He sat down on the chair as invited and watched as Prince Zigmārs dismissed everyone else from the room, leaving just the two of them, facing one another across the desk, two lanterns illuminating them, while heat from a stove near the door warmed them.
“I have observed in my time here — both with my own eyes, and through reading the reports of the instructing officers — that you are an exceptionally well-trained young man when it comes to the skills necessary for success in the field of battle,” Prince Zigmārs said after a lengthy moment of silence.
“Th-thank you, my lord,” Miķelis replied. “My family are… huntsmen, by trade. My grandfather and my father taught me everything that they knew in order to be a good huntsman, much of which goes hand-in-hand with what is needed to be a good soldier, which they made sure I also knew.”
Prince Zigmārs nodded. “Some of the instructing officers are suspicious of your talent, and question whether you are as young as you claim to be.”
“I can assure you I am,” Miķelis said. “There are others in this camp with whom I grew up, and will be able to assure you of my age, as will my father, my brothers, and my brothers-in-law. Do you want their names, that you might get proof?”
“No, thank you,” Prince Zigmārs replied. “I don’t need it. I believe you are of the appropriate age to be here. I am persuaded that you are a skilled, gifted young man, and that you would have been destined to become a soldier and a warrior even if war did not beset our fair Ovilis. That is why I have summoned you.”
Miķelis was slightly perplexed.
“I would like to see you receive your commission early,” Prince Zigmārs continued before Miķelis could comment. “And I would like to see you receive a good commission, for you have distinguished yourself well, and deserve to be sent to the frontlines immediately, as I have every confidence that your grandfather and father gave you all of the training you need to be capable of handling all that will face you on the frontlines.”
It took conscious effort for Miķelis to keep his mouth from gaping open. He’d not even been at the camp for two months!
“Although I do not need to have the approval of the Commandant-Adjutant or the other officers of the camp to do this,” Prince Zigmārs went on. “And not all of them are inclined to agree with me on your competency and capability anyways, I do not intend to do this without consulting my father on the matter. As a result, I shall be shortly writing my father on the matter, but I wanted to give you notice that I admire your talents, and that you may be ordered to the frontlines with short notice, thus you should be ready to depart at a moment’s notice.”
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