Imperial City of Archades, 697 (o. V.)

I decided to undergo the judge examination.

It was both an obvious and a hard choice to make.

I took no pleasure in fully embracing the system that destroyed my homeland, and being told to murder in turn in the name of House Solidor.

But according to Mother, "the best way to avoid being a victim of an established order is to be part of it". And I had already set a firm foot in the Order of Judges anyway, by becoming a general in charge of the Greaves and Vambrace Battalions. I had reached the level of General Cinna, and we were henceforth doing our duties together. To my surprise, Lord Cinna did not express any form of contempt or jealousy at my new promotion, despite my foreign origins that he could not ignore. Instead, he patted my shoulder and said:

'Judge Drace must have a high opinion of you, Gabranth. I had hoped she would make a gesture to reward your commitment. You have become a valuable member of our division. Welcome to the generals' family. Keep up the good work!'

Additionally, I had become the equal of the Zodiac Sisters, Brünhild and Irmhild, that still served Judge Zargabaath with unfailing loyalty. But my rank was under Vitu's. My friend was absolutely delighted in his new role, accompanying his role model wherever he went. And he soon became acquainted to Lord Vayne, the now eldest son of the Emperor. The reason was simple: for some reason, Judge Zargabaath was sticking to Lord Vayne like his shadow. During the informal moments I shared with Vitu, my friend only had positive things to say about both his new responsibilities and House Solidor. His management of the division was a very lenient one, which the Zodiac Sisters quickly took advantage of, despite their appreciation and respect for their new dömavän. The Ninth seemed a very warm and solid group, and I couldn't help feeling jealous.

The Sixth Division was also a welcoming one, and similarly to Lord Cinna, its members globally were glad to witness my evolution, especially the four hundred men under my command. Well, men is not the right word; the Archadian army in general had quite a few women serving at various levels, and even Seeqs in addition to Humes. However, Seeqs were all stuck in rank-and-file positions, no matter their prowess in combat. I tried to treat everybody equally, which made my troops surprised, before they got used to it and their trust in each other increased.

As a general, I was still the quiet reserved one, but unlike Vitu in his early days in the army, I could gather my bravery and say the right words at the right time to make each soldier follow the orders.

No, I wasn't jealous of the Ninth for their genuine camaraderie spirit. I was jealous because they had a Judge Magister by their side.

Judge Zargabaath was extremely close to his men, to the extent of living with some of them on a lower floor of the Imperial Palace, the Eighth. Vitu's room was, of course, not far from his, so he could pander to his every whim. In addition to the financial bonus the Magister gave to all of them, he always held everyone in high regard, shared various moments with them and caught up on their news, encouraged new recruits personally, and regularly granted them leaves – vacation being officially a non-existent concept in Archadia.

I wasn't asking all of that from Judge Drace, but she had always been distant, since the day I entered her division. She didn't attend the "Disengage Snacks", informal gatherings with a banquet to encourage the division's members to interact and share information, although she created them herself. Moreover, she stopped coming to the generals' meetings from the moment I reached that rank.

'Isn't that troublesome for the division?' I once asked Cinna.

'It is certainly unusual, but we can manage without her; the judges will take care of directives.'

Why did that woman quit the rare opportunities to reunite with her subordinates? The general matter initially made me think that the decision was related to me. But if she disliked my presence, why did she approve my promotion? This made no sense.

When I announced my wish to my mother, her eyes were full of pride:

'You have come a long way, my son. I am sure that Basch is also reaching his goals and overcoming all the obstacles on his way. I could not be more content of the children Faram blessed my life with.'

Hearing my brother's name was one of the only moments of life where my composure turned into rage. Thankfully, only Mother was reminding me of his existence – Vitu never asked about him, despite knowing I had a twin brother. Basch… if he was dead, we would have heard of his passing, one way or another. I was certain he was alive… alive, somewhere, making fool of me, of Mother, of Landis, of all he held dear, and only cared about himself. That was not a brother to me, it was a traitor. I wished the whole world would someday call him "Basch the traitor".

Mother's health issues were evolving every day. Sometimes she could stand up, cook dinner, and knock at Thembeka's door to share jokes. But most of times, she was stuck in bed, unable to move an arm without unbearable pain, and waited for me to do housework and prepare any medicinal beverage that could help. How long could she endure these conditions? How long could she… stay alive? Should I be prepared to lose my mother? No, that possibility was not real to me. I had to find a solution somehow. Anything for the one person who supported me since the beginning…

'Are you mad, Gabranth?'

Vitu's question made me grin.

'Not yet. I just thought it was the best thing to do. I had to prove my worth as general, you know. Had I not done it and studied instead… I would have lost precious points at the combat grading, which is my weakness.'

'It is not your… nevermind. Do you realize what you've done, Gabranth? It's the judge examination! The chance of your life! The one thing you deserve more than anyone here!'

