-33-
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Constant hard knocking sounded noisily, disturbing me from my sleep.
I groaned as I stretched my arms above me. My muscles burned with a soreness beyond anything I’d experienced before.
After a moment of silently cursing the cerulean-haired battle-junkie who pushed me past my limits and put me in this state, I sat up in bed and acknowledged the disturbance.
“It’s unlocked.” I called out sleepily.
The door to my room opened slowly, and slightly. A tiny figure slipped through and closed the door behind themselves.
A girlish voice called out excitedly, “Are you up, are you up!? It’s time for food, momma Airis!”
I rubbed the sleep away from my eyes, and focused on the tiny person in front of me.
Adorable face, yep.
Long and cute ears, yep.
Lovely pink hair, yep.
Slender tail, little batty wings, and horns, ye—wait… Nope?
“Akari?”
“Hmm?”
“How do you—where did your—huh!?”
“Heh heh! Auntie Sara taught me a new spell called GLAMOUR. Isn’t it cool!”
“Auntie… Sara?” I questioned with a heavy inflection.
“Yeah! I spent the day with the black-haired elf lady yesterday since they said you were busy. She told me to call her that.”
Black-haired elven—
“Ah, Lady Sara. Of course. I’m thankful she’s treated you so well. But, auntie? Really?”
Akari jumped up into bed with me, climbing across the sheets to rest her head in my lap. “What does that mean? That word. Auntie.”
“Uhm. It’s simple enough to explain, I guess. Aunt is what you’d call your mom’s sister. Since Lady Sara knows that you’ve been calling me ‘momma Airis’, she’s implying that she’s acting sort of like a sister to me.”
“Oooh. ‘Kay! Does that mean I should call Rias and Hailey auntie as well?”
“Ack!—” I choked on my tongue. “I think Rias might like that, you can ask her if she’d like to be called auntie after breakfast. But, sweetie, why do you think Hailey also should be called auntie?”
“Because you’re really close to her too, like a sister!”
“Hailey and I have a bit of a different relationship. We’re close, but it’s not really the same as being sisters. I love her in a different way. She would be more like a ‘momma Hailey’ if anythi—”
Heat rushed to my face as I clambered my mouth shut in embarrassment.
I squirmed my way out of bed and quickly changed into an outfit that was semi-professional and presentable. I led a giggly Akari out of our room and headed to the dining room. We bumped into Rias in the hall where the limits of Akari’s patience were showcased, as she immediately asked if it would be alright to call her ‘auntie Rias’.
Rias accepted, as I expected her to, and we shuffled into the dining room where a great assortment of dishes were being brought out.
The nearest platter to our seats had some attractive looking pastries. I grabbed a muffin that looked tasty and took a bite—and fought back against an urge to spit it out immediately.
I really hate Hallonut. Blegh!
Julius and Mei arrived together, followed by Hailey and a procession of elven magistrates and other high-ranking elven nobles.
The absence of one blue-haired angelic warrior was noted.
I’ll have to track down where she ended up after the Goddess chased her out yesterday.
Once everyone was seated and the last of the food was brought out to the table, I said a quick prayer to the Goddesses watching over us—to both ease everyone’s possible anxiety at eating a meal alongside their new sovereign and for having to take that meal in an unfamiliar place which lacked the gilded elegance of Umbraedomis.
“Celestials above, which watch over and bless us. Bless this meal, a bounty of Terae, that it provides nourishment to our minds and spirits. Judicaer egos virtiae.”
Lord Adellin raised a glass of white wine, “As always, Your Majesty finds a way to surprise me. To think you’d adapt a traditional Aestori blessing so well to fit the Imperial tongue, yet keep its elven grace. May we be judged worthy.”
“Hear hear.” “Cheers!” “Etiam.”
A chorus of acknowledgment was raised across the dining table and everyone began to dig into their meals.
Breakfast flashed by uneventfully after that, with most of those in attendance making brief small talk or commenting on some of the unique accouterments the elven nobles had worn.
I excused myself before the table had been cleared and the majority of people had finished, escaping back to my room where I needed to start getting ready.
