'No, Eiko. Better if she gets used to doing it without help. Getting in can be a little tricky,' she explained to Evanlyn. The other girl nodded and, paddle in hand, waded into the water. She, too, caught her breath at the icy touch of the lake.
'I can see why you don't want to tip over in this.' Moving awkwardly, she raised one dripping wet foot and went to step over the kayak, planning to straddle it. But Alyss stopped her.
'Not that way. Turn your back to it and get your behind in first. Sit in sideways with your backside on the seat. That gets the greater part of your body weight inside the boat, with only your legs to follow.'
Carefully, Evanlyn lowered herself backwards onto the wooden seat. The boat tipped and she tensed nervously. But Alyss held it steady.
'I've got it. Loosen up. Now lift your feet and swing them into the boat. Put them on the ribs or the footrest in front of your seat, not the oilskin,' she added. 'Don't ever put weight on that.'
Evanlyn looked up at her. 'Any other blindingly obvious advice you've got for me?' she asked sarcastically and Alyss shrugged.
'Never hurts to be sure,' she said. She waited as Evanlyn swung her legs and feet into the boat, settling herself in place. Then Alyss released her hold on the stern and moved to the side of the kayak. Eiko stepped forward to hold the boat steady as she had been doing but she waved him away.
'I'm fine,' she said. She handed her paddle to Evanlyn, who was waiting, a little anxiously. 'Evanlyn, the boat is going to rock when I get in. Boats do that. It's perfectly normal. Don't try to counteract it. It'll recover itself. Just keep your weight central and keep your body loose, okay?'
Evanlyn, tense as a fiddle string, nodded acknowledgement.
Moving quickly and smoothly, Alyss settled her weight into the rear seat and swung her legs inboard. The boat rocked under her weight – violently, it seemed to Evanlyn, who couldn't help emitting a small squawk of alarm. Then it steadied and she realised they were floating, drifting clear of the bank and the spot where Eiko stood, knee deep in the water. He grinned encouragingly at them and waved. The tiny wavelets made a constant pok-pok sound against the tight skin of the kayak and, for the second time that day, Evanlyn let go a breath she hadn't realised she was holding.
'Okay, hand me that paddle,' she heard Alyss say and she turned awkwardly to hand the paddle back to her companion. As she did so, the boat lurched and she instantly tensed up once more, turning quickly back to face the bow.
'Relax,' Alyss told her. 'Just go with it – the way you would on a horse. If you suddenly go rigid, you'll find it harder to keep balanced and relaxed. Now let's try with that paddle again. And see if you can avoid dropping it overboard.'
This time, Evanlyn slid the paddle behind her without turning. She heard a slight grunt of pain as the blade caught Alyss in the ribs.
'Thank you for that,' the Courier said.
'Sorry,' Evanlyn replied. She hated the feeling of being out of control.
'Now, let's get this boat moving,' Alyss told her. 'Left side first. Paddle smoothly and slowly. Don't try to do too much. Above all, try not to throw water all over me. On my count.'
Evanlyn raised the unfamiliar paddle, waiting for Alyss to call time.
'All right…left side first. One…and two…One…and two…that's good. Keep it going. Nice…and smooth. One and…Ow, damn it! If you splash me again I'll throw you overboard. Now be careful!'
Which, Evanlyn thought, was no way to speak to the Crown Princess of Araluen.
'They're moving well,' Horace said as the fifty Kikori trainees, in two extended ranks, advanced at a steady jog across the drill field.
Selethen shouted a command and the men at the left-hand end of each rank stopped in place, still jogging in time, and turned ninety degrees to their left. The two lines went with them, those on the outer end of the arc having to move faster than the ones closer to the pivoting point. For a few seconds, the ranks wavered and curved, losing their straight-edge precision. Then the outer third of each line came back into position and the ranks were properly formed again. As soon as they were, another command from Selethen set the fifty men jogging forward once more, now moving at ninety degrees to their original path. The entire evolution took less than thirty seconds.
Will hadn't answered. He had been watching the manoeuvre carefully, looking for any signs of sloppiness or lack of precision. There had been none that he could see. Now he looked up at his friend and grinned in reply.
'Yes. Their co-ordination is first-rate.'
'I see you've got more weapons for them now,' Horace remarked. The entire front rank was now equipped with the big, rectangular shields and crude javelins. Each man in the fifty wore several of the short stabbing weapons at his side.
