Servant by Matt Stuckey (most read books in the world of all time .txt) 📕

Since receiving the blade, Fulmino kept it on his person or nearby always, as though he was afraid it would magically disappear if ever out of his sight. No, Fulmino thought as he slid the blade home in its sheath, he would never find a better knife than this. Whether it was magical or not though, he often wondered why his parents had not sold the dagger years ago. They could have lived comfortably for the rest of their lives on the sale; his father would not have to face an early grave like so many. But, like so many questions, Fulmino had never worked up the courage to ask.

Also, though he was somewhat ashamed of it, he had thought that maybe they would suddenly agree with him and decide to sell the dagger. The money would not help at this point, Fulmino reasoned with himself. His father’s fate had been sealed since the first day he had walked into the mine and started breathing in everything that sent miners to a hacking grave before their fiftieth winter.

Muscles’ bellow shook Fulmino from his inner thoughts.

“You got two minutes to get out here grub!”

Putting aside his inner thoughts, Fulmino approached the table and prepared to bid his family farewell. Sol displayed an unusual amount of emotion by giving Fulmino a hug and wishing him the best.

Fulmino’s father gruffly announced that he had “done them proud” and shook hands with him. Fulmino’s mother gave him a hug that seemed to make his ribs creak and tearfully announced that she would miss him greatly. Fulmino doubted it sincerely, but it was kind of her to make the gesture anyways.

Waving goodbye over his shoulder, Fulmino received the distinct feeling that it would be a long time before he saw his family again. While this sentiment would doubtless bother him later, it held little sorrow for him at the time. With a deep breath, Fulmino approached the scowling man he knew as Muscles.

“Let’s go grub, you can waste time when you’re dead."

As endearing as the name grub was, it was sincerely beginning to fray on Fulmino’s nerves. No matter, he did not want to make a scene in front of his family as the last thing they would remember of him.

Instead, Fulmino answered in a flippant manner “Been waiting on you Muscles."

“Muscles” frowned as he sorted that out for a second. Finally, his face turned slightly purple as he realized that he had actually been addressed in a disrespectful fashion. Whirling around, Muscles began to trek down the road at a brutal pace that all the boys were expected to follow. Fulmino received reproachful stares from the two other boys over the next few hours of hard pace.

Fulmino winced inwardly as he realized that he would have to watch his tongue more carefully from now on. If stories were to be believed, he had gotten off easily with Muscles compared to what could have happened. Horror stories of floggings and in some rare cases hangings for minor offenses were whispered about generally, and made Fulmino wary. Yes, he would have to watch his step carefully in dealing with his superiors from now on.

Finally, near dusk Muscles announced that they would make camp for the night in a wooded knoll not far from Fulmino’s town. Fulmino was roughly ordered to collect firewood, while the other two boys sorted supplies and pitched the tent. Muscles began to sharpen his sword, meaningfully staring at Fulmino the whole time. Fulmino took the hint and jogged while collecting firewood.

This task, no doubt meant to be demeaning, was something Fulmino enjoyed. Any time spent without other people was usually good, especially with the surrounding woods for company. Fulmino never felt lonely or afraid in the woods, rather he felt like he was at home after a long journey. Ruefully, Fulmino realized his days of sitting and listening to the birds and summer crickets were behind him now. Picking up the final piece of wood, Fulmino started back to the camp, shivering at the chill in the air. It was a good thing that he had collected so much wood, the night would be cold and freezing to death was not unheard of in these parts. As Fulmino approached the fire, Muscles grunted in surprise at the amount of wood he had brought.

“You must be a lot stronger than you look boy."

Fulmino sighed in relief. Though “boy” was not a huge upgrade from “grub” it was something he was able to tolerate much better. As dried food was passed around and everyone ate, Muscles began to speak.

“Boy, what is your name?”

“Fulmino, sir”.

“Very well boy, I understand that was your name in your previous life. Now that you have begun a new life, you will receive a new name. Until such time as you do, you will be called various words such as boy, grub, or imbecile depending on the circumstances. At all times, you will address me simply as Sir unless I say otherwise. Am I clear?

Though Fulmino didn’t care for this sequence of events, he took it in stride.

“Yes sir”.

Muscles nodded. “That will do boy."

Fulmino assumed that he was finished, but Muscles was only beginning. “Your two comrades also have no names as of yet, so until you receive new names you may use your old names amongst yourselves. Just remember though, once you receive your new names you will be punished severely for using the old ones. More importantly, I want to inform you of what will happen in the next few months. Many commanders will leave their troops in the dark about such things, but I have always believed in letting those under my command know what they are to expect. As a result, I have less patience for mistakes since you have all the information you need."