As I was finishing putting my proper uniform on, Rias arrived with Akari in tow. I called back to her while buttoning my blouse, “What are your plans today, sis?”
“Hmm, I’ll probably visit Lira and Dori today—Dori has been helping the Astral Knight’s set up their aetherflux equipment. I was hoping to learn some more about the elven variants compared to what we were using in Axio.”
“Sounds like a busy day. I’ll probably be stuck in meetings all day today. I think everyone else I’d trust to watch over Akari will also be stuck in those same meetings. Would you mind taking her with you, if she doesn’t mind going that is.”
Akari’s head perked up at the mention of her name. “I enjoy spending time with auntie Rias! I’ll go.” She declared with a beaming smile.
“I don’t mind at all,” Rias replied while giving Akari’s hair a playful toss, “I might even learn some more about Akari’s magick if we can experiment with some of the aetherline devices.”
“Don’t catch anything important on fire.”
Rias returned my warning with an embarrassed grimace.
There was a knock at the door, followed by a muffled voice. “Your Majesty, it’s Knight Aeko. I have a delivery from the blacksmith for you. I’m told it was an urgent request.”
“It’s unlocked! You can enter, Aeko.”
The door opened at an even pace, stopping at a firm ninety-degree angle, and Aeko walked in holding an ornately decorated box that looked like its purpose was meant to hold expensive jewelry or other gaudy and garish trinkets.
“I’m actually quite glad you’ve arrived as you have. Could you hand the box over to the little one over there, and then help me put on this breastplate? Getting the back plate strapped in is a pain since it buckles under my arms.”
“Little one? Ah—I heard about a cute child arriving with Your Majesty from Knight Pearson.” Aeko handed the small box off, which Akari took shyly into her hands and cupped gently.
Aeko quickly helped me strap myself into my armor and filed out of the room in a hurry. Both Akari and Rias looked at me expectantly after the door closed behind her.
“Go ahead and open it up.”
Akari tried to pry the lid open, but it didn’t budge. Rias leaned over and pointed out a small latch which, after Akari pressed, caused the lid to unlock.
Cushioned in red velvet was a silver-metal badge on a beautiful chain.
Akari’s eyes gleamed wide, enthralled with the shiny present.
Rias looked up and asked, “What is this, sis?”
“I sent a request to Rhia to craft something similar to a Statesmen Pass so that Akari can come and go as she pleases through the Citadel, and other such restricted places in the city. I remembered getting one from Father when I was younger so I could move freely when I attended ceremonies with him.”
Akari lifted the badge out from the box and drew it close to her face. She sniffed at it twice.
“It smells like momma Airis’ metal.” Akari then brought it down to her mouth, and chomped down on the metal. “Yep. Tastes the same as your metal.”
“Airis’ metal? Oh, your armor, maybe? Is the badge made of Chromasteel, Airis?”
“Yep. I figured not only would be bright and wear resistant, but if anyone inspected the badge they’d realize right away it was something important. I had our family crest etched into the badge. Nobody in their right mind would turn Akari away.”
I hung the badge around Akari’s neck, and tucked it between her blouse and undershirt. Gently patting it twice for good measure.
“If you get too bored, or if it becomes unpleasant any time today, ask one of the soldiers to escort you to me. If you show them this badge they’ll take you right away.”
“Mhmm!”
----------------------------------------
I departed for the Citadel for my first round of morning meetings to confirm our next steps, now that the Aestori forces had been secured. They were camped outside the city for now and would eventually end up in the Citadel barracks, but that didn’t mean we could sit around Tolin for long.
Passing through the main hall a cold shiver ran down my spine, and I had the feeling I was being watched. I glanced around, and spotted Hailey staring down at me from atop the northern balcony.
She pushed herself up from the railing she’d been leaning over, heading towards High Command.
I walked briskly to the end of the hall and up the stairs, meeting her before she’d entered the narrow hallway that led to our morning meeting.
She looked at me with a cold glare.
I’m still in trouble…
Against my better judgment I tried to ease into some small talk, “You’ve been busy with the Aestori. How are you holding up?”
