From one day to the next, I went from obeying the distant orders from the judges to commanding them, and with them the Sixth as a whole. And officially, to serving the supreme division leader that was responsible for all these instructions. But in practice, Drace's absence continued for a couple of weeks.

My mother literally fainted when I had come back from the examination.

'You could have saved the scene description for later', Thembeka – that I had brought to help – said as Mother was painfully opening her eyes.

Indeed, being propelled to the second highest rank of the Archadian army after serving it only eight years, and being close to the most important female Judge Magister, who was known to have supported the religious Lady Ephedrine in opposition to the brutal Empress Sentia whose reign ended with the invasion of Landis… all this was too much information for my mother to handle. She was delighted, amazed and relieved to know I had secured such a position with great distinction from so many illustrious people.

'Despite all we have been through', she said after our neighbor was gone, 'I know you are on the right path now. This group you are in is the best you could dream of. Together, you will contribute to safety and peace in Ivalice.'

'Mother, it's not a group of kiltianists; it's still the army, you know.'

'My son, you do not need to live in Bur-Omisace to apply its teachings. I have definite proof that Lady Drace is an example among this town's gentry, now that she chose you rather than anyone else.'

'Mother. She chose me because I scored 100% at the examination and the position was vacant. She literally said she had no choice.'

'Still, still. I sense good intent in this decision. I remember how you were so angry and hesitant to join the Military Akademy of the Empire… and although I was hiding it, I felt the same. But I have believed in your lucky star all along, and been sturdily, even stubbornly, confident that such a day would arrive – that you would be in a safe place while keeping your good values.'

She managed to sit on the sofa.

'Always belittling yourself. You didn't change since Landis, did you?'

She had a nervous laugh and added in a trembling voice:

'I'm proud of you, my son.'

And we hugged for, maybe, ten minutes. That hadn't happened since the innocent days in Ubielwinie. No, she did not have to be proud of me. I was the one who had to be proud to live with such a resilient, patient, understanding extraordinary woman who had the largest heart on Ivalice. Thank you, Mother. You are the most precious treasure I'll ever have. I was about to cry when I heard her low voice again:

'Do you think of Basch, sometimes?'

My grip turned tougher in a second. She waited for thirty seconds then understood.

'I need you to promise me to look for your brother when you believe the time is right. I want you… I want you to get on with each other no matter if I'm alive.'

I pulled myself back and looked into her brown eyes, those that I inherited while Basch took up the Ronsenburg soldier's blue ones.

'Please do not speak this way. What makes you feel you're going to pass away soon?'

As struck by lightning, Linda Gabranth looked away and leant on the armrest to stand up.

I was waiting for twenty minutes in the Military Akademy's Hangar n°8, my chest stuck out as I had been advised by my fellow judges to salute Judge Drace. People came and left, transporting shields, weapons, items and ammonition, most of whom glanced at me with timid admiration and 'look! The 100% judge is here!' whispers.

That nickname was following me everywhere I went; in the Akademy, the Palace, and even the streets of Archades. It is necessary to say that Vitu was absolutely right: the judge armor is nothing like the regular one; the metal was more dense, the pieces were more numerous, the massive spaulders were covering a height from elbow to ears, and overall the feeling of carrying an crushing burden was omnipresent. An unobtrusive band was tied behind the right spaulder, made of a peculiar alloy of iron and glass, and worn by each dömavän to distinguish them from their judge peers. The band's reflection under the sun was the one beautiful thing in this entire giant iron box. Vitu's was subtly colored in green, and mine in orange. Judge Vaiyu's, that I had the pleasure to meet, was light blue. From afar, the accessory looked completely transparent.

'Judge Gabranth.'

Just like in the Council Room, the door was located behind me, and Drace's words made me shiver from head to toe. Why was she always overly formal? It seemed that she had the obsession of proving something, although her career clearly showed that she succeeded in all paths.

I calmly turned and bowed before her while joining my fists.

The Judge Magister looked left and right, back and front, but the soldiers on the other side were still silently carrying the various materials and not paying attention.

'You will follow me', she said in a lower tone.

While walking behind her, I noticed that the Judge Magister armor, which I knew was bulky, was actually infinitely huger than mine. It made them appear further from humans and closer to ogres.

