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The Tales of Raythia
Trojan Horse
Chapter 2 - Judgement
Amelia swallowed hard, forcing the lump in her throat and the breakfast
that was threatening to come up right behind it, down.
Despite the absolute terror she felt at that moment, no one looking at
her would be able to tell. Her amber eyes were steady, locked directly ahead of
her. Her golden hair, straight, cut short, and tied close to her skull, was
immaculate, without a single strand out of place. Her lips were a thin line, her
jaw hard set, and her posture perfect. Arms rigid but ready, back straight but
flexible, knees locked but trained to respond at her slightest thought.
No, if you looked at her, she was a statuesque model of everything she
had been trained to be.
And people were looking at her.
Eight other sets of eyes, each a matching hue of golden amber identical
to hers, stared back at her: each a hard, trained gaze with many more decades
experience then hers’. More decades then she could hope to achieve in her lifetime.
Old men in a profession that killed young.
The Eight Points of the Council of the Sun.
The hand-appointed of the Goddess Solair.
Each sat at their designated seat around the Council table, their bodies
just as hard and ruthlessly trained and ready as her own. Despite their age,
Amelia knew that she would not stand a chance in a one-on-one with any one of
them and, with that passing thought, she once again had to swallow down
breakfast.
No face gave away any emotion. No thoughts could be made out from any of
their stoic faces.
“Recite the Doctrine of the Radiant.” Paladin Golina, the closest to
her, commanded in his gravelly voice.
The simple instruction brought a sudden stillness to her thoughts. A
calmness that quelled her fear from the moment before.
The words slipped out one by one, clear and crisp as easily as
breathing.
“A paladin is a tool to be used by the Golden Lady and by Man-Kind alone.
Their sword is the blade to cut down foes and wheat alike. Their pommel is a
hammer to crush evil and grind grain equally. Their shield a fortress to
protect the innocent from evil and darkness no matter where it is found.”
“A paladin is to serve until such time as they are released by death or
the Golden Lady herself. Their work is for all and forever, a dedication of the
one life they are granted in honor of all those who might lose such lives they
have been gifted without one to stand against evil for them.”
“A paladin may stand alone on the battlefield but never alone in life
for all Man-Kind is but one blood. No bloodline is special and though all are
unique, all are the same. The man to a paladin is their brother and the woman
their sister and all are family lest they are a foe.”
“A paladin does not seek judgement, but they do uphold it. Those that
have wrought themselves an enemy of life, of the Golden Lady, and of Man-Kind are
a foe to be dealt with. To be corrected, to be culled, and to be brought to the
light under the sun.”
“A paladin shall only use violence
in defense of oneself or in defense of another and only so if peace or diplomacy
is impossible or such acts would be corrupted by a foe to a twisted version of
their original intent.”
“A paladin understands that no foe is too great to be defeated and no
weakness too small to be exploited. They know that everyone and everything will
be brought to their end and so they must never fear the mighty while never
believing themselves to be such.”
“A paladin knows that a disarmed foe is not a harmless one for a snake
without fangs still has venom and it needs only cunning to use it. However, when
one is helpless, stripped of their mental, physical, and all other capabilities
to defend or to harm, they are to be treated with absolute dignity and honor.”
“A paladin without honor is paladin no more. All life is precious; a gift
to be cherished and loved until that day which Hamet take us. Death is not a
punishment but the end of a journey and should never be inflicted lest it be
the permanent end of an otherwise dangerous foe. A dead man does not learn the
error of their ways and it is only through life that a foe may be a friend and honor
restored.”
“A paladin stands before the Rising Sun as a symbol of peace, power, and
righteousness. They hold themselves above all others not in glory, but in aid;
a servant on their knees at the edge of a cliff pulling those below them up and
standing before the gathering darkness to beckon the Sun and defend all who
might fall back down without them.”
“A paladin carries the Light of the Rising Sun within them wherever they
go. Darkness may infiltrate the hearts of men, but the paladin is the light at
the end of the tunnel, even if they merely hold the torch needed to find their
way out of the gloom. No soul is forgotten, and every life is a blessing to be
cherished and bolstered.”
“I stand before you and the Golden Lady in reverence and solace and do
hereby swear it that I, a paladin, will uphold these laws until Hamet take me from
this life and beyond.”
Every word that left Amelia’s mouth was clear.
Crisp.
Perfect.
She had to wonder at times what she had done more of through her life: swinging
her sword or reciting the Doctrine. Put to the test, she had to think that the
numbers might be pretty close overall. She said it out loud and to herself dozens
of times a day, everyday and had been doing so ever since she had learned
it at the start of her training.
A lullaby turned promise and a promise turned prayer that had been
drilled into her since she was a babe.
Paladin Golina glanced back over his shoulder towards Paladin
Stillwater. They exchanged an unknowable look though this time Amelia felt less
uneasy, her nerves calmed by the promises she had made to her Goddess and to
Man-Kind. They were here to judge her right to be granted the mantle of Paladin
but, if for some reason they elected not to, Amelia would simply continue her
training and present herself again on the next Day of the Rising Sun.
It would be a disappointment, but one she could and had dealt with
before.
No matter what happened, she knew where her
heart laid, and an organization of men mattered little in the face of who she
was as a person. No decision would burden her because, in her mind, nay, in
her soul, she was a paladin already.
She would fight for Golden Lady.
