Temple Captain

3. Assessment-1

Summer 1097 SR

An early morning knock on her door drew Charlaine"s attention. Before she could get up, a sour-faced Temple Knight with her hair pulled back in a severe bun, barged into the room.

"Are you Sister Charlaine?" she demanded.

The woman"s unwelcome interruption irritated her. "I am Captain Charlaine deShandria. And you are?"

"Sister Loretta. You"re to come with me."

"To what end?"

"As you are aware, you were chosen to participate in leadership training."

"And that starts today?"

"Only the assessment," said Loretta. "I must judge your current capacity to handle various tasks and then decide what training is necessary to compensate for your weaknesses."

"And do all candidates go through this procedure?"

"They do. Now, have you finished your interrogation, or do you have more questions?"

Charlaine stood. "Will I need my armour and weapons?"

"Of course. What do you expect? That you"ll be working with lay sisters?"

"Then I shall need some time to dress appropriately."

"Make it quick," said Sister Loretta. "I haven"t all day. I still need to find someone named Sister Danica."

"She"s right across the hall. Shall I fetch her?"

"I"m more than capable of doing that myself. Now get into your armour."

Charlaine felt her resolve stiffen. "Captain."

"Pardon?"

"You will address me as, Captain. That is my rank."

"Duly noted… Captain. Now, if it"s not too much trouble to ask, would you please begin getting into your armour?"

Charlaine smiled. "Of course."

Loretta turned, crossing the narrow hallway to rap on Danica"s door. As Charlaine pulled on her gambeson, there was some back and forth between the two women, but the voices were muffled. Her head poked out only to hear the exchange escalate.

"Well," Danica was saying, "who pissed in your porridge?"

"How dare you speak thus to me! I am your superior."

"No, you"re not! You"re just a knight, like me. Don"t you dare claim otherwise!"

Charlaine stepped into the hallway. "Is there a problem here?"

"This woman is disrespecting my authority," claimed Loretta.

"And what authority is that? Are you not a Temple Knight, like her?"

"Yes, but—"

"There are no buts, Sister. Either you are a Temple Knight or not. Unless, of course, they"ve seen fit to promote you to captain?" She watched as the woman"s face reddened. "Come now, you might have had a rough morning, but that doesn"t excuse your lack of manners."

"The fact still remains that Sister Danica is proving to be obstinate."

"You"re the one who was obstinate," countered Danica. "What with your "Get dressed immediately", and "Hurry up, woman". You"d think there was a war on or something."

Charlaine looked at each in turn, recognizing the frustration behind their eyes. "I believe we"d be better served if we all took a deep breath. Danica, come and help me armour up, then I shall return the favour." She looked at Sister Loretta. "To where shall we report?"

"The north field. Horses are waiting."

"We don"t bring our own?"

"Part of the evaluation is determining your skill at riding," the knight snapped. "We can hardly do that with an unknown horse." Loretta paused a moment, taking a breath. "Sorry. As you surmised, it"s been a rough morning."

"Then let us hope it gets better. Sister Danica and I will be there directly."

"Very well, Captain." Sister Loretta turned and left, her footsteps echoing down the hall.

Charlaine looked at her companion. "What"s got into you?"

Danica"s face reddened. "Sorry. She woke me from a fitful sleep, and then she was all over me, barking out orders."

"You could"ve handled it better."

"You"re right. I should have, but she reminded me so much of Sister Erika before she mellowed out."

"You mean when she bossed you around?"

"Exactly. I know I shouldn"t let it bother me, but I just felt the need to strike back."

"It"s only natural, considering your background. You were treated terribly before you joined the order, and that part of you still resides within your heart. Those scars will never heal, but you can learn to live with them."

"And I"ll do my best to do so. I promise."

Charlaine stared into her eyes, observing her honesty. "Very well. Now, help me get into this armour, or we"ll be late for this evaluation."

"Evaluation?"

"Yes, didn"t you hear Sister Loretta?"

"Sort of," said Danica. "But all she told me was to hurry up and get out of bed. What"s this about an evaluation?"

"She"s going to assess our abilities and then recommend what we need training in."

"Are you telling me I just argued with the very person who has to determine our weaknesses?"

"I"m afraid so."

Danica"s shoulders slumped. "Great! What else can go wrong today?"

Charlaine laughed. "Look at it this way; it can only get better!"

The northern field was several acres in size, an area of green filled with riders in armour trotting back and forth. Charlaine watched them perform precise manoeuvres for a bit, then turned towards them, coming to a halt before Sister Loretta.

The sister turned toward her assembled charges. "As you can see, it takes skill and discipline to perform these types of tactics. Now, we know the sisters here are more than capable of carrying out orders. The real question is if any of you are up to the task?" She looked around at her students, meeting their gazes. "Who wants to go first?"

"I shall," said Charlaine.

The leader of the riders dismounted, walking the mount over and handing the reins to her. Charlaine placed her hand on the horse"s neck. The beast was a little skittish, most likely excited by its previous movements.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" called out Sister Loretta.

