Within the moonlit confines of our shared wooden wagon, I finally concluded that I, Rae, Rachel, Captain Lightbringer, whatever I was to be called, was, at my very core, a complete idiot.

How could I have possibly missed all the red flags, the very hallmarks of an antagonist? Inhumanly handsome. Arrogantly confident. Openly hostile to the party’s priest? Never mind the fact that he thought he was worth way more than what the Order of the Blue had calculated me at! But I just had to have him join the party because he could do some fancy parlor tricks. Did it only take a winsome smile and a wink to disarm me mentally? Or maybe it was that he had initially refused the offer to join us? Was I just that stupidly stubborn? I mean, I know I hate rejection, but really!

With a groan, I rolled onto my side. Nora was still asleep, snoring lightly. How she could sleep in such weird positions with her limbs splayed out was beyond me. The wagon sparkled slightly as I shifted my gaze, indicating that Relias’s magic barrier was still in effect. However, I noticed the wagon’s tailboard had been carelessly left down. If I could just be quiet about it…

Discarding anything that could possibly make noise, save my bo staff for protection, I made my way out of the wagon, hoping to clear my head. It was a beautiful night, where the crescent moon hung in a cloudless sky.

“I wish to forewarn you that I am duty-bound to relay all your outside undertakings to Captain Corwin,” a familiar voice announced softly from the vicinity of a nearby clearing. The lady knight who punched Sir Burro!

“What would happen if I ordered you not to?” I replied curiously.

“Hmm! An interesting conundrum,” she mused thoughtfully as she stood up. “While I would adhere to your directive, it is likely that your limited liberties would be further curtailed under the pretense of protection— once Captain Corwin became aware of you overriding his orders.” She advanced slowly, her dog ears twitching in contemplation. “However, I have a suggestion that would preserve the honor of all parties involved if you’re interested.”

“I’m listening, uh, Dame…”

“Fianna,” she introduced herself before offering, “why don’t you accompany me on my midnight patrol? Dual vigilance surely surpasses solitary observation.”

“That… sounds reasonable.” I had been hoping to go for a walk on my own, but I should have known better. “But shouldn’t someone go with you, normally?” It’s dangerous to go alone!

“Any opportunity to get out of overseeing that noble son of a donkey…” she muttered, pointing to the sleeping knight she had left behind. “I’m tired of babysitting him during his tour of duty.” Sir Burro in the flesh! Guess he did get his jaw fixed up in the end.

“You really pulled the short stick, huh?” I fell into step with her as she strolled through the camp.

“Upon our return to Chairo, I will celebrate his next promotion even more so than he himself,” she confirmed.

“P…promotion?! Why in the world would anyone promote that—”

“I beg you, Captain, do not interfere! It’s the only way to get another Order to take him!” You sly dog, kicking him upstairs…! Or perhaps across the border…

“Won’t the receiving Order retaliate after they realize how incompetent he is?”

“Only those free from the same sin would dare to cast judgment,” she grinned. “However, in all seriousness, he and a few others are the rare exception. The majority of us across all the Orders are aware that our strength and success are best when we act as one.”

“So being a holy knight is a team sport…” I murmured mostly to myself as she headed around a bend in the road.

We stopped near a campfire, where a few laborers were playing a game involving a single six-sided die, a wooden cup, and a lot of laughing accompanied by swearing.

“Have you managed to balance the scales yet, Masen?” she asked in playful amusement.

“At this point, I’d have better luck asking the Goddess herself on a date!” Masen, I assumed, replied in disgust as he pushed the community pot of coins toward one of his opponents. When he noticed me standing behind Fianna, however, he abruptly stood up with a shuddering salute. “Forgive me, Captain!”

After receiving a reassuring glance from Fianna, I stepped forward. “I could be persuaded… if you teach me how to play.” I bit my tongue to keep from saying that Masen could do better.

Thus began the lesson on “Twenty-One is Too Young to Die,” a tongue-in-cheek rendition of Macao crossed with Blackjack. Simply put, you rolled the die out of the cup as many times as you wanted during your turn, trying to score 21, which is an instant win, or get as close as possible. If you went over 21, you ‘died’. At the end of the round, if no one scored 21, the one with the highest score without busting won. In the event of a tie, those tying began ‘sudden death,’ where they faced off with the same rules. Whoever won a total of three group rounds first got the community pot. A different person went first each round, while those later in the round had better knowledge of what they needed to roll to win… not that it always worked out.

After a few beginner rounds, I concluded I was no better at the game than Masen, and I declined to bet anything of substance since I didn’t have anything I was willing to part with. It was fun, though, bonding over a gambling game with no personal stakes. I found myself cheering and jeering over the outcomes of each roll with the others. Fianna waited patiently before signaling she had to continue her patrol.

“Next time, don’t come penniless!” Masen advised with a smirk. “Church owes you a lot of back pay, don’t it?” Back pay…! Or maybe I had already spent it on a damn demon! Consumerism at its worst…

“Maybe,” I murmured. “Thank you for letting me play,” I added in a louder voice, remembering my manners at the end.

