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“Yes, my lord, though after this meal I’m
not sure how much room I have left for it.

CHAPTER
FOUR
     
    Under normal
circumstances, being summoned to Captain Garrett’s office did not
worry Adrienne. She reported to him on a regular basis about the
new recruits she tested, and he had taken a special interest in
Jeral’s progress over the eight months of the Yearling’s
training.
    Still, when the order had
come down that Adrienne was to report to the captain’s office, she
knew that it was not to go over the latest news about the
recruits.
    “ Adrienne Rydaeg, reporting
as ordered, sir,” Adrienne said when the page showed her into the
captain’s office.
    “ Rydaeg, come in,” Captain
Garrett said, his face impassive. “Sit, if you’d like.”
    Adrienne remained
standing, as was her habit when in the captain’s office.
    “ How is Rosch’s
progress?”
    Adrienne was momentarily
thrown. She had reported to the captain only a few days ago, after
she and Jeral had returned from Red Ridge Keep, and they had
discussed Jeral briefly at that time. Despite her confusion, she
reported. “He is progressing much faster than I would have
predicted eight months ago, sir. He has a natural aptitude for
swordsmanship that lends itself well to our current training, and
he performed well outside of Kyrog.” A sudden and unwelcome thought
occurred to her. “Captain, despite his progress, if you are
thinking of sending him back to Roua at this time I believe that
would be a mistake. A few more months of—”
    “ I value your input,” the
captain said, cutting her off, “but it is not my intention to cut
Rosch’s study at Kyrog short. I requested you to come here so that
we could discuss you.”
    “ What did you wish to talk
about, Captain?” Adrienne asked, her stomach clenching nervously.
She forced her body and face to appear calm and relaxed, while
inside she was running through anything she had done in the last
couple of days that might require disciplinary action.
    The captain had been
pleased with the results of their mission, and surprised that
Adrienne had gone to Red Ridge Keep and met with Lord Neecham
without being told, but had been only mildly displeased that she
had acted outside of her orders.
    Ricco’s prediction of
flogging had not come to pass.
    Adrienne could think of
nothing she might have done to displease Captain Garrett then or
since her return.
    “ You’ve been at Kyrog for a
long time,” Captain Garrett said.
    “ Yes, sir,” Adrienne
answered. It had been thirteen years now, a long time for a soldier
in any one place. Even longer than it seemed, considering Adrienne
was barely twenty-one.
    “ To my knowledge, you have
never asked for higher rank, or wondered why someone of your
experience is still a private instead of an officer.”
    “ I am still young, Captain
Garrett.” She would be lying if she said she had never wondered why
the captain had never so much as hinted at a promotion. “I thought
my age might be a factor.”
    “ Age is always a factor to
be considered, but in your case age was never the obstacle. You
became a soldier so young that you have more experience as a
soldier than some men—or women—half again your age. Even before
coming to Kyrog you had experience.”
    The lump forming in her
throat made it hard for Adrienne to swallow. Part of her thought
that maybe, finally, she would become an officer. The hope refused
to die, beating madly in her breast, even as a large part of her
was imagining Captain Garrett telling her that there was something
preventing her from ever making lieutenant.
    Worse, the idea that he
might ask her to leave Kyrog came to mind and couldn’t be
dismissed. “May I ask what the obstacle is?” Adrienne forced the
words out.
    Captain Garrett nodded.
“You are, possibly, the best soldier in Kyrog. You are dedicated—to
your training, to Kyrog, to Samaro—in a way that few soldiers are.
You are an example of what a great soldier should