PART II - ACCOLADES AND APPOINTMENTS

"Good evening," the Arkan began, his deep voice hardly seeming to need amplification as it washed over the crowd. "I will begin by wishing all of you the happiest of Midsummer celebrations. I am going to keep my words brief, primarily because these … 'shish kabobs' smell absolutely amazing and I can't eat them while I'm talking to all of you." There was a ripple of collective chuckling around the room in response, even though it likely wasn't completely a joke.

"I have been in the army for a long, long time," Pelidri began, glancing quickly down at his own prepared notes. "Longer than I'd care to admit, and in that time I have seen many, many things. Times of war, times of peace, and the coronations of many kings and queens in all three kingdoms. I was there when the Slaver Wars brought the Free Folk of the three kingdoms together in the common cause. From that struggle, despite the many losses, we …" His voice suddenly cracked slightly as he glanced down at his notes again. Clearing his throat, he continued, turning quickly to the next page after a momentary pause. "Let us just say I've been around and seen a great deal, and we'll leave it at that." It was obvious he had skipped over something, and Callie wondered if it had brought up a sudden memory of his daughter. It would explain the skip ahead.

"With all that time, I've become quite adept at recognizing excellence in soldiers. When such excellence is found, it is important to do more than just recognize it, though, it is necessary to cultivate it, in order to breed the next generation of military leaders. A few days ago, I witnessed first-hand a soldier rising far above what might be expected of her simple rank of 'recruit'. This soldier demonstrated not just greatness of skill, but also greatness of leadership and command in a moment of need, and did it by instinct alone. That is worthy of recognition and cultivation."

"Who do you think he m-m-means?" Pixyl whispered to Callie. "You? Jesca maybe?"

Callie shook her head and then covertly pointed a finger towards Lhawni, who had her back to them to watch the Arkan. She leaned in close, her lips almost touching Pixyl's ear. "It's got to be her," she whispered. "The uniform?"

"Why? What did she do?"

"Shh," Callie shushed back.

"While I may be from another kingdom," Pelidri continued, "and an officer in another army, my recommendation and accolades have the support of the officers here, and I have been given the honor of bestowing them." He glanced down to where Natala was standing off to the side. "Sergeant-Major, if you would bring me the honoree?"

"I would be happy to, Arkan." the Dwarf replied walking to the center and facing the room. Stiffening, she stared ahead, as if looking off into the distance to speak to a crowd, and drew in a deep breath to call to the entire room. "Recruit Lhawni Ivilyan, front and center!"

There were a few shocked gasps around the room from other recruits. Apparently they hadn't made the immediate connection to her uniform that Callie had. As for Lhawni, the shock was just as evident as her face boggled, her finger pointing stupidly to herself. "Me?" she eeped in near silence.

After an interminable few seconds of his friend being petrified in surprise, the silence continuing to hang heavy in the room, it was Tazrok that broke her daze. "Go, Little One," he said. He was trying to be quiet, but it was hard to keep that big voice very soft, and it carried farther than he meant, leading to a few chuckles in the audience. Still, it had been enough, and the Goblin collected her wits before scrambling down her chair, almost tripping over her feet as she scampered to take up a spot in front of Natala. She came to attention, like she had during the command review, touching her fist to her chest, but was unsure what she should do next.

The Sergeant-Major nodded sharply, before walking down the steps to take a spot on Lhawni's left and spinning to face Pelidri. "As you requested, Arkan. Recruit Lhawni Ivilyan," she said with authority, as she touched her own fist to her chest in acknowledgement of completing the Arkan's order.

"Thank you, Sergeant-Major." the Arkan said in response. Natala then stepped off to the side, leaving the Shaman alone to face the ominous Elf. There was a continued silence in the room, as all eyes were focused on Lhawni's back and up at the Arkan. Lhawni glanced once over to her friends at Table 1, seeing the looks of support on their faces, and part of her brain managed to relax ever-so-slightly. Still, she had no idea what was going on!

Stolen story; please report.

Pelidri cleared his throat, addressing Lhawni directly, but also broadcasting for the audience at the same time. "Three days ago, one of your fellow recruits was seriously injured, suffering an almost catastrophic case of mana drain. In response to that moment, you seized command of the scene. You diagnosed her condition and ordered your fellow Shamans to apply specific spells, all while calling out what additional resources you required, and ultimately saving that recruit's life. You did this having had only five weeks of training, and you did this without asking anyone what you should do, or seeking confirmations or approval from the multiple high-ranked officers that were on the scene. Initiative, confidence, and command. Those are some of the best traits of any soldier, Recruit Lhawni Ivilyan. Those are the things that I and other officers are always watching out for, as they cannot be taught, they can only be honed. Traits which you handedly and instinctively demonstrated." Pelidri nodded once towards one side, and then a second time to the other. In turn, as if waiting for their cue, Major Celeste and Legate Galin each stepped forward.