“I’ve been extra busy, since our Empress locked herself up in the meeting hall for an entire day doing who knows what.”
“Ah,” I scratched at the back of my neck nervously, “I do have a good reason for that—but that doesn’t matter. I’m sorry. I got caught up in the moment with Ikuye, and then Virgo showed up.”
“Caught up in the moment? Do I even want to ask…”
“Nothing improper happened! She helped me uncover some latent power I’d be unaware of. A combination of being Capricorn’s disciple and Virgo’s scion. I’ll tell you about it in detail later—”
“Airis, you should be doing what’s righteous and just! But recently, you’ve been doing nothing but seeking power like a starved predator. Was your oath as a paladin all for nothing?”
“We both know my specializing as a paladin had nothing to do with any sacred oath or a personal dedication to do good. It was purely political—and even if it wasn’t, what use is there for hollow words to a pantheon of Celestials who don’t even watch over us. If I’m to bid the wills of the divine, it will be to the two Goddesses who watch over us now. One of which being our very creator.”
Hailey’s scowl deepened. “If you continue this path… Sure, maybe you gain great power. But that power will only cause others to fear you as a heretic. Bashir’s words may have meant to mislead you, but they still held an ounce of truth to them. You may not be a demon, as he claimed, but your appearance when you practice that magick looks as if you might be.”
“How can I be a heretic? Those manifestations are a mark from the Goddess, they’re in the image of Capricorn herself. Rather, I think our people will hail me as something close to divinity since they know the truth.”
Hailey took a step back, “Is that what you hope to become? A Goddess in your own right?”
“And if it is!? Will you hold me back from a divine birthright? Hails, can’t you just stand by my side and support me?”
I extended my arm out to her, but I caught sight of her body trembling as she recoiled from my reach.
“Hails, I…”
“I can’t right now, Airis. I can hardly see the girl I fell in love with when I look at you lately. Why… why can’t you just follow the Church’s oath and do what’s right? Why must you stray from the path we’ve followed for so long?”
“You might as well be asking for the impossible! Nothing in this world is right or just these days. I’m doing what I can to keep all of us moving forward—which, to me doesn’t have to mean what we do or where we go is the most just course of action. I want us to survive, Hails,” my voice cracked as I pleaded with her, “Just… survive with me for now. Once we’ve solidified our people’s livelihood I promise I’ll take the time to worry about what’s right and wrong.”
Hailey’s hand raised up as she turned away from me, brushing away a shiny streak streaming down her cheek. She retreated down the hallway towards High Command without another word.
Ahhhhhh… That didn’t go well, I’m a massive dummy.
I entered the command room a few minutes after Hailey so things wouldn’t seem awkward. If we entered one after another we’d stir up more rumors amongst the nobles, especially since Hailey’s expression was bordering on becoming a permanent scowl.
The list of attendees to my first meeting could be described as a who’s who of the aristocracy living in Tolin and then some. The volume of participants exceeded the small meeting room’s capacity—due to the inclusion of the Aestori nobles—so we adapted the entirety of the room into a meeting hall.
Split in thirds, the seating was arranged so that the Aestori nobles and Divisional officers who held noble titles were on my right, civilians who held non-governmental positions were in the center, and to my left were the remaining key-holders of society; three, recently released from interrogation, state ministers and their noble associates.
I walked to the head of the room and brought the room to silence.
“You’ve all participated in enough of these meetings to know this, but I’ll declare it anyway. This call-to-order is designated as above highly-restricted. If you breathe even one word about what is discussed today, you’ll be charged with treason and executed on the spot.”
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
I glared coldly through the room, avoiding a certain corner where a ruby-haired priest was standing, and sat behind a desk that had been positioned to overlook the meeting.
“At ease. I’ll get right to it,” I continued once the sound of chairs moving quieted, “We’ll be taking the fight to Axio and mounting a full-scale assault on the city. While the senior officers haven’t detailed an exact date for departure, we’re looking at mobilizing soldiers in less than three weeks.”