“See,” I heard Masen declare after we left the group. “I told ya, she ain’t so lucky after all! She didn’t roll 21 once!”…He ain’t wrong, but hearing that is sorta…

“Who’d waste their luck on a dice game? Better to save it up for the big fights!” another retorted, eliciting a group ‘harrumph’ from the rest.

“It doesn’t ever get out of hand? The gambling, I mean,” I asked her quietly.

“That’s one reason I’m on patrol. I’m also looking for violent drunkards, thieves, spies… cultists. You know, internal threats.”

“Isn’t it nerve-wracking… having to worry that all those around you… might not have your best interests at heart?”

“Disregarding such perils would be the graver error,” she replied solemnly. “We endeavor to identify and eliminate threats before they even infiltrate the Order. Yet the lure of temptation is ever present. Therefore, it’s imperative to proactively identify, analyze, and respond to potential dangers, internal or external, to avert harm.”

“Silver has its act together…” I concluded, wishing I had taken a page from their field manual.

“The Blue…” she started, coming to a halt as her expression became regretful. “…was the original model for our protocols. Perhaps if we had collaborated instead of copied, we could have avoided the great schism.”

“Schism…” I echoed, not needing to ask for clarification. Captain Corwin had made it clear that he had opposed Captain Garvith’s assertions that they needed more resources, much to his current chagrin. Ignoring the needs of one department eventually affects everyone in the company.

“Resourcing the Blue is a good start,” she continued. “Captain Armand was a good choice for impromptu leadership. I think memory aside, your instincts are still good.” I guess it was too obvious to keep a secret within the ranks.

“I hope you’re right,” I sighed, avoiding an argument. “It’s not like I knew him.”

“Can one truly know another? However, I think you saw something worthwhile, yes?”

“Yeah, I think so,” I agreed lamely. However, I’ve apparently been very, very wrong about the authenticity of others before!

“Then what happens next is his test, not yours. You only gave him an opportunity. It’s up to him to figure out what to do with it.”

We continued to patrol within the camp’s boundaries for another half hour or so in relative silence. After a few brief check-ins with the other knights on duty, we headed back towards the wagon.

“Your countenance is brighter now. Perhaps the evidence that not all here harbor ill intent toward you offers some solace?” Fianna inquired with a slight chuckle.

“It’s that obvious, huh…”

Fianna crossed her arms as she straightened. “You would not know this, but you were the reason for my enlistment in the Silver. In that regard, I owe you a debt of gratitude.

“Me?” I furrowed my brow. “Isn’t it all.. sort of contingent on your Purpose?”

“My assignment of Purpose was merely the beginning. Yet, in truth, I was so jealous of your existence that I wished to rival you by ascending the ranks quickly,” she confessed, her smirk and tone devoid of any animosity. “Even before my sixth year, I began to discover my power over amity, and a part of me harbored the hope of being the Chosen One reborn.”

Of course, everyone wants to be the hero. It’s only natural. “I—”

“I’m presently glad such is not my destiny, however.” Her lupine-like ears flattened as her bushy tail sagged slightly. “I prefer my path to be straightforward.” The path forward has been a bit of a barrier for us both, though.

“Fianna…” I struggled slightly, knowing I would take our cozy conversation out of bounds. “The decree that hybrids can’t enter the city of Chairo… Does that include hybrid holy knights of the Order of Silver?”

“Even I am forbidden from venturing through the outer gates,” she replied with a low growl, showing a full-length canine.

“Why?”

“A miscreant most foul has asserted that hybrids generate excessive amounts of animus. Yet this widely held myth lacks any proof.”

I sighed. “Pravum?”

“Ah, so his name resonates in your memory still,” she murmured. It’s more like he comes up all over these sorts of discussions.

“So I guess there’s really no way in for Aleph and Tetora then…” Even if I threw the biggest, longest, darkest cloaks over them, there was no way to hide their sheer bulk. And after what happened in Kopria, I couldn’t put them in that sort of danger again.

“Not until you assert otherwise,” Fianna replied resolutely, folding her arms. I briefly recalled Nora’s idea of a frontal assault, picturing Fianna leading the pack. However, that would get a lot of innocent people hurt on both sides. The irreparable damage wouldn’t just be physical, either. Even if they went along with the idea, the Silver would lose all credibility with the people they were supposed to protect.

“The gates would probably be easier to open from the inside, wouldn’t they?” I asked cautiously.

“Most assuredly.”

“I think… It’s time I had a discussion with Vernie. Can you lead me to her tent?”

Fianna’s eyebrow shot up. “You do realize that dawn is nearly three hours away? Vernie’s coherency at this hour might be somewhat lacking.”

“She has a way of hiding when she doesn’t want to talk. If I can accost her while sleeping, though, I might have a chance to pin her down for a heart-to-heart,” I said with a shrug. For my idea to get consensus, it would have to go through Relias. With Vernie being the most likely subject matter expert on sneaking into the city, I’d need her fully engaged at the discussion table.

Fianna must have taken me literally. “A word of caution - she is known to keep those daggers close at hand, even in slumber.”

“I’ll be careful,” I replied with a laugh.