Maya were evil, would she have trained and cared for us guards the way she did? Look around you! Most of the guards who survived were directly trained by her. She has been our weapons instructor for seven years now - with the blessing of our previous Headmaster, I might add. And she trained us well, not only how to use a sword, but to be better soldiers, to plan out and think about what faults in ourselves we need to correct. And most of all, she trained us to watch out for each other like brothers! Without her, I’m positive most of us wouldn’t be here today. Sure, she’s tough! But she’s honest and she cares! If she were evil, would she have joined us on patrols, and on several occasions, saved many of us from trolls and orc attacks? And most importantly, would she have volunteered to direct the defense of the weakest part of our walls, then lead a rescue effort into the most heavily enemy-controlled part of town to save what towers she could? Why don’t you ask yourselves what she personally has done to deserve your hatred instead of just looking skin deep!”
With that, Higs took a deep breath and looked like he was about to run down the stairs, but he turned back to the crowd. “One more thing, the men and I talked it over last night and the way we see it, Xarparion is no more, and we are no longer getting paid by the school. That pretty much makes us mercenaries now, and mercenaries get to decide who they follow.“ He looked apologetically toward the captain. “No offense, sir. You are a fine administrator, but you are no field officer. If our lives are going to be on the line in battle, we will follow Mistress Maya’s orders from this point forward.” The entire guard contingent roared their approval as Higs bounded down the steps, gathering a lot of back slaps and congratulatory whispers in the process. The crowd was again strangely subdued as if processing all this information; individuals looked down at their feet and shook their heads mildly as if trying to sort it all out.
I took the opportunity to reach over and give Maya’s hand a squeeze as I saw the first crack of emotion cross her face - a small tear ran down her cheek, which she wiped away self-consciously. Hons jumped up on the platform and with a wink at us, he whispered, “Please don’t hate me for this, but it will help.” He then turned to the muted crowd and shouted, “So to review what just happened…your choices are to go with Naton and his friends, who slunk out of Xarparion dressed as servants and failed to use their “most powerful wizard” status to defend their tower, their school, or even their fellow human beings against the undead horde. Don’t forget to thank them if you lost friends or loved ones they might have helped save! Oh…and their plan is to storm back into the school and face the enemy head on! Or you can follow the enchanters, who most of us owe our lives to, and who plan to lead us to a nice safe fortress. And one more small item - the enchanters are the ones with the loyalty of the guard force and have all the food and survival gear! Who votes to go with Naton?” Since they were shackled, the fire wizards couldn’t vote, but looking around they were dismayed to see not a single person raise their hand. “Alright, who wants to go with Headmaster Rosa and her enchanters?” This time almost everyone raised their hands, except the guards who didn’t seem to think they needed to. Hons took his time, pretending to look around carefully and count the votes. “It seems we are going on to the fortress!”
Smiling, Hons took a few steps back and, grabbing a surprised Maya and me by the elbows, urged us forward together. “Who wants to ask Alex and Maya some quick questions? But one at a time please.” Then so only we could hear, whispered, “This is the part I’m sorry for,” before sliding away. Maya and I looked at each other in hopeless confusion as question after question was fired at us. Suddenly,
With that, Higs took a deep breath and looked like he was about to run down the stairs, but he turned back to the crowd. “One more thing, the men and I talked it over last night and the way we see it, Xarparion is no more, and we are no longer getting paid by the school. That pretty much makes us mercenaries now, and mercenaries get to decide who they follow.“ He looked apologetically toward the captain. “No offense, sir. You are a fine administrator, but you are no field officer. If our lives are going to be on the line in battle, we will follow Mistress Maya’s orders from this point forward.” The entire guard contingent roared their approval as Higs bounded down the steps, gathering a lot of back slaps and congratulatory whispers in the process. The crowd was again strangely subdued as if processing all this information; individuals looked down at their feet and shook their heads mildly as if trying to sort it all out.
I took the opportunity to reach over and give Maya’s hand a squeeze as I saw the first crack of emotion cross her face - a small tear ran down her cheek, which she wiped away self-consciously. Hons jumped up on the platform and with a wink at us, he whispered, “Please don’t hate me for this, but it will help.” He then turned to the muted crowd and shouted, “So to review what just happened…your choices are to go with Naton and his friends, who slunk out of Xarparion dressed as servants and failed to use their “most powerful wizard” status to defend their tower, their school, or even their fellow human beings against the undead horde. Don’t forget to thank them if you lost friends or loved ones they might have helped save! Oh…and their plan is to storm back into the school and face the enemy head on! Or you can follow the enchanters, who most of us owe our lives to, and who plan to lead us to a nice safe fortress. And one more small item - the enchanters are the ones with the loyalty of the guard force and have all the food and survival gear! Who votes to go with Naton?” Since they were shackled, the fire wizards couldn’t vote, but looking around they were dismayed to see not a single person raise their hand. “Alright, who wants to go with Headmaster Rosa and her enchanters?” This time almost everyone raised their hands, except the guards who didn’t seem to think they needed to. Hons took his time, pretending to look around carefully and count the votes. “It seems we are going on to the fortress!”
Smiling, Hons took a few steps back and, grabbing a surprised Maya and me by the elbows, urged us forward together. “Who wants to ask Alex and Maya some quick questions? But one at a time please.” Then so only we could hear, whispered, “This is the part I’m sorry for,” before sliding away. Maya and I looked at each other in hopeless confusion as question after question was fired at us. Suddenly,
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