainees here. Is it supposed to be this crowded?"

"No," Kirem answered seriously. "This is the most trainees they've had in the history of the Riders. They have enough for two full Rider groups and the current Rider groups are all ready full. By the time we're done training they will need more Riders to fill in those that were lost up at the front but even when they're done doing that, I recon there'll still be enough for a new Rider group."

"Will-" Lilia was cut off by Sarge, who told everyone that it was time to get to the training yards.

They started the morning with ponies, exchanging mounts at midmorning. After that they broke for lunch, where further conversation with her friends ensued. Then they went to the training yards for archery.

Thayet, Sarge, and Onua arranged the trainees in a line. Each person was provided with a bow and three arrows. Targets were arranged fairly close to the trainees, and three people were assigned to each target.

Those who knew how to shoot a bow were told to shoot one arrow. Yallara watched Kirem, who was among the group, place an arrow on the string of the bow between two of his fingers, he swung it up to give him enough leverage to draw the string back. He aimed and loosed the bowstring with a twang. His arrow hit in the third circle. It was a pretty good shot, there were five circles.

She also got to see Kala shoot. Everyone was amazed, though not entirely surprised, when her arrow hit dead center. All those who shot went up to the targets and pulled out their arrows. The trainees were divided into two groups: those who needed to learn the bow altogether and those who needed to improve on their stance, aim, and so on.

Yallara who had been put into the first group was given a bow and told to place an arrow on it, pull it back, and release while aiming for the target. This was more difficult than Yallara had perceived. The first time she tried she did not pull the string back far enough and the arrow fell to the ground a few feet in front of her. The second time it went a little farther but still fell short of the target. One of the instructors who went up and down the row informed her that to get the arrow to go further you had to pull the string back further. It made sense and Yallara tried, but no matter how hard her muscles strained she couldn't get the string pulled back all the way.

Each attempt she made left her arm a little sorer, making it that much harder to do the thing which she couldn't do in the first place. By the time they were done her arms felt like jelly.

The trainees got a 'merciful' brake from archery so that they had another chance to work with their ponies. After a couple hours of this it was back to archery. Yallara did better this time. She managed to only drop her arrow about five times, and managed to get one arrow to hit the archery target support leg.

Needless to say Yallara got a little frustrated. By the time they were done Yallara was about to throw her bow on the ground, and stomp on it while screaming. When Kirem told her that her face was turning red, she turned redder from embaressment, but she calmed down in the end.

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Yallara let the utensils fall down onto her plate with a dull clatter. It would be time for meditation soon. She had no idea how she was going to do it. Tired from a hard days work she was about to fall onto her plate like her fork and sleep until winter.

"Having any doubts about the riders yet?" Kirem inquired, all to innocently.

"No," she mumbled. "Go away."

He grinned and turned back to his food.

"Can I send a letter?" she asked.

"Sure. Kuri is the unofficial post mistress. Just give her your letter she'll make sure it gets mailed." Kirem told her.

"You sure know a lot about everything. How did you learn all this stuff?" she asked suspiciously.

"I have my ways," he replied.

"Translation: I spy and eavesdrop," she told him. "If you're not going to tell anyone at least get a better cover story."

"I'll keep that in mind," he replied.

"All right, you soft skinned lolly gaggers, let's get this place cleaned up," Sarge boomed.

"How did he learn to do that?" Yallara asked Kirem as they picked up their trays and headed toward the kitchen.

"It's like wolves, they run a lot and they build up their wind to support themselves. He probably does a lot of running and so has the lungs he does. I think that's why they have us run up and down the training yards in the morning. Then again, they could just like running us ragged."

"Oh come on, it wasn't all that bad," she said. He let out a short laugh.

Meditation started as all meditation did, by sitting. It was nice to be off her feet but having been sitting on a pony most of the day, sitting didn't ease the pain much.

Again her disability to sleep while sitting came in handy. She couldn't, however, get the meditation. The class afterward was more exiting. They studied natural land traps.

Soon they were off to bed. Yallara wrote a rather lengthy note to Mainar about everything that was happening before she fell asleep.

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The next morning Yallara was so sore she was sure the ponies had been riding her and not the other way around. She barely made her legs stretch the distance as they jogged after breakfast, and without Justin's help there was no way she would have gotten on her pony. She didn't complain, however, she had known that the Riders would be hard work and she was willing to do what it took, whatever it took.

