The Imperial System: Architect of an Empire

Elias woke before dawn and spent the next hour pretending he had not.

Kael discovered him outside the manor shortly after sunrise, seated on the low stone wall beside the western training yard with a cup of tea that had gone cold in his hands.

No sword.

No knightly code.

No attempt to train until exhaustion made thought impossible.

Kael considered that progress.

He approached without announcing himself.

Elias glanced over. ”If you ask whether I am nervous, I am throwing this tea at you.”

Kael looked at the cup.

”It is cold.”

”I know.”

”That makes the threat less effective.”

”It stains.”

Kael sat beside him.

For a while they watched the training yard come awake.

Black Dragon soldiers emerged from the barracks in small groups. Stable workers led horses toward the exercise fields. Somewhere behind the manor, Hugo was already arguing with someone about breakfast.

The normal sounds of Blackwood continued around Elias as if the day were not personally designed to make him miserable.

Eventually Kael said, ”I wasn’t going to ask.”

”You were.”

”I was going to say good morning.”

Elias looked at him.

Kael smiled.

”Then I was going to ask.”

Elias groaned.

The Archdeacon had scheduled his interview for the third hour after sunrise.

Marcus would follow after midday.

Malrec had insisted upon enough time between them that the men could not leave one room and immediately tell the other everything they had been asked.

Brother Caelen had somehow made that sound like ordinary procedure.

Elias thought it was cruel.

Kael suspected it was intelligent.

”You know,” Elias said, ”I would rather fight Edric again.”

”You lost to Edric.”

”Yes.”

”Comfortably.”

Elias turned toward him.

”That was unnecessary.”

”It was accurate.”

”At least Edric had a sword.”

”Malrec doesn’t?”

”I checked.”

Kael laughed.

Elias looked down at the cold tea.

”What if I say something wrong?”

Kael had been waiting for that question.

Not because he possessed an answer.

Because he knew Elias eventually would ask.

”Then you say something wrong.”

Elias frowned.

”That is terrible advice.”

”I am not allowed to advise you.”

”That isn’t advice. That’s surrender.”

Kael leaned back on both hands.

”What do you think Malrec wants?”

”The truth.”

”Then?”

Elias stared at him.

Kael shrugged.

”You’ve already done the difficult part.”

”Which is?”

”Having a past.”

Elias laughed despite himself.

Kael stood.

”I’ll see you afterward.”

Elias looked toward him. ”You’re really not staying near the interview room?”

”No.”

”Why?”

”Because if I stand outside, I will spend two hours imagining every possible question.”

”That sounds like your problem.”

”It becomes everyone else’s problem afterward.”

That earned him a nod.

Kael started away.

Elias called after him.

”Kael.”

He turned.

Elias hesitated.

Then smiled faintly.

”Thanks.”

Kael nodded once.

He did not say good luck.

Luck seemed like the wrong thing to wish someone who was about to explain who he had chosen to become.

The interview room was in the eastern administrative wing.

Malrec had rejected the manor council chamber because the raised House seat made the room unnecessarily formal. He rejected the chapel because he said the interview was not confession. He rejected Kael’s study because Kael owned too much of the room even when absent.

Eventually Edwin gave him a modest records chamber with one table, four chairs, two windows, and no decorations except shelves.

Elias entered alone.

Malrec sat across from Brother Caelen and another Church recorder named Sister Meriel Dast, a middle-aged woman whose only visible weapon was a collection of sharpened writing instruments.

Elias bowed.

”Archdeacon.”

”Sit.”

He did.

Nobody spoke for several seconds.

Elias had prepared himself for questions about the stable.

Malrec opened with something else.

”Why do you want to be a knight?”

Elias stared.

Of all the questions he had imagined, that one had seemed too obvious to be real.

”I want to serve.”

Malrec waited.

Elias frowned.

”That was apparently the wrong answer.”

”It was an answer.”

”Not a good one.”

”I did not say that.”

Elias immediately understood why Kael found the man irritating.

He tried again.

”I joined the Black Dragon because I wanted Blackwood to survive.”

”Why?”

