Chapter 4

The Induction Ceremony

A/N: So I thought I might take this chance to continue my story of why I wrote this. I mentioned before that I am a fan of the Warcraft series, well one of my favorite characters in the series is Jaina Proudmoore, despite how little character development she got I still found her to be an interesting character. So I decided to write this story to show that character in my eyes.

I stand in front of the mirror in my room, looking at my reflection. I wear the ceremonial plate armor of the order, which covers my entire body from my neck down in shining silver metal, along with the red cape I normally wear, my ceremonial sword is fastened to my waist by the belt I wear. My hair is tied up in a ponytail and I wear my necklace around my neck as always. Then I hear a soft knock on the door. I open the door to see Jaina there. "Hey, Gwen, you ready to go?" She asks.

"Hey, Jaina, yeah, I'm ready to go. where's Arthas?" I reply.

"He got into a talk with Uther and he told me to go on without him to go find you and that he'd meet us there." She says.

"Wait "the" Uther, Uther the Lightbringer?" I ask in disbelief.

"Yeah, apparently you're a very promising student and most of the order is here." She replies.

"Oh, heh, so no pressure." I say nervously

Jaina puts her hand on my shoulder and our eyes lock. "This is a big moment for you and I know that myself and Arthas are going to be right there beside you." She says with a smile.

I take a deep breath and think to myself, if only you knew how much that truly meant. "Thanks, Jaina, that means alot to me." I reply, and we hold the eye contact for a bit longer and then it's broken as I realize that i'm starting to blush.

"Anytime, Gwen, now, let's get moving… I doubt they'll look very kindly on you being late for your own induction ceremony." Jaina says with a laugh.

"No, they would not, shall we?" I say while bowing my head and swaying hands in the direction we are meant to be going.

"We shall." Jaina announces as she begins walking in the direction of the induction ceremony.

We enter the chapel of light in Dalaran to see it adorned with the symbols of the silver hand and it was also filled with paladins of the order and my mentor Ravind was standing at the dais where the arch bishop normally stood, in front of the dais a beam of light shined through the window above. We make our way towards the dais. Jaina turns towards me. "Well I should go find Arthas now, but I won't be far." She then hugs me and I inhale her perfume once again So good. "Good luck." She adds as she releases me from the hug.

"Thanks, Jaina." I reply turning towards the dais as I make my way towards it and go down on one knee in the beam of light.

The ceremony begins and the room grows quiet, I glance over to the left to see Jaina and Arthas smiling at me, all of a sudden I feel like I could do anything. Rivand speaks. "We of the silver hand are here today to induct this young recruit into the ranks of our order, with this honor also comes a great burden… As a paladin, you must resist the temptation of greed and power, as a paladin you must be fair and just, never vengeful. You are an upholder of justice and one of the most important building blocks in the structure of the alliance. Do you accept this burden?"

I look over to Jaina and Arthas again and then back to the floor. "I swear on my honor that I will uphold the laws of the Paladin and honor the title and the order." I reply.

Rivand draws his sword and lays it on both of my shoulders as he says. "Then rise, Gwen, arise now as lady Guinevere, paladin of the silver hand." Rivand withdraws his sword and steps to the side. I rise from my kneeling position and make my way towards the dais to see a sword laying there. I grip the blade and pick it up from the pedestal. I raise the blade high into the beam of light that comes through the window, the paladins then bless the sword with the power of the light, I look at the writing that been etched onto the sword, Aduro Aequitas Equitas.

"Light's Justice." I whisper to myself. Ravind put his hand on my shoulder.

"You have earned this moment my child, you are are the best student I have ever had the pleasure to know." He stated with a proud smile on his face.

"And you have been the best teacher, master." I reply with tears stinging the edges of my eyelids.

"Come now, Gwen, we have always been equals you may call me by my real name." He states.

"Very well, Rivand." I say before embracing him in a hug. He kindly accepts the hug. "You always were like the father I never had." I add.

