Here, in the shade of the thick fortress walls, the chilly morning air still had not warmed up enough to be comfortable. The thin and threadworm crimson tunic drenched in sweat didn't help keep me warm.

I really disliked the way everyone but Alis, my roommate, treated me here. All of them seemed to treat me as if I was some unwanted piece of trash. Yet I had to stick it out, for just a single season more of training. After that, I would be able to become a squire, move away from here, and progress onto my next level of training.

With the portly lay brother gone, I walked into the slight, and needless, shelter provided by the well house roof. The single pillar was of a high quality. The back and side walls of the well house were formed from the fortress wall and the River Gatehouse, making the wellhouse fell strangely incomplete and at the same time strong and inviolable. It was sort of like this fort. It seemed strong and in-defeatable, yet there was an unfinished air to it, especially when you looked at the partly crumbling mortar between the immense stones of the defensive walls and the aging wooden dorm we trainees slept in.

The well here wasn't too deep, so it was easy to draw a bucket of water. Carefully aiming it into a trough next to the fortress wall, I threw the bucket of water over myself. As the freezing water sloshed over me, my body jerked involuntarily due to the cold. This water was too cold to be comfortable.

They didn't have baths or washrooms here, or much in the way of heating vast amounts of water up. In fact, most of the trainees dove into the river for their semi-daily wash except from when the weather got too cold in the late autumn to early spring. I washed myself in the river when I could, but there wasn't time for that now, even if the mornings were not quite so cold right now.

I had to get back to the dorm, get into my second, and last, woollen tunic and baggy leggings. I also had to hang up the clothes in my dorm room, hoping in vain that they would dry before tomorrow.

The wooden dorm building, which all of us trainees called home, sat along the wall opposite the river gate, behind the new infirmary. It was old, but reasonably cared for the most part. The part of the dorm, which was cared for, was the side butting against the keep. That part which housed most of the trainees.

Not only was that side of the dorm much better cared for, it also had larger rooms and had proper walls between each room.

Despite there being a large number of empty dorm rooms in the maintained part of the dorm building, I had been forced to sleep in the other part of the dorm. In the dorm furthest away from the rest of the trainees, along with the other outcast, Alis.

They forced the two of us to live in the smallest room, which was less that half the size of the bigger rooms nearer the keep.

In our room there was only really space for a single narrow cot, a small chest for storage at the foot of the cot, along with an even narrower gap alongside the cot. In fact, the single narrow cot dominated our tiny room.

To call our room a room was not quite true.

Our room was one of a series of, what were basically, divided stalls. The basic wattle wall dividers didn't even reach to the top of the roof, reaching only to the bottom of the celling joists. Overhead, failing to fully protect us, the wooden shingles had slipped over the years and some had started to rot. Meaning rain dripped into our stall during the frequent rains and snows of the previous winter.

I opened the thin wooden door, which, like the roof, had seen better days, and walked in. Alis was naked and wiping herself in a small bucket I had drawn before we went to bed last night. She quickly glanced backwards, saw me, and carried on wiping herself down.

In the year we had been sharing the same tiny cot she had gone from semi-awkward girl to a pretty bud about to bloom. Her skin was pale and never seemed to tan, instead it either grew more freckled or burnt in a painful red rash. She kept her wavy fiery red hair short, so it wouldn’t get in her way. If she would let her hair grown out, she would likely be a beauty for the ages. That was because her body was slender and well proportioned, her muscles were toned and even more lithe than mine.

Despite her beauty, I had never once even attempted to make a move on her. She, in return, hadn't made a move on me either. Still, at night, it was hard to avoid thinking about the beauty wrapped up in the same thin blanket I was. Especially when our naked flesh touched. Which happened more and more often as we both were getting bigger.

It was sometimes hard to resist the temptations of her touch, but like me, she had dedicated herself to Aggard. Despite our closeness, she had not yet shared her reasons with me, nor had I shared my reasons with her.

Our dedication meant that the two of us were the top two trainees in the fort, as we both worked hard in our studies. Further more, despite her slender size and short statures, she had a deadly grace when she fought, which was hard to describe. It looked as if she was dancing. As a fighter, amongst the trainees, she was second only to me if I was using an axe. If using a sword, she was far better than me.

Still, her dedication to Aggard was clear by the way she folded her equally worn and faded crimson tunic on top of the chest. She treated it as if it was precious, rather than rags, like I did.

Careful not to get too close to her in the cramped confines of our room, I dumped my shield on the cot, unbuckled my belt, and dumped it onto the shield with a dull thud. After stripping off my tunic, I threw it roughly over the roof joists. In the process of pulling down my leggings, the weak door was pulled off its hinges.

Bright light shone into the room, giving Alis' pale skin a wondrous glow.

Then the light faded somewhat. Standing in the doorway, silhouetted by the morning light, was the dour attituded head of the fort. Of those in the fort, he was the only one who was fat, even if it was just a beer belly. He moved to one side and the stocky figure of the head trainer took his place. Of all the muscle heads here, he was the broadest, tallest, and strongest.

Not only that, he was lethal with his training weapons. More than once I had visited the infirmary because I had not been quick enough to dodge, or strong enough to block, his attacks.

Following him was a parade of other staff members, lay brothers, the rest of the trainees, followed finally by the priest of the temple. He was the tallest person in the fort, taller than even the head trainer. His slender, pinched body, which made him seem even taller.

Her painfully pale white face tinged red with anger.

It was as if they had picked the worse time for them to barge into our room.

Right now, Alis was naked and wet. She had turned round. From a not-so-generous viewpoint, our situation looked bad. Still, she had just enough sense to cover her breasts and genital region with her arms. And there was me, facing her, also naked and wet, with my two tunics flung over the roof joists and my leggings around my ankles.

'So the rumours were correct,' the priest said in a mighty tone. One which reminded me of the brimstone and hellfire preachers I had often made fun of back on Earth. 'These two trainees have been fornicating and living in sin within the order's hallowed ground.'

The priest turned to the head of the fort and head trainer.

'Bring them to the temple at once. We must rid the order of heathens, weak-minded females, and those who would bring harm to our order.'

With that, he strode off.

The leering face of the head trainee, a pretty boy's face with long dark brown locks, his face tanned enough to make him appear healthy, peered around the corner of the room, his eyes lingered on the pale freckled body of my roommate.

'One night was all I asked for,' he chuckled and went off.

Then the tall and stocky figure of the head trainer stood in the doorway. His face was stoic and impassionate. It was hard to figure out what he was thinking.

I rapidly pulled up my damp leggings and reached up and grabbed the first tunic I could. I was fearful of my punishment. More importantly, I was worried about how it would impact what I could do for Aggard.

But whatever punishment I received, I knew I would always do what I could for the goddess who saved me and needed me. It was Alis whom I worried most about.

Despite needing to get ready quickly, she had collapsed onto our bed. Her beautiful pale and freckled face ruined by puffy eyes and streaks of tears down her cheeks. Not caring about the piercing gaze coming from the stocky figure acting as a door, I sat next to her on our bed and held her in my arms while she calmed down.