Bill raised his hand, having completed the assignment. The fact that he had finished first surprised no one.
The teacher came over, looked at his solution and nodded. “We’ll give the rest a bit more time, then we can discuss your deployment.”
Stephan looked at the map again. A hundred archers sat on a mountain or hill. Two hundred spearmen guarded the plains in front of them. Flanking the mountain on one side were the one hundred horses with one hundred swordsmen on the other, both forces placed in forests.
Stephan had no idea what to do, but writing “all troops advance on the enemy” seemed like a sure way to lose the battle and fail the exercise.
One group of spearmen and swordsmen advance on the enemy spearmen, cavalry attacks the swordsmen. Time it so that archers have to choose between horsemen and the rest. Archers hit whatever is in range, with one group of spearmen guarding them.
Stephan looked at his handwriting. It had greatly improved over the course of the week, and he chalked the letters faster. He had started at the head of the lower third of the class, yet now, he was confident he had progressed to at least the middle of the pack, if not the fringes of the upper third.
I’ll be the best in one month. Stephan made a goal for himself as the teacher passed him.
The burly man looked at Stephan’s answer, then continued circling, inspiring nervousness in his students.
“All right, we’ve waited enough.” He moved around the room snatching three tablets before picking up Stephan’s and Bill’s.
“First,” the teacher had a look of utter disgust as he started and raised a tablet, “and the most basic answer in the classroom is, ‘Send soldiers to attack.’ While not as horrible as telling them to lie down and wait for the enemy to kill them, these orders will see a fifth of your soldiers dead before the rest run away and your general hangs you. If you had crazed zealots in your army, you might inflict some damage upon the enemy before all your soldiers die.”
The teacher looked at the class. “I won’t name those who had this brilliant moment of tactical genius, but that’s only because I don’t know your names. Even if we’re just starting, you should feel ashamed of how you’re treating your soldiers’ lives. If there was only one of you, I would’ve brought you in front of your whole class to see, but unfortunately that is not the case. Next!”
He took up the second tablet.
“Go around the enemy and attack them from the rear.” The instructor pointed at Bigfoot Hugh. “You at least had the decency to come up with a plan, but let me ask you something, if you have to take the long way around the enemy, what’s stopping them from, let’s say… turning around!”
The instructor thudded the tablet down, then pinched the bridge of his nose with his free hand.
“Sorry. You tried. The general still hangs you. Next!” The instructor read the next tablet.
“Have the archers shoot them and the rest protect them.” The instructor glared at the student Stephan knew as Glib. “No, this isn’t really that bad of a plan. The enemy is using it, so why wouldn’t you? If you had superior range or let’s say catapults, it would work. Can anyone tell me why it wouldn’t in this situation?”
Stephan was surprised to realize his hand was in the air and the instructor was looking at him, but he picked Bert out of several students with hands raised.
“The enemy archers are on the mountain, sir,” Bert said.
“Hill, but yes, you are correct. Since the enemy is defending and you are attacking, they have no reason to go after you. Next!”
It was Stephan’s turn. “Attack the center with one unit of spearmen and one unit of swordsmen, attack swordsmen with horsemen, archers hit whatever they can. Time the attacks to lessen the damage from enemy archers. Finally, we have a plan that will inflict some damage to the enemy. Can anyone tell me the problems with it?”
Again multiple hands shot into the air, and Stephan felt embarrassed. He also knew what the problem was, he just didn’t have a better solution.
“Yes, you.”
“Sir, the soldiers would take time to reach the enemy, getting hit by arrows.”
The instructor again tilted his hand, giving the so-so wave.
“You.” He pointed at another recruit.
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“Um,” Rob looked embarrassed. “I was gonna say archers too, Sir.”
“And you wouldn’t be wrong.” The instructor looked around the crowd. “Anything else, anyone?”
Nobody said a thing, and the instructor nodded.
“The cavalry would get slaughtered. Axmen and swordsmen are the terror of the forest, while cavalry going into the woods to fight mounted are dead. They can’t charge, hold formation, and are picked off one by one. This brings us to the final answer.”
He placed down Stephan’s tablet to read Bill’s answer.
“Approach through the forest and attack from the cavalry side.” The instructor looked at Bill. “You’re the first person to actually use terrain to their advantage. The tactic wouldn’t work because forest fighting is chaos. Any commander worth his salt would move the cavalry back, and pin you in the woods with the spearmen. Now, while safe from archers, you’re rushing out without a formation, straight into a wall of spears. Worthwhile effort, though.”
He put down the tablet. “That’s it for today, we’re having another class in a week. Until then, think about what you’ve seen, try to come up with a better plan, and don’t forget what all the little squiggles mean.”
