Page 7 of Breaker

“Are you ready, mysyn?”

My eyes move from the large lot filled with work trucks and supply crates. “Oui,“ I tell him, but then remember he wants me to speak English like my new brothers, so I say, “Yes, sir.”

Father doesn’t smile as he opens the car door and waits for me to step onto the dirt ground. When I do, Father leans down and says, “When we are here, in training, I am not yourotets. I am Commander Fallon. Do you understand?”

I shake my head, then say, “No, sir.”

He stands upright and glances around the yard, then back down at me. “You are going to be a soldier now. I cannot be your father and your commander. When we are training or in classes, you call me Fallon.”

I nod and tell him I understand, even though it feels weird to lie.

Father, no, Fallon, nods and says, “Once you show us your skill set, you will earn your name.”

I frown again. “But my name is Sin.”

That makes Father smile. “Synmeans son. It’s something that a father calls his boy. Your name must be earned. It is picked based on your wits, your strengths, and how well it suits your personality.”

I nod, but my head is muddled from all his words.

Fa— Fallon turns to Maxim. “Take him to class.”

The silky black eye patch gleams, like black water in the sunlight when Maxim turns to me. My skin feels gross, and my legs feel like they want to run again. They always do when Commander Maxim looks at me. He reminds me of that pirate in the book Nanny reads to me at night.

But I won’t get any more silly books read to me now. I’m going to be a soldier.

My boots make loud clomping sounds as I follow Maxim across the yard to the second set of gates. I glance back at Fallon, and wave, but he doesn’t wave back. He just turns away and walks toward the other building across the yard. My stomach falls.

“Pay attention,” Maxim says. “After today, no one will guide you around the school. It’s up to you to remember where to go.”

“Yes, sir,” I mumble, biting my lip to stop it from trembling.I will not cry. Father tells me crying is for weak men and if I’m going to be a soldier, I can’t be weak. It doesn’t matter that Father didn’t say goodbye, even though he always does.

It’s hard to focus, but I try my best to remember the way as I follow Maxim. The second gate squeals open and we walk through a dark, wet area that reminds me of a castle doorway before we stop in the middle of another yard. It’s a big square, with dirty gray walls that have little dark boxes for windows all lined up, one on top of the other. A set of rusty metal steps is on one side of the yard. I remember Father telling me they were called bleachers. A bunch of wooden crates, stacked taller than me, are on the other side of the square, which isn’t really tall, since I’m not. Not yet. Father says I’m going to be tall, and I believe him.

“That’s the pit,” Maxim says, slipping back to using the coarse words Father uses sometimes, which I have a tough time understanding. He points to the circle at the center of the yard.I know it’s called the pit because Father told me last month. “You’ll learn to fight there when you’re older.” He points to the wall with all the windows. “That’s the sleeping quarters.” He lifts his chin to the black open doorway on the opposite side. “That’s the school.” When he points to the blank wall with only one doorway, he says, “That’s everything else.”

“Yes, sir,” I tell him, and follow as he leads me through the doorway he said takes us to the classrooms.

As soon as we step into the building, a gross feeling settles in my belly. I don’t like the way this school looks. Father didn’t take me to this part of the school last month, so I never saw the walls are painted blue. The color blue I don’t like.

Before I can start feeling too sick, Maxim opens a door, places his hand on my back, and shoves me through. The door clicks loudly when he closes it behind me. I scan the room, and my stomach feels better when I see it’s not blue but dusty green, like a tortoise’s shell.

A large man, younger than Father with angry eyes, tells the class that I’m going to join them for lessons every day and to take me to the yard for recess.

A big boy with hair the color of embers jumps up from his desk. The metal chair he was in scratches across the tile floor, almost falling over he’s in such a hurry to reach me before anyone else.

He stops in front of me and places his hands on his hips. He’s older than me and has skin so pale it reminds me of Nanny. He’s got a bit of a belly, and some freckles on his cheeks, but his eyes are so pretty I can’t stop staring. They’re blue and for the first time, I really like the color. They look like the pictures of the satin dresses in the magazines Nanny looks at. She said one day she was going to have enough money to buy the dress that was the color of Marie Antoinette. Blue.

When he smiles, my shoulders relax.

“I’m Viper,” he says, scanning me again like Nanny does when she dresses me for church. Like he wants to make sure I’m decent enough to talk to.

“Like the snake?” I ask, scanning him too.

“Like the snake,” Viper says, nodding seriously. “Because I’m fast and mean.”

Father told me I’d get a name here, something other than Sin. I wonder what it will be. I glance from his blue eyes to his boots, then back to his face. I like his face. “Do vipers have Marie Antoinette eyes too?”

His mouth turns down. His lips remind me of Nanny when she paints hers pink, but then he smiles, and they remind me of the sweet candies she shoved in my pockets. I dig one out, offering it to him. He takes it, inspects it, then puts it in his pocket.

---