”It is my home.”

”Many people love their homes without becoming knights.”

Elias looked toward Brother Caelen.

The clerk’s face remained useless.

Elias returned to Malrec.

”I was good at fighting.”

”Many bandits are.”

Elias almost smiled.

”Then I wanted to become better.”

”For yourself?”

”At first? Yes.”

Malrec nodded.

That seemed to be the first answer he liked.

Elias continued.

”When House Kael started rebuilding the Black Dragon, I thought being one of the best fighters here would mean something. Then the territory got bigger. The Black Dragon got responsibilities that weren’t just fighting. Patrols. Escorts. Helping after attacks. Training. Keeping people from panicking when something went wrong.”

He paused.

”The Knight Examination changed it again.”

”How?”

”I saw men better than me lose.”

Malrec’s eyes sharpened slightly.

Elias continued. ”Men with titles. Men with better training. Men who were still good knights afterward.”

”You lost.”

”Yes.”

”To Sir Edric Vale.”

”Yes.”

”Did losing make you less suitable for knighthood?”

”No.”

”Why?”

”Because winning wasn’t the whole examination.”

Malrec leaned back.

”Then what was?”

Elias thought.

”Whether someone should trust me with the title.”

Malrec did not respond.

Elias realized he had used language from House Kael’s statement.

His stomach tightened.

Malrec noticed.

”Did Kael teach you that answer?”

”No.”

”Did the House discussion influence you?”

”Yes.”

”Good.”

Elias blinked.

Malrec continued. ”People are allowed to learn from other people. I asked whether the answer was yours.”

”It is.”

”Then keep it.”

The first tension in Elias’s shoulders loosened.

Barely.

Malrec opened the disciplinary file.

There it was.

Three years ago.

The stable.

The lord’s son.

The broken nose.

Malrec did not ask what happened.

He read the report aloud instead.

”’Elias Thorn engaged in unauthorized violence against Revan Tor, son of Magistrate Dolen Tor, after a dispute involving stable property and household discipline.’”

Elias’s jaw tightened.

”That report leaves things out.”

”Yes.”

Malrec turned the page.

”Which is why there are witness statements.”

He read silently.

Then looked up.

”You struck him once.”

”Yes.”

”You could have struck him again.”

”Yes.”

”Why didn’t you?”

”He fell.”

”Would you have if he had stood?”

Elias hesitated.

”Probably.”

”Why?”

”Because I was angry.”

Malrec nodded.

”Not because the stable boy remained in danger?”

”Both.”

”That is not the same answer.”

”No.”

Malrec folded his hands.

”Which mattered more?”

Elias looked toward the window.

He could lie.

Not an obvious lie.

A respectable one.

He could say the child mattered more.

Maybe part of him even believed that.

But Malrec had not traveled from Solmara to hear a version of Elias built specifically for Church records.

”At that moment?”

”Yes.”

”I wanted to hurt him.”

The recorder’s pen moved.

Elias noticed.

He hated the sound.

Malrec did not.

”Why?”

”Because he thought he could do whatever he wanted.”

”That is an idea.”

”He was beating a boy who couldn’t fight back.”

”That is an action.”

”He laughed when I told him to stop.”

”That is another action.”

Elias frowned.

Malrec waited.

Finally Elias said, ”Because he made me feel powerless for the boy.”

There.

That was closer.

Malrec’s expression did not soften.

”Were you powerless?”

”No.”

”What did you have?”

”Strength.”

”Anything else?”

”People nearby.”

”Anything else?”

Elias thought.

”Witnesses.”

”Yes.”

Malrec nodded toward the report.

”You had options.”

Elias stared at the table.

”Yes.”

”You chose the satisfying one.”

The words hurt more because they were true.

”Yes.”

Malrec waited.

”Do you think breaking his nose was unjustified?”

Elias struggled.

”I think stopping him was justified.”

”That was not the question.”

”No.”

Malrec remained silent.

Elias exhaled.

”I think the force was more than I needed.”

”Because?”

”Because I was angry.”

”Would you punish another soldier for the same action?”

Elias looked up.