"What manoeuvres would you like me to lead?"

"Move the sisters down to the end of the field in column, then deploy into a double line and advance. Keep the lines straight before breaking into a charge at the midpoint."

"I should like a moment or two to get used to this horse."

Sister Loretta was taken aback. "You what?"

Charlaine mounted. "Only a fool would take an unknown horse into battle. If one is to seek combat, they must be familiar with their mount. After all, their very life may depend on it. I shall just be a moment."

She turned her mount around, trotting it across the width of the field. Charlaine was an accomplished rider due to her Calabrian upbringing, but something about this horse bothered her. She dismounted, then checked the straps, finding the girth to be too tight. This would result in the horse being uncomfortable, especially at the gallop, as it would be unable to breathe properly. Looking at the leather straps, she could easily see the most commonly used buckles and made the adjustment. Likely this had been done on purpose, to give the students some trouble. It saddened her to think the horse must pay the price for such a trick.

She remounted, then trotted back across the field, feeling the horse falling into a comfortable gait. Upon returning, she took up a position to the right of the formation.

"Column of march," she called out. The sister knights fell into pairs, a common formation on the roads of the Petty Kingdoms, for such pathways were generally narrow. In rare cases, they would ride four abreast, but only across fields where no obstacles stood in their way. Such a formation was also, of necessity, loose, allowing those following to speed up or slow down with little chance of colliding with their colleagues.

As they approached the end of the field, she wheeled them, waiting for the tail end to make the turn before ordering them into a double line. Once the movement was completed, she ordered the advance. Under battlefield conditions, a depth of four knights was preferred, but given the limited numbers here, she thought two more efficient.

They began at a slow pace, increasing gradually until they were halfway down the length of the field. She withdrew her sword, holding it aloft before sweeping it down, the signal to begin the charge.

Many thought of the charge as a mad rush to engage the enemy, but Captain Giselle had driven home the need to maintain discipline in the ranks. Thus, they did not go full out, which would have caused the faster horses to meet the enemy first. Instead, they maintained a coordinated advance as they thundered past Sister Loretta, who watched in stony silence.

Having completed their manoeuvres, Charlaine slowed her knights, adjusting their ranks before pivoting into a column once again to return to their starting point.

She halted them and dismounted, passing the reins off to one of the waiting knights. Removing her helmet, she then advanced to stand before Sister Loretta.

"Impressive," the woman said. "I assume you"ve done this type of thing before?"

"My last captain insisted we all learn the basics."

"She obviously had some experience. What was her name?"

"Giselle."

The effect was immediate but far from what Charlaine expected. Instead of recognition, she saw only loathing.

"You should be careful," Loretta warned. "Such advice could lead to heavy casualties."

"Quite the reverse, actually. Captain Giselle"s training is what allowed us to defeat the Halvarians."

The sister stepped closer, lowering her voice. "You"re loyal, that"s understandable, but I wouldn"t go about invoking her name if I were you. Many in the order are dismayed by her actions in Erlingen."

"It was a battle," said Charlaine, "and the actions of her knights proved crucial to victory."

"Be that as it may, she alone survived."

"Only due to the assistance of a Mathewite."

They stared at each other.

"You have the makings of a great leader, Charlaine. See that you don"t ruin it with your politics."

"Politics?"

"Yes," said Loretta. "Like any large organization, the sisterhood consists of many individuals with sometimes varying opinions."

"I"m well aware."

"But you"re a captain now. It"s plain to see you"re well qualified for the position, yet there"s more than ability at play here. If you want to advance any further in the order, you"d better learn to tread the fine line between perseverance and insolence."

"I only seek to serve my Saint."

"Well said, but it"s not your Saint who forms the hierarchy of our order; it"s people, and that means decisions you may not agree with."

"Understood," said Charlaine, "and I thank you for the guidance. I shall take it under advisement."

Sister Loretta turned to the rest of the students. "Sister Charlaine has set a high standard. Let"s see if everyone else can do as well."

The exercise continued with each taking their turn. Charlaine"s anxiety built as Danica waited for her turn, but it ended up she"d fretted for nothing. Giselle"s training allowed the young knight to sail through the ordeal without any trouble at all.

When the last student finished, it was well past noon, and everyone was dismissed for their midday meal. The dining hall was busy, but she and Danica were soon seated, digging into thick slabs of beef.

"This," said Danica, through half a mouthful of food, "is some of the best meat I"ve ever eaten."

Charlaine watched her dig in. "It seems training gives you an appetite."

"Mind if I join you?" They looked up to see Sister Selena.

"By all means," replied Charlaine. She waited for the woman to sit before continuing. "I couldn"t help but notice you"re having some difficulty this morning."

"I"ll say. My last assignment gave me next to nothing in the form of command experience. If I hadn"t been watching the others, I never would have known what to do."

"Well, that"s what the assessment is all about—finding your weaknesses and building upon them."

"True," said Danica, "but I"m relieved it"s finally over. It wasn"t half as bad as I thought it was going to be."

"It"s not over," warned Selena. "In fact, it"s barely begun."