Saturday, July 30, 4 S.E.

  “So,” Leonidas said into the silence that followed. “What’s the plan?”

  The question seemed to refocus both women, and Aylar and Synthra subtly relaxed as Bardulf and Parnym rejoined them, the former with a knowing smile, the latter appearing faintly uncertain about whether or not he was intruding.

  “Well,” Synthra said with a look at Aylar, “it’s probably time to see this finished.”

  Aylar nodded and turned toward where Primus stood waiting.

  “We’ve concluded the trials. All that remains is to see if I passed.”

  Leonidas blinked at her words and followed the Princess’ gaze to the Custodian, his right eyebrow rising faintly.

  “If anyone earned this,” Leonidas said quietly as he turned back toward Aylar, his mind filled with the choices she had made in the trials, “it was you.”

  Aylar paused at that and turned back to him, her eyes assessing, before a small smile split her pale features and she tilted her head.

  “Leonidas, that was very nearly a compliment.”

  “It was a compliment, but it’s also true,” Leonidas said firmly, while his shoulders shrugged and his hands re-entered his pockets. “I met plenty of Monarchs on Elatra, and few of them had a shred of your compassion or bearing. You’ll make a fine Queen, Aylar.”

  Silence followed his words, as if each of the others was recalling their own experiences, and a second before it twisted from introspective into awkward, Synthra broke the pause.

  “A great Queen,” the Sorceress clarified, flashing Aylar a look of support. “The best damn Queen that we could ever ask for.”

  Leonidas felt himself nodding at her words, and it was Bardulf who followed suit, after yet another moment of memory-induced consideration.

  “I agree,” Bardulf said finally. “You are well-suited to this role, Aylar. The visions only cemented what we already knew.”

  Silent but not uninvolved, Parnym nodded his agreement as well after a second of hesitation, and the Swordmaiden finally smiled at them all in clear gratitude—the trials’ weight still lingering behind her azure eyes.

  “Thank you for your trust in me,” she said while her eyes glimmered with quiet resolve. “I suppose it’s time, then. Shall we go see what the Custodian has to say?”

  The group nodded its consent, and together they made their way to where Primus stood waiting still—his hands clasped behind him, and a look of utmost patience on his features.

  The Custodian’s eyes tracked them as they came to him, and when the Princess halted before him, slightly ahead of their party, the four of them in turn remained a step behind her, giving her the moment with the administrative caretaker by unspoken agreement.

  It was strange how well his false memories of theoretical futures allowed him to read Aylar, even though he knew the experiences had been invented.

  The set of her shoulders, the arch of her spine, the heft of her chin; all of it told a story in subtleties as the Princess faced the Custodian, and Leonidas could understand immediately that she was both proud of finishing the trials well before the final moment, and nervous about what the judgment would be.

  “Princess Aylar,” Primus greeted her in the same uncanny British accent that Leonidas found faintly baffling. “I presume you have concluded any lingering business following the final arch?”

  “As much as can be done now, Primus, yes,” the Princess replied truthfully, while her fingers faintly twitched at her spine in a sign of unspoken dissatisfaction. Leonidas couldn’t blame her—he hated the uncertainty himself, and he was technically the one creating it! His mind, however, remained at war with his choice, and while he knew he needed to get his shit together and figure out his path, he still needed just a little more time.

  “I understand,” Primus said, and peered down at her thoughtfully. “In the third trial, you demonstrated something unexpected. The right to Final Judgment in these experiences, as you know, is simply to choose—it is the choice itself that is judged.”

  The Custodian paused and seemed to be pondering his words for a moment.

  “In the final arch,” Primus continued after the pause, “your choice was… unexpected. You elected to use mercy while simultaneously wielding justice, all while choosing duty over love. A most unexpectedly rare combination. Very few Monarchs who have faced similar situations have chosen as you did. Some believed love to be the most imperative part of who they were, and others sought an absolutism in the justice they wielded. Not you. As I said, most unexpected.”

  “I only did what I believed was right, Primus,” Aylar answered simply, her fingers tightening with hidden nerves as Leonidas watched the exchange. “No more than that, but not a single bit less. It was what had to be done.”

  “Yes, I can see that resolve in you,” Primus said mildly, and then looked over at the four of them, his eyes momentarily lingering on Leonidas with a hint of amusement, before returning to Aylar. “It is never a simple thing to love a force of nature.”

  Leonidas grimaced at the Custodian’s words, and Synthra let out a ‘tsk’ at his side while folding her arms and glancing at Leonidas as if that were his fault. He blinked at her, and she tossed her hair wordlessly while turning back to Aylar, which in turn just confused him more.

  Women will be the death of me.

  “Love is itself absent simplicity, Primus, because people are not simple,” Aylar responded calmly, her voice stronger when she did. “I believe it’s that complication that makes love worth pursuing.”

  Leonidas blinked at her words and felt his own mind twitch at their admittance. It almost felt like something directed at him, but Leonidas didn’t act on it. It was her Rite, her instant of glory, and he wouldn’t make the mistake of presuming his own place within it. Aylar had earned her right to this moment.

  Primus raised his right eyebrow slightly at her words, and then smiled again, his expression seemingly genuinely pleased. “A good answer, Princess Aylar. A good answer indeed. Very well, then: I presume you are ready to begin Final Judgment?”

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  Aylar’s fingers loosened a little as Leonidas watched her, and she seemed to take reassurance from the question.

  “I am,” the Swordmaiden declared steadily.

  The Custodian dipped his brow and turned, looking toward the three arches as Aylar, Leonidas, and the others followed his gaze. The first of them shifted, twisting abruptly with System energy, before igniting a soft and victorious blue, shimmering with an energy that seemed to speak of tacit approval.