That question was worse.

”If he stopped someone beating a child?”

”If he had several safer ways to stop the violence, chose the most painful one because anger made it satisfying, and then argued afterward that the victim deserved it.”

Elias was quiet for a long time.

”Yes.”

Malrec nodded once.

”Why?”

”Because if I excuse him because I agree with who he hit, then I am not judging what he did.”

Malrec closed the file.

Elias stared.

”That is all?”

”No.”

Of course not.

Malrec opened another document.

”Suppose you are a knight. A nobleman strikes his servant in front of you.”

Elias almost laughed.

”Subtle.”

”I have never claimed subtlety.”

”What kind of strike?”

Malrec’s mouth moved slightly.

”You may ask questions.”

Elias leaned forward.

”Is the servant injured?”

”No serious injury.”

”Is the noble continuing?”

”No.”

”Do I have lawful authority over him?”

”Not directly.”

”Where?”

”His estate.”

”His territory?”

”Yes.”

”Witnesses?”

”Yes.”

”Imperial law?”

”Physical abuse of household servants is restricted but not automatically criminal without severity or pattern.”

Elias frowned.

He hated the scenario already.

”What do I know about previous incidents?”

”Nothing.”

”Then I stop him from striking the servant again if necessary, speak to the servant separately if possible, document what I saw, find out whether there is a pattern, and report it through whatever authority applies.”

Malrec nodded.

”You do not hit him?”

”Not unless he makes that necessary.”

”Why not?”

Elias looked at him.

”Because apparently I am learning.”

Brother Caelen’s pen stopped for half a second.

Malrec almost smiled.

The questions continued.

Not all about violence.

Some were almost mundane.

Would Elias use his title to move ahead of civilians waiting for medical treatment?

No, unless duty required urgency.

Would he accept free lodging offered because an innkeeper feared refusing a knight?

Not if fear was the reason.

Would he intervene in a tax dispute he did not understand?

Not beyond preventing immediate abuse until someone competent reviewed it.

Would he obey Kael if Kael ordered him to arrest a merchant without stating a reason?

Elias hesitated.

”Can I ask Kael why?”

”Yes.”

”Then I ask.”

”He refuses.”

Elias frowned.

”Is it a lawful order from someone with authority?”

”You do not know.”

”Then I need to know.”

”What if he tells you there is no time?”

Elias sat back.

”I obey if the order is within his authority and does not appear directly unlawful.”

Malrec nodded.

”And afterward?”

”I find out why.”

”What if you discover the arrest was unlawful?”

Elias looked uncomfortable.

”I report it.”

”To whom?”

That was harder.

Kael was his prince.

His House lord.

His commander through the structure of Blackwood.

Elias thought about Tomas Pell’s answer.

A farmer tells a duke no and loses his farm.

A knight might survive saying it.

”To whoever can lawfully review House Kael.”

Malrec watched him.

”Even if that harms Kael?”

Elias answered more slowly.

”Yes.”

”Even if you believe he meant well?”

”Yes.”

”Even if he tells you to remain silent?”

Elias’s jaw tightened.

”Yes.”

Malrec leaned back.

”Why?”

”Because if my oath only matters when Kael agrees with me, then it is not much of an oath.”

That one entered the record too.

By the time Elias left, nearly two hours had passed.

Kael was nowhere near the eastern administrative wing.

He was at the Guild headquarters trying not to think about Elias.

He failed.

Galahad caught him reading the same page of registration procedures for the third time.

”You have not turned it.”

”I know.”

”You have not read it.”

”I read it.”

”What is the second paragraph?”

Kael looked down.

Galahad smiled.

Kael closed the page.

”This is why I didn’t wait outside.”

”You are effectively waiting here.”

”No. I am working.”

”You just stared at a fee schedule for six minutes.”

Kael looked toward the main hall.

”Has anyone arrived for the temporary registration-interest list?”

”Twenty-three this morning.”

Kael turned.

”That many?”

”Most were already in Blackwood.”

”Still.”

Galahad nodded.

”We now have seventy-four names.”

The number bothered Kael.

Not because it was bad.

