The critical operation took place the following week.

My mother was hospitalized for three days. She had rather invasive treatments and, when I was finally allowed to meet her after them… she was still weak, maybe more than she had been before. So I was disappointed. I was angry. Strangely, I felt like confessing my doubts to Judge Drace, but her answer was categorical:

'Feather House are not permitted to let a single patient leave in a bad condition. They are no miracle makers, but because of the people they receive… believe me, a single error would be fatal to them and would have immeasurable consequences. Therefore, wait a few days; she will certainly get better. You can have half your days free in the meantime. Choose the ones that suit you.'

The Judge Magister was right. After two days of weakness – only tiredness, without pain – Mother could stand up again. I discovered it after spending a morning in the Akademy; at opening the apartment's door, I saw the beautiful silhouette of Linda Gabranth was proudly standing in the living room, book in hand. I rushed into her arms, bursting with joy.

My mother's recovery meant I could spend more time with my troops and in the Palace. Mother wasn't totally cured, but regaining autonomy greatly improved our mood. Thembeka didn't even need to check on her every day; she was absolutely fine and cooking delicious Landisite meals for the moment I came home. She even went as far as wandering in the capital, looking for vegetables from our motherland, and fruits from Dalmasca. Her greatest pleasures in life were cooking, walking, reading, and, apparently, talking about Basch. My rage at the mere evocation of his name was growing by the hour, and my hardship to hide it with it.

Trying to focus on my daily tasks to forget this detail of the past, I began to attend more and more court hearings, and my profile began to gain some popularity. Very few were the courts that didn't have a "Judge Gabranth! Judge Gabranth!" welcoming committee outside. Naturally, I became acquainted with some imperial prosecutors and attorneys. The latters were visibly sorted in unofficial categories, and all of them had graduated from the Imperial Akademy of Law – that same institution which elders bowed before me. Each of them had a specific temper and pleading style, and it was always interesting to witness it as people were going by the bar. For some reason, the other jurors gradually stopped silencing my opinions and started taking them very seriously, if not immediately putting it as consensus. Most of these people said my situational assessments were the most relevant they had ever heard in judgehood, and were recommending me everywhere.

As a matter of fact, I was comfortable in all contexts: civil, trade, administrative and military courts held no secret for me. I wasn't afraid to take as much time as needed to draw my conclusions, and to voice my verdict as clearly as possible. Appeal courts were also making my days, as Archadian gentry very little admitted the judgment they faced, no matter the seriousness of their deeds. Before the end of 697, less than six months after being appointed Judge and dömavän, I was promoted to the Supreme Court of the Offaly province. The regular path was to serve this office in less important provinces first, but because of my key function in Archades, it had been decided to make me a Supreme Court ruler whilst staying in the capital. According to my peers – who were much less selfless than my comrades at the army –, it was only a matter of time before I was transferred to the Supreme Court of the whole Empire. The procedure would take longer, as it required the agreement of the Emperor himself, as well as a majority at the Senate.

The Senate was, despite all the knowledge I had gathered before and after being a Judge, a rather obscure institution. They officially nominated a new emperor when the previous one died – the last fourth coming exclusively from House Solidor, who had a de jure permanent seat there. The first and current Solidor senator was Lord Terentius Hika. He was the son of the first Solidor emperor, Hongi Hika, who overthrew the existing regime in 598, and who also worked as senator, for the Staffordshire province. Being born in the beginning of the century, Senator Terentius was a very old man, but still active in legislative life and decision-making regarding the country. From the rumors I had heard, Senator Terentius was an eminent member of the Senate who was trying to decorrelate Archadia matters from House Solidor ones. It was as if he didn't belong to the ruling family anymore; Emperor Gramis having stemmed from a parallel line, Hongi not having produced, across all generations, any other child than Terentius. He was the Emperor's great-uncle, without being the Emperor's relative. Unlike all the cousins gathered close to Judge Drace's floor, and who were from the side of Lord Gramis's late mother, nicknamed Lady Basket, and therefore not even harboring the name of Solidor, Senator Terentius did not have a reserved apartment at the Palace. He was never invited to the Emperor's formal meetings, where the country's situation was debated and Lord Gramis receiving legal advice from renowned jurists, not even when members of the Senate were called. I did not have any idea about how the two men broke apart, nor whether the distrust began from Lord Gramis's father's time or later. I only knew that Senator Terentius had peculiar opinions about his great-nephew's bloodline and rule, and was slowly gathering supporters among his colleagues. Being the oldest man of the assembly, his weight was heavier every day.

Judge Drace clearly noticed my relief from my change of behavior: as soon as my mother got out of danger, I got excited for the training campaign and helped every soldier get ready, while I had always dreaded any military exercise before, and only got the Judge examination points in combat under strain and with a lot of luck. In honor of the Viera who had helped me, I decided to use a bow as my main weapon. Most of the division was not thrilled, Lady Drace comprised, but I had understood that turning myself into an archer was the only solution to overcome my lack of confidence during battles, while honoring the reputation of the Sixth being the fastest division in the army; bows being the quickest weapons after daggers. The result of the training campaign was overcoming all my hopes. Everybody had progressed in terms of attack and defense, myself included. I promised myself to keep using the bow, at optimal distance between panic and inefficiency, for as long as I wasn't ready to draw a sword. Being a Judge, compared to a general, major, or simple soldier, meant I could change my weapon regularly, and choose it from refined selections made inaccessible to others.

