Chapter Fifty-Five: The Captain


    Yue was a Warrior.


    She belonged to the most elite army in the world. And now she didn’t have a Captain.


    What happened when a young, strong army was left without its leader? Surprisingly, not much. In general, the Vanguard just continued how it always did: training and patrols. There was a lot more leniency and appreciation for the Vanguard in Magefell now, but patrols were tougher now, what with the riots becoming worse.


    And now that the Vanguard had lost over twenty people in the battle, it needed new recruits. Usually, it would have been the captain’s job to bring in recruits. He would duel them, then they would have an interview. If they passed, they were inducted into the Vanguard.


    But now that the Captain was gone, all that was left were the three candidates for captain: Yue, Kol, and Yiro.


    So they devised their own plan. Yiro would go through all the recruits, eliminating anyone that didn’t pass her scrutiny. Yiro was good at finding swordfighting talents in others, and if she passed by someone, they were probably not Vanguard worthy. Then, the recruits would go through an interview with Kol, who grueled them over morals and army tactics. If, and only if, they passed both tests, they moved on to phase three.


    Dueling Yue.


    None of the recruits would win, that much was obvious. She was the Sterkona, and she had won the tournament, proving she was one of the greatest swordswomen alive. No, the point wasn’t to beat Yue. It was to show a recruit fought well, fair, and with a level head.


    None of which this guy understands, Yue thought, irritation plain on her face. The man standing across from her had already attempted to cheat his way through the duel twice, and that''s reason enough for Yue to disqualify him, but if that was his only problem, he should be fine.


    Except he didn’t even fight well. Yiro had let him through, but sometimes her judgment was wrong. The Vanguard’s job wasn’t to show correct footing, how to handle a sword, or how to move. The Vanguard’s job was only to hone an expert’s skills and show them how to move as an army. Evidently, this man knew none of that.


    And finally, he was pissed. Not level-headed at all. True, many in the Vanguard weren’t level-headed, but they all learned humility and calmness eventually. This man—for a man he already was—had none of that hope. He was too arrogant for his own good.


    Yue needed to teach him a lesson.


    So as he charged at her, she deftly moved away and swung the butt of her sword, catching him on the back. Once he fell, she poised her sword over his neck and yawned.


    “I thought you would give me an easy challenge, Ryken,” She smiled. “You failed. Alyx, please escort him out.”


    “NO!” The man screamed, getting up. “I deserve to be here. You know this. I knew it, they are right.”


    “Who is?” Yue asked. The man, instead of answering, jumped at her, but was held back by Alyx as she led him away.


    “You can’t win this, Sterkona,” The man yelled as he was pushed away. “One day you’ll get what’s coming for you.”


    Yue sighed and yawned again, this time involuntarily. This wasn’t the first threat she’d had today. The Cult was trying to scare her, that much was obvious, but if they thought it would work, they were dead wrong.


    “Next!”


    — — —


    A skinny, eighteen year old woman walked into the sparring ground. As soon as Yue saw her, she scowled a little.


    “Name?” She asked.


    “Rhu’dia,” The black-skinned woman said, unsheathing her blade. “I am here to claim my place in the Vanguard.” Surprisingly, although the words sounded arrogant,the tone of her voice was not.


    “What makes you think you belong?” yue asked, a little harsher than she intended. She was tired of everyone’s antics. “We’ve only let four people in here of dozens, maybe hundreds. How are you different from the others?”


    “Show, don’t tell,” Rhu’dia smiled slightly, and Yue mirrored it.


    “You’re on.”


    They charged at each other simultaneously, and Yue slashed down on Rhu’dia’s leg. Deftly, the other girl blocked it and returned with her own slash. Yue stepped back, and turned on the offensive, dealing a barrage of attacks on Rhu’dia.


    Normally, many candidates would fail this test. Instead of keeping cool, they would quickly grow angry and irritated when Yue did this, and they let their anger control them. Rhu’dia was one of the few exceptions.


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    She breathed in and out slowly as she defended, clearly trying to rein in her anger, but doing it successfully. That was something the Vanguard could help with.


    First test, passed. Of course, that didn’t mean anything if the other two failed.


    So far, she fought well and fairly. But Yue wanted to see if she would find a way out of her barrages and into the offense. She kept pummeling Rhu’dia with blows, doing everything she could to catch the girl off-balance, nick her in the arm, or anything else that would end the match.


    Rhu’dis caught Yue’s blade with her own and twisted it. Yue struggled against her attack, but was sent stumbling to the side instead of letting herself be disarmed. And thus, the woman passed the second test.


    She was already doing better than the vast majority of the other candidates. Yue hadn’t expected that of such a skinny, young woman, but was pleasantly surprised by it.


    The duel wasn’t over yet, and now Yue needed to see what would happen if Rhu’dia lost.


    Currently, Rhu’dia was on the offensive, but cautious. Taking advantage of that, Yue feinted to the left, and the girl followed, giving Yue time to move her sword down to decapitating Rhu’dia.


    The sword stopped an inch from her neck.


    Rhu’dia bowed.


    “You have bested me, and I have failed. I will leave now.”


    Yue smirked at Alyx, who tried to hold in her laughter. Rhu’dia walked to the exit, and Yue let her. But just before she passed the exit, Yue stopped her.


    Rhu’dia had passed the third test. She had been able to show humility in loss.


