In a nutshell
I'm the current sword master for the boys in army training. Like most weapons masters at the palace, I used to ride with the King's Own.
On the loss
For the first few years after being rather unceremoniously dumped from the Own, I couldn't stand it. I trained more then than when I was in. I don't think there was an exact moment when I realised I never would get back in, but watching them all leave without me, that hurt. I had to keep doing something, making something happen, even if I wasn't actually out there doing it, so I took over as sword master after more than a year of basically just sitting on my hands doing nothing. That became something to do in my free time, while I wasn't training.
The first time only fourteen of them came back, I think that was when I started to think about just giving it up and focusing on training the next generation. At the end of the day, I prefer to be decommissioned by another Raykinian rather than a Kazinian. Even that Raykinian. I will admit, I was scared he was going to kill me at the end of that.
On mastery
I run a tight opperation, I'll admit, but the sword requires more than the other weapons. Every trainee has to score seventy out of a hundred in their final exam to pass for the sword, whether it's their weapon of choice or not. It requires extra dedication, no messing around.
It can get incredibly tedious, but the satisfaction at the end of every year, when so many of them manage to pass their final exams, makes it all worthwhile. Students of mine are old enough to start challenging the Own, too, and I gain as much pride from seeing them succeed as I do from my own children. Eventually, one of them will knock Rumal from his horse. I live for that day.
Anything else?