Kantor put in a few words of his own. :The “older ones,” the best fighters among them, anyway, have been getting above themselves lately. We have a flock of them that are one, maybe two years from getting their Whites that were almost all out of the highborn, noble families. Before they were Chosen, they got private swordsmanship lessons, and those continued even after. They think they’re masters of the sword now because they’re so much better than the rest of the Trainees; Dethor can’t give them the sort of workout they need to show them that they aren’t.:

Alberich knew exactly what Kantor meant, and was beginning to warm to his new task. And as for Dethor, well, it was clear that he was doing more than merely “warm” to the task. He bordered on gleeful.

Alberich caught some of his spirit. It wasn’t malicious, but there was a certain edge that suggested that there were a couple of these adolescent Heralds-in-training who were due for a comeuppance. Thought themselves immortal and invincible, and it would have to get pounded into their skulls that they weren’t. The usual adolescent hubris, of course. Over and over, they came into the Sunsguard, sure of their skill, and thinking only of glory and fame. Time after time, if they didn’t learn that war against bandits was dirty, perilous, and inglorious, they got their fame by having their names inscribed on the Tablets of the Fallen in the Great Temple. At least none of these youngsters would be looking to make a name for himself by taking their officer out in a practice bout—or worse. Worse was an ambitious and unscrupulous recruit who was hoping to advance himself by removing the obstacle that Alberich represented. Or to do the same, at the behest of one of Alberich’s under-officers.

“That sort, I have seen,” he said shortly, and left it at that.

But he did get a bit of a shock when they finished their meal—a relatively light one, appropriate for two men who would be doing very physical work, shortly—and he followed Dethor out into the salle again. Of the six adolescents choosing practice weapons or limbering up, two were female.

Girls! True, one of the Heralds that had first found him had been a woman—he vaguely recalled that now—but it hadn’t really occurred to him intellectually, even though Kantor had reminded him of that fact, that he would be teaching girls. Females just didn’t put themselves forward. Not in Karse, anyway. Females had very clearly defined roles in Karse, which did not include being fighters.