Bitter Harvest

                                    

                                          

  "How is it possible that you have learned this much in just a few days?" A voice questioned as I sat tuning my ukulele. Without glancing up, I knew it was Roan strolling over as I remained sitting on a balcony.
  "Because survival of the fittest has been ingrained into my head since I was a child." I popped off before slowly looking at the man standing a few feet away. "I either learn or get my ass kicked again."
  "I understand that, but if what Alquin says is true, you're progressing faster than anyone ever has." His face was unreadable as he was looking down at me with his hands behind his back as he stood there.
  "Does that make me a hidden prodigy?" I smirked, but he didn't seem amused. Maybe something happened earlier that put him in a bad mood. "Fine." Sighing, I set my instrument to the side and crossed my arms over my chest. "My body is just getting used to the movements. Getting back in the groove, I guess you could say." His eyebrow twitched up, catching the words I had used.
  "I thought you didn't know how to actually fight...." Roan trailed off while taking a step forward.
  "I don't." I stated. "I know how to survive. The training with Alquin is daily, so my body is remembering." Rising to my feet, I glanced over my shoulder, seeing the cold forest behind me. "It's just a part of my past that I'd rather not mention. So, if that's all you needed me for, my break from Pocono is about over." Looking back at him, his face told me that he knew he had struck a nerve with the topic. Anonymity was my thing, and the fewer things people knew about me, the better.
  By now, it was common knowledge how I kept to myself most of the time, so Roan knew not to push the conversation on and try to get answers from me. Anything pertaining to my past was a big no-no zone sanctioned off by CAUTION tape, and my advancements with Alquin just happened to border in that territory.
  "No, that is all." He nodded while stepping to the side. Picking up the ukulele, I walked past him but paused in the hall behind him.
  "By the way, if my progress within the past nine days says anything about my capabilities, then our alliance will hold more merit with your people." Keeping my voice low, I saw him look over his shoulder at me.
  "Only as long as your loyalty stays with me."
  "Well....it's not so bad here, and the food's great, so...." Trailing off as I shrugged, I saw a small smile play on Roan's lips just before I walked away.
~
  "I want you to read through this and correct the mistakes. I will not tell you how many there are, nor will I tell you where they are." Pocono said as he set a paper down in front of me. It was covered in Trigedeslang words, and I felt like hitting my head against the desk.
  "Can I just go back to Alquin?"
  "You need to learn to communicate with the people of Azgeda." The bald man sighed as he sat across from me. "They'll trust you more if you speak their tongue. Fear comes from the unknown, and that is all that you are." His voice was calm now, and he had also grown accustomed to me by now. "By making yourself more familiar, they may be more lenient on the fact that you're Pakstoka of Skaikru."
  "What if I don't care about that?" I looked the man in the eye while resting my cheek in my hand.
  "You would if you wish this alliance of yours to continue. The people fearing you alone won't be enough, some will only see you as a little girl wearing warrior's armor." He explained. "You need to learn the ways of the people and gain their trust as you have the King's. You must use that with the fear, use your head and your body together." Sighing through my nose, I knew the man had a point.
  Picking up the writing utensil, I set to work with the page. Sighing and groaning in frustration as I read through it over and over again, I marked out misspelled words and corrected them while adding words that were missing from the sentence. After a few hours of this, I finally handed the paper back to Pocono.
  He briefly glanced at me before going over my work. It only took him a minute to look it over before he set it back on the table. Staring at me, the corners of his mouth pulled up into a smile.
  "You only missed one." He said while pointing it out. Huffing, I felt like hitting my head on the table again. At the bottom of the page, one sentence had 'kon' instead of 'kom'.
  "I blame your handwriting." I popped off.