Noble Beginnings Read Online Free PDF Page A

after few minutes' walk
from the training hall. There was no sign on the door, which was
loosely shut as always, hanging slightly ajar in the frame due to
loose, old hinges. Dorran knocked and waited for a long moment.
When there was no response, he knocked once more and then took a
deep ragged breath as he slowly pushed the door open, letting it
scrape awkwardly on the uneven stones of the floor.
    Edith's room had always been particularly
sparse. It looked to him like more of a personal storage space than
one a person would live in: she only kept it because it was open
and Dorran had offered it, although she told Dorran she had come to
enjoy the extra space. She had another home, away from the uncles
she had grown up with. It wasn’t much just a tiny rented space in
one of the larger inns just outside the castle walls, where she
usually ate and slept.
    She also spent a great deal of her time here
as well, using it almost like a secret base for her training, and
usually it showed. Now, however, most of her personal effects were
gone. The usual piles of worn and broken clothing and weapons that
she enjoyed mending were gone. Only the oldest pieces of her
training gear, neatly stacked in the corner, was in the room.
    Dorran examined the room for a long moment.
Closing his eyes the memories of when he'd offered Edith this room
flooded his mind. She had been living in a tiny space with a couple
of her uncles, who had agreed to help find veterans to instruct the
two of them in fighting. He almost missed it now the sad, indulgent
look he only vaguely remembered from his mother as she offered to
pay a small wage in addition to the veterans' pension to Vernis,
Tam, and a few of the others willing to educate Dorran and other
students interested in swordplay. Dorran wasn't sure if the men
were still paid or not, only that a few more of them moved into the
barracks with his casual permission, since his mother had given
them over to him to use as he saw fit.
    He sighed, and then turned and walked back
down the hallway, trying to convince himself that Edith's absence
was nothing to worry over. She was more than capable of making her
own decisions, and since she usually kept her word to the letter,
her reason for leaving had to be a good one. Moreover, in the long
run, it wasn't as though the training sessions would stop. There
were plenty of veterans to keep the younger fighters instructed,
and both groups were more than sufficiently motivated to continue
without outside supervision. But it was still unlike her, and
Dorran couldn't help but wonder what was going on.

CHAPTER IV
    The whole night was filled with worries. His
mind concocted everything imaginable happening to Edith both good
and bad. As soon as he was able to he found himself making his way
back to the barracks the next day, and the day after that, but both
days Edith was absent.
    On the third day, however, she was back and
training with the others. He examined her from across the hall, but
she looked the same as ever, with no sign that she had ever been
gone.
    Dorran shook his head and sidled in, his
training sword slung casually over his shoulder. When one of the
groups of younger males spotted him, he waved and walked over,
calling, "Room for one more?"
    He thought he saw Edith glance at him out of
the corner of his eye, but didn't want to catch her eye to check.
Instead, he focused on not getting beaten by Marcus and his friends
due to his lack of practice. It was easier than it had been either
of the two previous days, but they got in more hits than usual
because Dorran kept taking split seconds to glance over at Edith,
making sure she was still there.
    He spotted her leaving a bit earlier than
usual, and quickly excused himself as well, waving to Marcus, Iain,
Vernis, and Tam as he caught the door Edith was pulling closed.
    "Hey, Edith," he called quietly. "Can I walk
you to your room?"
    She looked him over and shrugged. "Why not."
She replied as she started walking.