Brina had recovered, and the recruits were now ordered to return to their training grounds. They were awarded with medals, a symbol of their bravery, and to honor their dead they also held a small ceremonial prayer. Brina was one of the people who stood on the podium. Not only for her participation, but because she risked her life and limb to save Knight Captain Adam.
They also saw that the Knight Captain, among a few of his own men, was there to witness the ceremony.
They thought it was just about honoring the fallen and recognizing their service.
Then an announcement was made. Commander Kim stepped forward and announced that a special privilege was to be given to the most exemplary of them.
It was Knight Captain Adam who spoke next. He stood tall despite his healing injuries, his voice carrying across the assembled recruits.
"Bravery, courage, and the will to overcome evil. It is our motto as Knights of the Kingdom. And I saw a few exemplaries among you in this battle. When I call upon your name, step forward. Recruit number forty, Brina Feldwyn, and recruit number twenty-eight, Himdal Hainz."
Brina's heart pounded as she stepped forward. Beside her, Himdal moved with confidence, his head held high. They stood before the Knight Captain as everyone watched.
"For your bravery and courage to risk your own life to save me personally, Feldwyn, I bestow you a chance to become more than just a town's guard. A higher calling. You are being recruited into the Knight's Order of Helwind. You are to train as a squire. It is not often we have women in our ranks, but you have my full support if you so wish to continue this path."
Murmurs rippled through the crowd. A woman, becoming a knight? It was rare, almost unheard of.
"Now for Himdal, you have also shown exemplary conduct to your peers. And so too do I offer you the same as Recruit Feldwyn. You have shown to be a competent soldier, able to fell people who are more powerful than you, which shows that you have the guts and the necessary skills to confront them."
Adam paused, letting his words sink in.
"This is not a decision that was made lightly. The lord has granted me the authority to recruit those who are worthy to be in the order, and I found you both capable. Should you choose to accept, then you have my unyielding support. But take it not very lightly, for to enter our ranks will be harder than your current regimen. It will be brutal and harsh. We will instill upon you a new doctrine, the doctrine to serve and give your all to the kingdom, to its people, to the people of Helwind and beyond."
He stepped down from the he stood podium and personally gave both recruits a certification of his recommendation and a bag of reward. Ten gold mownies were given to Brina, while fifteen were given to Himdal, for the lord found him killing three pirates to be substantial.
Brina stared at the bag in her hands. Ten gold mownies. That was five hundred silver. More money than she'd ever held in her life.
"If you wish to use the privilege to train to become a knight, then my doors at Windspire Heights are open. Show this to the guards there and they will lead you to me."
Knight Captain Adam walked away as he needed to return to Lord Jouse's side.
The ceremony continued, and once it was done, the two who received the privilege were met with awe, admiration, and in some cases, resentment. Especially from that woman who hated Brina more than anything else.
Bernadeth stood in the crowd, her face pale with fury. She'd survived the battle without injury, staying safely in the rear guard. And now Brina, that country bumpkin airhead, was being offered a position as a squire? It was unbearable.
But one thing was for sure. It lit something inside Brina's own soul. It was her own resolve, to move forward and to become better and stronger. And she'd heard the knights are sometimes dispatched to quell troubles that the guards couldn't handle. Oh, how she longed for that adventure.
She smiled, with a lot to think about. Her jolly self had returned. When the other recruits saw it, when her team members saw it, they smiled too. At least Brina was okay. They worried it would change her, but it seems it made her even stronger in their eyes.
Elena hugged her tightly. "A knight! Brina, you're going to be a knight!"
"Maybe," Brina said, though she was grinning. "I haven't decided yet."
"What's there to decide?" Mira asked. "This is an incredible opportunity!"
"It's also going to be really hard," Brina pointed out. "The captain said it would be brutal."
"You've already been through brutal," Sophia said. "You got hit by magic and survived. What's a little more training?"
They all laughed, the sound feeling strange but good after so much grief and pain.
Later that night, she and Ren sat in their small rented room, the bag of gold mownies on the table between them.
"Ten gold," Ren said, shaking his head in disbelief. "That's enough to live on for years if we're careful."
"I know," Brina said with a smile.
"And they want you to become a knight."
"A squire first. Then maybe a knight, if I'm good enough."
Ren looked at his sister, really looked at her. She'd changed so much in the past few months. The carefree girl who daydreamed in the market was gone, replaced by someone harder, more focused, but still fundamentally Brina. Still optimistic. Still smiling.
"Are you going to do it?" he asked.
Brina was quiet for a moment. "I think so. I mean, I wanted to be a guardswoman to protect people, right? Well, knights do that too, but on a bigger scale. They handle threats that normal guards can't. Magical beasts. Bandits who are secretly trained soldiers. Maybe even those unregistered Arkanians who enter our borders sometimes."
She looked down at her hands. "When I pushed the captain out of the way and got hit by that fire, I thought I was going to die. And in that moment, I wasn't scared of dying. I was scared that I hadn't done enough. That there were still people who needed protecting and I wouldn't be there."
"Sister..."
"I know it sounds crazy," Brina continued. "But I think this is what I'm supposed to do. What I'm meant to do. Mom and Dad, they didn't get a chance to be saved. But maybe I can save someone else's parents. Someone else's family."
Ren felt tears prick his eyes. "You're going to make me worry every single day, you know that?"
"I know. Ehhh…But you're going to be a traveling merchant, right? I'll worry about you too."
"That's different. I'll be selling goods, not fighting pirates."
"You'll be traveling dangerous roads with valuable cargo. That's plenty dangerous."
They sat in silence for a while, both thinking about their futures, about the paths they were choosing.
"If you're going to do this," Ren said finally, "then do it right. Train hard. Learn everything they teach you. And come back to visit me when you can."
"I will," Brina promised. "And you have to promise to be careful on your merchant trips."
"Deal."
They shook on it, then Ren pulled her into a hug.
"I'm proud of you, sister. Mom and Dad would be too."
Brina hugged him back, feeling the weight of everything that had happened, everything they'd lost, but also the promise of what could be.
The next morning, Brina stood outside Windspire Heights with the certification in her hand. The guards looked at it, then at her, then waved her through.
She walked up the hill toward the knight's quarters, her heart pounding with excitement and nerves.
A new adventure was about to begin for her. Though she doubted it would be any easier than what she'd already been through.
But that was okay. She'd survived Wynstead. She'd survived the revolt. She'd survived being hit by magic.
She could survive the knights training.
And maybe, just maybe, she'd become someone who could protect others from ever going through what she'd been through.
The guard at the knight's quarters directed her to a training yard where Knight Captain Adam was working with a few of his men.
When he saw her, he smiled slightly.
"So you've decided."
"Yes, sir," Brina said, standing as straight as she could. "I want to be a knight."
"Then let's begin," Adam said. "Welcome to the Order, Squire Feldwyn."
And with those words, Brina's new life began.