I sighed. Vitu's worry was legitimate. After all, such an important step in an Archadian military man's career was not to be taken lightly. But I had quickly realized that I already knew all that was needed for the examination: my memories of the sessions with Cirla and Margit at Waldgott were still vivid, as well as all the information I had gathered from all the books read both in Landis and Archades. There was nothing I could ignore. Perhaps that confidence would be my downfall, but the bet amused me. I still read the summaries I had made about all law topics, and used them to write my dissertation, that satisfied me at first draft. I did not hurry to finish it; instead I used the weeks I had left to advance as slowly as I could, reading regularly the previous paragraphs before writing the next ones, and demonstrating meticulous attention whilst choosing my words and arranging sentences, to make them as clear as possible. The topic I chose was: Trade reforms during economic depression in Landis province. It took me unspeakable effort to qualify Landis as an Archadian province, as well as portraying it in the negative shape that the invasion had left it; but after deep thought, the only way to secure my success was to speak about what I knew best.

As for the combat tests, I trusted the swordsmanship skills that allowed me to become general, believed in the intense physical exercises followed everyday by the whole division, and tried my best to calm down, breathe and destroy the robotoids as fast as I could – robotoids being artificial soldiers fixed in the ground, and made of various solid materials and magic barriers in accordance with the desired task.

However, that was not all. As I told Vitu, there was an additional element that was mandatory to "prove my worth" as a high-ranked member of the Sixth: fighting in real conditions. And that opportunity came just at the start of the cold season, in Scorpio month: a rebellion in the Bò province, on the Eastern side of the Empire. Bò used to be an independent principality that was conquered by Archadia in the late 6th century. However, after more than a hundred years of absorption, some groups decided to avenge their ancestors and take back their land, by murdering the governor and attempting to occupy parts of nearby provinces, in order to vanquish their new leaders until the last drop of blood. The role of our army was to push them back on three fronts: Southern Argyllshire, Northern Staffordshire, and Western Offaly. Argyllshire was the industrial province of Archadia, Staffordshire relied on tourism, and Offaly… Offaly was by far the wealthiest province, home to the capital, the Imperial Town of Archades.

Bergan's Second Division got appointed to defend Staffordshire – scaring tourists in the process –, and Rigel's Fourth Division was in charge of Argyllshire. Judge Magister Rigel was a coy but valorous woman who spared no effort for the Empire, along with her dömavän, Judge Vaiyu, who maintained the troops' energy thanks to her valuable white magic. White magi were generally scarce in the Imperial Army, as we were encouraged to take up purely offensive skills. So a strong judge specialized in healing was a welcome addition to the Fourth. I hoped to get to know them more once I became a judge.

As for Offaly… It was to be defended by Lady Drace. Since she rarely fought in person, I took the initiative to ask the judges to solve the matter on my own. It was a risky move, as the fight was delicate, the place critical, and any failure would mean the end of my career and numerous losses in the division. However, Drace let them know she agreed, and I went with my four hundred warriors to defend Archadia.

The operation was a success. I was lucky enough to have all specialties of the army in my ranks: marksmen, swordsmen and magi, in addition to mastiff tamers who knew well how to repel opponents. Devising a strategy in the field, I pointed out landmarks on the map and sent every troop to the precise place where both terrain and enemy configuration were at their advantage. All of them managed to take down their leaders, but the moment their energy peaked was when I announced to all teams the success of Bergan's and Rigel's operations. Offaly was the most important province to protect, and they had already done the biggest part of the job; so the remaining insurgents were crushed in the blink of an eye. Drace's people truly were the fastest of the army. Daggers and wily fencing were the norm, and the magi focused on the balance between speedy and effective spells, both for attack and support. Items were also periodically used by all soldiers in lieu of magic, with an eye on the inventory. As for snipers, their aim fell before anybody could realize the bullet was shot.

I was pleased with all these exceptional fighters at my side. To be honest, I was even wondering what I had done to deserve being their commander. My individual combat skills didn't particularly surpass theirs. Did Drace value intellectual feats more than physical ones? In any case, I returned victorious to Archades, having kept the enemy very far from the capital, east of Sochen area.

Surprisingly, I didn't get any comment from Judge Drace. No praise, no blame, no remark was told to the judges who had the privilege of dealing with her. But it did not attain me. I did not take that bet to obtain glory. I took that bet to achieve my goal: becoming a judge of the Empire.

With that in mind, I turned back to Vitu:

'Believe me, my friend; that operation was necessary. You know as well as I do that I would not have reached the mandatory 45% mark for getting the plate.'

As a matter of fact, the Order of Judges required a minimum of 45% in combat tests to be qualified, compared to 40% for the law double paper – the total having to not be lower than 90%.

'But…' Vitu insisted, 'You didn't have enough time to study. Failing the law test would be such a disgrace for the best jurist among all recruits!'

'Securing the 45% for me is much harder than the 40%. Besides, aren't you my best supporter when it comes to law aptitude?'

Vitu gasped, blinked, and eventually smiled.

'You are right. You'll do wonders for the double paper. And I am with you today, like you were with me two years ago. My support is a lucky charm; you cannot fail!'

I smiled in turn as the metallic footsteps entered the Council Room, bringing back peculiar memories. But that time, I was the star of the session. As Judge Drace was taking a seat in the lone chair in front of us, not needing any other Judge Magister by her side to test my knowledge, I looked into the cunning brown eyes of the best jurist of Archadia and gathered all my confidence. That time, I was ready. That time, it was my turn to become a judge.