PENNY THE BLACKSMITH

  They find Penny in the middle courtyard, dressed in her field combat uniform.

  “Oh, crap.” Claire whispers, “This could suck.”

  Tanner stops moving. Unsure of what is going to happen. Claire sighs and moves forward to stand in front of Penny.

  “Tanner, are you waiting for a special invitation? Step forward and stand in front of me, NOW.” Penny says, ordering him as she points at a spot next to Claire. Tanner rushes forward to stand next to Claire.

  “Good. You both are to be trained in body by me. Fair warning, I am going to be hard on you both. While we are training, you will address me as Knight Commander, or Commander Brightstar. You will need to put in maximum effort. Level 0 is when you will make the most attribute gains through training. We will hammer you into shape, mind, body, and soul. Much like a blacksmith folding the hot steel into a blade. I will forge you into legends. In front of you are the uniforms you will wear every day until school starts. You will wake up before dawn. You will don your uniforms and report to Eunice. She will have you for two hours every morning. You will report to me after finishing your soul training. I will train your body. We will train your physical attributes. You will then break your fast. You will then report to Rhys. He will train your mind. Questions?” She pauses. “You will then break for lunch. After lunch, you will then report to the library. For two hours, Bree will instruct Tanner on etiquette. Claire, you’ll be studying under Rhys for the same period. Questions?” She pauses again, observing the two’s stunned expressions. She relaxes. “Look, I know this is a shock. We all feel if we can get you as strong as we can before school starts, it will be much harder for anyone to take advantage of you. We can lower the intensity if necessary. Honestly, it’s not a good idea in my opinion. Attribute training before Level One has the most effect. After your first level, the Stats are harder to train. The higher your Stats are before level one, the more Skills and Spells you can get. The higher your Stats are when you get your class choice, the better chance for advanced classes. This will also give you better resistance to various influences. I. Want. You. Both. Safe. Claire, I am your mother’s best friend. I have known you since you were born. I love you like you were mine. Tanner, in this short time, you’ve won my heart. You have the love and respect of us all.” She reaches out and hugs them both fiercely. “Whatever happens, I will do everything in my power to help you both grow. As soon as you became Attuned, you became adults. You still can not enter a contract or make many binding legal decisions until you are eighteen summers old. But you can fight on the front lines for the empire. While I can not protect you from everything. I will help you protect yourselves and each other. Deal?”

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  After returning her hug. Tanner steps backwards and salutes like he has seen the city guard do. “Recruit Alexander, reporting for duty, Ma’am.” He shouts.

  Claire, seeing Tanner, smiles and steps back. With a salute and a shout, she mirrors Tanner’s action after coming to attention. “Recruit Contigo reporting Ma’am.”

  Penny smiles with a hint of moisture in her eyes. She returns their salutes and tells them. “Today is about questions and we will go over the basic exercises and routines you will learn. First, questions. Tanner?”

  “No questions. Ma’am.” He replies.

  “Claire?”

  “Will we be doing weapons training?”

  Penny shakes her head, then tells them, “No.” “Then no further questions.” Claire replies, copying the army recruits she has seen training.

  “Good, then we will get started learning the exercises. Follow along.” She runs in place.