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  For a moment I thought Ludas hadn’t fulfilled his promise and I was going to end up on some backwater planet, but then recognition entered his eyes.

  “Oh, that,” he said. “It was the least I could do after you saved me from the lizards.”

  I was starting to wonder where the Ludas who I’d endured while at the Academy was, but then he returned.

  “Try to smile, Poor Boy,” he said to me from the corner of his mouth while waving to the dignitaries above us. “You’re meant to be celebrating.”

  “All of our classmates and friends are dead,” I said.

  “But we are alive. So be happy, at least for the broadcast.”

  I was ecstatic to be here awaiting my graduation, but the caskets behind me drained any desire to show it outwardly. All forty-eight of them represented the bodies of the fallen cadets I’d spent three years training with. The other two were for Sergeant Myers, the only person besides Alice who hadn’t called me Poor Boy; and the point clerk who’d died in my arms.

  I tried to avoid looking at the parents of the fallen cadets. One face caught my attention, and suddenly I was walking down from the podium. Every eye watched me as I waded through the crowd on the ground floor and climbed the steps to the middle section where the members of the RTF were seated.

  Alice’s family was gathered together, her mother clutching a tear-soaked handkerchief, her brothers and sisters silent. Under different circumstances, they might have been cheering and waving as Alice prepared to graduate as a jump mage. Standing above them all like a sentinel of honor, was Alice’s father. I shook his hand, and he returned a firm grip. Dozens of medals lined the right breast of his RTF veteran’s royal blue robes.

  “Congratulations, Nicholas. You’re a fine lad. You deserve this.”

  “I’m sorry Alice couldn’t be here today, sir.” I choked out the words.

  “I’m sorry, too. At least I know she’s a hero.” He sniffed and gave me a strong clap on the shoulder. Alice’s mother smiled weakly at me, though she didn’t seem able to bring herself to speak.

  With a nod, I walked back to the podium. Alice was definitely a hero, even if she hadn’t been the one to jump us back to the Academy’s starship. I wiped a stray tear from my face as trumpets blared.

  A disc laced with gravity runes carried two figures over the crowd to the podium. Duke Edmund Barnes and a man I didn’t recognize wearing the purple robes of a mage stepped between Ludas and me.

  The duke wore a bright red coat lined with expensive fur and a white silk tunic pulling against his ample belly. His hand sat on the pommel of his jewel-encrusted sword as he looked out at the masses. I couldn’t help noticing the sneer he gave them, but it soon vanished when he turned to me. “Hello, Nicholas.” I bowed my head, and he turned to Ludas. “Son.”

  Ludas seemed to cower before the imposing presence of his father. I didn’t blame him. The duke exuded a commanding aura, and it wasn’t just the Legendary runes glimmering along his garments when they caught the light. This man wielded power beyond anything even the grand knights of the RTF were granted, and he had a personality to match.

  Duke Barnes raised his jeweled hands to the audience, and the runes glowing around his clean-shaven neck enhanced his voice as he spoke. “Greetings nobles, dignitaries, warriors in the Royal Trident Forces, and subjects of our illustrious Queen Catrina, who wishes she could have been here today. Unfortunately, the constant threat of insurrection has made her presence impossible. Nevertheless, this ceremony is marred by a horrible tragedy. These empty caskets behind me represent those cadets who might have become squires today, were it not for the Grendel hordes which took them from us.”

  When the duke finished speaking, the trumpets began the funeral ode, and the crowd silenced until the final stanza played. I thought of Alice and how much I cared for my only friend in the Academy. I swallowed back my tears as the trumpets died down. I should have asked her out. I should have at least told her how I felt about her, but now I would never be able to.

  “With the Fallen watching from the furthest star, I present the cadets who will become squires today.” The duke adjusted the crown sitting atop his permed mop and held out his arm toward me. “Nicholas Lyons, Outlander, and survivor of the Tyranus Tragedy. His low birth was not the only obstacle he conquered to be here today. This cadet showed himself valiant against insurmountable odds with the assistance of the other graduating cadet.”

