3. Third Time Lucky

It was the one day of the year where the Lodge’s doors were open to the public.

Kiren waited in the open courtyard inside the stone walls that ringed the Lodge. Around fifty other youths surrounded him. A large wooden building stood before him, painted green and with a solid stone foundation. It had brightly colored, stained glass windows, depicting various scenes of war. The building looked like it could hold several hundred people. The Guild Hall, he assumed. Several other, smaller structures made up the compound, with a practice yard off to the left.

The would-be apprentices chatted amongst themselves as the midday sun beat down on them. Grass and yellow buttercups waved happily in the breeze. The sweet scent of dark soil and fresh greenery lingered in the air.

Kiren looked around at the finely dressed, combed, and washed young men that made up most of the crowd. They looked like they’d be more at home painting each other’s nails than trying to become Aribel’s most hardened warriors.

Bunch of fucking prissy nobodies. At least I won’t have any trouble proving I’m the best of this sorry gathering.

Kiren cracked his neck and stretched out his arms, then his legs. From what he had heard about the tests, it was going to be a long day.

“Hey, it’s you! I remember you!”

Kiren turned around. A young woman approached him, dressed in a ripped-up tunic. She had plain, brown hair, and a body wholly lacking in womanly grace. Her face was plain with rosy cheeks and a thin nose. If he hadn’t heard her voice, he might have assumed that she was a boy.

“I don’t know you,” Kiren said. He took a step back from her. “What do you want?”

“Yeah, it’s you!” she said. “It was a long time ago. On… that day.”

“Listen, I don’t—”

“Kiren. That’s your name, right?”

Kiren’s shoulders stiffened. “How do you…” he frowned as he looked at her more closely. That face did seem familiar…

Yes. The girl. He’d saved her on That Day. He still saw her face sometimes in the nightmares.

“I don’t know if you remember me. My name is Lace. Lace Amar.” She extended a hand for him to shake.

He didn’t take it.

She slowly let it drop and her smile faded. She slouched as if she expected a weight to drop on her.

“Ahem. Anyway, listen… after it all went down, I tried to find you. There’s a question I’ve always wanted to ask.”

Kiren shrugged. “Well, get it over with. I have more important things to focus on.”

“You saw him, didn’t you? That day. You saw Ender get away. You must have. His lieutenants carried him off.”

Kiren’s eyes widened slightly before he regained control of his expression.

She knows.

“No one will believe me! They all think he’s dead. They say they found his corpse and everything. But you were there with me… you must have seen…”

“I—”

“Listen up!” barked a voice that seemed to fill the whole courtyard. Conversations died down as everyone turned to face its source.

A Hero stood at the end of the courtyard, hands on his hips. He wore a crimson uniform with gold embroidery and a brooch of the ten-pointed Aribel sun pinned to his chest. He wore his hair cropped short with a salt-and-pepper stubble and his arms were hairy like a bear’s.

A blond apprentice of massive bulk stood to his left, arms clasped behind his back. His uniform strained against the thick, corded muscle of his arms and chest, and the collar struggled against his bull neck. He had a handsome, simple face with a thick-set jaw and a bold nose.

On the Hero’s right was a much smaller man, thin as a whip. He had a shock of hair the color of moss and eyes to match. He mostly looked at the ground, taking brief glances at the people in front of him. Two songbirds rested on his right shoulder, chattering to each other.

“You have all come to see whether you have what it takes to become Heroes,” the man said. “Most of you will fail. I am Counter. I will be overseeing your efforts.” He nodded to the apprentice on his left, then the one on his right. “Haden, Tommyn, collect the fees. After that, we’ll get started.”

*****

Lace swallowed hard. Her lower back beaded with sweat.

If she didn’t get in this year, she wouldn’t get another chance. She was turning twenty-one this year.

Counter’s apprentices walked among the applicants, taking in their fees in sacks. Lace didn’t have hers, though. There had been no way to come up with that much money in only two days. She had six coppers she could spend that had fallen out of the purse during the struggle—Mom had made away with the rest.

The fee was one hundred.