The majority of the room didn’t stir at the announcement—as all Aestori and Divisional nobles had already known this was coming. My gaze drifted to the left side of the room where, to no surprise, a hand was raised in the air.
“Speak, Minister Hay.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty. A prolonged siege at this point risks exhausting our supply of many essentials. The Renaultians will likely have reinforced the city’s fortifications since our people departed, in expectation of this assault. They’ll have plenty of crops stored away from the outlying reclamation villages—”
“Then we’ll burn their warehouses and depots.”
“We’ll… what? My apologies, Your Majesty, but—”
“Be silent.” I interjected, with a hand raised. “I did not arrange this call-to-order to have a debate on the plan of attack. Nor was it called to make baseless conjecture regarding the status of Axio.”
I waved my arm to the right, indicating those assembled there, “The Divisional officers are aware of how the city’s defense look. We can make educated guesses ourselves on the post-coup state of things. The only reason you’re all here is because I have to leave the civilians in the care of someone while the rest of us risk body and soul to rescue any surviving Vanixians and stomp out the traitors who put us in this position. You lot should make the best effort to avoid making waves, lest any suspicion of aiding the traitors returns.”
Jacob Hay stared back at me in surprise, “You can’t mean to lead such an assault yourself! If something were to happen—”
I slammed my fist down against the table, standing up from my seat, and silence filled the room.
“I’ve warned you once already, Minister. Another outburst, and I’ll throw the politicians out.” I fell back into my chair with an indignant huff, “I’ll take this fight straight to the halls of Central Spire myself. And in the process, I’ll slaughter—Every. Last. Soul—that attempts to stands in my way.”
The next two hours flew by quickly as we assigned generic duties and established an official command chain relating to the assault force, to the dismay of our handful of career politicians.
I was inclined to appoint Julius as a stand-in for me, having him take the mantle of High-Commander and lead the Vanixian forces—however at his, and a number of others urging, it was confirmed that both he and Lady Aisling would command as equals; with Julius filling in for Lady Elin as the Astral Knight’s co-regent and Lady Aisling officially being listed as co-commander of the Order of the Scarlet Wing.
And so, the first of many meetings wrapped up with the OSW leaders shuffling into the side room to solidify their new hierarchy.
I’d quickly washed my hands of responsibility in that matter, and sneaked away to take a break.
Before our return the district bordering the Citadel gate were still empty and lifeless, but now they were fairly lively. The residences had been repaired well enough and a number of merchant stands had taken up wares along the roadway.
As reclamation efforts were still ongoing it made sense that the market district lacked a firm grasp on the residents, but even taking that into consideration this closeness of market stalls and stores within the residential areas felt more like how Axio had been built.
The older imperial cities had favored separate districts, or at least large sectioned zones, for each industry: one for warehouses, another for metalworking, et cetera. But the meshing of cultures in Axio before the factional districts had been fully developed, created a number of distinct differences between the peoples of the old Vanixian Empire and the Vanixian Republic.
I was grabbing a quick bite at one such food stand not too far from the Citadel gatehouse when an intense magickal pressure wave garnered my attention. A powerful spell had just been cast somewhere nearby, or someone with incredible magickal power had just unleashed a burst of magicka.
At first, I thought to ignore it, imaging that there was some unscheduled combat practice occurring—but that couldn’t be the reason, as the wave of energy had come from the opposite direction of the training grounds.
I placed a hand up behind my ear, bringing the tingle of electricity. “Hanna, Luke. You on-line?”
Hanna’s crisp voice responded immediately, “I’m here, Your Majesty.”
“I need backup, preferably those who can detect magick and have quick feet. South by southeast in the residences just outside the Citadel. I felt something powerful just now. Not sure if it’s a person or worse.”
As I called in reinforcements, I began trekking towards the unknown burst of magickal energy.
“Affirm. Stand-by just one moment…” Silence followed for about two minutes before Hanna’s voice crackled back to life. “Multiple parties are en-route. I’m heading to Your Majesty’s location as well.”
I acknowledged Hanna’s response and began to focus on pinpointing the exact spot of the burst. I picked up a large cluster of magicka a ways off from where I knew the main road ran, and rushed in that direction.