Because the Guild still did not exist publicly and people were already organizing their futures around it.

”What do they want?”

Galahad gave him a look.

Kael corrected himself.

”What work did they say they wanted?”

”Better.”

He picked up another sheet.

”Twenty-one primarily monster work. Fourteen caravan or escort contracts. Nine hunting and tracking. Six healing or field support. Four ruin-related work. Eleven said they were not sure. The rest described combinations.”

Kael became interested.

”Not sure?”

”Yes.”

”What do they mean?”

”One said he can fight but does not want to spend his life killing monsters. Another used to work as a caravan scout but wants to learn ruin work. A former soldier said he will take almost anything except military escort because he is tired of marching behind wagons.”

Kael smiled faintly.

People were already refusing categories.

Cassian would be pleased.

That irritated him.

Galahad continued. ”Three applicants asked whether we will allow people to retrain into different specialties.”

”What did you say?”

”That we do not know what the training system looks like yet.”

”Good.”

”Two complained.”

”Also good.”

Galahad looked up.

Kael shrugged. ”People complaining means you told them something real.”

”That may be the worst principle you have developed.”

The front doors opened.

Kael turned immediately.

Elias entered.

His face revealed absolutely nothing.

That was suspicious.

Kael stood.

”How did—”

Elias raised one hand.

”No.”

Kael stopped.

Galahad smiled.

”No questions?”

”No questions.”

Kael frowned.

Elias walked to the nearest unfinished bench and sat.

For a moment he simply looked around the hall.

Then said, ”I need food.”

Galahad nodded toward the side table.

”Bread.”

Elias found it.

Kael waited.

Elias tore off a piece.

Kael kept waiting.

Elias chewed.

Kael’s patience began dying.

Finally Elias looked at him.

”You are terrible at this.”

”I have not asked anything.”

”You are asking with your entire body.”

Kael sat down.

”Fine.”

Elias smiled faintly.

”He asked why I wanted to be a knight.”

Kael stared.

”That is all you are telling me?”

”For now.”

”How did you answer?”

Elias pointed the bread at him.

”No coaching the next candidate.”

”Marcus isn’t here.”

”He will find out.”

”From who?”

”Blackwood.”

That was annoyingly plausible.

Kael sighed.

”Do you think it went well?”

Elias thought.

”I think it went honestly.”

That was not the answer Kael wanted.

It was probably the better one.

Marcus’s interview began after midday.

His record sat on the table before he entered.

Malrec did not begin by asking why he wanted to be a knight.

He began with the bridge.

”Eleven minutes.”

Marcus sat across from him.

”Yes.”

”You remember exactly.”

”Yes.”

”Why?”

”Because it was written into the disciplinary finding.”

”That is not the only reason.”

Marcus looked toward the file.

”No.”

Malrec waited.

Marcus finally said, ”I replayed it afterward.”

”How many times?”

”I don’t know.”

”More than ten?”

”Yes.”

”More than a hundred?”

Marcus hesitated.

”Probably.”

Malrec nodded.

”Did the answer change?”

”What answer?”

”Whether you should have left.”

Marcus did not need to think.

”No.”

”Then why replay it?”

That question landed harder.

Marcus looked toward his hands.

”To find a way I could have done both.”

”Did you?”

”Yes.”

Malrec’s eyebrows rose slightly.

”How?”

”I should have verbally transferred responsibility to Corporal Hessel before leaving.”

”That is all?”

”No.”

Marcus continued. ”I should have taken the coil of guide rope from the bridge post instead of entering the water with only my belt line. I should have told Private Renn to watch the eastern approach rather than assuming he understood why I was leaving. And I should have shouted the situation before moving so everyone knew the post commander was unconscious.”

Malrec watched him.

”You have had time to think.”

”Yes.”

”Would doing all of that have made leaving lawful?”

Marcus paused.

”No.”

”Would it have made the decision better?”

”Yes.”

”Why?”

”Because disobedience doesn’t excuse sloppiness.”

Brother Caelen’s pen moved.

Malrec leaned back.

”You believe the correct decision was to leave.”