  “In the first trial, you showed a Queen’s judgment. You assessed, you discerned, and you correctly judged the sins of traitorous subjects, while recognizing the greater issue under your rule. Though the cause was your own past failings, you took responsibility for the matter implicitly—this is what a Monarch must do, and as a result, you have proven yourself capable of discerning the difference between Law and Justice.”

  The room rippled with a sound like a chime, and the first archway shimmered with a pair of golden scales as Primus moved on.

  The second archway shifted next, sparking and dancing as Leonidas watched it with hope for success, and then manifested itself into the same victorious blue. He exchanged a look of relief with Bardulf and then turned back to Primus when the Custodian spoke.

  “In the second trial, you demonstrated a Queen’s composure. You examined the available options, realized the path that was needed, and made the necessary determination to save your people—even at the expense of your own joy. Few things are more difficult, as a Monarch, than commanding sacrifice that you yourself know you cannot give in turn. It takes courage to understand one’s own importance, and self-awareness to not be blinded by it in turn. By these actions, you have proven yourself able to bear the complex responsibility of judging who must live, and who must die.”

  A second chime echoed within the chamber, and the second archway shimmered in turn as a blade and olive branch appeared in gold, crossed over its energy field.

  Peace and War, Life and Death. Huh. The symbology is something.

  Leonidas followed the inevitable attention shift as it was made to the third arch, and he felt his heartbeat ratchet up in his chest. His fists clenched in his pockets, and he swallowed back the sudden surge of anxiety. His trial, his future, his failure. He worried, for an instant, that he could cost Aylar everything—then, abruptly, blew out a shaky breath in self-disciplined release.

  No. I won’t fall back into that. I said I would forgive myself—it’s time to start.

  His eyes moved back to the Princess, and he felt a hand touch his arm, looking down briefly to see Synthra—her gaze firmly locked on Aylar—gently holding his left arm with her right hand. In silent acceptance, he raised his own right hand to settle over hers, but said nothing as he did.

  It was enough.

  As they watched, the third arch shimmered—dancing with color almost indecisively—and then abruptly turned gold, its surface ablaze with regal majesty as Leonidas’ eyebrows rose toward his fringe.

  “In the third trial, a most unexpected twist, you made the most difficult choice: to condemn the love of your life in return for the safety of a world that would never thank you. You acted not with self-interest, but in the greater interest of all Peoples, even those that would never acknowledge your rule. In doing so, you likely sacrificed your own future to the stain of your husband’s fall, but in the act, you saved countless millions of lives. In this, you demonstrated the ultimate test of a Monarch’s integrity: the loss of personal power to preserve the ideal of leadership.”

  Primus smiled at Aylar after he spoke, and the archway rippled with light—suddenly emblazoned by a magnificent crown in blazing, azure blue; the same color as her eyes.

  “Princess Aylar Taleria Lux Fortuna Eldormer, it is my pleasure to inform you that you have passed this Rite of Ascension—”

  Cheers erupted from their group at the announcement, though Leonidas couldn’t do more than stare in silent relief, as Primus continued unperturbed.

  “—and will be bestowed with the title of Queen-Potentiate of the [Unclaimed Sector 117], as well as preliminary Dominion over it and all its surrounds. Only once you return and take your Throne will this boon be in effect, at which point any valid challengers will have one Terran week to challenge your ascendancy.”

  Aylar almost sagged when Primus finished, and Leonidas saw the relief in her posture when she reached a trembling, armored hand up to touch her forehead—discreetly wiping her eyes in the same moment. When she straightened a moment later and spoke, her voice wavered faintly, but it remained foundationally strong.

  “Will this pronouncement already be known to others?” she asked candidly, her eyes glancing from Primus to the archways.

  “No,” Primus said with a knowing smile. “In the spirit of fairness, the announcement will only be made by the System once you sit the throne. You will have three days from the moment you leave the Dungeon to do so—or else forfeit your Queen-Potentiate status.”

  Aylar nodded in relief and turned to the rest of them, smiling at them brightly as they whooped, and her eyes fell finally on Leonidas.

  All he offered her was a single affirming nod.

  Her reply was a quirk of the eyebrow and a twinkling smile before she turned back to Primus.

  “One final question, if I may, Custodian?”

  “But of course,” Primus said magnanimously.

  “Since this is a Dungeon… there are rewards, right?”

  The Custodian smiled at her slyly when she asked the question.

  “Why, Your Majesty,” he said, using her new title for the first time, “of course there are rewards.”

  Primus snapped his fingers, and Leonidas’ vision abruptly populated with a System screen. When he read it, his jaw nearly fell open.

  SYSTEM MESSAGE

  Congratulations, Leonidas! You have successfully cleared the [Rite of Ascension]!

  DUNGEON COMPLETE

  As a reward for this harrowing ordeal, being a member of the first Party to do so, and while factoring in the extra difficulty associated with its clear as well as the achievement of hidden objectives, you have been granted the following rewards as a member of the Party responsible!

  [Reward 1]: +5 [Level]s

  [Reward 2]: [Title]

  [Reward 3]: 1,000 [Aetherium]

  [Reward 4]: [Platinum Chest]

  [Reward 5]: Unique Thematic Skill

  Leonidas stared at the rewards screen in stunned silence, and then looked at his companions as Synthra’s hand squeezed his arm so hard he was worried he’d lose blood flow.

  “Guys, this is—”

  “HOLY SHIT!” Parnym exclaimed. “THIS IS AWESOME!”

  All four of them turned to the Mender at his outburst, and a second later, they devolved into hysterical laughter as the pressure, the fear, the uncertainty, and the burden of what they had experienced washed over them.

  They did not stop laughing for quite some time.

  It was a catharsis they had all sorely needed.

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