The Amphitheater of Indu had desded into an oppressive silence, a quiet so deep it seemed to press against the ears of all the young nobility present. Every whisper of movement, every shallow breath, felt amplified in that quiet. It was all Krion could do to avoid fidgeting.

  The Altar of the Foresworn now pulsed like a heartbeat, casting shifting hues of green fme across the seated rows of nobility. In the almost ethereal glow, tense faces will filled with equal parts awe and apprehension.

  While the fmes attracted the attention of the majority present, Krion could not take his eyes off the Lord Sentinel. Standing so close to the fmes made the bck armor he wore lose its pristine appearance. Revealed by that green light, the dark metal ptes now bore the wear of tless battles, its surface scratched and dulled in pces. Yet this almost seemed to add to the aura of strength around the Lord Sentinel.

  Above the Altar of the Foresworn, the green fme pulsed again, brighter this time, as though it were alive and growing impatient. More than a few nobles fli the sudden surge, their collective unease deepening. In the seats he front, the ss of high-ranking houses sat with carefully schooled expressions, though rigid postures held by many of them betrayed the presence of some of that same tension that rippled through the rows further back from the stage.

  Perhaps that was the reason why no one moved at first.

  The Lord Sentinel’s mask was still, but Krion could sense a subtle shift in the man. It was as if the anding presence he had exerted before had bee colder, more oppressive. Krion’s heart rate quied.

  With a single deliberate movement, the Lord Seepped, the force behind it, undeniable. The Lord Sentinel’s voice, when it came, was low — almost a growl.

  “Do you think the Empire will wait for you?” His words were like thunder, reverberating off the stone walls. Krio a chill run down his spine, and though he had not moved, the sensation of being caught in the Lord Sentinel’s gaze was overwhelming. The question he had asked settled almost like a physical weight on Krion’s shoulders.

  “You have been given a and, a you hesitate.” The Lord Sentinel’s voice rose higher, cutting through the tension like the bde he held. “You are heirs to the Empire, ss of noble houses. You are not children, waiting to be coddled. You are here to prove your worth, to show that you stand as future leaders. The Empire does not, will not, wait for those who falter.”

  The sileurned and began to stretch again, like the calm before the storm. Krion looked around at the other nobles around him. None of them made to stand.

  They were all waiting for someone else to make the first move.

  The Lord Seood unmoving for several long moments, his mask fixed on the room with uling iy. Though Krion could not see his eyes, he khat he was watg them all, waiting. Still, no oood.

  Waiting.

  They all tio wait, Krion among them.

  And then, in a voice that held no room fument, the Lord Sentinel spoke again, even more anding than before.

  “Move! Those within the ranks of the low nobility will begin,” he ordered, his voice crag with authority. “The ceremony does not wait for you.”

  It was not just an order. It was a and fed of iron. And in that instant, Krion realized the true nature of what was happening. This wasn’t just a ceremony; it was a trial. A test of their resolve, of their ce. Those who hesitated, who faltered now, might survive the Imperial Academy. But they would not make it past what came after. The Empire demahose who would take a. And the Lord Sentinel would accept nothing less.

  Almost as ohe young nobility sitting in the rgest se of seats, those furthest away from the stage, rose to begin making their way to the stage. Those leadihose from the ranks of the families that possessed knighthoods. At the front was a young woman whose determined expression was not enough to distract from the tremble ieps. Even from this far away, Krion could see her brown eyes darting nervously between the Lord Sentinel oage and the green fmes of the Altar of the Foresworn. For her part, she didn’t hesitate to climb the five steps to the stage itself.

  Her uniform, adorned with the modest insignia of her rank, stood in stark trast to the brilliant emerald fmes before her. As she grew closer, the fmes leaped higher and almost seemed to bend down over her form. Despite the tension in the air, she held her head high, her resolve carrying her forward.

  As she stopped before the crystal altar, the Lord Sentinel’s gaze seemed to weigh her worth, his masked visage inscrutable. With a slow, deliberate motion, he gestured with his gaued hand for her to kneel.

  With a deep breath, she sank to one knee, her head bowed in submission. The green fme surged higher, its iy illuminating her with a glow that seemed almost alive. Though shadows pyed across her features, those who watched her could see the look of determination on her face.

  “Do you accept the birthright bestowed by your noble lineage, swearing loyalty to the Emperor, the Seven Prihe Imperial Family, and the Empire?” the Lord Sentinel intoned, his voice eg over the gathered nobility.