'I believe you know where the Glorious Road leads.'

'To the Imperial Palace, my Lady.'

She nodded and we finished the path in silence.

'You know of the imperial lift, don't you?' she asked again as we passed the Palace entrance's guards who were bowing down until their forehead grazed the ground.

'It is the one on the right, my Lady. The left one is the service lift, that we need to use by default.'

'Very well. You are allowed to use the imperial lift from this day onwards.'

'Isn't it allowed only for Judge Magisters and the imperial family?'

She removed her helmet and entered said lift before replying:

'I give you my permission. His Excellency would not mind it used by the likes of you.'

The Emperor? I had trouble realizing that a sentence was mentioning me together with the head of state.

As the lift was rising to the capital's skies, I admired the flying cars crossing it in front of tall buildings of countless uses. As much as I hated the Empire, I had to admit Archades had its own little charm. I turned to my superior… before noticing she was utterly embarrassed. Her eyes fixed at her sabatons, Lady Drace of the Order of Judges of Archadia was blushing and moving left and right, exactly as she did during the examination. She probably regretted having removed her helmet. Not wishing to increase her trouble, I stayed silent until we arrived at a high, very high floor of the Imperial Palace.

'Welcome to the Twenty-Sixth.'

I followed her Archadian sigil-stamped cape until the middle of the main hallway.

'Oh, you are here, my Lady! I was wondering where you had disappeared', said a cheerful maid holding what smelled like a cake under a cloche.

'Why were you? Is no one able to work without me in this can of worms?'

'A… Apologies, my Lady.'

'Wait, where are you going?'

Confused, the maid stepped back, raising puppy eyes on her.

'Give that to me.'

'But, my Lady… Lord Ghis ordered it this morning.'

'No matter. He does not deserve it.'

Ghis was a Judge Magister among the most recent ones. Unlike the others, his armor was golden for some reason. Drace took the cake and opened the closest door to our left.

'There. Come.'

A small antechamber adjoined a small corridor that led to a vaster space. Drace was about to open its door wider when she stepped back:

'This is where I… uh… live. Beyond this door. It is not a particularly pleasant sight.'

I blinked several times. Was she showing me her bedroom? For which purpose? For a moment, we were two embarrassed judges in a locked dark tiny room.

'Let us sit for a while', she suggested.

Inviting me on the benches that surrounded a small table and a bed, she put the cake in front of us and cut a slice with a knife located on a nearby shelf. That antechamber was visibly more resourceful than it looked. She switched on the light – which in Archadia was produced by storm or fire magicites – and I immediately noticed it: a giant bow hung on the wall. It covered almost the entire surface, and was made of sophisticated elements based on wood, with, on each side of the handle, a curved line of green and white pearls of harmonious sizes.

'Is it the viera's bow?'

Upon hearing these words, Drace's shoulders trembled and her eyes faced the mutilated cake with pure despair.

'She is the one who introduced me to the division. To your division, Judge Drace. She disappeared the following year.'

'She was living in this place.'

Drace's voice was blank.

'Her contribution to the Empire is invaluable. I wish we could have rewarded her differently than with murder.'

'Was… was she murdered?'

She let the knife down and stood up.

'You know, Gabranth, around this town there's a place called the Brave Grave. This is where we bury the most valorous warriors of Archadia, as well as a few distinguished civilians. I shall take you there someday.'

Was that a murder threat? In the clouded darkness – despite the little light turned on –, she seemed more troubled than angry.

'She was filling this place with unmatched joy and tranquility. We all miss the viera. Everybody saw her, one way or another. She was as skilled on the battlefield as she was in the kitchen and Lord Vayne's dressing room, when that brat was an infant.'

Calmed with a timid smile, she came back to sit next to me and handed me a cake slice on a small plate.

'Another notable person was living here in past times. An… extremely notable one. But I was not Judge Magister at the time. The kind of fighter that is born once in a century.'

Suddenly, she raised her eyes, bit in her slice and added in a very serious tone, her cheeks filled with cake:

'I assume you know that everyone knows of your foreign origin.'

Unconsciously, my hand looked for a weapon. How?

