The Silver Wolf Squadron

Once their complaints were out of the way, everyone regarded Rukelion curiously. "Your name is May? What squad were you in before this? I don't recognize you."

"…I only joined up today," he admitted.

Everyone gaped at him, especially Conrad. "No wonder Armistead told me to explain things to you! But how did you skip so many ranks right from the get-go?! I've never heard of that happening!"

A dozen curious pairs of eyes were on him now and he felt distinctly awkward. He couldn't let it show if he wanted to make a good impression here. And he needed to so he could destroy his enemy from the inside out.

"Major Armistead had me fight some people on the training grounds and I beat them all so he sent me here," Rukelion said truthfully. "I had prior training."

"Wow! At this time of day, the Black Dragon Squadron trains; they're made up entirely of first- and second-rank soldiers! How many of them did you beat? What were their names?" someone who hadn't spoken yet asked.

"Um…Randall, Chilton, Pole, Wheelis, and Brant if I'm remembering correctly."

"You beat Brant?! No way! He's their strongest!"

Rukelion hated to admit ignorance but… "How do the ranks work? I don't know anything about the military."

"Oh, right," Conrad said apologetically. "There are six before you get into the officers. Sixth rank has one bronze stripe on the uniform, fifth has two, and fourth has three. Third rank has one silver stripe, second has two, and first has three.

"If you get promoted from first rank, you become a lieutenant. They're like the captains' special assistants. Next is captain and they lead the squads. Then comes major, lieutenant colonel, colonel, and general. They're the top dogs and report directly to the king.

"Sometimes colonels make it into those sorts of war meetings too but I've never heard of anybody below a lieutenant colonel attending. You definitely don't want to mess with anyone here because punishments are harsh but especially make sure you follow the orders of any superior officers. What else should I tell him?"

His question was directed to the other members of the squad still milling about. They thought it over a minute before someone jumped into the conversation.

"Our first time slot for the training grounds is 8-10 AM but we have to get to the mess hall at 7 AM to eat beforehand. Our downtime is right now but we spend most of the day going back and forth between training amongst ourselves, training with other similar squads, and running errands for the higher-ups since there aren't any wars going on now. I'm Payne, by the way."

Payne was tan with dark hair and eyes and was the shortest person in the room. He was one of the few people here with a single silver stripe indicating he was a third-rank soldier.

"Do you all go by last names here?" Rukelion asked.

"Yeah because that's how the higher-ups address us. I suppose you don't like being called May?"

"I don't like it or dislike it. I'm simply not used to it."

It was the truth. He had been using the last name for less than two weeks so he wasn't as accustomed to it as he had become to Leo. He was sure he would get used to it eventually. All that mattered was being able to respond to it. He didn't have to like it.

"So where do you come from, May?" a soldier whose name he didn't know asked.

"Yeah and what brings you here? Do you have a family to support? I'm the only son in a family with six daughters so I send money home to my mother to help take care of my sisters," another said.

Rukelion couldn't answer most of those questions without being branded a traitor and getting kicked out after he had worked so hard to get here. He had to stick to his cover story. At least the answer to the last question would be true.

"A farm near Cloverfield. I'm here to work my way up in the world so I can support my fiancée."

"You have a fiancée?!"

"Yes." That reminded him… "Do any of you have parchment and a quill I could borrow? I need to write her and let her know I arrived so she won't worry."

The soldier with a bunch of sisters did since he wrote home frequently. "Here, use some of mine. You'll need to give your letters to someone in the main building for them to get delivered. That's where you pick them up too. Be sure to include your squad and rank so her letters will be able to make it to you."

"Thank you."

It was free time. Though his new squad was undoubtedly still curious about him, he had a promise to keep first. Then he could deal with answering their questions in order to stay on their good side even if he did have to lie through his teeth.

Rukelion went to the bunk Conrad showed him (the only free one) and set his things down before beginning to write on a book someone let him borrow. He honestly didn't have much to tell Daisy but still wanted to put her mind at ease so she wouldn't worry about him being gone so much. It would likely take a week or two to reach Cloverfield by wagon so the sooner he got this sent off the better.

'Dear Daisy,

'I hope you're doing well and that the planting hasn't been giving you too much trouble. I arrived in the capital today and was immediately assigned to the Silver Wolf Squadron, which is apparently one of the better ones. I was given first rank too, meaning I'm as high as I can go without being an officer so that was unexpectedly helpful.

'There isn't really much else to say. I got out here by agreeing to guard a merchant caravan in exchange for riding along since they were heading to the capital. This was after walking for days on foot. Clearly I'm fine though.

'I wanted to write you something quickly so it could get sent out to you as soon as possible so I'm sorry it isn't more entertaining. I'll be sure to put something in that will make you laugh next time.

'Love, Leo'

Rukelion folded up the letter and wrote 'Veronica May' on the front with 'May Farm, Cloverfield' beneath it. He was sure to include his return address in the top left corner the way he had been told so her return letter would be able to reach him and headed out to the main building.

The officer he gave it to poured wax on the fold before stamping it with the seal of the Mirean Royal Army. He promised he would get it mailed out with everything else in the morning.

With nothing else to do, he headed back to the barracks and ended up answering a million questions, most of which were lies. Believable lies though. He kept with the cover story that he had been raised in Derby until his parents died in a factory accident. It happened around the same time his cousin's whole family died in an epidemic so he moved to Cloverfield to help her with the farm.

They also wanted to know more about Daisy since none of them were engaged. The only person who had a sweetheart of any sort was Captain Bridger, who Rukelion didn't meet until dinnertime when everyone had to go to the mess hall before their evening training.

He was reluctant to talk about her because he didn't want to endure any teasing. He didn't care about being made fun of but he wouldn't take any negativity about the woman he loved. They had already mocked the captain in his absence about how mushy he could be.

To silence them all, he said "she's perfect" in a tone that brooked no arguments. They all glanced at each other nervously, clearly not knowing how to respond to that. Good. Exactly what he intended!

Rukelion learned nearly everyone's names as they talked but didn't meet them all until roll call at dinner. Captain Bridger was a stocky man who seemed to be in his early- to mid-twenties with hair the color of straw and a surprisingly expressive face.

He and his lieutenant, Veese, seemed fairly jovial talking to each other about girls (apparently Lieutenant Veese was attempting to court someone right now without much luck) and he thought they were the easygoing type until Bridger suddenly snapped at a second-rank soldier named Mellon for chewing with his mouth open. It seemed they could be sticklers for the rules as well.

There were twenty members of the squadron under the leadership of those two. Rukelion tried to find something memorable about each of them to help tell them apart.

The soldier with six sisters was named Boon. Ermes was the tallest person he had ever seen. Cecil had a scar on his cheek. Dudley had green eyes rather similar to Daisy's, though hers were a bit deeper in color. Ferguson had a twin. Harland preferred dual-wielding blades to using one.

It might take him some time to get everyone's names down by heart but he had to do his best. Forging polite business relationships with these people was important if he wanted to advance.