"The First Line" Assignment

Visit http://www.thefirstline.com/ for more on The First Line and this assignment.

While not the intended effect, the outcome was surprisingly satisfying. Yes, of course, I was at first disappointed that I could not become a member of the army for which I had long waited to fight. However, after careful consideration, I had realized that my new duty would assist me greatly in becoming skillful enough to execute the mission I had, for five long years, sought to complete. I would now be placed in a far more productive position than how I would be simply fighting as a member of a vast army.

Despite my newfound satisfaction, however, I could not help but be thoroughly disgusted by a certain portion of my new life. I, Charles Pimme, was to be the assistant to the keeper of the palace kennels. Caring for dogs. Vile, gross animals, and it was my duty to care for them each day.

However, the benefits of doing such a dirty task would be well worth it. I was to receive an education equal to that of any king or lord's son. I was to be instructed in the arts, the sciences, the histories, and--most important to my cause--fencing. Unlike the basic members of the army, forced to utilize heavy spears and clumsy shields, I would receive a rapier and learn the ancient and noble art of swordfighting. And it was with these skills that I would kill the king of Oxengrave and avenge the wrong that had gone unpunished for five long years. I would personally kill the man responsible for my brother's death...