To Kill A Silent Princess, Chapter 6
Hi gang! Giving you guys a preview of what’s coming next week. :0
Crossing his arms, Link leaned on one of the stable’s door frames. “We’ll probably be getting a new one in the Order,” he said. He wondered if Kai had heard about that.
If Kai had been surprised to hear Link contribute to the conversation, the only indication was the small pause in his movements.
Benji perked up, shifting on his sitting stool to face the two of them. “I know. I applied, actually, but so did several others. Only one will be selected.”
So Benji had volunteered, then. If he got the position, he would need to go through proper training, but squires already held some basic fighting skills, taught to them in the early stages of their employment. Would the training be rushed, Link wondered, with the ball so close? The Imperial Guard needed to appear in tip-top shape for the arriving nobility.
“It’d be cool if you got the promotion,” Kai commented. “You’ve been a squire for eighty years, about time for a change.”
Benji gave a small smile. “Not quite that long.”
“Four years is still a long time,” Link said.
“Maybe, for the younger ones,” Benji admitted, turning back around to continue his work with the blue horse. “But it’s definitely on the shorter end. Some squires have been here for twenty years. I applied, though I’m not sure I’d be ready for it.”
Did Captain Edeline have opinions on Benji potentially becoming a knight? The thought bubbled its way into Link’s mind, floating around and stubbornly refusing to dissipate. Link thought back to when, after he’d joined the Guard, he’d immediately been asked to join the Knight’s Order. His father had seemed hesitant on the idea, but his mindset had been appropriate for the situation - figuring that Link was already the Goddess’s chosen, if this was where fate was to take his son, then he’d let his son be the ultimate decision-maker. It was that lax-but-only-just parenting strategy that left Link feeling like an adult as the age of fourteen. But Benji wasn’t in any sort of special case. Maybe there would be more of a careful tip-toeing into service that Link never had the chance to experience. But that was assuming he’d be selected…and even then, Benji was almost twenty-one, practically an adult by certain standards...
Enough. He needed to stop thinking about these things and focus on his day.
thank you guys for your patience so far. one other excerpt is coming this weekend. then Ch. 6 will come next week!! see you soooooon. :)