  The duke raised his other arm to Ludas. “Ludas Barnes, nobleman of the Core Worlds, Heir to House Barnes, and my son. Showing an unmatched bravery, he fought against an innumerable horde of Grendel monsters, and brought a fellow cadet home.”

  I bristled a little at the duke’s exaggeration and tried to ignore the way Ludas puffed up his chest. I was a few seconds away from becoming a squire, and I didn’t want a spoiled aristocrat to sour it.

  “I present these squires elect to the subjects of our beloved Queen.” Reaching both arms to the stars, Barnes asked the crowd, “Do you, the people of the Caledonian Kingdom, accept these men as squires in the Royal Trident Forces?”

  The crowd broke into applause, and my chest blossomed with pride. Even in the tragedy, there was a silver lining. The broadcast drones zoomed over the crowd and faced me. I stared into their optics and thought about Mom watching me from home.

  “This is for you, Mom,” I whispered.

  Duke Barnes faced the mage. “Then I shall request High Sorcerer Silvester Polgar to anoint these men with the graduation honors of squire runes.”

  The dour sorcerer took my right palm. All along the surface of his hand were scars. He removed a small canister from his robes and flicked it open. Bright gas fluttered out from it and then vanished. Inside, was the precious substance known as Arcane Dust. Grendel items brought back from rifts could be dismantled to produce this incredibly powerful material. The sorcerer placed a jewel-encased pinky finger into the canister and removed a tiny fraction of the glowing mineral.

  His eyes met mine, and for the first time, I noticed the scars fracturing the runes tattooed to Polgar’s pale cheeks. The sight only increased my nerves as he held my right hand and used the Dust-soaked jewel to pierce my palm. I clenched my jaw as Polgar made an incision in the shape of the squire rune.

  Arcane energy warmed my hand and flowed along my limbs until every part of me was about to burst. The magic infused my soul, making me something more than I had been before. This was the secret humanity stole from the Grendels, the secret granting us untold power from across the stars. Rune magic. The sensation faded, and all I was left with was a throbbing hand.

  Polgar crossed the podium, his cloak billowing out behind him. He took Ludas’ hand and went through the same process.

  “Now,” the duke said, “you shall kneel before me as the vector of our Queen’s divine graces, and enter the Holy Order of Squires.”

  I took my place in front of the duke with Ludas beside me. I bowed my head as the duke pressed his ceremonial sword onto each of my shoulders three times.

  “Stand, Squires. Your path to knighthood has only just begun. Go into the vast corners of the universe, fighting our Grendel foes and winning their relics for the kingdom. Once you have achieved bounties equal to 50,000 Kingdom Points, you shall be eligible for the knighthood examination.”

  The duke grabbed our arms and thrust them into the air. “Honor your Queen and serve your kingdom for the rest of your days!”

  Trumpets erupted into a celebratory chorus, and streamers burst from the drones, showering the crowd in dozens of colors.

  The air above the crowd crackled, and the image of Queen Catrina appeared. Her golden hair framed an angelic face, and the sapphires encrusted into her crown made her azure eyes sparkle. She raised an ivory skinned hand and stretched her slender fingers in a royal blessing. Unable to do otherwise, I genuflected. Everyone followed, and the amphitheater went quiet as she spoke.

  “Congratulations, Squires. For as long as the Caledonian Kingdom ha
s existed in this section of the vast galaxies known to mankind, we have needed warriors. You shall defend against the terrors from beyond the rifts, and, should there be a need, you shall be called upon to fight against enemies in this dimension.”

  Her beautiful face became sorrowful, and I wanted to reach out to her so I might give her solace. Everything I’d heard about the Queen’s irresistible allure was true. I couldn’t tell if I was feeling this way because of magic, or because she was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen.

  “My condolences for the many losses on Tyranus,” she continued. “Your sons and daughters were heroes, giving their lives for the Caledonian Kingdom.”

  “What happened to my son?” a nobleman screeched from the arena’s midsection, and the Queen’s image flickered before she disappeared. “I demand an explanation! It was supposed to be easy! No one was supposed to die!”

  The audience let out a collective gasp as they turned to the man. I could see Alice’s father nod, and it looked as if a few other nobles were about to speak.