The blond, muscular man walked up to Lace. He flashed her a bright, white smile.

“Hello there. Got your money ready?” he asked.

Lace hesitated. She glanced left, then right. She shrank into herself.

“I… I don’t have it. Well, I did have it, but you see, it was stolen. I thought, maybe…”

The man gave her the most confounded look, frowning so that creases appeared on his smooth forehead. “I… see. Listen, we’ll sort this out.” He turned around and raised his voice. “Master Counter, we have a bit of a situation here!”

The Hero walked over and Lace turned her gaze downward.

From experience, she knew that Counter would not be kind. He always seemed to take special care to make sure she didn’t pass the tests.

“What’s the matter here?” he asked in his harsh, snappy tone. He stopped in front of her, uncomfortably close. “Oh, Amar. It’s you.”

“Yes, master,” Lace said.

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He sighed. “Why’re you here, girl? Two failures weren’t enough for you?”

“Any citizen under the age of twenty-one is allowed up to three attempts at the yearly admittance tests,” Lace recited.

“She says she doesn’t have the money,” the apprentice, Haden, said.

“Let me explain—”

“No,” Counter snapped. “Do you have the fee or not?”

“No, but—”

“Then there’s nothing to be discussed. Leave immediately, or you’ll do so in irons.”

Lace’s throat constricted. She blinked down tears.

“I… can’t do that, master. T-this is my last chance.”

“And you fumbled it.”

Counter took firm hold of her shoulder and spun her around so that she faced the open gates.

“I’ll do anything,” Lace whimpered. “Please.” The tears were breaking through, despite her efforts.

“Nothing to be done, girl. It’s better this way. The way you fight, you’d end up like your father if you went down this path.”

Lace clenched her teeth. She wiped her tears and spun free of Counter’s grip. She wanted to punch him to bad her fingers crackled with a stinging itch.

“Like my father? You mean the man you fought alongside? The man whose memory you defile through your very words?”

“I’ll pay her way.”

Lace sucked in a sharp breath. Whatever words she had planned to hurl at the Hero died in her throat. Everyone looked to the right.

“I’ll pay her way,” Kiren repeated. “You take silver, don’t you?” He flipped a shining coin and caught it in his left hand. He held up the silver coin between thumb and forefinger. He produced another seemingly out of nowhere, clutched between two fingers.

Lace gave Kiren a proper look. He had a pale, drawn face, with an angular jaw. His dark attire—a jerkin and form-fitting pants—were well-made but dirty as if he’d gone rolling in a ditch. His lean arms had some muscle to them, but judging by his sunken cheeks he hadn’t been getting enough food. His black, slightly curly hair was a mess, ending at his dark brown, almost black eyes.

“Where’d you get that, sirrah?” Counter asked. “Did you steal it?”

“Why, I’m offended by the very notion,” Kiren said. “I came by this money fair and square, Creator’s truth.” He smiled to himself as if he could hardly keep from laughing.

Counter harrumphed. “Nonsense. There’s no way a gutter rat like you would be able to come by those funds.”

“Master Counter,” Haden said. “People are waiting. I think we’d better…”

The Hero shook his head. “Right.” He snatched the coins from Kiren’s hand and dropped them in the sack. “Consider yourselves lucky.”

Lace gave Kiren an unspoken look of gratitude.

Once the apprentice had given him back his money and left, Lace went in for a hug.

He pushed her off and sent her stumbling.

“You said you’d do anything, right?” he said. “Well, you owe me.”

Lace steadied herself. “R-right, of course. What do you want me to do?”

“We’ll see if you make it through the tests,” Kiren said. “After that, we’ll talk. You might prove useful if you’re strong enough.”

*****

At least I got in, Lace thought. That’s all that matters, right?

The applicants were taken over to the practice field. It was about twenty meters on each side and laid with gravel, archery targets set up on her left and stuffed dummies to the right.

It was the third time she set foot upon that field.

Hopefully, it won’t be the last.

She did some simple stretches for her legs to prepare for the test coming up. Doing so helped take her mind off the anxiety that fluttered in her gut.