Fulmino was surprised to be almost treated as an equal by Muscles. Always, the professors, parents and other adults had made plans he was expected to follow without informing him of what was expected. Despite himself, Muscles was starting to command some respect in Fulmino’s eyes. Fulmino focused his attention on Muscles as he continued.

“Tomorrow we will begin our journey to the military academy. This will take the better part of six months, and be glad for that. If you were beginning academy training tomorrow, you would likely be dead in a week. During these six months, you will keep up with my marching pace at all times. Giving up, sitting down or stopping will result in severe punishment. Most of the day will be spent marching. After dinner, we will begin rudimentary weapons training and unarmed sparring. I expect sufficient effort in these drills, or else there will be a harsher pace the next day until I see improvement. By the time we reach the academy, you will be lean, mean dogs on my leash. I expect you to be ahead of your fellow academs, because it will make my recruiting efforts look all the better.”

Fulmino stifled laughter. At least Muscles made no bones as to his motives, which was much preferable to the answers expected in polite society. Now Fulmino heard something he did not like at all.

“Boy, you will have your hair cut tonight. We recruit men, not women to fight. Show up at the academy like that and you might well be taken to be either a prostitute or a fancy boy, and you would not like what followed.”

Fulmino was shocked that he actually did not feel looming despair at the prospect of losing his hair which he had always been so attached to. Somehow, he felt that the loss would only be temporary, though he could not explain how he knew this. Fulmino managed a nod at Muscles.

Muscles seemed surprised, yet pleased at Fulmino’s ready acquiesce to his request. Fulmino decided he would do the deed himself, and asked for Muscles permission. Muscles shrugged and agreed, only stating the hair must be short, yet not close to the scalp. Only soldiers were allowed the close cut that so identified them from all but monks.

Taking his blade from the sheath, Fulmino took a deep breath and gripped his hair. Silken and heavy, it had weighed him down at times, yet had also been a companion of sorts through many a lonely night. Though the feeling persisted that its absence would not last forever, Fulmino still had an ache in his chest as he sheared of almost all his hair. His hair had represented symbols of himself for so long that it felt strange to be without it. His pain came not so much from the losing the hair he was so fond of, but from finally being forced to be someone other than himself to appease others. Once he was finished, Fulmino reverently laid his hair out on the forest floor, hoping that the birds would use it for their nests. As Fulmino returned to the fire, he felt that things were profoundly different in a way he could not describe. The days ahead would certainly change him, whether for the worse or the better he was not sure.

“Well, now that all that is settled I suggest you boys get some sleep. Training begins tomorrow and you will grow to curse me in the next few weeks, though I suggest you do so in silence.”

With the conclusion of his speech, Muscles departed for the tent, leaving the boys to spread their bedrolls by the fire. Now that the looming figure of Muscles had departed, Fulmino allowed himself to examine the two boys he was to spend the next six months with. Both were tall, of a height with Fulmino, which was unusual. The first boy was red haired with freckles, whereas the second had brown hair that was cut fairly short. Freckles introduced himself as Aldon, whereas the second boy introduced himself as Leonidus.

Fulmino could usually tell a good bit about people from first meeting them, which was amusing considering how little time he actually spent around others. Aldon proved to be a chatterbox, and painted himself as being a very popular individual in his town and was loath to leave his “subjects”. Fulmino suspected reality to be very different from the colorful mosaic that Aldon painted, but kept his opinions to himself.

Leonidus spoke little of himself, and did not seem the type that sought out much company. Fulmino was glad to have a kindred spirit amongst the boys. Though Fulmino had rarely found a like minded individual before, he hoped that he could create a similar relationship to what he had enjoyed with Sol for years before their disagreements. Only time would tell though, and forcing anything at this early stage was both unwise and against Fulmino’s nature. After a gruff command from Muscles to “shut up and sleep”, they all snuggled in their bedrolls and dreamed of their future.

A boot resting none too gently on his stomach was Fulmino’s wake up call. As Fulmino opened his eyes, he could make out Muscles teeth in the darkness, bared in a shark smile as he leaned his weight forward onto the offending boot.

“Morning grub! As of right now, you would be dead if I was an enemy. Since the dead don’t need food, just forget about eating today.”

Aldon was trying unsuccessfully not to laugh, whereas Leonidus watched the entire scene with a gravity that was belied by the smile in his eyes. Fulmino would normally be angry at the boys, but he sensed that this was different than the hateful taunting and laughter he had received at school. Instead, these boys seemed to ruefully be thinking on what they looked like when the exact same situation occurred