”I believe the correct decision was to save the children.”

”That distinction interests me.”

Marcus nodded.

”I do not know if leaving was correct in the abstract. It was the only way I saw to reach them.”

”What if leaving the bridge had resulted in the loss of the supply wagons?”

Marcus’s expression tightened.

”Then I would have been responsible for that too.”

”What if those supplies contained medicine needed by a hundred soldiers?”

Marcus took longer.

”Then the decision might have killed more people than I saved.”

”Would that make saving the children wrong?”

Marcus stared.

”I don’t know.”

”Good.”

Marcus blinked.

Malrec continued. ”People who answer that question too quickly usually want morality to behave like arithmetic.”

Marcus looked toward him.

”So there is no correct answer?”

”I did not say that.”

”Then what are you asking?”

”Whether you understand that choosing one duty does not erase another.”

Marcus nodded slowly.

”Yes.”

”Do you resent the officer who punished you?”

”No.”

”Never?”

”At the time.”

”Why?”

”Because I saved them.”

”And?”

”I thought that should have ended the argument.”

Malrec nodded.

”What changed?”

”I became responsible for other people.”

That earned a longer silence.

Marcus continued.

”When I started helping with Blackwood’s engineering crews, soldiers and laborers started waiting for me to make decisions. If one man ignores an instruction because he thinks his reason is better, sometimes he is right.”

He paused.

”If five men do it, the bridge collapses.”

Malrec’s gaze sharpened.

”So obedience matters.”

”Yes.”

”Always?”

”No.”

”What matters more?”

Marcus frowned.

”That depends.”

Malrec smiled faintly.

”Blackwood seems very fond of that answer.”

Marcus relaxed slightly.

”Because things depend.”

”Careful. That philosophy can become cowardice.”

Marcus became serious again.

Malrec continued. ”A man can say everything depends because he is afraid to state what he actually believes.”

Marcus nodded.

”Then I believe lawful duty should normally be obeyed.”

”Normally.”

”Yes.”

”And when not?”

”When the order is directly unlawful, impossible, based on information I know to be false, or when circumstances have changed enough that following it would clearly defeat the purpose of the order.”

Malrec leaned forward.

”That last one is dangerous.”

”Yes.”

”Why keep it?”

”Because orders are written before reality changes.”

Darius could have said that.

Marcus knew it.

But the answer was his.

Malrec asked, ”Suppose Darius orders you to hold a bridge.”

Marcus almost laughed.

”Again?”

”Again.”

”Fine.”

”You learn the enemy abandoned the area three hours ago. A village downstream begins flooding. Do you leave?”

”I send word first.”

”You cannot.”

”I leave enough men to hold the bridge.”

”You have only four.”

Marcus frowned.

”How serious is the flood?”

”Children are trapped.”

Marcus stared at him.

”You enjoy this.”

”No.”

”I don’t believe you.”

Brother Caelen looked down at his notes.

Marcus thought for almost a minute.

”If the bridge no longer serves the reason Darius ordered it held, I would move.”

”What if you are wrong about the enemy?”

”Then I answer for that.”

”What if Darius punishes you?”

”Then he punishes me.”

”What if he strips your command?”

Marcus inhaled slowly.

”If I believed the decision necessary, that doesn’t become less true because I disliked the consequence.”

Malrec nodded.

”What if Kael orders you never to question him publicly?”

Marcus frowned.

”That sounds like something he would hate.”

”Answer.”

”I refuse.”

”Immediately?”

”Yes.”

”Why?”

”Because it is too broad.”

Malrec almost smiled.

”What if he orders you not to contradict him during an active military engagement?”

”That is different.”

”Why?”

”Because public command conflict during battle can kill people.”

”So you obey?”

”Unless the order itself creates immediate danger that requires correction.”

”And afterward?”

”I argue with him privately.”

”Argue?”

Marcus thought.

”Yes.”

Malrec nodded.

”Good.”

Marcus stared.

”You like that answer?”

”I like knights who understand loyalty is not silence.”

That sentence entered the record.

The interview moved away from the bridge.

Malrec asked about money.