She would fight for Man-Kind.
She would lay her own life on the line to be the hammer and the blade
for all others who stood under Solair’s radiance.
Her title didn’t matter.
Paladin Golina and Paladin Stillwater’s gaze turned to the other side of
the table, this time both towards Paladin Jecoux who gave a very small nod.
“You speak well, Sister.” Paladin
Golina declared, looking back towards Amelia. “And you Know the Doctrine.”
Strange choice of words. Every initiate knows it.
“Thank you, Brother.” Amelia said.
“You have called upon the Council before for Paladin-hood on the Day of
the Rising Sun, have you not?”
“I have.”
“And you were denied.”
“I was.”
“How many times?”
A wince of annoyance flashed in her mind. They all knew the answer. It’s
not like they weren’t all there for it.
“Seven.” She responded simply, giving away no sign of the momentary
emotion.
“And you continue to try.”
“I continue to serve. It is my only desire.”
“Hmm.” Paladin Golina hummed with a soft nod.
The unease started to bubble up again from her belly. They’d done this before,
and this was normally where they kicked her out. Recite the Doctrine and get
the Hells out. Get back to drilling in the yards.
“How long have you been training now, Sister?”
“Twenty-six years. Since I was three, Brother.”
“Yes, of-course. And how long will you continue to try?”
Damnit all to the Hells.
“Until I bear Solair’s mantle or Hamet take me, Brother.”
“And what will you do until then?”
“I will train. I will learn. And I will be a teacher and a servant to
all, acting on and honoring the Doctrine no matter my title.”
Paladin Golina held Amelia’s gaze for a long time. She was ready to be
dismissed; ready to be excused. But it wasn’t coming. Granted, it was a
slightly longer conversation then normal, but…
And then he turned his back on her.
One by one, Paladins Golina, Stillwater, Jecoux, Kimo, Redbark, Feign,
Ianara, and Lasset all turned away from her and faced their place at the Council
Table.
Amelia had no idea what to say or do. They had never done something like
this before. Normally they just told her to try again and come back next time
around. This was new.
So, in light of the unusual circumstances, she didn’t do anything.
The Paladins each extended their hands out to their sides, just barely
touching fingertips with their neighbors on either side, and forming a circle
of gloved, metal gauntlets around the Council table. Their heads bowed and eyes
closed, they begin to speak in perfect unison.
“Oh, Radiant One!” they declared in a single, booming voice. “Rising Sun
of the Heavens and Eternal Flame. We ask for your judgement. Look upon us and
rejoice. Look upon us and sing. Look upon one who will be your Hero and your
Champion. A Paladin of the People. Look upon her and let her be judged. To Know
you. And you, to Know her! Know what is in her heart and let her be judged!”
With each word, the sounds in the room seemed to echo and intensify.
They seemed to bounce off the walls and each word began to feel like a punch to
the gut. By the end, the force of each syllable felt like a hammer in her chest
and she could only clench her jaw to keep from crying out in pain. Then it all stopped,
and the room fell deathly still.
Around her, the candles and torches winked out.
No. she thought. They’re still burning. They’re just…not giving
off as much light…?
Wisps of flame seemed to sizzle, almost imperceptibly, away from the
flickering, dulled candles and torches towards the center of the room. It
gathered at the center of the table and began to form into a minute, flaming
sphere. A tiny ball of fire that gave off for more light than anything that
size should have been capable.
Was this some sort of spell? Magic? But why?
Amelia stared at the little
dancing sphere as it started to grow both in size and intensity. The room
growing hotter and sweat running down her chest and legs beneath the steel armor.
None of the other paladins were looking at it and she wondered if she shouldn’t
be either, but she couldn’t help it.
It reminded her of the sun.
An unconscious smile slipped across her lips as she stared at it.
Why would she fear the sun?
Why should she fear Solair?
The heat was no longer too hot.
The light was no longer too bright.
The radiance of the little sphere was not too much for her because she knew
that it would never harm her. The radiance she felt and the love she felt was
that of her Goddess and both of them knew she would carry her Doctrine for the rest
of her life in Solair’s name. She would love and be loved by the Golden Lady
and she would be a beacon of light for all to rally behind.
She wasn’t going to be a Paladin.
She already was one.
As quickly as it had come, the sphere vanished, and the room suddenly
felt colder and darker for it. It was nothing compared to the love of her
Goddess. The light that she cast.
And, to her surprise, Paladin Golina was suddenly in front of her,
cradling her cheek with an ungloved hand and a knowing look in his eyes.
“It is alright, Sister.”
A choked sob escaped her throat that she hadn’t known was there and she
realized her cheeks were wet, stricken with more tears than she’d cried since
she was a child. The tears still ran freely and, reaching up take Paladin Golina’s
hand, she found she shook too hard to do so.
“That was…” she barely managed.
“It was. Just for a moment. And she has smiled upon you.”
Paladin Golina took her hand, gently as the grizzled man could, and placed
it against her own breastplate. There, emblazoned where it had not been before in
glittering gold and red rubies, was the eight-point star.
The symbol of Solair.
The symbol of a Paladin of the Rising Sun.
Any resolve Amelia still had was
broken in that moment. She clung to Paladin Golina as a child might, collapsing
to her knees but for the older man’s strength holding her up, sobbing uncontrollably.
The tears would not stop coming.
And there was joy in her heart.
