105 A New Hope (2/2)
And as we stood there, watching the fire grow higher and higher, Aura passed me a wooden branch. On its surface was the name of Jimmy Jonas.
”I thought you might want to pay your respects,” she said.
I hesitated for a few seconds before I took the branch from her hand, our fingers brushing against each other as I did.
”I won 't forget my promise, Jimmy… I'll change things,” I whispered right before tossing the wood into the pyre.
Luca elbowed me in the shoulder. ”We'll change things together, Dean.”
I elbowed him back. ”Sure. Whatever.”
We each landed a few more elbows on each other before a loud ”Ahem!” from Ashley who was standing behind us shut us up.
No, I didn't tell Arah or Ty this. It seemed too personal an experience, too tragic for the daytime. It was definitely not a story for such a bright place like Ed's Chocolate Bar.
”Dean?” Arah called me back into the now. ”You were saying something about a rewards ceremony?”
”Um, yeah,” I replied sheepishly. ”Three nights after the bonfire, we arrived back at Shärleden after being called in by the Chancellor of the Sun.”
I scratched my head and felt a little uncomfortable explaining what happened next to my friends.
”Um, the Trickster's big wigs gave a few officers rewards for their contributions in battle,” I began.
”And you were one of those officers, right?” Ty asked, looking all eager to hear that I'd won a Playstation Five or something equally grand.
”You better have after all the crap you had to go through,” Arah said.
She pointed at the brand new prescription glasses covering my eyes, forcing me to blush slightly. I wasn't sure they looked good on me yet. I certainly wasn't used to them—only got them earlier today, after all.
Yeah, I had glasses now. In the span of a week, my vision had gone from twenty-twenty to include pretty strong astigmatism on both eyes. And if you're wondering if this was due to me overusing Fool's insight, dear reader, then you guessed right.
I didn't need them in the Fayne as my vision was fine over there, but here on Mudgard, I was now required to use glasses for reading. It might seem like a small price to pay for all the use I got of Fool's insight that night, but these small things usually piled up. It wasn't like I wasn't going to overuse them again.
Trying them on now was kind of like my penance for not being a better soldier I had to rely on my fairy gift too much.
I removed the glasses from my face and set them on the table.
”Never going to get used to that,” I said.
”Quit stalling, Dean,” Ty complained. ”Tell us about the ceremony already.”
I scratched the top of my head. ”Fine… chill.”
The memory of that great hall filled with fairies was something I don't think I would ever forget. They were all so regal, dressed in robes of blue that shimmered gold under the light of the Fayne's moon.
All those beautiful faces looking down at us underdressed soldiers in our dirty gear and scarred faces, it really was like finding yourself forced onto a stage full of characters from Tolkien's Lord of the Rings.
As our leader, Great General Darah received the highest praise. She'd been lauded as the victor of the war, but just looking at the deep scowl on her face told me she didn't believe the propaganda.
Indeed, no one really believed we'd won that war, but they were all happy we didn't lose everything. Everyone liked pretending anyway. And Darah was forced to play her role.
She was given a large piece of land in the eastern territory that even included my hilltop, several chests of Leprechauns, and a brand new peryton mount from the Patriarch's own stables. This last gift made Darah smile at least.
Both Commander Thors and Commander Vardoom were given an equal reward. They were allowed to keep their battlefield promotion and were now officially generals of the Trickster Pavilion.
Vardoom's praises reverberated throughout the hall. And although there were many fairies who frowned at the idea of a human visere making general, there were a few loud cheers for Thors too. My own voice was maybe one of the loudest.
The fourth person to be rewarded, believe it or not, was me. Apparently, there were a few higher-ups who thought I'd contributed a lot to the war effort. No doubt Aura had burned her brother's and the Chancellor's ears off with all the undeserved praise.
As I walked up to the Patriarch's platform, all those gazes following me made me feel a little too shabby in my worn-out coat. Even the electrum chest plate seemed dull in comparison to all the twinkling jewelry around me.
However, any insecurities were quickly swept away by the sight of a maskless Aura smiling down at me as she stood next to her brother. At that moment, I felt like Luke Skywalker at the end of Episode IV: A New Hope.
The craziest thought struck me then, how glad I was that Aura wasn't my twin sister like Leia was Luke's. And while I chided my stupid teenage brain, an even crazier statement came out of the Patriarch's lips.
”Congratulations, Dean Dapper,” he said in a weakening voice that still felt like there was a hidden strength to it. ”As of today, you are now a Five-Hundred Man Commander.”