'Calm down, Gabranth. I meant all the Judge Magisters know. We do not mind a foreigner among our ranks as long as he proves his skills. Isn't Judge Zecht himself a Bò native?'

Zecht? The leader of the Order? Bò, that poor land that had started a rebellion?

'It is better for you to spend as much time as you can here. We are not always present, but it is still the safest place in Archadia.'

'Why should I hide?'

Drace sighed.

'You know how some of our citizens consider commoners, let alone commoners from another country, a sub-province swallowed by the Empire. Do not give me this look; I do not share their opinion.'

'Forgive me, my Lady. Since we came here, my mother and I had to be wary of everybody.'

'I know.'

Was there something about me these people did not know? Drace took another bite with heart-warming appetite. I smiled and did the same.

'It lacks sugar. I shall warn that idiot next time.'

I was wondering how she could criticize a cake that was not made for her, but I didn't feel like risking my life by voicing it out loud.

'I know everything you both have been through. I am sorry.'

She took a sip of water and pursued:

'When the viera told me about you, I immediately ordered her to keep an eye on you. So we are told in the army, but I was also…uh…'

Again with the blushing?

'… curious. And you seemed serious in your duty, so my suspicions vanished quite soon. Having you with me here is more comforting than leaving you out in the wild.'

What did she exactly mean by "having me with her here"? What would happen to me in this floor? Not exactly something that would make me spend as much time as I can here.

'But I knew you could not be promoted without solid proof of your abilities at war, especially as a stranger. So I sent you for that mission in Bò. The outcome was more than I could ever hope for.'

Praise! Praise, finally! But coming from her mouth in that dark little room, it felt strange.

'After that, I was confident that you could succeed at the examination. But I was not prepared at all for the grade. Never would I have imagined someone could surpass me, someone who is not even Archadian yet knows our laws by heart. Where did you learn that? I would not believe you if you said anything else than the Law Akademy.'

'It comes from the Imperial Akademy of Law indeed, but I never went there myself. I had friends in Landis who… were even more exceptional than I am. They attended the monthly courses and shared their knowledge with me constantly. We used to study together for years.'

She sighed in something that sounded like regret.

'My division was not sent in Landis for attacking. We were securing the areas where other troops went, and investigating on the several murders the men in yellow committed behind our backs during the war.'

The men in yellow? Was that a group of warriors? And also… was her speech supposed to lessen Archadia's responsibility in destroying a country with its inhabitants? Both of us could go no further in that talk – especially me, who needed to keep my hard-fought position in the Empire.

'Let us look for more joyous matters. Are you done?'

'Y… Yes, my Lady.'

I followed her outside before almost bumping into her as she stopped.

'Wait…' she said.

'Oh, Lady Drace!' said another cheerful maid, who was more curious than the other, blinking her eyes at the man who was leaving her mistress's private space.

'Who is that?'

'Mind your words. He is Lord Gabranth, and he will be regularly in the Palace from now on. Mostly here and in the Thirteenth.'

The Thirteenth? I was sure I had heard that number somewhere; probably from Nastia's mouth.

'You… Please, could you return to the antechamber? And make sure the door is locked', she suddenly added in my direction.

'Why is that?'

Her cheeks, in the clear sunlight, had turned completely red.

'Because… because… the ones your rank and lower… you are actually not allowed to walk these levels of the Palace with your armor. Please remove it.'

Was she joking?

'I… I do not have my regular clothes with me, my Lady.'

'You… you will find a few suits in the drawers. I am in no mood to hear Lord Vayne's sermon about the etiquette today. Oh, in fact… I will go make sure he is not there. Larsa is already outside. Please take your time – lock the door very tightly, you hear? – then take the imperial lift to the Thirteenth.'

'Very well, my Lady. Shall I meet you there?'

She smiled and quit her embarrassed self for good.

'Nay. The lord of that floor insisted he'd lead the visit himself.'

As I went back to the antechamber, I wondered. Who could that lord be? She just said both Lord Vayne and Lord Larsa would be absent. Visibly, it was their floor. And I knew the Emperor lived in the highest floor, the Thirtieth – moreover, I barely saw the emperor of Archadia playing guide to a newly appointed judge. I also knew it was common practice to have the ruler's wife live close to her children, but Empress Sentia had died long ago. So who was that person?