Soldier at the Door

Chapter 1 ~ “Deceit, my dear young men, is indeed an art.”





Early in the morning of the 64th Day of Raining Season, 320, Tuma Hifadhi leaned on his cane to watch the young men as they filed before him. Behind the elderly man stood several middle-aged men, their arms folded, watching critically. Last week’s failed raid in the forests above Edge brought everyone out in the snow sooner than they expected.

Things were different now, and the time had come.

Hifadhi evaluated the young men as they lined up in the field covered with new snow, the light of dawn just reaching them. Some of them were as large and strong as draft horses. Others were as quick and sneaky as coyotes. Still others were as quiet and subtle as deer. And each one of them was sharp, clever, and focused.

These ten had been selected out of several dozen, and now each waited patiently for the next stage. The weeding process had been most thorough. Even one of Hifadhi’s grandsons had been rejected, but it wasn’t because of his size or ability; it was because he was married and a father. Whomever Tuma chose would lead a life very different than he had known, and he couldn’t have any ties that might influence him to neglect his duty.

Hifadhi smiled at the confident faces that tried to conceal their apprehension. Some were more successful than others. He looked up and down the line, his gaze pausing for a moment on one young man a little taller and a little broader than the others.

Draft horse.

Hifadhi tried not to say anything with his eyes, but he suspected the young man could read them anyway.

He would be the one.

In some ways it was obvious why. There was no one with a more innocent face than his. His clear sky-blue eyes, smooth chin that would likely never grow a beard, and soft light brown hair created almost a baby-like quality to his face.

But his quick grin and quicker mind were what would secure him the position. His father, Tuma smiled to himself, would forgive him eventually.

Hifadhi cleared his throat to get their attention, but it wasn’t necessary. Each young man was already focused on him.

“Congratulations on making it to this point, men. You are indeed some of the greatest we’ve ever trained. And because of that I promise each of you will have a place to serve.”

The young men smiled and glanced at each other in relief.

“However,” Hifadhi continued, “while we usually assign pairs, considering the nature of the upcoming assignment, it seems most prudent to send in only one man.”

A few of them raised their eyebrows at the unexpected change.

The draft horse with blue eyes, however, didn’t. He already understood.

“Two men going in together may draw too much attention,” Hifadhi explained. “And after what happened—well, things are going to have to be very different. Last week’s incident with the captain and his fourteen attackers was far too deadly. It’s obvious we need eyes on the inside of the fort. Therefore whomever we send needs to be the most capable. He will be responsible for getting as close to Captain Shin as possible. We need to know everything—his strengths, his weaknesses, his goals, his fears, what he loves, and what he hates. Knowing him intimately will allow us to accomplish great things.”

The elderly man slowly paced in front of the ten hopefuls, his shuffling pace causing only a slight build-up of snow in front of his boots. He recalled being one of them, so many decades ago. A part of him wished he were younger so that he could choose himself. Not because he didn’t trust the young men, but because he hadn’t been on an adventure for so long.

Still . . .

“We can’t risk being exposed,” he reminded them—but mostly himself—unnecessarily. “To do so would destroy everything. It’s a delicate balance we need to establish, and the opportunity of a lifetime. We’ve recently learned that Captain Shin will be undergoing more changes in his personal life, suggesting that he is, indeed, the one we’ve been watching for. We hope to have someone in place when that change occurs, we guess near the end of Planting Season. How you perform in this next round of training will decide who is chosen. Is this understood?” He stopped his shuffling and looked sternly at the young men.

They nodded.

Hifadhi broke into an easy grin. “Good! Now, Hew Gleace will begin with you today in your first lesson which you may find a little unusual, but very necessary. Hew?” He turned to the men behind him.

Gleace, a pale middle-aged man of muscular build, nodded to Hifadhi and approached the line.

“There are many ways a man gives himself away. Today we’re going to begin training you to do just that: deliberately give yourself away in such a manner that those who work with you believe they’ve actually discovered your true identity. However, you will still be concealing it. It’s not easy. You have to maintain complete control over your true self in order to appropriately let slip your feigned ‘true self.’”