Whether Marcus would accept gifts from contractors whose work he inspected.

No.

Small gifts?

Depends.

Food offered openly to an entire work crew?

Probably.

A valuable bottle of wine delivered privately afterward?

No.

A farmer offering vegetables because Marcus repaired a culvert?

Marcus hesitated.

”If I refuse, will I insult him?”

Malrec raised an eyebrow.

”That is your concern?”

”Yes.”

”What do you do?”

”Accept something small if it is clearly gratitude and not payment for favoritism.”

”What if Imperial regulations prohibit it?”

”Then refuse.”

”Even if he is insulted?”

”Yes.”

”Good.”

They discussed prisoners.

Nonhumans.

Foreigners.

Nobles.

Commoners.

The Church.

The Crown.

Then Malrec asked the question Marcus had not expected.

”What is a knight allowed to want?”

Marcus looked at him.

”I don’t understand.”

”Of course you do.”

Marcus frowned.

Malrec continued. ”You have spent two hours telling me what a knight owes. What may he want for himself?”

Marcus had no prepared answer.

”Family.”

”Yes.”

”Money?”

Malrec waited.

Marcus continued cautiously.

”A reasonable living.”

”Only reasonable?”

Marcus smiled faintly.

”A good one would be nice.”

Brother Caelen’s pen paused.

Malrec nodded.

”Ambition?”

”Yes.”

”Power?”

Marcus hesitated.

”Yes.”

”Fame?”

”I suppose.”

”Comfort?”

”Yes.”

”Love?”

Marcus looked embarrassed.

”Yes.”

Malrec leaned back.

”Then what is wrong with wanting those things?”

”Nothing.”

”Are you certain?”

Marcus thought.

”They become wrong when I use the title to take them from people unfairly.”

Malrec nodded.

”Better.”

Marcus understood now.

Knighthood did not require becoming less human.

It required learning what the title allowed him to do with human wants.

Malrec closed the final file.

”One last question.”

Marcus waited.

”If the Church refuses to consecrate you today, what are you tomorrow?”

Marcus expected himself to answer quickly.

He did not.

”A Black Dragon soldier.”

”Only?”

Marcus thought of the engineering crews.

The farms.

The manor.

Elias.

Kael.

The original fifty.

The people who had started calling him knight before anyone had legal permission.

”No.”

Malrec waited.

”I’m Marcus Wintermere.”

The Archdeacon nodded.

”That will do.”

Marcus left the room less shaken than Elias had.

More tired.

But clearer.

He found Elias outside the manor instead of at the Guild.

Elias sat on the same wall where Kael had found him that morning.

Marcus stopped.

”Well?”

Elias looked over.

”We’re not supposed to compare.”

Marcus sat beside him.

”I did not ask what he said.”

”You said well.”

”That could mean how are you.”

”It didn’t.”

Marcus smiled.

They sat in silence.

After several moments Elias asked, ”Did he make you defend leaving the bridge?”

Marcus looked at him.

”You’re terrible at this.”

”I learned from Kael.”

Marcus laughed.

They said nothing more.

Kael spent the second interview at the clinic.

Not because the clinic required him.

Because Liora had complained during Malrec’s visit that Blackwood had no permanent senior healer, and Kael could no longer pretend that expanding treatment rooms solved staffing.

He sat with Edwin, Liora, Vessa, and Tessa Wyn, who had returned to Blackwood that morning after hearing the Church delegation was present and apparently deciding religious scrutiny was less important than checking three recovering patients.

Tessa read the staffing figures.

Then looked at Kael.

”No.”

Kael frowned.

”I have not proposed anything.”

”You are about to.”

”What?”

”A large permanent healing institution.”

Kael stared.

Liora looked away.

Vessa coughed.

Kael leaned back.

”I was going to ask what we actually need.”

Tessa paused.

”Good.”

Kael smiled.

”Everyone sounds surprised when I improve.”

”Because you improve noisily.”

The discussion became practical.

Blackwood did not yet need a large hospital.

It needed a senior resident healer.

Two more trained general healers.