In a worst case scenario, some remnant monster or demon had appeared and was attacking residents. Best case, one of the city’s residents awoke some latent power and was struggling to contain it. Either way, it was not a normal occurrence and needed to be handled.
As I made my way further through the back streets, I noticed that this particular area of the city hadn’t yet been built back up. Ruined buildings and overgrowth dominated my vision.
Well, at least the chances a lot of civilians being under attack is little to none.
I crossed under the arch-like debris of a collapsed building into an ominous clearing. The structures here had evidence of recent development—nothing that looked proper, rather it was obvious the work hadn’t been done by craftsmen—and the mass of roots and other foliage that been interrupting my pace previously had been cleared.
I visualized the mapping in my head and could tell the pocket of magickal energy was close by, close enough that is was interfering with my ability to pinpoint it more accurately.
“Hello? Is anyone out here?” I yelled out, “I noticed a magickal disturbance and I’m investigating!”
I received no direct response—but the scraping of boots on stone tile caught my attention and I rushed towards the source, my left hand placed firmly on the hilt of my sword. Once I had rounded the corner, I caught sight of what looked to be a person.
They were facing away from me and had stopped dead in their tracks the second my gaze caught them, as if they knew the moment they’d been spotted.
They looked to be on the shorter size and the clothes they were wearing seemed a few sizes too big; like a child…
It couldn’t be.
“Akari?”
The figure flinched at the sound of my voice.
“Akari, is that you? Are you alright?”
A boyish voice called back to me, “I didn’t do anything wrong. Leave me alone!”
I felt the tension that had built in my chest evaporate and I sighed heavily with relief.
Thank the Goddesses it’s not Akari. Nonetheless, I can’t leave some random child alone out here if there is something dangerous around.
I chased after the young boy, ducking or climbing over the dilapidated buildings. Eventually I’d managed to catch up, I spotted the boy standing still at the end of an alleyway.
“I don’t mean you any harm,” I called out as I approached, “There could be something dangerous out here and—” I stopped in my tracks just a few steps away from the boy.
Out of sight while I made my way through the alleyway, but now in clearly visible, was another figure; clad in a dark hooded cloak.
A heavy mist had already begun settling in around us and a cold shiver momentarily stung my senses, causing my hairs to stand on end. As my senses recovered, the desire to flee overwhelmed my usual hit-it-till-it-stops-breathing response.
The turbulence of the Aethermist condensing stirred a gust of wind that rattled the nearby rotten wood. A loose board was sent flying in our direction and I reached out to grab the boy.
“Ack!”
He twisted out of my grasp, and disappeared through an opening in the alleyway behind us.
I turned my head back towards the dark figure.
The thickness of the Aethermist had reduced visibility dramatically, but I could still make them out pretty well at our current distance.
A slender arm reached out from underneath the heavy cloak, drawing back their hood and revealing a face I’d seen before.
“Hikita.”
Piercing blue eyes glared at me, glowing in the darkened fog, and betrayed the softer features of her elegant face.
Her golden-blonde hair was disturbed by the wind, and I caught sight of her long ears that betrayed her elven heritage—they were unconcealed, her strange metal face-plate was missing.
TARGET
STATISTICS
HIKITA
The Azure Rose
HEALTH: [140] / [140]
STAMINA: [210] / [210]
MAGICKA: [755] / [755]
» TARGET SUFFERS FROM A NEGATIVE EFFECT: CURSE OF THE FALLEN
The woman remained relatively still after she had revealed herself. There was an occasional movement of her arms, a reactionary twitch with an unknown cause, but other than that she hadn’t moved.
“I’m. Glad.” She struggled to speak, her jaw clenched tight as she formed each word, “You. Managed. To. Return. Safely.”
Her awkward way of talking caught me off-guard. It took me a moment to regain my senses well enough to respond, “Are you referring to the traitorous minsters and divisional soldiers?”
She nodded.
“Are there still others in my city like them?”
“Y-e-s.” Her voice strained. Her head barely registering in nod.
“Did Renault do this to you?”