'They've all got stabbing swords now. Most of them have made their own by cutting down their spears. And the wood and metal workers are delivering new shields and javelins all the time. Soon we'll have enough to equip a full hyaku.'
'Hyaku?' Horace asked.
'It's Nihon-Jan for "one hundred". That's the standard Toscan fighting formation – one hundred men in a group. They call it a century – three ranks of thirty-three men each plus a commander.'
'And how many of these hyakus do you plan on having?'
'I figure two. It'd be nice to have more but we just don't have the men. And Halt says a small force, properly trained and disciplined, can be very effective.'
'That makes sense,' Horace said.
The troop halted now and those in the front rank passed their javelins back to the men behind them. 'We share what we have,' Will explained to Horace. 'Since so much of the training depends on moving and turning as one unit, it doesn't matter if not everyone is armed yet.'
As the troops waited, twenty of their fellow trainees ran onto the drill field, and placed dummy warrior figures in a line facing them, about fifty metres away. Once that was done, they hurried from the field, and Selethen gave the order for his troops to advance once more.
'Kame!' Selethen shouted. Instantly, the front rank raised their shields above head height, while the second rank mimed holding shields horizontally to form a roof. Thus protected, they continued their steady advance, boots tramping in unison on the packed ground. After a few seconds, Selethen called another order and their shields, real and imaginary, returned to the normal marching position. The dummy enemy soldiers were now a mere forty metres away.
Another order from Selethen saw the front rank continue to march while the second rank halted and drew back their javelins. As one, on command, they hurled the weapons over their marching comrades, sending them arcing up and over to come smashing down into the line of fascines forty metres away. Then they marched in double-time to regain their position behind the front rank. Half of the fascines had been struck by javelins. Some were spilled over on their sides, while others leaned drunkenly, supported by the heavy javelin shafts that now sagged to the ground.
Selethen upped the tempo and the entire fifty moved forward at a steady jog, stabbing blades flickering menacingly in the narrow gaps between the shields. As the front rank reached the 'enemy' line, the second rank instantly closed up tight behind them, shoving and adding their weight to the impetus of the leading rank.
Finally, Selethen called a halt to the drill and the trainees relaxed, grounding their shields. The rear rank moved to collect the javelins.
'Selethen's doing a good job,' Horace said, as the tall Arridi moved among the men, making comments to them, encouraging some, praising others, offering words of advice and correction where needed. 'Will he command both hyakus?'
'No,' Will replied. 'They need to work independently. That's something I wanted to talk to you about. Will you take command of one of them?'
'Me?' Horace said, a little surprised. 'I assumed you'd want to command one of them. After all, it's your idea.' But Will was shaking his head.
'We need two good battlefield commanders,' he said. 'You're better at that than I am. Halt and I can stand off and keep an overall view of things. We'll keep Shigeru's Senshi back as a reserve and send them in wherever they're needed.'
Horace couldn't help a grin forming. 'Ah, you Rangers,' he said. 'You love to be the puppetmasters, don't you?'
Will hesitated, about to deny the joking accusation. Then he spread his hands in defeat.
'Well, yes. Actually, we do. But also, we're better suited to long-distance fighting. You're the close combat expert.'
Horace had to admit that the potentially devastating effect of Will's and Halt's archery would be a valuable resource to have in reserve.
'I'd be honoured to command one of the hyakus,' he said. 'I've been feeling pretty useless lately, sitting around in my cabin doing nothing.' He paused as a thought struck him. 'I'll have to learn all the commands and drills.'
'That won't take you long. We've kept it all pretty simple – no insult intended. It's something Halt always says: Do a few simple things really well, instead of a lot of complicated manoeuvres that can go wrong in the heat of battle. You'll pick it all up in a day or so. And with you and Selethen both working the men, we'll get them trained in half the time.'
Horace nodded. The thought of having something constructive to do was a satisfying one. After the tension and danger of the flight through the mountains, the past few weeks of inactivity while his injured ribs healed had left him feeling stale and empty. Now, he felt a sense of purpose once more. He slapped the hilt of his sword and frowned as he encountered the unfamiliar shape of the katana that he now wore.
'I'll have to do something about this sword,' he said. 'After years of training with an Araluan cavalry sword, this Nihon-Jan katana just doesn't feel right.'
The opportunity to do so came sooner than he expected. After spending several more hours with Will and Selethen, taking notes of the drills and commands that he would need to learn, Horace returned to his cabin that afternoon. One of Shigeru's retinue brought him food and hot tea and as he sat down to enjoy the meal, the man bowed.