  “Thank you for your devotion,” the duke said to the nobleman before anyone else could speak, “but please refrain from calling out.”

  The duke’s strategy didn’t work, and others from the crowd voiced their anger until there were dozens of voices hurling demands for an explanation at Duke Barnes. They soon became a furor, and I feared these mourning noble families might scale the podium.

  The duke nodded at Polgar, and the sorcerer signaled with his hand to someone behind the velvet curtains. Suddenly, a strange white noise filled my ears. I strained to hear a stringed instrument play beyond the noise, and then it was gone.

  “Rest assured, the fallen cadets are heroes.” The duke seemed like he was having trouble maintaining his smile. “The proceedings are now over.”

  The trumpets played another song while the crowds shuffled out of the amphitheater in single file. I couldn’t understand how their moods changed so swiftly. They’d seemed on the cuff of rioting, now they were exiting the ceremony in an orderly manner rivaling an army of marching soldiers. I knew the reason for all of it when Duke Barnes led Ludas and me through the back curtain.

  An ensemble of knights clad in armor were busy strumming stringed weapons. Their chest plates were inscribed with silver mandolins. These were herald knights with the magical equipment that affected others with their music. Their presence here explained the sudden change in the crowd’s mood.

  “Sometimes people require a slight push in the right direction,” High Sorcerer Silvester Polgar said as he came alongside me. “A few runesongs from these heralds and the people calm down soon enough.”

  I sighed and nodded. Those people the heralds manipulated with their magic were right to be angry, but I couldn’t tell the sorcerer that. The nobleman’s outburst had soured the ceremony, and he had not been wrong. They did deserve an explanation, but if the duke had told them about the mutation event , they would only wonder if it had been their son or daughter who had caused the anomaly.

  The sorcerer touched me on the shoulder, and the scars made his face pull into a hideous approximation of a smile. “You’ll learn in time that the people out there,” he pointed through the curtain, “can’t possibly understand everything which occurs in the Royal Trident Forces.” He slinked away, his robes grazing the floor as though he was levitating.

  I knew then the sorcerer wasn’t my kind of man.

  I walked to the amphitheater’s reception, and lost count of the accolades from passing men and women along the way. I took their praise with gratefulness, but the deaths of my fellow cadets were never far from my mind.

  At the reception, a yeoman was standing in front of a console, and she smiled at me as I approached the assignment board.

  “You’ll be pleased to know you received your requested assignment,” she said.

  My heart pounded as I read the board.

  Squire Ludas Barnes (Caledonian noble) - RTF Valor (Assault Cachalot)

  Squire Nicholas Lyons (Outlander) - Deira Sector Outpost

  “There must be some mistake,” I said aloud, unable to believe what I was reading.

  “Impossible,” the yeoman said, still smiling. Behind her pleasantness, I could tell she’d endured a long day. Although she was beautiful, her eyes were puffy from a lack of sleep. She’d probably been dealing with all the paperwork after the disaster on Tyranus, and the last thing she wanted to deal with was me.

  “Marquess Ludas Barnes specifically requested you be sent to this station,” she said. “Normally we don’t call in favors, and I told him as much, then he threatened me. Said I’d lose my job if I didn’t put you on Deira. He told me you wanted a break after what happened on Tyranus. I don’t blame you.” She touched my arm lightly. “It couldn’t have been easy seeing what you saw.”

  I heard laughter from the exit corridor and cocked my head so I could see past the yeoman’s slender figure. Ludas was busy talking with a bunch of robed nobles gathered at the doorway, a shit-eating grin on his face.

  “Thank you,” I said. The yeoman winked at me, and I stormed over to Ludas.

  He shone with pride under the attention of the other nobles, making grand sweeping motions with his arms. “I was exhausted and barely able to move, but I persevered. Using all of my energy, I cut off one of the Grendel’s heads. At least a dozen more came for me, so I performed a spinning attack. Like this.” What Ludas did next looked more suited to a ballroom than a battlefield.

  I pushed through the nobles and grabbed him by the shoulders. “What do you know about the Deira Sector Outpost?” I was trying not to screech, and my voice cracked. The nobles gasped, but I ignored them.