    “Why are you leaving?” Yue asked.


    “I have lost. Only those who win belong in the Vanguard, right?” She asked, confusion plain on her face.


    “You know how many people beat me today?” Rhu’dia shook her head. “Zero. You know how many got inducted?”


    “You said four.”


    “Wrong, five.”


    “But you said—”


    “Things have changed since then,” Yue smiled. “Welcome to the Vanguard, Rhu’dia.”


    The young woman’s eyes widened.


    — — —


    “That is enough for one day,” Yue collapsed on her bed.


    “Never again do I want to force someone out of the grounds,” Alyx responded from below her. “Almost got killed three times today. Not to mention all the death threats.”


    “Scared?”


    “Not at all,” Alyx said. “Just pissed.”


    “Then you failed the first test.”


    “Huh?”


    “Nothing,” Yue said.


    Aster banged the door to the barracks and walked in. hugging Alyx.


    “How’d it go, sister?”


    “Couldn’t have gone better, sister. Everyone was so civilized and wonderful. We inducted one hundred people!”


    “That bad, huh?” Aster replied.


    “Yeah,” Alyx sagged.


    “It wasn’t that bad,” Yue interrupted. “Some of the people were pretty sweet.”


    “I didn''t have to deal with those people,” Alyx said.”I had to deal with all the arrogant, angry ones who threatened to kill me as soon as I returned to Magefell.”


    “Fair enough,” Yue replied. “IF you’re going to talk, please just leave the barracks. I need to sleep.”


    In the afternoon, the captain of the Vanguard would be chosen, and it was already stressing Yue out. On the one hand, she didn’t mind the idea of becoming Captain. She knew she probably wasn’t the best fit in terms of leadership skills. But she was the most popular, and therefore, she would probably be picked. If so, she didn’t think she’d do a bad job.


    On the other hand, she knew Kol was a perfect captain. Yiro wasn’t fit to be captain, as much as she argued otherwise. Yue suspected she was in the Cult, but, due to that, the Vanguard would probably not allow her as Captain. They were still sour from the Wolf.


    That was why on the surface Kol was the best pick. Yiro was a Cultist, and just unfit to lead, Yue didn’t know how to lead an army of two hundred; therefore, the answer was Kol. But it went much deeper than that. Yue had heard some of the interviews he’d done with the recruits. He knew how to befriend them, but poke them to share their views. Kol was nice but firm, and she had seen him counseling and lading members of the Vanguard,


    But it wasn’t her choice, and whatever came would come Yue would have to wait.


    A few minutes later, she fell asleep, her mind still in the afternoon.


    — — —


    “So, which one of us will it be?” Kol asked. “I think they’re going to the Sterkona. And frankly, you deserve it.”


    “I hope they pick you,” Yue admitted. “You deserve it more than me.”


    “It will be me,” Yiro shrugged. “I would do a better job than you.” She talked as if she already knew who it would be, and it scared Yue slightly. She knew that the Cult had members in the parliament, and hopefully they didn’t find a way to elect her as Captain. If so, it could cause dissension in the Vanguard.


    They were on their way to the Parliament House, passing through the market now. Zenyth stood up before them, calling out to them. The Parliament House was next to it, and so was dwarfed by the glory of Zenyth. The Parliament liked it that way, as it kept them in the shadows. They decided all the laws of Magefell, but most citizens attributed it to the mages, and she was sure the Cult liked it that way.


    “I’ll accept it if you’re captain,” Kol responded.


    “Are you so sure they’ll pick you?” Yue asked. “No offense, but you seem to be the most unknown of us.”


    “Even more reason for me to be picked,” Yiro told them. “I could build a legacy from the ground up.”


    “I don’t think the parliament would go for you, but I could be wrong,” Kol said.


    Yue ignored all the cries of the Sterkona coming from the citizens, a knot of unease in her stomach. She didn’t know why she was nervous—she would accept whoever they picked—but she was nonetheless. Sometimes, the body responded to situations in weird ways.


    “The Parliament will be biased towards you, Yue, because you won the tournament,” Kol said. “It makes sense, too. You’re so well loved.”


    “I’m not so sure about that,” Yue responded.


    “Well, we’ll see about that,” Kol said. “Nervous?”


    “Who, me?” Yue asked. “No…yes, actually.”


    “I feel the same. Can’t explain it, though.”


    “I feel confident,” Yiro said. “Maybe because I already know the result.”


    Yue raised her eyebrows, but didn’t rise to the bait.


    The parliament building was in view now. The pale marble building stood drab next to Zenyth, but that was the point. It looked like a fly next to a man, but it was still twenty feet tall.


    “Shall we?” Kol asked, holding the door open.


    “We shall,” Yue responded, walking into the hallway.


    The hallway was furnished with many paintings, each odder than the last. Most meanings were unclear to Yue, but she couldn’t deny they looked stylish.


    Down the hallway was a desk, and on that desk was a woman, who smiled as she saw them.


    “Yue, Kol, and Yiro? Your meeting is down the hall to the right,” The woman said. “The members of Parliament are already there, waiting for you.”


    Although they weren’t late, the way the woman phrased the sentence made it look that way.


    There were three courtrooms, but the one that the woman had pointed


    at was the third one.


    Yue took a deep breath and followed her friend and acquaintance.