Chapter 7: The Golden Guard

Rubella frowns. Her ears prickle, and it almost always happens when there’s something thinking about her. What might it be? She has done everything requested of her on this fine morning. The only news she needs are from the front... either the Stray has managed to get them rid of the Black Knight’s menace or... 

“Captain?” The Augur snaps her off her reverie. “Something on your mind?” 

“Nothing beyond my usual duties, my Liege.” 

“As it would. Now, I have called you here to share some important news.” 

She nods, all ears. 

“First things first, our common friend, the former Commander Ilaria Rubra, has failed.” 

The frown deepens.  

“How can you be sure? With all my respect for your connections to-” 

“Your statement might be taken for a crisis of faith, Captain.” A smile creases his lips. “But I will allow it this time. It shows your commendable focus on duty, after all... but as for how can I be sure? How can the birds be sure they’ll take favorable wind, or their wings will hold them when they jump off trees? They just know, Captain. I know.” 

She is quick to nod, this time. The Augur’s prophecies have yet to fail. 

“So, she has failed. And we have lost an important piece.” 

“We have gotten rid of wasteful expenses,” the Augur clicks his tongue in reply. “I’ll have her wing decommissioned and all her slaves, maidens, servants and material waste reconverted to useful purposes! At last the woman is no more, which leaves us with less waste and an interesting opportunity.” 

He snaps his fingers and from a secret cabinet to his left he presents her pieces of golden armor, seemingly fashioned after tongues of flames. Each piece holds onto the next, seamless and shining.  

“My liege, this...” 

“A fitting gift. Especially now that we don’t have any more monstrous expenses anymore.” 

Petraflama armor. She can’t believe her eyes – or her fingers as they touch the priceless material. It’s light as feather, but she has seen it before. She could strike it with a forge-hammer and the hammer would be the one to show the scars.  

“And we also need a new Commander. Hopefully a more dependable one.” 

“I will!” She holds the pieces close, feeling their power, their magnificence.  

“Then we have nothing to fear. Your strategies and your wit have kept the Black Knight in check. It's not time to pry her out of the hole she tried to hide into and show her where the divine will falls.” 

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“Yes, my lord. All in the name of your golden vision.” 

“Good.” He smiles and there’s real warmth in his black eyes when he pats her shoulder. “In the spirit of honesty my dear, I could not wait any longer for this day. That fool of a Stray has delayed our paths for too long. She was nothing more than a temptation, a stumbling block on the path to revelation. Now is your time to shine, and your light will bring even the Black Knight into the rows of the righteous.” 

“Y-Yes.” 

“I expected nothing better. You can take the rest of the day off. Meditate on the future, Commander Rubella.” 

She bows and brings the unexpected gift to her quarters. 

There, in her lonely room that looks onto the mountains, she starts to undress, and when she’s half-naked, wearing only her undergarments, she starts to put on the golden armor. Bit by bit she fastens it to her body and the enchanted material (is it metal? Stone? She cannot say, and it does not really matter) hisses and cracks as it fits to her body, covering it in a perfect defense. 

She’s the ultimate bulwark against those who would see the revelation destroyed and its Prophet killed. She’s the perfect warrior, the chosen one. And she’s ready for her purpose. 

Rubella balls her fists, making the enchanted armor creak in expectation. They can’t really sing, but she can almost hear each of the priceless shards that compose it answer to her righteous call. 

She turns to the wall. There, half-hidden between the portrait of her parents, there’s an engraving she has yet had the courage to throw away. She pulls it out. 

It’s two girls. One, the shorter and younger, with darker skin and shining green eyes and red hair, dressed to the nines in the finest embroidery of the Ordalia family. The once-heir to the throne. And behind her, a taller girl with blonde hair, faithful to her sworn oath to the protection of the people of Ostrea. Beyond bonds of family (betrayers), princes (weak rulers who got in the way to the revelation) and friendship. 

She holds the frame in her oh-so-powerful golden hands. It would be so easy to tear it in two. Forget all about it and start anew. 

What use it is to her, such a memory? Cumbersome and pointless.  

Rubella sighs and puts it back, hidden behind the portraits. She turns and leaves, walking to the terrace, looking on to the mountains where the Black Knight, Astoria Ordalia da Ostrea, awaits her coming.  

“So long, old friend,” Rubella, Commander of the Augur and once Bodyguard of the Princess, whispers to the wind.  

She’s sure it will not reach her ears, by the way.  

 

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