I walked down the stairs of the empty house. Father was at the Temple, and Mother was visiting some friends. Meanwhile, I had chosen to sleep in. It had felt strange after keeping a rigorous schedule during my time at the academy, but after the last few cycles, I welcomed the rest.

“Still…” I muttered as I grabbed and bit into an aging apple from the kitchen. “What now…”

I may have told the commander that I wanted to spend time with my family, but it wasn’t as if I never saw them before, and they still had busy schedules of their own. Now that I have so much free time, what should I actually do?

‘I should keep training, at least enough to maintain my current abilities while I wait. Although…’ I frowned. ‘Will I still be allowed to use the academy’s training field?’ Probably not. If a graduate still needed to train they would be a member of the Temples by now and would use their facilities. ‘My status as a paladin might not be official yet, but I should be allowed to use the training facilities at the Temple of Z’kyd’qa.’

“Oh right,” I said, taking another bite. “I still need to-”

Before I could finish my thought I heard a loud knocking at the front door. Wondering who it could be, I take the last bite of my apple and go over to answer. Opening the door, I see Kiuyk standing there in a grey tunic with a thick belt around her waist.

“Oh hey,” I said with a smile. “What’s up?”

“Not much, um, I guess you’re feeling better?” She asked cautiously.

My smile twitched. “Well…better than yesterday.” I turned toward the stairs. “Come on in, I explain.”

~~~

“Damn…that…I can’t believe that’s even possible,” Kiuyk said, sitting on the edge of my bed.

“Yeah. It was a lot to take in at the time,” I said as I looked through my dresser.

“Do…do you think they were bluffing?”

“What?” I looked at her incredulously. “Why would they?”

Kiuyk shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe they’re just trying to scare you into that weird training thing.”

“They weren’t trying to scare me,” I said firmly.

“I know I…I guess I don’t like the idea of such a thing being possible.” She laid back and stared at the ceiling. “We spent years training. To think that all of that can be stripped away is…”

“Yeah…I get it.” I closed my eyes and shivered as I recalled the icy chill of the commander’s aura. “But he was definitely doing something deliberate with his aura. It wasn’t just trying to freak me out.”

“And you’re sure you’re fine now? No…I don’t know, leftover damage or anything?”

“I think so. Father noticed that there were traces of the commander’s aura in my system that were giving me chills, but they’re gone now.” I paused. “I’m still, I guess a little shaken after the whole thing, but I’m alright now.”

“Okay, if you say so.” She sighed. “It just seems like you’re being treated unfairly for such a little comment.”

I shrugged. “It is what it is. Oh!” I turned to her. “What about you? I never asked how your interview went.”

She smiled. “I was accepted as a Paladin of Q’kaw.”

“Congrats!”

“Thanks. I was honestly a little surprised by how smoothly it went. Maybe they, uh,” her smile flattered. “were feeling more lenient after your interview.”

The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

I frowned. “Maybe…but whatever. If that’s true then I can think of all this as me helping you out a bit.”

Kiuyk groaned. “Don’t put that thought in my head! Now I feel bad…”

“It’s fine,” I chuckled. “Honestly it’s more likely how you responded to my question about mages that helped.”

“Probably.” She frowned. “Actually…how did they know about that? I know the commander was at the academy, but I don’t think he should have been near us when you asked about that.”

I paused. “I don’t know. Although…he did say that he was on his way to speak with the headmaster after he met with us.”

Kiuyk sat up quickly. “You think the academy has a way to listen in on us and they told him then?” She frowned. “I’m… not sure how to feel about that.”

I shrugged. “Vydiqa Academy is all about training paladins for the Empire. If our moral character is so important that they’re willing to send me through disciplinary training then why would they let us go years without monitoring our development?”

“I mean it makes sense, I just feel weird knowing that someone was probably listening in when I told you about the first time I..." she blushed, "you know?”

I winced. “Yeah, that is pretty embarrassing.”

“Or what about that time you were gushing about that guy, what was his name? Kitaq something?”

I groaned, burying my face in whatever garment I had been holding. “Please don’t remind me! I swear that guy was such a jerk.”

“What did you even see in him?”

“I don’t know. He seemed so nice before he tried to corner me in that classroom.”

“I still can’t believe you punched him into the wall,” Kiuyk chuckled.

“Look, I don’t want to talk about him anymore.” I look at the dark red blouse in my hands. “I guess I’ll just wear this.”

“Does it matter? Where are you going?”

“The Temple of Z’ayk. The commander said we should trade in our ID tablets as soon as possible.”

“The interviews were last cycle though. Do you really think they’ve had time to make them already?”

I shrugged. “It can’t hurt to check.”

“Alright, I guess it’s not like I had anything better to do.” Kiuyk stood up as I finished putting on my blouse.

I smiled and thanked her as we headed out the door.