Another hard fought nod.
“Will you lose control and attack me?”
“I don’t—” One of Hikita’s hands jaggedly raised towards her face, grasping at her throat, “—want to. But. I. Might.”
Her head suddenly turned sharply around the square, seemingly distracted by something nearby.
With a panicked look on her face she focused back to me, “I have. To leave. No…” Her voice drifted away, quieted by the winds that had begun to stir once more.
The Aethermist collapsed inwards, with Hikita at the center, and her haunting blue eyes disappeared along with the mist. As her appearance faded, I swore I saw streaks of tears running down her face.
A moment later, Hanna and dozens of red-clad guards swarmed in from every angle. I tried to calm Hanna down as she excitedly explained that some sort of fog was causing them to run in circles.
We left the soldiers to investigate the scene, and hopefully find the child who’d ran away. If there were civilians living in these rundown slums, I wanted to find out why.
Hikita’s revelation that there were still agents of Renault within the city wasn’t too surprising but demanded action.
I asked Hanna to arrange for an emergency call-to-order with our regular vanguard and prominent divisional officers for later this afternoon once we’d wrapped up our other meetings.
When we arrived at the Citadel, the two of us were ambushed by most of our friends. Way in the back, I saw a quick flash of relief come over Hailey’s face before she headed inside with Mei and the other elves.
Well, at the very least she doesn’t hate me completely.
Luke rushed over to hear about the encounter, jotting the details down in some quasi-notepad that probably contained every important report about the city.
A mop of blue hair amongst the crowd signaled the return of our new battle-junkie. It looked like Julius assigned his two adjutants to keep watch over her, as both Alistaire and Soren were glued to her side.
She ribbed her arm into my side, “Hey, little sis. What was up with that teleporting person? How come all your people were making a ruckus?”
“Another weird companion. Maybe. And the reason the alarm was raised it because we weren’t sure what was going on, better be safe than sorry.”
“Hmmm, I guess so.” She mused. “Let me know if you want me to do anything in future. I’m pretty quick, being able to fly around and all.”
“I will keep that in mind.”
I signaled Luke back over, and told him to put a request in for Dori or my sister to get another communirune made for Ikki.
Eventually I managed to corral the noisy group through the hall and towards Command for another meeting.
----------------------------------------
A second, third, and fourth meeting went by, and my muscles had long since started to ache. Even with ample time between each to move around, I was at my limit.
Even with divine regeneration, my body still gets sore from sitting? I’d like to file a complaint to whomever created this body. Hello? Goddess Virgo? Yes, please fix humanity—thank you.
All of our officially scheduled meetings were over, and the command room was now being occupied by our core military officers and key individuals from Umbraedomis.
I checked in with a few people to ensure my plans would proceed without issue, then took my place at the head of the room.
An older looking man I barely recognized as one of Julius’ newer OSW underlings was already up there calling out to everyone in a thick accent, “Fall in at attention, les’go! Hurry up! Roll call will be conducted by the Scarlet Wing Commander. Ya’ better hurry up if ya’ know what’s good for ya’.”
Julius confirmed everyone we wanted had arrived, and the doors were secured with sound-proofing magick courtesy of Archmagus Sara—whose official title was reinstated just last meeting.
My exhaustion had caught up with me and I desperately wanted to wrap the last meeting up to retire for the day.
I began the meeting with no real decorum whatsoever.
“Alright, here’s the deal. Bashir’s failed insurrection was just the start. Renault will keep prodding us, because they currently think we’re weak. Luckily enough, his favored assassination tool seems to be lashing back at him, but there is no guarantee that luck will hold out.”
I motioned for Hanna and Luke to come up to me.
“So,” I continued, “We must be vigilant and show our strength. We don’t have any leeway for foolish posturing. We’ve found a great ally with the elves, but we need to become more formidable ourselves.”
I turned to the two, “I’ve given it some thought, and I want you two to lead a new order. It’ll be functionally similar to the Scarlet Wing but with different fundamentals. Luke, you’ve been handling many of the affairs of the OSW on Julius’ behalf already so I’d like you to take official positions in both.”