  Ludas avoided my gaze. “Uhhh…I…You fought really well on Tyranus, and I figured you deserved a break.”

  “Is this the one you saved, Ludas?” a noblewoman asked, looking at me as if I was some kind of pauper. “You should be grateful, Poor Boy.”

  I ignored the wench and narrowed my eyes at Ludas. I could have kicked his ass right there in front of his friends, but I didn’t really care whether the nobles knew the truth about what happened on Tyranus. I just wanted him to fix my assignment.

  Ludas pulled me aside, out of hearing range of the nobles. “The truth is, Poor Boy, I didn’t get you assigned to the Valor because there was only one open slot for a squire. It’s the best ship, so I’m going to need the spot to help with my career.”

  I gritted my teeth and tried to dismiss the aching desire to pummel him. “Why the Deira Sector Outpost?” Deira was the furthest location under Caledonian rule, and it bordered Deep Space. Nothing ever happened there. It was practically a place for knights to retire and still earn currency.

  Ludas looked down at my clenched fists and gulped. “Uhh. . . actually, I wanted you as far from the kingdom as possible. I can’t have you going around telling everyone about how you brought me back from Tyranus, or reminding me I owe you favors.”

  My stomach sunk when I heard his admission of betrayal. I wanted to believe Tyranus might have changed Ludas. The horrors we’d seen should have turned him into an honorable man. Instead, it seemed being labeled a hero had made him more of a dick. Maybe I should have left him planetside to become Grendel-meat. At least I wouldn’t be looking at his smug face right now as he explained why he’d got me the worst assignment possible.

  Ludas puffed his chest up when he realized I wasn’t going to pummel him. “You understand the position I’m in, don’t you? You’re an Outlander. The RTF doesn’t work like it used to. Not since King Justinian died. We nobles run things now. You should be happy about the Deira Sector Outpost. If the Pure-Blood faction gets their way, there won’t be any Outlanders among the Space Knights. Stationed all those light years away might allow you to avoid that. Besides, at least you won’t have to fight any more of those terrible lizards again. I’m doing you a favor, Poor Boy.” He gave me a smile filled with gleaming white teeth. They looked like bowling pins, and my fist was one bad decisio
n away from scoring a strike.

  The more I stared at him, the more I thought about pinning Ludas against the wall by his throat and feeling the last of his breath leave his lungs. But I controlled myself. With a grunt, I turned away and left him to resume telling tales of his bravado to the other nobles.

  “I knew you’d understand, Poor Boy!” Ludas called out as I walked back to the yeoman.

  She fluttered her eyes at me as I approached. “Did you sort things out with Marquess Barnes?”

  “He made a mistake. I’m not meant to be on the Deira Sector Outpost. Can you arrange a new assignment? Please,” I added.

  “You’re much politer than Marquess Barnes was, but there’s nothing I can do. Changing your assignment now would require someone with authorization far beyond what I have. Even if you are a hero.” She stepped out from behind the console and leaned against it in a display of her long legs. “Do you have any plans tonight?”

  I gently pushed her hand away from where it was playing with my coat collar. “Thanks, maybe some other time. I have to see someone.”

  Someone with high enough authorization to get me onto a half-decent starship. I squared my shoulders as I walked past the group of sneering nobles and made my way to the carriage station.

  If Ludas wasn’t going to change my assignment, I’d go ask his father.

  Chapter 3

  I pressed the notifier-button beside the steel door bearing the red crest of the House of Barnes. The intersecting curls and slashes looked like a tower wrapped in vines. Apparently, the more elaborate the crest, the more important the noble family. Every crest I’d seen looked a bit ridiculous, but I didn’t understand much about the way the aristocracy did things.

  “Enter,” the duke’s voice crackled from the intercom above me.

  The doors folded open, and I stepped through.

  Duke Barnes sat on a high-backed throne at the far end of the vast room. As the expensive carpet deadened the sound of my footsteps, my eyes were drawn to the suits of Runetech armor standing to either side of the aisle. The Arcane Dust had not yet faded, so many of them glowed with runic power. Every item was Legendary class.