When Finn woke in the morning, her gaze went immediately up to the windowsill to check on the plant. She blinked a couple of times. Was it her imagination, or did it really look better? Perhaps pruning off the dead leaves gave more of an effect than she had initially thought. She still wasn't sure that it would be enough to convince Jimmy to teach her anything.
She washed and dressed as Mayra rose to do the same, and the two girls went out to help prepare breakfast. As they worked in tandem with Mrs. Sherman to get the day begun properly, a knock sounded at the door. Victoria ran to answer it, already feeling a sense of ownership in the home.
"Hi!" She said to the soldier at the door, who frowned down at her. "I'm Victoria. This is my house now!"
"I have a summons for Dr. Sherman. Is he in?" The soldier was clearly unused to addressing small children and looked uncomfortable doing so.
Mrs. Sherman wiped her hands on her apron as she came to the door. "I'm his wife, I will make sure he receives it."
The soldier's brow furrowed. It was irregular to hand a missive to someone other than the person to whom it was addressed, much less a civilian, and he hesitated. "It is urgent."
"I am a sword-bearer. I will make sure he gets it immediately." Mrs. Sherman sensed the motivation behind the hesitation. The soldier blinked and saluted her, handing her the sealed summons.
"Come back inside, Victoria, and help me by setting the table," The woman patted the child's head and slipped the paper into her apron pocket.
"Yes ma'am," The cheerful girl responded.
"What's he being summoned for?" Mayra asked curiously.
"I suppose you'll find out when he comes to breakfast in just a moment, unless it's none of your business, in which case you won't ever find out," Mrs. Sherman winked to take the sting out of her words. Mayra's nosiness was bound to get her into trouble one of these days and it wouldn't hurt her one bit to learn to stifle it on occasion.
"You know, it seems to me that not too long ago I lived in a quiet house with minimal chatter," Dr. Sherman entered the room with an aura of sleepy grouchiness hanging over him. His wife's sharp look made him instantly make an addendum to his statement, "But my wife's radiant beauty was shining alone, and it delights me to see her now enjoying proper companionship the likes of which my old bones cannot provide."
The females all laughed in appreciation of his quick about-face, and rewarded him with a hearty breakfast. Around a mouthful he vowed never to complain about their chatter again.
Mrs. Sherman wordlessly laid the summons next to his plate as she bustled about, refilling Victoria's cup with fresh milk. The doctor opened the seal and scanned the contents.
"Wife, I'm to go see the General again immediately, before this morning's Council meeting begins. I'll be taking Serafina with me."
Finn blinked. She'd have to postpone the journey to see Jimmy, it seemed. Oh, well. Perhaps the little plant would improve even more by then. She made a mental note to give it more water and ground eggshells from breakfast when she got back.
"What are we talking about?" She asked Dr. Sherman.
"It doesn't say," He responded. The General's written summonses often contained little to no detail. Why ask someone to come talk to you if you were just going to put everything you wanted to say in a letter?
Dr. Sherman hurriedly prepared to leave and Finn joined him at the door. She found herself experiencing Deja Vu as she walked with him once again to the General's house. The doctor kept his thoughts to himself as they walked. The day was already hot and humid, and her hair stuck to the back of her neck. They walked quickly through the back ways in the shade-- it seemed Dr. Sherman was still wary of openly visiting The General, although with what Finn had gleaned from the political goings-on of Klain, it was likely that each of the politicians' homes was watched anyway.
They arrived at the door and were allowed in by the guards, and, in another rush of Deja Vu, The General was once again at his desk studying.
"Ah, yes, come in." He gave his customary greeting. "Dr. Sherman, thank you for bringing this young woman. I have some questions for her."
Finn shrank under his gaze. Had she done something wrong?
"Your friend, Riley, was it?" The General began. Finn nodded, confused. "What was his father's name?"
The young woman stuttered, completely taken by surprise at the question. "Um, My father called him Ash. I'm afraid I don't remember his full name."
"Could it have been Ashmayne?" The General eyed her closely.
She blinked. That dimly rang a bell in the back of her mind. Tentatively, she nodded.
The General sat back in his chair and abruptly changed topics. "The wolves that attacked your village, you were the only one injured?"
Finn's brow furrowed. "Yes. The children all ran away."
"And no men were attacked?" The General probed.