The highlight of the morning was when, during archery, she tried swinging her bow in the same motion as she had seen Kirem do the first day. She actually pulled the string back all the way. Unfortunately she couldn't hold it there for more then a second and did not have time to aim. The arrow shot high in the air and landed several yards behind the target. She managed to duplicate the maneuver with better aim and hit the edge of the target.

They started working on the axe that day also. Slowly working new weapons and training into their daily schedule.

That after noon Yallara gave her letter to Kuri so that she could send it. It would take at least three weeks before a reply might come. She wasn't going to hold her breath. Mainar probably had more important things to do in any case.

As the days passed they worked dagger, javelin, spear, basic sword, and both light axe and heavy axe into their daily routine. Under the pressure of their trainers, the trainees improved drastically with the bow, and with the handling of their ponies. Yallara's arm muscles adjusted to the strain of the bow and soon strengthened, giving her a chance to concentrate on her aim and not her arm.

Kala was still giving her the cold shoulder, keeping any conversation to a minimum. Yallara had started avoiding her just to spare herself the awkwardness of it. She hoped Kala would forgive her soon, but by Kuri's reasoning she still had a week and a half to endure.

One day at breakfast Kuri came over and handed Yallara a letter. It was from the King's Own. Yallara was a little confused. Mainar shouldn't have been able to reply this quickly. Her confusion didn't make her hesitate to open the letter, however. It read:

My dearest Yallara,

I hope you're getting along all right. Not pining away without me, are you? Ha, you can't kick me now. I might have to watch myself later though.

Again I must apologize for not being able to help you right now. Alas, my life leaves me no choice. Please, don't hold it against me.

I recently found out that my regiment will not be returning until next year. This is what prompted this letter to you, in fact, though I doubt very much whether I needed such prompting. I will send you another letter soon if not tomorrow. And now to close with a bit of poetry:

I can not banish your lovely features from my mind as I march forward into unknown peril. You shall be ever in my heart.

Yours truly, always and forever, Mainar

Yallara couldn't help but let out a laugh as she read his letter. This, as curious as it was, had to be looked into by her friends. Kirem glanced over at the page. She yanked it out of view, folded it up and stuck it back in its envelope. Kirem, however, had seen the farewell.

"Yallara," Kirem said innocently. "Mainar's going to be disappointed. I don't know if you heard but you're not allowed to commit," he stressed the word. "while you're in the Riders."

"Oh, shut up," she told him with a light slap on the shoulder. "He just said that 'cause he knows I don't like it. Besides, don't you know you're not supposed to read other people's mail?"

"Oh, I know many things," he replied wisely. "Not the least of which is that you, my dear girl, are making excuses."

"Hey now," she warned. "You are this close to crossing a line."

He looked at her fingers, held close together, and gulped in mock fear. "Right," he said. "I'll remember that."

"You better," she told him.

Despite her words, her friends continued to tease her with occasional remarks about Mainar. She dealt with these by first rolling her eyes, and soon ignoring them altogether.

That night as she lay in bed she thought about Mainar's letter. Not the words he said but the words he had left unsaid. It seemed as though he knew her well, even though they had barely known each other for a day. She was so grateful that he hadn't said anything about her parents.

Through these past days she had had little time to think of her parents deaths. She had never seen their bodies, the fire having left nothing. She had not stayed near the desolate place she had once lived long enough to realize how gone it truly was. To her, it seemed as though her parents had disappeared in a flash of bright light and that this all around her was merely a dream. The pain in her heart was that of homesickness, not that of loss.

In her mind she knew they were truly gone but her heart refused to admit it. She was afraid that if Mainar had told her that her parents were dead then her heart would have to except that. She wasn't ready to let go of her hope.

A/N: Thank you to my reviewers. I love you for reviewing. You were all very supportive. Interestingly I'm familiar with at least one of each of your stories( I loved The Whole Truth, The*Spangled*Pandemonium) and am very honored to have you all reading my story. Sorry for taking soooo long to get this chapter up. I seem to be busy all the time. Since it seems to take me so long to update I've decided to email those I can to tell them each time I update. If you don't want me to you'll have to leave a review telling me so or email me at aliusdonaria@yahoo.com (my other email address doesn't work anymore). Feel free to ask any questions you might have. I'll answer them as best I can.