Living in Hell

After having placed his belonging in his room and taken some rest, James walked back into the courtyard. He could already see some knights and other soldiers starting to gather. Some of the knights were forming groups. Edgar Herewealth, heir to the Herewealth family was leading a group of knights. Being part of the core families in the King's City, Edgar had a strong following, even now.

Edgar was not the only knight that had his following. There was also the group that was called out by Sir Edward and honored to stay at the same floor as the prince. As they are now staying in the same floor, these five knights started to form a closer bond with each other. Moreover various jealous knights also flocked to them, to get some attention and maybe increase their reputation.

Outside of these groups, some knights were standing and talking with their servants and squires. However as James is from a less fortunate family, he neither had any servant nor any squire that could attend him. He is the lone soldier in this group of warriors.

At this point, Edgar walked towards James together with his group. "Look what we have here, a rat that came out crawling from some ruins." Edgar called James out mockingly. The knights surrounding Edgar couldn't hold their laughter in. Edgar continued, "Even my squires stay in a better shaped building than you." Turning to his men he said, "Are you guys sure that he is also a knight, I cannot imagine myself at the same level as this piece of dirt." "He does not even have any squire, how is this even possible, can he not even afford a cripple to serve him?"

Everyone around James burst into laughter. Not only the knights, but this time also the even the squires could not help themselves. Being the middle of attention, James' face turned redder by the second. Just as he was feeling the tears coming out, he heard a shout behind the group of Edgar.

"Attention! What is so funny that the whole courtyard is laughing. Share your comedic story with me now. If you have nothing to say, stand in line, we are going to start the training." Sir Edward called out. Being one of the veteran and therefore more experienced knights, Edward is responsible for the daily training of the knights.

Everyone was silent as they turned around and stand in line. This helped James from holding back his tears, as he also walked slowly in line, behind most knights. This time he was happy that he was positioned behind most knights, as he could be left alone for now.

…

James could not stop thinking in his heart, "Why me? Why am I always the target of this silver spooned Edgar. Can't he leave me alone?" As his mind was distracted he did not notice that the knights formed two lines facing each other. He was standing there, in the middle of everyone. Just then the shout of Sir Edward woke him up again.

"Soldier, what are you doing there standing in the middle of the field? Go find a partner to spar with!" Sir Edward ordered James. James looked around to find a knight who was missing a partner.

At this point, a knight walked forward saying that he is also missing a sparring partner. This voice, oh this voice, it was all so familiar to James. It was the horrible voice of his nightmares, the voice of Edgar. As James turned around to face this voice, he was greeted with the smiling face of Edgar.

Ordered by Sir Edward, James had no other choice but to stand across Edgar to spar with him. James was indeed living in hell right now.