I blinked, but he went on.
“I had the displeasure of disciplining two of our Flameborne just minutes ago for their attempts to interfere with Kearney’s progress, and their sabotage of her goal. I wasn’t aware that they’d succeeded in their goal. However, I knew they’d placed Kearney in very real danger—danger that ended in the unintentional wounding of her dragon. Despite the injustices against her, she did not raise her voice in complaint. And when asked whether she’d met the task, she didn’t cite the actions of others as her reason for failure. Instead, she carried the responsibility on her own shoulders.
“This is the integrity of a Furyknight. These are the points of character which we applaud and seek to deepen in every Flameborne and Furyknight in our ranks. However, Kearney has not navigated the final hurdle. She has only collected four of the five banners of her squad.” He let those words hang in the air and my cheeks went up in flames as every set of eyes in the crowd and on the stage looked on me with thoughts of my failure echoing over their head. Then, to my horror, Donavyn turned to the King and Queen and addressed them directly, drawing their attention to me.
“Your Majesties, you attended the evaluation with me. You watched the events. As the Commander of the Furyknights, I contend that while Flameborne Kearney missed one final task—likely through no fault of her own—she has demonstrated far more critical aspects of the Furyknight artillery—true character. It is not for me to lift a man—or woman—above their station. But I cannot in good conscience ignore the circumstances. I humbly request your wise and benevolent counsel. Should Flameborne Kearney be failed, or raised to First Rank?”
Gasps and a murmur of shock rippled through the gathered audience. My jaw dropped. I gaped at Donavyn, but he stood there, calmly, calling on the King and Queen to make an assessment of my performance? Why? To what—
The King and Queen tipped their heads together in a brief conversation. Then the Queen nodded once before her husband rose to his feet and raised one hand, palm forward, to the people.
“The Queen and I are in agreement. It is the courage of heart, the honor, and character of a Furyknight that we desire over any other skill or talent. For her responsibility and honor, we commend Flameborne Kearney and determine that she should be raised.”
He stood for a moment, expectant, staring at the crowd, but it wasn’t until Donavyn clapped his hands and my squad suddenly leaped up from their seats, whooping and cheering, that the crowd broke into enthusiastic—if somewhat confused—applause.
While they all clapped and the King and Queen nodded smugly at the crowd, Donavyn turned to face me again. He didn’t wait for the crowd to calm down, just smiled and reached out to grab the lapel of my flying leathers and press a small, bronze dragon wing pin through the leather.
“Congratulations, Bren,” he said quietly, his eyes twinkling. “I knew you could do it.”
“But, I didn’t!” I said, but then I looked down where he was straightening my lapel, and I couldn’t take my eyes off that pin.
“Yes, you did, Bren, I promise. I’ll explain later. I promise that as well.”
Then he turned back to the crowd to give a speech about the honor of Furyknights, how these First Rank Flameborne would be welcomed as fledging knights, and urged everyone to pray for our safety and growth, with the hand of God upon us.
And when he announced the close of the Trial and read our names, and everyone cheered, I just stared dumbly. Numbly.
It wasn’t until everyone moved, and Saul rushed up to lift me off my feet and turn me in a circle that I smiled.
It happened. Not the way it should have, but it happened.
I passed the first Trial.
I was Flameborne: First Rank.
And I still had a chance to become a Furyknight!
‘Well done, Little Flame, I knew you could do it!’
‘Akhane, I’m so sorry, I thought—’
‘I know what you thought, Bren. And I vow, I’ll teach you to trust one day.’
‘I do trust you, Akhane!’
‘Not me, silly. I’ll teach you to trust the Creator’s plan—and yourself. One of these days you will see yourself as God sees you. And then we will be complete.’
42. Whispers and Shouts
~ DONAVYN ~
An hour after the Flameborne were given their ranks, I marched back to the Council room. The newly minted First Ranks had to be officially appointed, added to the logs, their points and evaluations recorded, and their Wing Captains officially informed and provided with notes for which areas of training to focus on.
My head spun with frustration and anger, relief and delight. Bren should never have been Trialed with those two after what happened in the first flying assessment. I pushed open the door to chambers intending to inform the Council that we’d be splitting the second Trial for that reason, but the roomeruptedthe moment I stepped inside. I was rocked back on my heels by a roar of protest.
“What the hell kind of display was that?”
“Did you set that up with the King and Queen?”