~~~

“I told you that it would take longer than a single cycle,” Kiuyk said as we left the Temple.

“I know. I guess I just wanted to get out of the house.” I gazed up at the night sky. “Honestly I’m not sure what I’m going to do now. I thought I would get started on my work as a paladin but…”

“Yeah, I get it. Honestly, it’s weird to think of you not training or studying all day. Usually, I have to convince you to do anything else.”

“Oh shut up.”

Kiuyk looked like she was about to say something but paused suddenly. She then sniffed the air and smiled. “You know we never got those sundrops after that elven jerk robbed you.”

As she said that I finally noticed the alluring scent of honey, syrup, spices, and fried dough wafting through the air. I smiled awkwardly. “I, uhh, didn’t bring any money with me so…”

Kiuyk rolled her eyes. “And since you got robbed consider this my treat.”

“Thank you!”

We followed the sweet smells down one of the smaller streets until we found a small shop. A wide but shallow pot of oil boiled over a roiling flame, filled with small, half-inch balls of dough. After giving our orders, the man standing over the pot scooped up some of the dough balls with a metal net into a pair of bread bowls. Mine was drizzled with honey, Kiuyk’s had lynka syrup, and both were sprinkled with dried herbs and breadcrumbs. We thanked the man and sat at one of the benches the shop had set up outside.

“Mmm…I really needed this,” I said as I popped a few sundrops into my mouth. The small snack practically melted on my tongue and filled my mouth with a blend of sweet and savory that you just couldn’t find anywhere else.

“Yeah, it really has been a while since I had this,” Kiuyk said, eating her cup of sundrops one at a time.

“Oh really? I always figured you grabbed some on the way home every day.”

She shoved me with her elbow. “Just because I’m not as crazy about training as you doesn’t mean I slack off all the time.”

“I know, you wouldn’t have become a paladin if you were a slacker after all.” My smile waned. “Or…maybe you would have…”

Kiuyk frowned. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“I…ugh.” I leaned back, staring up at the starlit sky. “I don’t know. A week ago everything felt so straight forward and now I feel like I don’t understand anything.”

Kiuyk sighed and put her arm around my shoulder. “What you need is to relax my horny friend.”

“Stoooop!” I groaned, pushing her away as I felt a smile creep onto my face.

She chuckled. “Look, things are weird right now but it will be fine. We’re paladins now. We made it.”

“I guess you’re right,” I said, eating a few more sundrops.

“Of course I’m ri-”

“THIEF!”

My head snapped towards the source of the shouting, and I scowled as I noticed a dark grey scarf fluttering into an alleyway.

Suddenly I was running.

“Xara!” Kiuyk shouted, following close behind me. “Are we really doing this again!?”

“Yes.”

“He’ll probably just ditch us again.”

“Not this time. We’ll be faster.”

“What are you…” her voice trailed off as she realized what I meant. “We’ll probably get in trouble for this.”

“Maybe, but like you said, we’re paladins now. Right?”

“...Right.”

I grinned and started channeling my aura. “Now let’s catch a thief.”