Page 120 of Cloak of Night
“Beautiful performance,” Sora said.
“It was brilliant, as usual,” Daemon said.
Broomstick just beamed at her proudly.
Empress Aki walked over. “Are you four ready?”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” they said in a mottled sort of unison.
She climbed the steps to the black stage. The Councilmembers already waited on the far end, each holding a black wooden chest. The boxes contained the pendants that would mark Sora, Daemon, Fairy, and Broomstick as warriors: silver chains each with a round black medallion at its end, engraved with Luna’s triplicate whorls.
“We are here today to honor four of our taiga apprentices,” Empress Aki announced to the amphitheater. “They have fought bravely, thought shrewdly, and above all, theyhave done the ultimate duty—they have saved Kichona and its people.”
Any remaining conversation in the audience hushed like a campfire suddenly doused by a tsunami. Despite everything Sora had been through, her nerves still jangled as she waited to be welcomed on stage.
“Spirit, Wolf, Fairy, and Broomstick, please join me,” the empress said.
Sora led the way up the short flight of steps onto the stage. She and the others lay prostrate on the gleaming black floor at Empress Aki’s feet. Then they rose and bowed together, deeply, to each of the Councilmembers.
“It is with great pride that we have watched you grow,” Bullfrog, the most senior member of the Council, said. “From the day each of you arrived as a tenderfoot, through your classes, your exams, your missions, all the way to this day when you stand before us, ready to take your place among the ranks of the warriors. You have humbled us with your prowess. You have honored us with your dedication.”
He opened the lid of one of the black chests. “Fairy, step forward, please.”
Empress Aki picked up the pendant. “By my right as ruler of Kichona, I hereby declare you a taiga warrior.”
Fairy bowed to an almost ninety-degree angle. The empress draped the pendant around her neck.
“I am also going to make an unorthodox request of you,” Empress Aki said. “This war with the ryuu has taught me something very important. While we have much to learn from the old ways, fresh perspective is also invaluable. As such, I would like to ask if you, Fairy, would like to serve as one of my Imperial Taigas.”
Fairy gasped. Sora did, too. Becoming an Imperial Taiga was only for the best of the best, and it took a decade or more to even have a chance to be one of Empress Aki’s elite guards. But she was offering to let Fairy skip all that. Would she make the same offer to the rest of them? Sora could hardly believe it.
“I—I...” Fairy couldn’t get any words out, which further underscored what a shock this was. She usually had an answer for everything.
Empress Aki smiled kindly. “You can just nod to accept.”
Fairy nodded furiously, stars still in her eyes. She stood there, unmoving.
Bullfrog led her back to the line. Sora mouthed,Good gods!and Fairy clamped her hands over her mouth as though she was using everything she had not to squeal on stage in front of the entire Society.
“Please step forward, Broomstick,” Empress Aki said as Renegade, another Councilmember, brought forth a new black chest.
Broomstick lunged forward, more like an eager little boy in a sweets shop than an enormously grown one on the brink of official warriorhood. Some of the apprentices in the audience laughed. Broomstick either didn’t hear or didn’t care. He bounced on his toes while he bowed to receive his pendant and accepted a position as an Imperial Taiga.
Daemon was next. He was cool and collected as he received his warrior pendant, carrying himself with the dignity of a demigod.
“Wolf,” Empress Aki said, “I know you recently reunited with your celestial brethren and have obligations in Celestae in the autumn and winter. I would like to offer you a positionin my Imperial Taigas during your months on earth, but I understand if you prefer not to spend your time in my service—”
“Your Majesty,” Daemon interrupted, and Sora was taken aback because he’d never been this bold before. She liked this new side of him. “I would be honored to serve as an Imperial Taiga,” he finished.
Empress Aki’s elegant composure faltered for a moment as she pursed her lips, not quite able to contain the excitement of having a demigod in her guards. “It ismyhonor to have you.”
Daemon smiled, then bowed again and returned to his place in line between Sora and Fairy.
It was almost Sora’s turn. Her heartbeat fluttered in her chest, like a dream knowing it was about to be released from its cage.
“And last, but certainly not least,” Empress Aki said, lifting the last pendant, “Spirit.”
Sora stepped forward. Her heart tried to burst through her ribs.