"All rise," the Sergeant-Major called out, and there was a shuffling of chairs as everyone clambered to their feet. Callie and Pixyl raced around the table so their view of their friend wouldn't be blocked, excitedly taking up a spot next to Chown at the front, as Celeste and Galin moved towards Lhawni, closing in on either side.

"Recruit Lhawni Ivilyan," Pelidri said, his voice booming, "for command and leadership in the moment of crisis, and in recognition of your untapped potential, it is my personal honor to hereby promote you to the Imorian rank of Sub-Captain." As he finished, Celeste and Galin reached down, undoing a button to remove the blue cloth from Lhawni's shoulders, replacing each with a red one with a single black line.

"With rank comes responsibility," the Arkan continued, "and you will be expected to rise to that responsibility as you learn to lead others. If you follow your instincts, I have no doubt you and those under you will excel."

A few wild cheers and applause, mostly from other recruits, and probably loudest from Callie and Chown, started rising up. They were quickly squelched as Pelidri held up his hand for silence, apparently having more to say. " I have been given the leave and the honor to issue you your first orders as Sub-Captain." He cleared his throat before speaking even more formally. "Sub-Captain Lhawni Ivilyan, you are hereby appointed to the Officer Training Academy in Imor. Following the completion of your training here, you are to report there directly. There you will learn and train with others showing the same hallmarks of leadership that I have seen in you. The Academy is a place of deep history, having trained some of the finest officers to ever come from Imoria, including your Commandant. I have no doubt you will be their equal, if not exceed them. Congratulations, once again, Sub-Captain."

That did it, and no amount of waved calls for silence could have possibly held back the recruits and others, and as one, the roar of applause resumed. Several kitchen Goblins had come running out from the back, alerted that one of their own was being honored, and whooped it up with everyone else. Even those Goblins pushing the serving carts stopped to do the same. Poor Lhawni stood dumbstruck, completely unsure what to do or to say or, really, unsure of anything. After a few moments, Celeste bent down and whispered something into her ear, causing Lhawni's eyes to go wide in panic. Quickly, she bowed her head towards the Arkan as she touched her chest. "Thank you, Arkan," she said, although her words were completely lost in the pandemonium.

The cheering continued on, Lhawni's green face becoming more red as she was motioned by the Arkan to turn around and face the crowd. Now simply standing there, she didn't know what to do, and honestly was still trying to wrap her head around why she was even up here in the first place. In Lhawni's mind, she hadn't done anything special. Jesca had fallen and she was simply the first one to reach her, so of course she directed everyone as needed as she determined what happened. That's just … normal … right? What made her actions any different than what Ambria or any of the other Healer recruits would have done? How was that special? How was she special? What in the stars had the Arkan seen in her? And what if he was wrong?

"Smile and wave to everyone a couple times," Celeste said quietly out of the corner of her mouth as she casually walked behind Lhawni. The Legate took up a spot next to the Major, both also giving everyone a smile and a wave.

"This is real?" Lhawni asked, looking up and back as she started to idly wave to the room. "He's serious? It's not some kind of a joke that you're all playing on me because I'm a Goblin?"

"Not a joke," Celeste replied, shaking her head. "Not a joke at all."

"You're now an officer, kid, for good and for bad. Better get used to it," Galin said with a laugh. Then he added an ominous and wide-eyed, "... and may the stars have mercy on your soul!"

Eventually the cheering subsided, the Arkan stepping away from the podium before turning to rejoin the long table. People began to sit, resuming conversations, or starting new ones about what they'd just seen, as the serving of the kabobs continued.

"Go sit back down." Celeste said. "Enjoy the evening. You and I will talk soon, Sub-Captain." Then she added, "It might be a couple days. Holiday and all."

"And congratulations again," the Legate added, before both he and the Major followed after the Arkan to take their seats at the big table. For her part, Lhawni just stood in a confused daze, her hand still autonomously waving, as she tried to process what had just happened. It was finally a sharp hiss from Jesca calling her name that caught her attention, and she quickly collected enough of her wits to scamper off, returning to the safety of her friends at Table 1.

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