The instructor left the classroom, and the recruits hurried to endurance training, afraid they might have to run extra laps for arriving late. Stephan took the chance to glance at some of the tablets, and indeed many had just written, “Send the soldiers to attack,” without consideration for tactics or strategy.
That evening, he was sore and exhausted, wanting nothing more than to crawl into his bed and sleep. Unfortunately, that wasn’t his lot.
“I have something important to say.” Bill’s low voice quivered as he addressed the full complement of gathered youths in their barracks right before bedtime. “I know I’m not supposed to tell you, but I’m the Paladin.”
His confession strangled the room quiet. Stephan’s jaw went slack as he stared at him, fatigue forgotten. And he wasn’t the only one. Nearly half the lanky eighteen-year-olds gaped at the unofficial leader of their barracks as if he’d grown horns.
They erupted into shouts. Voices piled on top of each other, growing so loud the lookalikes sounded like a rabble of braying donkeys. For all their shouting, Stephan failed to catch what a single one among them had been trying to say, and Bill shushed them in a moment.
“Quiet!” he snapped, and surprisingly, they listened.
“Don’t make noise,” he continued. “I’ve been keeping it a secret under Marshal’s orders, and I know it’s not right. I know I’m placing all of you at risk. I’m sorry.”
The words hit Stephan like a slap in the face.
I really am acting cowardly, and I am putting others at risk.
“That’s not fair, Sir Paladin,” Virt, another random teen in the crowd of similar people, said. “We all accepted the summons and took the chance the marshal offered. I don’t think anyone here was forced to come, and we can all leave whenever we want to.”
Zeal burned in the youth’s eyes; his voice shook with conviction. “Lord Marshal gave us the chance to help Sir Paladin, and by the gods, I have no regrets. Even if ten thousand fiends storm the castle right this moment.”
A murmur and nods of agreement rippled through the crowd, and Stephan’s heart trembled.
That’s right. If someone had come and asked me to risk my life for Sir Paladin before I had become the Paladin, I would’ve gladly done it. Pa and Tom and Greg wouldn’t have hesitated either.
And yet, as the Paladin, the thought of letting others risk their lives for him made his stomach churn. They weren’t defenseless, and they were getting a valuable education in return, a key to a brighter future. And yet… And yet…
The youths, suddenly emboldened by the Paladin’s confession, began making hot-blooded oaths and vows, promising their full support and laying down their lives if need be. All spoken too easily, too passionately. Stephan drifted away from the enthusiastic conversation, as did several others who were silently considering their own matters.
The Paladin is the leader of men, a warlord as well as a warrior. I am supposed to lead men into battle, into their deaths. Is this also a lesson set up by Marshal Harrington? Is he trying to numb me or make me realize that?
Stephan couldn’t tell. But he knew one thing.
I don’t have the right to lessen or sabotage someone’s resolve. Bill is acting the way he believes to be righteous. But why? Sure, he will draw away the attention from the real Paladin, but there didn’t seem to be any special scrutiny in the first place.
The excitement seemed impossible to tamp down. But lights out forced them all to their beds, and even the Paladin barracks needed to keep quiet during sleep time. Otherwise, there would be a punishment for everyone, regardless of whose fault it was.
Stephan slept poorly that night. A doppelganger haunted his dreams, pretending to be the Paladin, and worst of all, Lacy remembered and recognized the fake, but her eyes went empty whenever she glanced at Stephan.
Reality unfortunately proved no better. A scream awoke Stephan from his nightmare.
He jumped out of bed before conscious thought could catch up. In the dim, pre-dawn light, he looked around the room. A silhouette with a lamp shaking in his hand stood over Bill’s bed.
Stephan rushed over, and in the bed lay Bill, bathed in crimson. His throat was cut, his face covered with a pillow, and his chest sported a dozen deep puncture wounds to ensure he died.
“Guards!” someone shouted. “Help!”
The person with the lamp moved the pillow. Dead orbs frozen in fear and pain stared at Stephan, who couldn’t tear his own eyes away from them. Bill had wanted to protect him. Instead, he died for him.
[Stephan Cobblerson, Paladin level 10
Class skills: In Living Memory XVI, Blessing of Healing I, Blessing of Arms I, Smite I, Blessing of Protection I, Inspiring Aura I, Blessing of Conviction I, Blessing of Intuition I, Blessing of Health I, Bane of Darkness I, Mercy I
Attributes: Agility: 18, Charisma: 18, Composure: 20, Dexterity: 18, Endurance: 19, Intelligence: 15, Luck: 17, Perception: 17, Presence: 18, Strength: 19, Toughness: 19, Vitality: 20, Willpower: 19, Wisdom: 18]
