Chapter 28: What Do You Do When You Get Lost In The Woods?

As usual, when I was brought out of my slumber, the Numbered that put me to bed was no longer snuggled up next to me. How they always managed to sneak away without me noticing. I would never know. They all did it, so I assumed it was swapped out at midnight, but I never managed to stay awake long enough to figure it out. Not that I had really tried before. 

Four woke me gently by shaking my shoulder while she was propped up on her elbow beside me. She was wearing a top similar to the one we had shared, a bed on the mission. But she seemed a little more comfortable this time. 

I sat upright. Slowly, Four leaned back into the pillows. I stretched, groaning. It was a decent night's sleep, but One had kept me up rather late. I swung my legs off the side of the bed and stood up. Grabbing the clothes laid out for me, I started to dress and arm myself. I noticed that all my poisons had been restocked. One of my Numbered must have been taking care of it for me, which is good because I had no idea how to do it now. 

Once I was fully armed, I rubbed my eyes to be as awake as I could be. I looked around and found four waiting for me, now completely dressed in her usual garb. She opened the door for me, and we walked over to my breakfast nook. 

It was set up with only one chair, but Four disappeared before I had a chance to object. Not taking my seat immediately, I looked around and poked my head out of one of the alcoves, finding a small servant's section where extra stuff was stored. 

No one was there, and there was no entryway besides through the room, so I wouldn't have to worry about someone listening, at least being able to leave while listening. But I found a couple extra chairs, tables, tablecloths, and so on and so forth. 

Presumably, if one of my Numbered needed to replace something, they could just jump in here and grab it. I picked up one of the chairs matching my own and carried it over to the table. I was just putting it down when four came out with a tray full of covered food. She stopped suddenly and looked at me with an open mouth. 

I gestured. "Come, sit." 

She shook her head. "Master, No. It's okay. I must-" 

"You need to eat, I said come." I reiterated.

"Yes Master, but-" 

I cut her off again. "Join me. I don't want to eat alone." 

She looked at me trepidatiously. But I insisted. She put the plate down and uncovered it for me. Walking around the table, she sat on the edge of her seat, looking slightly nervous. Four was glancing around as if someone would come around the corner and scold her. 

"Relax," I said. "Go get yourself some food if you don't want to share." 

She waved her hands in front of her face. "No, no, I already ate, Master." 

I cocked my eyebrow. When did she eat? Had she eaten before she came to wake me up? Or was she just lying? With Four, I'd likely never know. In truth, I was slightly disappointed. It was as if she had backslid, and we had lost all the progress we had made in our relationship when we were on the mission. What had happened since then?

So if I couldn't convince her to eat with me... I took the teapot that I had been that I had been using, poured her a glass as well, and pushed it over to her. She took it hesitantly and sipped. 

Four made a face, and I pushed her the sugar, which she put a few spoonfuls in, and poured in some cream. I didn't mind the bitterness, but I could maybe see how it was too much for some people. I just needed a little bit of the caffeine to perk me up. 

We sat in silence, her drinking tea as I finished the breakfast. About halfway through, I was awake enough to hold a conversation. 

"So, what do you have planned for today," I asked. She looked at me, surprised. 

"Huh?" She asked. 

"What are you going to do?" I repeated.

"Well, I'm on duty for the morning. And then afterward, I have a training activity planned for the afternoon with a few of my students." Four said with obvious enthusiasm in her voice.

"Oh, what's the training activity?" I prodded, letting her know it was okay to keep talking about it.

"Well, we'll go out in the woods and do some simulated missions. Nothing too fancy, but the woods make a good, unique environment, and there's so much of them. We can always go to someplace new that they haven't had a chance to memorize the layout of. It's more useful than things like the Shadow Maze because it doesn't take anything to keep it up and running."

I nodded, understanding her logic. 

"What about you?" She asked. 

I could tell it was primarily out of polite habit, but I decided to tell her anyway. "Oh. Nothing special. Just gonna go through some reports this morning. And I didn't have anything planned for the afternoon." 

Suddenly, I had an idea. "Do you mind if I join in on your training?'

Four looked thoughtful. "Um, of course, you can come if you want. Uh, do you really want to? Probably not going to be that exciting." 

"Yeah, better than paperwork," I said, and she smiled and nodded. 

"That's true. That is true." 

I had a couple other reasons. First, being involved with some live training where I actually learned some of the strategies rather than just the instinctive skills would be highly beneficial. I just had to be careful not to be too bad, but I can always just say I was playing up my ignorance for a teaching moment, I suppose. 

The second and perhaps more important reason was that Five was on duty this afternoon, and I needed a buffer. Luckily, the last time she was on duty, I didn't have to interact with her too much. As we were about to, we headed out on the mission. But I didn't have that this time, and the afternoon shift was always longer than the morning one. 

With Five, there was going to be a lot of times and chances for me to screw up. I wasn't ever going to forget what One told me about her. So it was best if she didn't have a chance to question me. 

After breakfast, we headed to my office, where I started reviewing reports while Four stood in the corner. She refused to sit even when I threatened to make her, insisting that she be ready to go. 

I gave up and decided that I'd pushed her enough already today. Four had a routine, and she wanted to stick with it. That was fine for now. I could only expect so much change at once.

Thanks to One's tutelage. I had a decent idea of the reports and made sure that our stores and purchases were lining up and no one was embezzling. I wasn't some master accountant, and I imagine someone devious could get something by me, but it felt nice to ensure the numbers lined up. I also approved a few of the requests. A couple of missions and recruiting requested a budget increase to match the demand I had previously requested. Nothing too major. 

By the time lunchtime rolled around, my hand was cramping from writing, and I needed to get up and move. Who would have thought that assassination required so much paperwork? 

Four escorted me to grab some food for lunch, where we collected Five. 

Somehow, Five was already aware of our plans. Four must have found some time to pass a message along. As Five was ready to go.

Five gave me a warm smile. "I hear that we are in for some training." 

Her eyes didn't quite seem as excited as her words did. She ran her nail down my jaw to the tip of my chin. 

"Just don't wear yourself out too much today, Master." She gave me a saucy wink. I rolled my eyes at her, causing both her and Four to giggle. 

"Yeah, well," I said. "I might have to work you hard during training so that. I have a chance to relax."

Four covered her mouth slightly, and Five tipped her head back and laughed heartily. Well, at least she had a good sense of humor about it. 

 We grabbed some sandwiches and ate as we walked out of the castle to meet with the trainees. 

They were in an orderly line a little ways away from the castle, waiting for us. There were five of them, one Handle and four Blades, or at least perspective Handles and Blades. 

The eight of us started walking along a trail out into the forest. When we were surrounded by oaks, the sky disappeared, and the sounds changed. There's something unlike anything I'd ever experienced before. I could spell life all around me and hear the movements of small animals. And the walk was pleasant. 

The fresh air felt nice, and occasionally, when the sun broke through the branches, the warm patch we walked through was comforting. Four fell back a little bit to walk next to me, and Five. 

Four pointed out one of the prospects. She was a small, dark-skinned girl with dark brown hair and nearly black eyes. She was shorter than any of my number I had met so far, even than Five. Her face was striking, yery symmetrical, and pretty. But she couldn't have been more than 16. 

"That's the one I told you about," For whispered to me. "Her name is Mia. I think she'd make an excellent Ten." 

Five, though, overheard. "What makes you say that?"