In this relative delight, I came back from the Akademy one afternoon to Judge Drace's apartments. According to her schedule, she was supposed to attend a meeting involving the Emperor and all the Judge Magisters nearby. But as soon as I opened the door, she was in front of me.

'Zargabaath is calling you', she coldly said.

I took a step back.

'But, my Lady, both of you should be in the Twentieth with His Excellency at this moment.'

'Do not assume you know where I should be in my stead, Gabranth', she sighed. 'His Excellency cancelled the meeting because Ghis is absent.'

'Judge Ghis…?'

She joined me in the main hall and nonchalantly stretched her arm to the other side of the floor.

'Yes, Ghis. Sometimes I am enthusiastic to have him around, but as you can see, the man just disappears and leaves with no explanation; as if he had business more important than ours. Ghis troubles me. Yet the Emperor deems him so crucial that he doesn't consider any Magister assembly without him. Naturally, my own presence never mattered… Run! Zargabaath told me he had crucial words to tell you. Some that you must not reveal to me, nor to anyone else. He is waiting in the first office of the Twelfth.'

I slightly bowed and went to the mentioned location.

Not only was Judge Zargabaath a highly respected Magister in both the army, the Palace and House Solidor, but I was obliged to him for a debt I most likely would never pay back in my lifetime. No matter how strange the man seemed to me with his secret lake in the Thirteenth and whatever boring confessions he was about to make, I had to push courtesy to the summit.

The Twelfth was completely empty; when I got out of the lift, a watch soldier was laying a spying eye at me from the stairs, before turning back. When I found the door, I briefly knocked twice. After waiting a minute with no reaction, I knocked again, with more pressure. I was in the middle of my third attempt when the door opened wide, and my right fist knocked the air.

'Noise is unnecessary. Please come.'

Judge Zargabaath, helmless, looked neither angry nor calm. I sketchily apologized for my loud knocking, but he didn't turn until reaching a square table. The office was very small compared to the regular size of Palace rooms. He sat on a chair and showed me the one in front of him.

I sat in turn. He joined his hands below his chin and his look was extremely pensive. It had to be the right moment!

'Your Honor, I am forever grateful for the immeasurable gift you have provided for…'

He brushed the topic away as if it was a fly bothering him:

'No matter, that was naught.'

Naught? 1,300,000 gil? More than the cost of the generic apartment new graduates of Archades get into decades of debt for? As much as I found his attitude despising, especially with the pride he had shown to be close to Lord Vayne, I had to stay quiet; therefore, I did.

'Gabranth, you are not only Judge Drace's dömavän. You are, by all reports, one of the most brilliant minds the Order of Judges has ever hosted since its creation. I have also heard Lord Larsa trusts you as much as your Magister. I do not take our charge lightly when it comes to Sentia's sons. That is why, from today on, you will have to perform all your duties – military and legal ones – bearing an important piece of information in mind. Outside of the people who are its topic and their direct allies, only Lord Vayne is aware. As much as I have valued Drace for all these decades, she is not ready – and likely never will be – to deal with revelations of that nature, because she would feel concerned and doubtful, as well as Bergan. But you… You, Gabranth, have so far kept such composure, despite where you come from… that, yes, I choose to entrust you with this knowledge, and leave you the entire responsibility of your actions in this regard. I have good hopes I am not betting on the wrong chocobo', he said with a smile.

'Thanks, my Lord.'

He was probably thinking that my short direct reply hid something, and would be right to cancel his intent. But he seemed more motivated than ever:

'Gabranth, you often walk around the Imperial Capital.'

I felt forced to intervene:

'I only do so in order to provide for my mother's household. I have never hung out with the population of Archades, nor do I intend to disclose anything I know from my duties or what you are about to tell me. I do not have friends – apart from Judge Palnissen.'

Judge Zargabaath raised a tired palm:

'Never did I intend it in this manner. You are permitted, and will continue to go to all places in town. Unlike us, you weren't born in the historical Archadia, and therefore can be a strategic informer for the safety of House Solidor, and of our own, because these people won't doubt you and probably never saw your face.'

Ah, a spy. He wanted me to become a spy to protect the life of those who decided to kill my country.

At that point, I knew he was aware all along that I was born a Landisite. Without ever talking to me. There was probably no fact that was unknown to that man. Why did he want me to search for any?

'I shall fulfill all these strategic tasks, my Lord.'

'Very well. There are no tasks per se yet, but bear my words in mind whenever you consider Archades: there are four clans hidden in the capital, most of them under their real names, and all of them holding immoderate power. Four centuries-old families who have hereditary abilities that make them the actual masters of the whole country's stability, as well as unmatched opponents on a battlefield. To make an ancient story short: a single leader among the four has the potential – and, for most of them, the actual power – to banish from Ivalice all Judge Magisters combined.'