Her body was still a little stiff. She had been unable to bear seeing her mother come home addled with drugs one more time, so she had convinced Avon to let her sleep in the stable at The Golden Lion. It was not doing any wonders for her back, but at least she could get a decent night’s sleep there.

“Okay, listen up!” Counter shouted. “For the first test, you’ll be doing ten laps around the inside of the wall. Remember, every part of these tests will be evaluated. Your performance will be tracked.”

A Hero rested on his knees atop the wall, clad in a dark outfit with feathers spread out like wings over his shoulders. He had glowing, yellow eyes with slitted irises that seemed to take in the whole courtyard at once, and at the same time bore into Lace with stark intensity. Eagle-Eyes. He would be the man in charge of keeping an eye on how all applicants fared.

“All those who fail to complete this test are disqualified,” Counter went on. “That said…” He clapped his hands together. “Begin!”

The group of youths hesitated.

Lace set off in a jog. This part of the tests was familiar, at least. It was the same every year.

She hugged the inside of the wall, starting off slow to warm up her legs. There was a thunder of footfalls behind her.

Kiren was the first to pass her. With long, confident strides, he rounded her and didn’t look back as he pulled away.

Then came others. Lace wasn’t out of shape, but she just couldn’t keep an even pace with the head of the pack.

I don’t need to stand out. This test is just to weed out the weakest. All I need to do is finish.

Lace settled near the middle at a middling, steady pace. She kept her breathing under control through the first, second, and third lap. She kept glancing back, making sure not to fall too far behind.

I will not squander this chance. I’ll keep up with you, Kiren.

She could barely see him in the distance over all the bobbing heads, still taking up the lead.

A sudden shove sent her stumbling. She barely managed to right herself, arms waving. The loss in momentum let several people pass her.

One of the men looked back at her. He had short, blond hair and a sharp jaw with a prickly stubble. He smiled gleefully.

“You look a little weak in the legs there, sweetheart,” he said. “Sure you don’t need a big, strong man to carry you?”

Lace didn’t dignify him with an answer. She picked up the pace and looked straight ahead, swerving slightly to the left to put some distance between them.

I can’t let anyone get to me. Not today.

Lace placed twenty-seventh out of fifty-two. Kiren placed first. The uncouth man placed sixth, still with that infuriating grin on his face.

A handful of applicants who hadn’t been able to finish the ten laps were turned away, reducing the pool down to forty-five.

Lace went through and found Kiren during the break. He stood leaned against the wall, away from the larger group. He watched her intently as she approached, scrutinizing every inch of her like a wolf watching a deer. Lace was dripping with sweat, but he looked as unfazed as if he’d just been out for a morning stroll.

“You did great in the race,” Lace said.

“Suppose,” Kiren said. “Not much competition.”

Someone’s confident.

“Hey… I feel like I haven’t thanked you enough. For helping me.”

“Wasn’t helping you,” Kiren said. “I’m helping myself. Thank me by making it through this.”

Lace bit her lip. “Yeah, no worries. I will make it through.”

Kiren looked out over the courtyard. “Are you done? I’m not a fan of small talk.”

Lace frowned. She opened her mouth to say something, but Kiren gave her a cold look that made her rethink the idea. She walked away and made an effort not to glance back at him.

Did I do something wrong? Is he just like that with everyone? Creator’s corpse, how did I get myself indebted to a man like that?

After a few minutes to catch their breath and recover, Counter lined up the applicants for the second challenge. They stood facing the wall that ringed the Lodge, about four meters tall and made from solid rock, with crenellations at the top.

“You will all climb this wall,” Counter said. “Use of your Powers is allowed. Use of force is allowed, but excessive violence is not. Any blow that would draw blood is cause for immediate disqualification. As with the last test, those who cannot finish will be sent out.”

Wait… use of force? He wants us to try and knock each other off? She gazed up at the top of that wall. If someone falls from that height, it might well be fatal. What is the Heroes’ Guild thinking?

“Are there any questions?” Counter scanned the crowd. No one spoke up.

“Begin!” He shouted, spittle flying from his mouth.