"And you were like the daughter that I never had, always remember that wherever you go." He replies. I release him from the hug and bow to him. "Now go and enjoy the rest of the festivities, I'm sure your friends would like to catch up with you." He adds and I turn to leave but then he stops me. "And don't give up hope on that girl, there's always hope." He states with a smile. I look at him in confusion. "Oh, don't give me that, I know you very well and I can see the way you look at her. She needs to know how you feel about her." He states seriously.

"But she has Arthas." I point out.

"Does that change the fact that you're in love with her?" He replies.

"No." I say.

"Then you should tell her how you feel." He states.

"I'll think about it." I stutter

"Very well, now… Go, ha, I've rambled on enough for a while and i'm sure you're tired of listening to me." He says.

"I could never get tired of your ramblings, Rivand." I reply with a smile. I then turn and walk over to Jaina and Arthas.

"Welcome to the order, Gwen." Arthas states as he shakes my hand.

"Congratulations, Gwen." Jaina says as she hugs me.

"Thanks, you guys, truly. When I looked over to you guys, I felt like I could accomplish anything." I reply with a smile. Jaina moves back to Arthas's side and wraps her arms around his waist and Arthas puts his arm around Jaina's shoulder. A pang of jealousy hits me as I see this but I quickly hide it.

"Yes, it truly is a great honor in which I hope you will uphold." A voice says beside me. I look over to see Uther the Lightbringer standing there.

"Lord Uther, it is an honor to meet you." I state bowing to him.

"I should be the one saying that, according to Rivand, you are the most promising student he has ever had, and he has had many over the years." Uther says with a smile on his face. "Now begins the true test of your devotion to the light, but somehow I have a feeling that you will go far in this order my lady." He adds, and my heart swells with pride at his confidence in me.

"Thank you, my lord for having faith in me." I reply.

"I wish you all the best here in Dalaran as well, and your studies of the arcane." He states with a broad smile.

"So, I'm to stay here in Dalaran?" I reply.

"Well, you seem to be the best candidate for being the silver hands representative to the Kirin Tor. And it means you can stay and continue to study to become a mage." He says.

"O-of course, thank you, my lord." I replied.

"Don't thank me, it was all Arthas's idea… Without him, you'd probably be out in some place like Stratholme or the capital city." He says.

I turn to Arthas. "Really?" I ask him.

"Of course, I, of all people, know the cost of sacrifice, and if there's no need for it, then why not just avoid it all together?" He replies. "And, also, I wouldn't want somebody that can beat me out in the world, do I?" He adds with a laugh.

"ha, I guess you're right, and, thank you for this, Arthas." I say with a smile.

"Anything for a friend." He replies returning the smile.

"Well, I should go, I have to finalize a few things about your posting here with Antoniadis." Uther says with a low bow, departing.

"So, I guess I'm here to stay." I say with the smile still plastered on my face.

"That's great, it'll be good to have a friend close by." Jaina says with a smile.

"And, again, thank you, Arthas, I don't think I would have survived in another city." I say.

"Consider this a thank you for saving Jaina's life." He replies.

"I'm glad that I did, because not only did I save her life but I earned two great friends. But when did you find the time to do this for me?" I ask.

"Didn't Jaina tell you that I was talking to Uther when she went to find you?" He ask.

"Yes, she did." I reply.

"That was what I was talking to him about it." He replies.

"Oh ok, well I'm glad that he was here then." I say.

"Well, we have the entire night ahead of us, let's not waste it." Jaina declares dragging us both along with her.

"Where are we going?" I ask

"We're going to socialize and then we're going to the tavern." She replies.

"Sounds nice." I say with uncertainty. I've never drank alcohol in my life I think to myself.

"Don't worry, you'll get used to it." Arthas says as if reading my mind.

And so the rest of the night was spent in revelries of talking and then the consumption of alcohol, but never once did I doubt my place in this world, even if I don't have her, she's still my friend… and that's good enough for me.