Sara, and looked now to see if she was unharmed. Gaining his feet as soon as the blast subsided, Garret rushed to help Sara back to her feet, apologizing repeatedly for his near assault. It was then that the trumpets blared from across the courtyard, announcing the end of this test, and declaring Garret, its champion. Seth feeling exhausted beyond measure, merely clung to consciousness, hardly baring witness to his brother's triumph.
Nearly an hour passed as healers mended those final victims of Garrets viscous assaults that they were able, and with that hour all those who had come to the choosing ceremony were divided into groups, a couple such groups having already been ushered off to their intended positions in service to the Kingdom. For the most part however, the majority of those who had come to the ceremony remained, returned to the courtyard in three separate groups. As far as Garret could tell the first group contained those who had stayed to fight, but had fallen early on in the ensuing battle, though these people were lined up and each questioned by a procession of high ranking officials of the court and the military, and then subdivided further into smaller groups which were summarily led away from the courtyard.
The second group as far as Garret could tell were those that had lasted longer in the melee, showing more potential perhaps, and these were questioned more vigorously and also subdivided into smaller groups and ushered from the courtyard as well. Those who remained in the courtyard now, were those who had lasted the longest in the battle that had been used to test their abilities. Though still near a hundred and fifty strong, this group was the smallest of the three larger groups, and before long all those needing mending were mended, and Garret was happy to find his brother conscious once again, and surprised to find that Ashton remained in this group as well.
Seth had come in and out of consciousness several times as the healer worked to piece his various body parts back together. He had witnessed glimpses here and there of the happenings within the courtyard, though his understandings of those glimpses were tenuous at best. As he woke for the final time he was happy to find Garret, Sara, and Ashton all gathered around him, each of them smiling down upon him as he struggled to sit. The aged healer proclaiming his work done, Seth was helped to his feet by Garret, and summarily hugged by Sara who clung to him as if he had just arisen from the dead. After a few moments Seth’s companions filled him in of the events of the last hour or so, and Seth was impressed to find that thus far he had managed to stay with both his brother and Sara, the only thing he really hoped to do at this point. However he also knew now, that the ceremony was not over yet.
Chapter 12
The day had seemed an eternity, and now that evening approached, all who had witnessed the events of the day felt the after effects of their earlier actions, knowing all too well, that this day was nowhere near over, and after another quarter of an hour those remaining in the courtyard were instructed to form a line, and as before Seth, his brother, and companions found themselves near the center of the line. Looking up and down the line Seth was appalled at the condition of all those that remained. Every single face was smeared with blood, each person's leather armor was drenched in both blood and sweat, though beginning to dry lending the air an unpleasant scent. Everyone remaining looked on the brink of passing out due to exhaustion, each of them looking worn well beyond their years. This Seth thought as a procession emerged from the canopy at the end of the courtyard, and began stopping before each of those in line, where several from the procession questioned the bloodied and battered men and women who yet remained.
The first and foremost of those in the procession was a large man wearing the polished armor of a knight of Valdadore. Beside him walked another armored man, though this man’s armor had a different crest upon it. Behind them walked a woman in a white robe with golden blonde hair falling down her back and shoulders. With the woman walked two men who too each wore robes. The first was in a deep red color, his face obscured by a deep cowl. The second man wore a grey robe the color of ash, his face likewise obscured. Behind these three, another man walked a short distance behind. He wore green leggings, the color of springtime grass and a tunic of the same deep color. His were graceful movements, his strides long and elegant as if he weighed nothing at all. Behind the man in green eight more people followed. Each of these were dressed in normal if not luxurious clothing and none of them stood out in the small crowd except for one man who carried with him a large tome, its pages open, and in his opposite hand he held a quill ready to write.
As the small procession neared the first person in the line they each shifted their positions. The majority of the group remaining back a short distance. Only the knight, the woman in white, and the two men in robes of red and gray actually approached those waiting to be chosen. The other armored man falling back to join the rest of those who had come with the procession. This is how the group remained as they made their slow progress from person to person working their way ever slowly down the line. After talking to each of those waiting to be chosen they would send the person to the man with the tome who would then scribe something quickly in his book before sending them to stand in the middle of the large open courtyard. As the group worked their way down the line those who had already been chosen had began to form small groups at various locations having been chosen for different roles. The four companions watched the progress with a mix of interest and anxiety as one peculiar person caught their interest, particularly that of Garret. The procession had stopped at a short man for a particularly long time and appeared to be discussing something with the man. That was not what had gained Garret’s attention as it had already happened several times since the procession had started. What had grabbed Garret’s attention was the point when the three in robes had fallen back a step to allow the knight to speak to the small man alone. This had not previously occurred. The knight conversed with the man shortly, and apparently having come to a decision they shook hands and the short man left his place in line to speak to the man holding the tome. Having taken the short man’s information the apparent record keeper pointed the short man in the direction of the companions. This is what caught Seth, Sara, and Ashton’s attention. As the man approached all four watched him come to stand alone, apparently forming a new group for which no one else had been chosen. That however was not what was remarkable. As the man walked over halfway the distance toward the companions they were better able to discern his features. He appeared much older than they for he already had a thick beard braided down his chest and long hair cropped at his shoulders. His eyes were deep set and he was squinting as if the dim evening sun hurt his eyes. He had a large bulbous nose that compromised the majority of his wide rounded face. As it turned out however he was not a short man as they had each presumed. He was indeed short with thick muscled limbs, his torso looked entirely too large above his squat legs and his arms were a little longer than they should have been. The problem with the companions' early classification of the man was not that he had been short. In fact he was quite tall, for a dwarf. Though none of them had ever actually seen a dwarf each had heard descriptions or seen paintings of the dwarves. Dwarves rarely if ever ventured out of their cavernous mountain homes however, and so it was that none of them had expected to see one at the choosing ceremony. Yet here one stood. He appeared to be tall enough that his head would nearly reach Garret’s chest, though he had much more muscle mass than Garret, and Garret was relatively big for human standards. The four companions examined the dwarf independently each deciding in due time that it was rude to stare and each on their own eventually turned their gazes back to the procession that grew ever nearer.
The procession had made quick progress as the four had been inspecting the dwarf, and now there were only about a dozen and a half people remaining between the procession and Ashton, the first of the four companions to be chosen. The procession was close enough that their conversations could now be heard, and each of the four companions watched and listened to prepare themselves for what they too would soon face.
Seth tried in vain to remain hopeful. After the battle today he would likely be chosen for something he did not want. He knew it was possible that he and Garret both be chosen for the army in some capacity, which eased his fear of being separated from his brother, something he had never in his whole life fathomed possible. However if he was chosen for the army it was likely Sara would be chosen for something so different that they would be forced to flee the Kingdom in hopes of starting a life somewhere outside the realm where they wouldn't be branded as traitors. All this Seth thought as the procession neared.
They watched as another boy was sent to join the largest group in the courtyard which they now knew to be those joining the regular soldiers of Valdadore’s armies. They too were paying attention when a young girl was sent to join a group near that of the chosen soldiers as she was picked to be a servant in the castle proper. As those
