Read Online Guardians of Magessa (The Birthright Chronicles Book 1) by Peter Last - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Peter Last
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wanted no trouble.
“And you had better have the barracks
ready by inspection,” the superior officer said in a threatening tone. “If I find
so much as a splinter out of place, I’ll have you busted down to a basic
infantryman in no time.”
“Yes sir, Superior Officer,” Josiah
answered, though he had to bite back several angry retorts. He had serious
doubts that the officer could bust him down, especially that low, but he didn’t
want to test the theory. The superior officer stalked off, and Josiah turned back to his soldiers.
“At ease,” he ordered. He waited for the
soldiers to relax a little before continuing. “You heard the grand admiral. We
have a list of things we need to do between now and when the students from the
academy in Belvárd come, which is…” he looked down at the paper in his hands , “…in two days. Actually less than that,” he
corrected himself. “They are supposed to be arriving sometime tomorrow. Your
captains will instruct you as to what your duties will be. You are dismissed
for now.”
The cadets began to break formation and
head into the barracks to change from their uniforms. Five of the cadets, one
for every two hundred, approached Josiah, and he led them into a small office
at the front of the building. He slid into a chair behind a small, battered
desk, and the five captains entered the room and stood in front of the desk,
the last one closing the door as he entered.
Josiah looked down at the list of
assignments and sighed. He was almost positive the
officer had given his cadets the most work, but he wasn’t going to
complain. Instead, he began to mentally divide it up between his five captains.
“Well, looks like Cirro really is going
to get to plant flowers along twenty miles of road,” he thought sourly. He grabbed some paper from a lower
drawer of his desk and began to write on five sheets. Divided up into five
parts, the work load appeared lighter, but the cadets would still have to work
hard in order to finish it. He finished transferring the assignments and handed
the five sheets to his captains. The men saluted, then turned and left.
Josiah sighed and rose to his feet. He
would have to supervise the men and would probably put in a good amount of work
himself. He waited for four groups of the cadets to leave the barracks then
left his office. The captain in charge of the men who remained in the barracks
approached Josiah.
“Well, Terza, let’s get this
show on the road,” Josiah told the captain. “To start, remake all the beds
with military precision. After that, I want every single bed checked to make
sure it is perfect. Next, I want you to get some sandpaper and rub down all of
the bedframes. I don’t know if that commander can actually do what he
threatens, but I’m not planning on finding out. After you do that, I want every
inch of this barracks swept, dusted, and
polished. Wash down the walls and everything else that isn’t perfectly clean.
Once you have all that done, let me know, and I’ll come look at it and see if
there is anything else I want done. Oh yeah, one other thing—work well, but
quickly. This barracks needs to be done for inspection; that should happen
shortly after lunch. It wouldn’t hurt to have it done before that because,
knowing my superior, he will drop in early.”
“Yes sir, Commander Pondran,” the captain
said and saluted. “Everything will be done as you ordered.”
“Good. I’ll be back in a few hours to see
how things are progressing.”
Josiah turned and walked out of the
barracks and headed for the buildings on the north side of the campus. Cadets
swarmed the streets as they hurried to prepare the grounds for the arrival of
the cadets from the academy in Belvárd. Several hundred cadets, all obviously
under the same captain, washed and painted several buildings
and tried to bring the m to perfection by the following day. Cadets also
swarmed the roads, planting flowers and pruning the shrubs that
“And you had better have the barracks
ready by inspection,” the superior officer said in a threatening tone. “If I find
so much as a splinter out of place, I’ll have you busted down to a basic
infantryman in no time.”
“Yes sir, Superior Officer,” Josiah
answered, though he had to bite back several angry retorts. He had serious
doubts that the officer could bust him down, especially that low, but he didn’t
want to test the theory. The superior officer stalked off, and Josiah turned back to his soldiers.
“At ease,” he ordered. He waited for the
soldiers to relax a little before continuing. “You heard the grand admiral. We
have a list of things we need to do between now and when the students from the
academy in Belvárd come, which is…” he looked down at the paper in his hands , “…in two days. Actually less than that,” he
corrected himself. “They are supposed to be arriving sometime tomorrow. Your
captains will instruct you as to what your duties will be. You are dismissed
for now.”
The cadets began to break formation and
head into the barracks to change from their uniforms. Five of the cadets, one
for every two hundred, approached Josiah, and he led them into a small office
at the front of the building. He slid into a chair behind a small, battered
desk, and the five captains entered the room and stood in front of the desk,
the last one closing the door as he entered.
Josiah looked down at the list of
assignments and sighed. He was almost positive the
officer had given his cadets the most work, but he wasn’t going to
complain. Instead, he began to mentally divide it up between his five captains.
“Well, looks like Cirro really is going
to get to plant flowers along twenty miles of road,” he thought sourly. He grabbed some paper from a lower
drawer of his desk and began to write on five sheets. Divided up into five
parts, the work load appeared lighter, but the cadets would still have to work
hard in order to finish it. He finished transferring the assignments and handed
the five sheets to his captains. The men saluted, then turned and left.
Josiah sighed and rose to his feet. He
would have to supervise the men and would probably put in a good amount of work
himself. He waited for four groups of the cadets to leave the barracks then
left his office. The captain in charge of the men who remained in the barracks
approached Josiah.
“Well, Terza, let’s get this
show on the road,” Josiah told the captain. “To start, remake all the beds
with military precision. After that, I want every single bed checked to make
sure it is perfect. Next, I want you to get some sandpaper and rub down all of
the bedframes. I don’t know if that commander can actually do what he
threatens, but I’m not planning on finding out. After you do that, I want every
inch of this barracks swept, dusted, and
polished. Wash down the walls and everything else that isn’t perfectly clean.
Once you have all that done, let me know, and I’ll come look at it and see if
there is anything else I want done. Oh yeah, one other thing—work well, but
quickly. This barracks needs to be done for inspection; that should happen
shortly after lunch. It wouldn’t hurt to have it done before that because,
knowing my superior, he will drop in early.”
“Yes sir, Commander Pondran,” the captain
said and saluted. “Everything will be done as you ordered.”
“Good. I’ll be back in a few hours to see
how things are progressing.”
Josiah turned and walked out of the
barracks and headed for the buildings on the north side of the campus. Cadets
swarmed the streets as they hurried to prepare the grounds for the arrival of
the cadets from the academy in Belvárd. Several hundred cadets, all obviously
under the same captain, washed and painted several buildings
and tried to bring the m to perfection by the following day. Cadets also
swarmed the roads, planting flowers and pruning the shrubs that
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