Lindy braided her hair into two plaits and pinned them on top of her head. She dressed in brown breeches and a white loose fitting shirt: looking out over the training yard everyone looked the same: no one stood out. The blond girl felt alone: Katherine had been advanced again and none of the children she'd arrived with trained with her. Even at meals she didn't see much of them. She tripped on the rug at the end of her bed and cursed when she fell head first into the desk that took up the bulk of the space. She was lucky it was just a bump and didn't require any serious care.
The room she was in was much smaller than she was used to. At home she had a sitting room, a bedroom and a dressing room all at least twice the size of the small room she now had. She sat down on the bed and starred out the window: the Hushai were training them not to show their emotions but Lindy was struggling with that. She missed her mother and siblings. She missed her horses and the dogs. Mostly she missed her freedom. She'd thought coming with Katherine and training with the Hushai would be an adventure. She hated that she was wrong.
Instead of an adventure she was tired, bruised and homesick. There were a few people she liked and got along with, but mostly they all focused on their own training and studies. Lindy wished she saw more of Mackinley and Jarvin, she liked them but she hadn't seen Mackinley in days and Jarvin was training with the same group as Katherine. They all ate meals at different times now and they trained with different groups. She knew that Mackinley was training with Master Garvin and that he only took one student at a time, but she also knew he had left days before, she wondered if Mackinley had gone with him.
With a tired sigh Lindy left her room, stepping into a hallway full of doors. The doors each led to a room like her own. Each assigned to another man, woman, girl or boy who trained with the Hushai. Some had been there for months, like her, some for years: she'd met one man who had been there for thirty two years--he was a Hushai Elite and had been on missions. He had told Lindy that he had been twenty four before he was trusted on his first mission alone. The girl two doors down had been seventeen. Lindy was six years old: she missed her home.
She turned left after the seventh door and followed the narrow stairs down to the ground level. She was late for morning routines: she ran across the grounds to where she was supposed to be. The Master in charge that day frowned as she bowed and stepped into line, it was the fourth time she was late that week.
Because she was late Lindy found herself paired with Ned. Ned was clumsy and didn't realize his own strength. Lindy was worried that Ned would take her head off with his attacks or that he would break her leg with his defense: she was nervous and it showed in her stance. The Master corrected her twice before stepping away to call the next swing: Ned whacked her fingers and swept her feet out from under her and to make it worse she fell wrong so hit her head and bruised her shoulder in the fall. She bit down on the inside of her cheek to stop from showing the pain.
"Focus," the Master snapped, "Stop daydreaming, child!"
Lindy picked up her staff with shaky, sore fingers and stood ready against Ned. She'd stopped complaining about her partners being bigger than her when the Master told her that Hushai didn't complain and took whatever instructions a Master gave them. She took a deep breath, focused on her stance and nodded to Ned that she was ready. This time she fell right, but Ned had hit so hard he broke her arm and she had to be taken to the infirmary.
"It looks like you've been beaten, child," Master Kurt admonished as he looked her over, "What has happened to you?"
Lindy hung her head in shame, "It was Ned, Master," the Hushai Junior that had carried her told Master Kurt, "Poor Lindy was stuck with him as her partner again."
"That boy should have been paired with someone his own strength," Master Kurt told Lindy, "You might have some training but you're not at Ned's level of strength yet. No matter," he flashed her a smile, "Let's get this arm set. There won't be any stave fighting for you for at least two months, the Master's will have to adjust your schedule."
"But Master," Lindy argued, "A Hushai must fight despite the pain, how else will I learn if I don't continue my training."
"You cannot fight at your best if your body does not heal," he rebutted, "You will have many years to fight in pain and while injured when you are older and stronger, for now you will listen to my instruction."
"Yes, Master," she agreed, miserable inside.
She was kept in the infirmary for several hours: it took four Healers to hold her while they set the bones and bound the arm. The pain was terrible and she had passed out from it. When she awoke Master Kurt had checked her binding and told her to rest a while more. She had rolled onto her side with the broken arm protected and stared at the blank wall.
If she had stayed home, she told herself, this would not have happened. At home she would have tea parties and pretty dresses and the men at arms would teach her to defend her home. Tears threatened but she refused to let them come. another healer checked her and told her she could go but to speak to the Master and have her schedule adjusted.
Lindy left the infirmary and discovered it was mid afternoon. Her stomach rumbled but she knew the kitchens were off limit between meals. With an emotional sigh she went to find the training Masters to deliver Master Kurt's instructions.
The compound was set up in a very large square. The living quarters were long buildings but instead of being along a wall they were set well inside the walls so Junior Hushai could be trained to jump, climb and run the walls without landing on the buildings. they were also spaced so that training could occur on the rooftops. Lindy wasn't allowed to practice those jumps yet: she had to strengthen her legs and arms and learn to fall: bitterness crept into her heart.
She and Katherine had been running, jumping and falling with the men at arms forever. What right did these people have to tell her she couldn't. With a sudden realization Lindy climbed the stairs to the roof, her broken arm preventing her from climbing up the balconies and trellis like others did.
She didn't want to wait for someone else to tell her she was ready: she was determined to show them all she was more capable than they gave her credit for.