"The men all came together as a group... The wolves ran away when they came up." Finn was even more confused by the line of questioning.
"Thank you. That is all. You may both go."
"What??" Finn asked incredulously. "That's all? You summoned us all the way across the city to ask me four questions, say nothing at all to Dr. Sherman, and then dismiss us? I know I'm practically nobody, but he's very busy! He has many patients to see and things to do."
"Finn--" The doctor began, but the General raised his hand for silence. Finn looked ashamed of her impudence, but the heat, the long walk, and missing out on going to see Jimmy about the plant had worn her nerves a little thin. To be summarily dismissed to very little purpose was too much for her patience.
"Curious, young lady?" The General glared at the girl. She gulped and nodded more submissively than before.
"I received my weekly report from the recruit training camp. Your friend has made quite the impression on Captain Grayson and it revived my curiosity, given your previous mention of the Valor Sword he possesses."
Finn was intensely curious about the impression Riley was making, but felt that another show of impertinence would be looked on even more harshly.
"I looked into the military archives for all records of Valor Swords being awarded. There have only been two in the past hundred years. One was to a Corporal Peyton 80 years ago. After his death, the family returned the sword to the Army and it is on display as a monument to his bravery in singlehandedly saving an outlying town from a band of 30 bandits. The other was awarded to captain named Ashmayne approximately twenty one years ago."
"What did he do to earn such an honor?" Dr. Sherman spoke so that Finn would not embarrass either of them again.
"That page of the archives is torn from the book, and shortly after receiving the sword, he was, according to the records, never heard from again."
"But that would have been about the time he moved to our village," Finn said. She knew that Riley's parents had come to the village, already married, but with no children yet. Riley and the rest were born there, and he was the eldest at nineteen.
"Hmm." Was the General's only response. "I must go now or I will be late for Council."
"Should I attend today?" Dr. Sherman asked. As a Sword-bearer, he could bring Finn as his guest instead of having to walk her home.
"I'm afraid so." The General's grim look was not promising.
___________
Training continued today. Roland worked harder than ever, and he began slowly improving his sparring skills. Peter continued to patiently give him personalized advice beyond what the official instructor taught.
Roland had considered asking Riley for help, but everyone else in the camp who was brave enough had already asked. For all the pride the new recruit could have taken in the attention, he maintained an attitude of humility that Roland found almost unnerving. Where was the foolhardy, prank-playing Riley he'd gotten to know?
Riley wondered the same thing about himself. At first he'd felt like strutting around the camp like he owned it when he realized how advanced his skills were, but that faded almost immediately. In addition to that, Ashley's minor dressing-down had reminded him of Finn and Mayra teasing him to kill his excess pride. He wanted to be better than who he was. And if this army was what he was depending on to save his family, he wanted them to be better, too.
That goal slipped out of his mind on occasion, like when he'd gotten the chance to face Roland in the sparring circle. Temptation was a powerful thing, but he would be able to control the urge better in the future... he hoped. It was strange to think of how much he'd changed in so short a time.
He had thought of himself as a man since his father's death; he practically ran the family farm by himself and had taken up many of the head of household duties. It was a strange realization that he had this much more maturing to do.
And yet, here he was, training for a war that may or may not come, hoping to use the opportunity to save those he loved... and doing far better at it than anyone would ever expect of a farm boy. Not for the first time since arriving, he wondered what secrets his father's past must have harbored for him to be able to impart this much skill and talent to his son.
Though Riley had felt that he knew his father better than almost anyone else in the world, clearly there was far more than Riley had ever guessed lurking in the past that had never been discussed. If and when he talked to his mother again next, he would have plenty of questions for her.
He pondered again what they had told him in the past: that they had met long ago, married, and come to live in the village to be farmers. No further detail, no names of other places that they had been to or come from, just that simple bland tale of Amelia and Ashmayne falling in love, marrying, and having a passel of babies to raise on the farm. Mother's healing knowledge and Father's swordsmanship were facts of life, not things to be questioned.
It seemed as though questioning one small part of this life was going to open the door to many other questions that he had never bothered to ask, and now had no way to find the answers to. It was a fruitless endeavor that he should ignore in favor of continuing to help his fellow recruits better themselves. Helping others improve seemed a surefire way to improve himself. He maintained a good-natured attitude of helpfulness and relatively gentle challenges.
Until his next sparring partner stood in front of him. Roland.