Chapter Text
Luluci was not doing well, though she tried to hide it. Silver Eve was terrible, and the fallout was even worse.
If Galga were here, he would find a way to comfort the other Knights, let them know that it would be okay. If Easthies were here, he would find a way to lead the other Knights, make some solid plan that assured everyone he knew how to proceed.
But they were both as good as gone, so it fell to Luluci.
Utowin’s voice faded in over her rumination. “So, what do you think, Luluci? Ekoh or Etlan?”
“Pardon?” Luluci looked up from her desk. It wasn’t like her to space out, but recent happenings had left her frazzled beyond anything she’d experienced before.
Utowin sighed. “I mean the Serpentback Cave thing.”
“Oh,” Luluci said. “Have they found that student and proctor yet?”
“No, that’s what I was talking about,” Utowin said, tossing a report onto Luluci’s desk. “We got a request for a student to take the Sincerity of the Shield test. Of course, after the disaster there, no witch wants to volunteer as proctor and get snatched by the Brimmed Caps. So, like everything else, it falls to us. Even though we’re short-staffed enough as is…”
“It’s understandable, though,” Luluci said. “It would be better to have a Knight there instead of a civilian should something disastrous happen again. So you’re deciding between Ekoh and Etlan?”
Utowin scratched his head. “Yeah, that’s the thing. The situation’s a bit… complicated.”
“What do you mean?”
“Look at the name on the request.”
Luluci looked down and her breath hitched. “Ah. Atwert.”
“Yup.”
“So the student in question is…?”
“Yup. So which of the twins is less likely to have a breakdown over watching Galga stumble through a test they took when they were twelve?”
The thought of it sent a shiver down Luluci’s spine. Galga, kind, wonderful Galga, reduced to an empty husk. Neither of the twins would be able to handle that. They had loved Galga the most out of anyone, always hanging on to him like clinger mussels.
But it wasn’t a task for the lower ranking Knights, either. Luluci would never make any of them potentially face a Brimmed Cap alone.
Galga himself would have been the choice for a situation like this. If Silver Eve had never happened, he could be an excellent stand-in test proctor. He was patient and good with kids, and capable enough to fight back against forbidden magic.
Not capable enough in the end, Luluci thought bitterly, then chastised herself for thinking it. He wouldn’t have suffered his fate if anyone else had been there to help him.
No, she had only one choice for a candidate.
“I’ll do it,” Luluci said.
“Choose which twin to send? Great, because if you had no ideas I was gonna leave it up to a coin flip,” Utowin said.
“No. I mean I’ll proctor the test.” Perhaps it was too little, too late, but even if Luluci couldn’t have been there for him that day, maybe she could be there for him now. Make up for her mistake. Lead him through the test to a new chance at life.
Utowin looked at her, concerned. “Are you sure? I know you’re busy.”
Luluci glared at him. “My mind is made up. I can finish the paperwork later.”
Luluci never liked Cape Romonon. It had taken her two tries to pass the second test when she was an apprentice because the Mirror Cloak of Borrowshade kept rubbing at her bare shoulders. In trying to adjust her uniform so it didn’t feel so horrible, she had accidentally broken the spell and revealed herself to the myrphon.
Luluci’s knuckles turned white around her pennant. She hated reminiscing about the past, about how badly she had been mistreated. That was all over now. Justice had been carried out. She should be over it.
Luluci landed by the mouth of the cave and set down her extra cloak. This was no time for her to doubt herself. She was the arbiter of the law. She had to be unshakeable.
She knew Galga as soon as she saw him. He was wearing his lover’s robes, and there was a scar poking out from under his hat, but his sharp features and gentle demeanor were exactly the same. It made Luluci think about all the times they had gone undercover together, all the different disguises Galga had worn. Even with his notable height, he had a skill for disappearing into any crowd. Luluci looked at him now, and half hoped that he would whisper to her in code, letting her know that he had planned this all along and it had led him to some great discovery.
Of course, Galga only stared blankly back.
His lover, Atwert, smiled at Luluci, though it looked somewhat strained. “You must be the proctor. Thank you for letting us take the test.”
“Of course,” Luluci said, because there was nothing else to say to that. She wasn’t an idiot. She knew Atwert remembered her from Silver Eve. She could see in his eyes he was still holding a grudge.
It was not her problem. She was only here to be a proctor.
“It’s nice to meet you. I’m Galga,” Galga said, and oh, it was the same voice Luluci had come to know so well, but the words were so strange.
“I am Luluci,” Luluci said, almost saying more but stopping herself. This was no time for catching up. The two of them were not Galga and Luluci, good friends and comrades who fought side by side, they were Galga and Luluci, student and proctor who had no relationship beyond that.
Luluci turned to pick up the cloak she had set down, and almost ran into a little girl.
“My apologies, I didn’t see you,” Luluci said, stepping back.
If the girl was upset, she showed no sign of it. “Ininia’s name is Ininia. I’m here for the test.”
Luluci looked at Ininia. She was not wearing anything close to Atwert’s robes, so she clearly wasn’t his apprentice. “I received no applications for the test bearing the name Ininia. Where is your professor?”
Ininia stared up at Luluci with that same blank expression. “They’re not here. Ininia is here for the test.”
“There was only one applicant for the Sincerity of the Shield this year,” Luluci stated. “There is not much I can do about it. Try to apply earlier next year.”
“Wait,” Atwert interjected. “Is there really nothing she can do? I mean, it would be horrible to make her wait a whole year just because her professor forgot to put in an application.”
“There is nothing that can be done,” Luluci said. She had not signed up to take care of a random child. This was Galga’s test, and he didn’t need any more unexpected problems thrown his way.
Atwert stood up straighter. “Come on, Ms. Luluci. She came all this way, and—”
“Ininia does have an application,” Ininia interrupted. “That’s why Ms. Knight brought two cloaks.”
Everyone looked over at where Ininia was pointing. Sure enough, there were two cloaks.
Luluci paused. She certainly didn’t remember preparing anything for more than one participant. But, now that she thought about it, it was more than possible that Utowin had forgotten to mention the other application and had just given her two cloaks without mentioning it. It was even possible that she had been notified, but had been so focused on Galga that she hadn’t even noticed the second student. Had she really fallen that far? She was supposed to be better than that.
Besides, even if the girl was lying, Atwert was glaring daggers into Luluci. He clearly wasn’t going to concede without a fight. Galga stood awkwardly to the side, fidgeting with the tassels on his robe. Ininia was as still as she had been.
Luluci took a breath. Today was Galga’s day, and his experience was the first priority. She turned to him, trying to guess what he would want— what his old self would have wanted.
Galga caught her gaze. “I would be happy to take the test with Ininia,” he said. “Perhaps I could learn a thing or two from her.”
Luluci paused, and then nodded. She was not sure if the old Galga would have said the same thing, but he was gone and this man was all that was left. Luluci was not good with children, but she was not the one who mattered here.
“Alright,” she said. “You will both take this test, then.”
“Thank you,” Galga said. Ininia was silent.
Luluci handed the two of them the cloaks and explained the basis of the test. Perhaps she was just catastrophizing. Galga was an adult who could make his own decisions. How much more trouble could one child be?
“Ininia thinks you look stupid as a myrphon,” Ininia said to Galga.
“Everyone does,” Galga said, picking up his myrphon. It pecked him directly in the nose.
“Your myrphon agrees with Ininia,” Ininia said.
Luluci sighed. She should have sent Etlan.