The Talented by J.R. McGinnity

the countryside was unknown to her. Her interests in geography
were limited. It was Tam’s words, not the place, that caught
Adrienne’s attention. “If you mean that there is work for me to do,
or things to learn, I would like to start as soon as possible,”
Adrienne told the older man.
    “ That really isn’t
necessary.” Tam’s smile was kind but distracted. “Three weeks won’t
make a difference, really.”
    In Adrienne’s experience
when it came to training, three weeks could mean the difference
between the ability to defend with a sword or the ability to trip
over one. “Please, I would like to begin as soon as
possible.”
    Tam sighed, long and
weary. “I suppose there is no harm in beginning your instruction
now,” he told her in a voice completely lacking in enthusiasm. “I
know the history as well as any of the scholars in
Kessering.”
    “ History?”
    “ Yes. What you will
hopefully become a part of is the result of a commission of
scholars—and men and women of influence—who are trying to find a
way to end the war with Almet. This conflict has been going on for
quite a long time, you know.”
    “ I know all of the
pertinent details regarding the conflict between Samaro and Almet,”
Adrienne told Tam. “If that is the history you are referring to, it
isn’t necessary to teach me. Not unless you are going back before
the Fuirons, but that was centuries ago. Nearly a
millennia.”
    Tam regarded her with some
surprise. “Not too many people are that knowledgeable about the
long and bloody history between our country and Almet,” Tam said.
“Are you sure you know more than the popular facts? Many people
feel that they know more than they do.”
    The ongoing conflict and
on-again off-again war between Samaro and Almet was the main reason
camps like Kyrog existed. Most of the battles Adrienne had studied
had involved Almet, and to understand an enemy’s battle strategy,
one had to understand the enemy. Adrienne had spent considerable
time studying the history and culture of Almet, initially under the
tutelage of Karse, so that she might have a full vision of the
conflict and what influenced Almet’s armies. Someday, she planned
to ride to the Almetian battle lines and fight that evil herself,
and when she did, she wanted to know what her enemy was fighting
for.
    “ I am aware that in the
distant past, Samaro and Almet were allied by a mutually beneficial
and lucrative trade agreement. Almet was considerably smaller at
the time, more of a size with Samaro. Then the Fuirons rose to
power in Samaro and abolished slavery. When Almet refused to do the
same, the trade agreement with Almet was ended.”
    Tam seemed impressed, and
Adrienne continued with what she remembered from what Karse had
told her. “The Fuirons were the ruling family for several centuries
after that, and are still regarded as perhaps the best monarchal
family Samaro has ever had,” Adrienne continued. “However, even
after the trade agreement ended, Almet continued to grow in size
and power by spreading its influence into the countries surrounding
it, and the relationship between Samaro and Almet grew more
antagonistic, in part due to the fact that Almet, for all of its
size, is landlocked.” Adrienne quirked an eyebrow. “Need I continue
up to the conflict under King Burin’s current rule?”
    The doubt that had covered
the scholar’s face was gone, replaced by a beaming smile than even
seemed to brighten his muddy eyes. “I am surprised by your
knowledge of the subject. Many people find history boring, though
it has always interested me. It is quite impressive that you would
know so much.”
    Adrienne felt it was
unnecessary to point out that she was especially knowledgeable due
to an old mentor’s proclivity for dead languages. Most known texts
written in Old Samaroan were from the time when the Fuirons were
still in power, and Adrienne had read many of those
texts.
    “ What is the ‘commission’?”
she asked