Better emergency transport arrangements from surrounding settlements.

A small reserve of medicines that could not be produced locally.

And someone responsible for sanitation inspections when population growth strained wells and waste disposal.

Kael wrote that down.

Tessa watched him.

”What?”

”You liked the sanitation part.”

”It prevents disease.”

”It also involves drains.”

Kael put down the pen.

”I am allowed to care about drains.”

”No one said otherwise.”

”You implied it.”

Liora smiled.

Kael decided clinics had become hostile territory.

The conversation lasted until late afternoon.

By then both interviews were over.

No decision came.

That was deliberate.

Malrec requested time to review the records with Brother Caelen and Sister Meriel.

Kael hated that too.

He waited until dinner.

Nothing.

He waited through dinner.

Still nothing.

Elias barely ate.

Marcus ate normally, which somehow made Elias more irritated.

Milo ate enough for both of them.

Sera sat farther down the table with Iris and several Black Dragon soldiers. She seemed entirely unaffected by the tension until Milo reached for a second piece of bread from her plate.

She slapped his hand without looking.

Milo withdrew.

”You could share.”

”You could move faster.”

”That sounds like encouragement.”

”It wasn’t.”

Kael almost laughed.

Malrec did not attend dinner.

Brother Caelen did not either.

At some point Damien leaned toward Elias.

”If they planned to reject you, would they make you wait this long?”

Elias glared.

”That is not helping.”

”I was trying.”

”Stop.”

Damien nodded.

”Understood.”

Thirty seconds later he asked Marcus, ”What about you?”

Marcus threw a napkin at him.

The waiting ended after sunset.

Edwin entered the dining hall.

Every conversation stopped.

He looked toward Elias and Marcus.

”The Archdeacon requests both of you in the eastern records chamber.”

Elias stood too quickly.

His chair struck the floor.

He picked it up.

Nobody laughed.

Marcus rose.

Kael did too.

Edwin looked at him.

”Only the candidates.”

Kael sat again.

”I knew that.”

Lily smiled.

Elias and Marcus left.

The dining hall became unbearable.

Milo looked toward Kael.

”Do you want me to distract you?”

”No.”

”I have ideas.”

”No.”

”Several involve fire.”

”You use wind.”

”Exactly. Nobody expects fire.”

Sera looked toward him.

”Stop helping.”

Milo sighed.

Kael stared at the door.

Darius remained calm.

That was offensive.

”How are you not bothered?”

Darius looked toward him.

”Because worrying does not alter the result.”

”That has never stopped anyone.”

”No.”

Kael waited.

Darius continued eating.

Kael hated discipline.

In the eastern records chamber, Elias and Marcus stood before Malrec.

No recorders now.

Only the Archdeacon.

Brother Caelen stood near one shelf with two sealed folders.

Malrec looked at Elias first.

”You are angry more easily than you should be.”

Elias’s stomach dropped.

Malrec continued.

”You possess a strong instinct to intervene when you believe someone weaker is being mistreated. That is valuable.”

Elias waited.

”It is also dangerous.”

”Yes, Archdeacon.”

”You have improved in distinguishing protection from punishment.”

Elias nodded.

”You are not finished improving.”

”No.”

Malrec looked toward Marcus.

”You are inclined to accept responsibility.”

Marcus listened.

”Sometimes too much.”

That surprised him.

”You replay decisions searching for a version in which every duty survives.”

Marcus looked down.

”It rarely exists.”

”No.”

Malrec continued. ”You are willing to disobey when circumstances demand it. That can make a good knight.”

Marcus waited.

”It can also make an insufferable subordinate.”

Marcus almost smiled.

Malrec did.

Barely.

”You both possess flaws.”

Neither man spoke.

”If you did not, I would be more concerned.”

Elias looked up.

Malrec rested one hand on the two folders.

”The Church does not consecrate perfection.”

Silence.

”It consecrates people who understand that a title increases the consequences of their imperfections.”

Elias forgot to breathe for a second.

Malrec looked at him.

”Elias Thorn, I find no cause to delay your consecration.”

Elias closed his eyes.

Only briefly.