Similarly to when I’d declared the OSW’s formation, there was a stir in the crowd, but only amongst the former Republic officers.
One such officer in the group stood up.
“The Scarlet Wing was formed to combat the Renaultians already, was it not?” He questioned my declaration with a loud voice. “They’ve been successful in policing the city, it was their order who sniffed out the conspiracy with the disgraced minister. What benefit could another such organization have for us?”
I waved my hand at him dismissively, “It is precisely because the OSW was created like a policing force, that we need additional oversight and a governing body to make level-headed judgments. Hanna and Luke will fill half of that role, and I’ve invited the leaders of the Church to act as the other.”
At my mention, and as I motioned towards the back of the room, Primarch Karina came into view along with a small group of robed clergy members.
As she made her way towards me I continued to explain my reasoning.
“My official stance is: that which is without the blessing of the Goddesses will be purged from this world and all realms beyond. I hereby decree the beginning of an everlasting crusade against any and all agents of the Void. The expungement of the Renaultian Crown’s influence in Tolin is our first priority. Primarch Karina will have the authority to hold court and investigate any persons suspected of conspiring with enemy forces. The Church will be a fair and impartial judge, so that the OSW, the new order, nor our military forces appear to be overextending their reach against the civilians.”
Karina stood at my side, her bright smile easing some of my tensions. Her soft-spoken voice quieted the mumbling within the crowd.
“Many of our followers were disturbed by the actions taken by the former minister and his cohorts. They confided in the Church and requested that we alert our military forces when malicious intent became apparent. I is the belief of the Church that our people should rally behind the Brilliant Sun chosen by our Goddess, and we graciously accept our role as arbiter.”
Karina bowed elegantly, her body bent slightly forward, her head held high, and left arm held against her chest—an action reserved for imperial archnobles.
“Under the direction of the Church.” I lifted my left hand towards Karina. “And the eyes of the Crimson Seekers.” I lifted my right hand towards Hanna and Luke. “The members of the Scarlet Wing will root out whatever evils remain with the city as we prepare to head to war.”
Hailey came towards us, stopping just before she was front and center. She brought a board up to her face and began to read off of it.
“Attention to orders. Hanna Vynn, is hereby commissioned as an officer in service to the Vanixian Empire, and promoted to the permanent rank of Grand-Paladin, effective immediately. Under the direct authority of the Empire’s Sun, Grand-Paladin Hanna Vynn will assume command of the newly formed Crimson Seekers.”
“Grand-Paladin Vynn, you are hereby recognized by the Brilliant Sun of the Empire.” I removed Hanna’s silver sun insignia from her uniform.
Julius stepped forward and handed me a small box before stepping back.
I leaned in and whispered in a low voice to Hanna, “We almost couldn’t find the proper pins anywhere in storage. I was a little worried you’d be stuck in a mismatched pair of insignia. This jump in rank may seem a tad overboard but, for someone who’s been practically running an entire Division on her own, it’s warranted.”
I opened the box and revealed a pair of pins. Golden suns with four chevrons below them.
I pinned them on Hanna’s uniform with a smile.
“I, Hanna Vynn, swear to defend and avenge the Empire of Light. With allegiance to the same, I shall perform the duties of my Order. By the Goddesses.”
Hanna and I exchanged salutes, and she switched places with Luke.
As he stepped into place, Hailey read off her board once more.
“Attention to orders. Luke Mitchell, is hereby promoted to the permanent rank of Knight-Captain, effective immediately. Under the authority of the Vanixian Empire, Knight-Captain Luke Mitchell will assume vice-command of the Crimson Seekers and Order of the Scarlet Wing.”
“Captain Mitchell, you are hereby recognized by the Empire.” I swapped out the golden single-chevron insignia on Luke’s for a new set of double-chevron insignia.
“I, Luke Mitchell, swear to defend and avenge the Empire of Light. With allegiance to the same, I shall perform the duties of my Order. By the Goddesses.”
He and I exchanged salutes and the hastily prepared promotion ceremony ended without becoming too much of a spectacle.