The Ruins of Gorlan

After a few days of Battleschool, Horace feels “a combination of aching muscles and gnawing hunger” (66). Early mornings are filled with strenuous exercise. Dormitories must be spotless, or they’re trashed, and the cadets must clean them again. Breakfast and lunch are simple, short, and spare. Morning classes include history and military tactics. Late morning is obstacle-course running, and those who fall into the mud must clean up and might miss lunch.

Afternoons include more exercise and marching drills. Transgressions lead to all cadets running 12 kilometers across difficult terrain under packs filled with rocks. During a run, Horace pulls away from his 19 fellow cadets: He’s by far the strongest.

At the dorm, three second-year cadets—Alda, Bryn, and Jerome—order him to do 30 pushups while one puts his foot on Horace’s back. They call him “Baby,” find fault with his bed, take it apart, toss the pillows and sheets on the floor, and order him to remake it. They take apart all the beds and command Horace to redo them as well. They taunt him, making jokes about his dead mother. As they leave, they tip over footlockers and spill cadet belongings. Lying on the floor, Horace groans, “I hate this place” (70).