56

It seemed to me that the first week would drag on endlessly, but there were so many classes, and the training turned out to be so intense that I only had time to meet the morning bell, and in the evening, exhausted, fall into bed to immediately fall into a dreamless sleep.

I began to suspect that Borch really just loves torturing students and revels in our helplessness. I don’t know how I would have sustained the unaccustomed pace if it weren’t for Fiona with her invigorating infusions and warming ointments that relieved the pain in buzzing muscles for one or two. Still, the healer is an indispensable member of the squad. Thanks to the first lecture on history, I already knew that while healers were not used, the squads consisted of three people, and the death rate among the guards was forty percent higher.

As soon as the first week ended, time seemed to speed up, flowing like a stormy mountain river. The second week has flown by quite imperceptibly. And behind it is another one. And