  The young woman, eyes still fixed on the dang fmes above her, hesitated as she tried to find her voice. Visibly steadying herself, she spoke. “I accept.” Though the words were quiet, they carried through the amphitheater.

  The emerald fmes reared, then plunged down to e her.

  Several people in the audience screamed as the young woman was pletely obscured by the fire. But the fme did not buro ash. Instead, in surrounding her, it seemed also to be caressing her form, perhaps examining her. It danced and coiled, f strange shapes as it sparked in the air.

  The moments stretched, but as suddenly as it had begun it was over. The green fme pulled itself free from the young woman. She remained kneeling, untouched by the fire, yet something about her had visibly ged. When she rose, her posture was straighter, as if the ceremony had awakened something withio grant her more fidence. She opened her eyes, and for a moment Krion could have sworn they gleamed with a silvery light. But then it was gone, and he was unsure if he had actually seen anything.

  A collective exhale swept the amphitheater as the gathered nobles released their tension, a low murmur pig up. At the dire of the Lord Sehe young woman turned ahe stage, her steps quicker than when she had goo the crystal altar. Whispered gratutions followed her back to her seat at the rear of the amphitheater.

  The tension about what might happen being broken, the line of low-ranking nobles moved forward, one by oepping over to kneel by the crystal altar. They too were asked the question by the Lord Sentinel, and without exception, they answered their acceptand braved the emerald fmes. Some hesitated, their voices trembling as they spoke their vows, while others answered with the determination of the first. The emerald fme, impartial and unyielding, judged them all the same.

  However, the ceremony was not without its darker, more harrowing moments.

  As the ranks of those from families with knighthoods transitioned into those who desded from barons and then vists, a young man with red hair strode forward with a fident swagger out of pce with the solemnity of the ritual. His uniform was immacute, ador the shoulder with the insignia of his rank and his family’s house, but something about him was off to Krion. He couldn’t quite pce why, but looking closer at him showed that his steps were exaggerated, his grin a bit too wide, and his posture a bit too casual.

  When it was his turopped before the crystal altar to kneel before pulsating emerald fmes. Krion was not the only one whose face reflected shock as the young off the Lord Seo give his respoo the partially unstated question.

  “Yes, I accept!” he decred before the crystal altar, his voice loud, almost demanding. At being cut off, the Lord Sentinel’s mask turned ever so slightly to the young noble, but he did not say anything else, not even a rebuke.

  The fme reacted as it had with all the nobility swearing their loyalty, surging upward and then plunging down to engulf him in its embrace. Despite the rudeness of his respohe fme danced along his limbs and did whatever it had with all the others that had been before him.

  Then the fme shifted.

  The vibrant green turned a deep, menag bck. A bloodcurdling scream was ripped from the kneeling noble. He bent over, clearly trying to use his arms to push himself to his feet and out of the fmes, but the fire was too intense. He writhed within the fmes, his cries of agony growing fainter by the sed as his body was ed. In a final burst of bed fme, the fading figure within its grasp fred into ashes. Bck returo green as the fmes rose up above the crystal altar once again. The young man was gone, not even ashes left behind.

  “What the hell happened?” Krion found himself saying in horror as panicked voices started rising all around him. The sound came behind him, but he did not turn to look as the Lord Sentinel seized his attention.

  Stepping forward before full-blown chaos could desd on the amphitheater at what everyone had just withe Lord Sentinel’s voice, cold and anding again, cut through the noise like the sharp edge of his massive sword.

  “Let this be a reminder,” he said, his tone demanding their attention. “The fmes do not lie. Deception is treason, and treason is death.”

  The words settled over the gathered nobles like a death knell, chilling in their finality. Many froze, some averting their gazes from the Lord Sentinel, while their peers, likely w who else among them might harbor secrets that could end in such a gruesome fate as what they had just witnessed. For his part, Krion was not too worried. Horrified, yes, as who wouldn’t be at witnessing su abruptly violeh. No, he was not worried because he had already made up his mind multiple times over that he would do whatever he had to do to be able to make it back to Earth to save his family and friends. Sihat would mean he would have to grow to bee strong enough to be an asset to the Empire, he did not think there would be any csh between what he aimed to do and what the Empire would expect of him.

  The Lord Seood unmoving a moment longer, perhaps ensuring that those gathered fully uood his warning. He theured for the young noble s in lio step forward. The ceremony resumed, but the air remained heavy even as those in line shifted into a smaller group posed of the middle nobility. No one else died, and the sed group was almost done as well.

  Soon, it would be Krion’s turn.

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