Malrec turned.

”Marcus Wintermere, I find no cause to delay yours.”

Marcus exhaled slowly.

The Archdeacon continued before relief could become celebration.

”You are not knights in full ecclesiastical standing yet.”

Both straightened.

”The oath remains.”

”Yes, Archdeacon,” Marcus said.

”The consecration remains.”

”Yes.”

”Your names are not yet entered in the central record.”

Elias nodded.

Malrec looked between them.

”In two mornings, we depart for Solmara.”

That made it real.

Not someday.

Not eventually.

Two mornings.

Brother Caelen handed each man a sealed travel authorization.

Malrec added, ”House Kael may accompany the delegation.”

Elias looked toward Marcus.

Marcus smiled.

Malrec noticed.

”Do not celebrate here.”

Elias blinked.

”Why?”

”This is a records room.”

Marcus laughed.

Malrec sighed.

”Go.”

They did.

Kael heard them before they entered the dining hall.

Not words.

Footsteps.

Fast.

The doors opened.

Elias entered first.

Marcus behind him.

Kael searched their faces.

Elias tried to remain serious.

Failed.

Marcus lasted slightly longer.

Then smiled.

Kael stood.

”Well?”

Elias looked around the room.

Milo leaned forward.

Damien had stopped chewing.

Lily stood beside Edwin.

Darius watched quietly.

Iris and Sera waited near the far end of the table.

Blackwood held its breath.

Elias said, ”We leave for Solmara in two mornings.”

The room exploded.

Damien reached them first.

Hugo somehow appeared from the corridor despite not having been at dinner five seconds earlier.

Milo shouted something about inheriting no rooms after all.

Marcus was pulled into handshakes.

Elias received enough strikes to the shoulder that he eventually started threatening people.

Kael remained where he was for several seconds.

Watching.

They had passed.

Not the examination.

That had already happened.

Something different.

They had sat in a room without Kael, without Darius, without House protection, and answered for their own decisions.

The Church had found them ready to continue.

Kael finally approached.

Elias looked toward him.

Kael held out his hand.

Elias stared at it.

”That formal?”

”For approximately three seconds.”

Elias took it.

Kael pulled him into a brief embrace instead.

”Congratulations.”

Elias laughed.

”You lied.”

”Yes.”

Marcus came next.

Kael shook his hand properly.

Marcus raised an eyebrow.

”No embrace?”

”You seem less emotionally needy.”

Marcus stared.

Then pulled Kael forward himself.

The room laughed.

When he released him, Kael looked between both men.

”Two mornings.”

Marcus nodded.

”Two mornings.”

Kael glanced toward Malrec, who had appeared quietly in the doorway.

The Archdeacon watched the celebration without interrupting.

Kael approached him.

”Thank you.”

Malrec frowned.

”For what?”

Kael stopped.

Malrec continued.

”I did not pass them as a favor.”

”I know.”

”Then thank them.”

Kael smiled faintly.

”I already did.”

Malrec looked toward the room.

”Good.”

There it was again.

Kael laughed.

The Archdeacon turned to leave.

Kael called after him.

”Malrec.”

He stopped.

”How large a party can I bring?”

Malrec looked back.

”There is the prince.”

Kael ignored that.

”Reasonably.”

”Small.”

”How small?”

”Smaller than whatever number you are currently imagining.”

Kael frowned.

”I haven’t decided.”

”You have.”

Darius spoke from behind Kael.

”He has.”

Kael looked over his shoulder.

”Traitor.”

Malrec continued down the corridor.

”Tomorrow we discuss the route.”

Kael watched him go.

Then looked toward the northern windows.

Two mornings.

Blackwood to the Imperial Province of Aurelia.

North toward the Arven River.

Then beyond it.

Solmara.

For Elias and Marcus, the journey would end with an oath and their names written into the Church’s central record.

For Kael, it would be something else.

His first journey into one of the great territories of the Empire that belonged neither to his father nor to one of his siblings.

A place shaped by centuries of authority he did not control.

And for the first time, that did not make him want to change it before he arrived.

He wanted to understand it.