Chapter 66: Spring
There were some things apprentices weren’t privy to and that much was certain as Sir Gunnar and Sven went off with the mages to investigate the situation in the forest much more thoroughly. When the knights returned, there was nothing to share with the apprentices.
From that point forward, Leif, Irene, and Felix were told not to tell the other apprentices about what they saw. The situation of footprints in the mud and snow going towards the Duke’s Tower was too strange for them to tell the others. It gave the place a bit of a mistrustful edge, and Irene felt unstable for the first time in a long time since she had been there.
What the others referred to as false spring happened in the following week after what they found in the forest. Everyone near the Duke’s Tower fell asleep to a heavy frost having settled in and woke up to snow pouring over the earth and recovering what had been melted. The days that felt so warm and invigorating were chased away.
It was certain then that whatever was left in the forest was certainly long gone. Whoever coached the wagon that once carried the bodies of dozens of goblins had gotten away with everything.
That wasn’t enough to stop the apprentices.
Rather than remaining idle, the snow made them feel as if there was something for them to prove.
Their warm-up didn’t require moving the snow since it must have only just started falling heavily, but as they moved and thick snowflakes fell, everything felt dull. Even the clashing of wooden blades against each other seemed to be somewhat silenced in such an environment.
Eventually, they were paired up with sparring partners and, as much as Irene hoped that she would get Felix because he was the toughest challenger, she was paired with Leif. As their swords met he seemed just as begrudging as she was to be paired up with her.
She found that irritating enough to do something about it.