Despite everything, he had finally realized his most deep-seated dream. He was a Knight.
In a bit of a euphoric daze, Tarrin wandered around the North Tower until he found his sister, who was en route from her class in the main Tower. He said nothing, only grabbed her by the arm with a big smile on his face, then dragged her to the training field over her strenuous objections.
"Brother, you're making me angry!" Allia warned in the common tongue. "What are you doing?"
"He's bringing you to me," Darvon told her as he pulled her closer.
"Lord General, what do you need of me?" she asked politely as she reached him.
Darvon drew his sword. "Kneel!" he barked in that voice of command, and Allia found herself kneeling before him before she knew what she was doing. "By the power vested in my by Karas, god of Law, god of Duty, patron god of Sulasia, as is my right as the Lord General of the Holy Militant Order of the Knights of Karas, I decree that Allia of the Selani has proven her worth to Sulasia, to the Knights, and to Karas. I knight thee, Lady Allia, Baroness of the Desert of Swirling Sands, keeper of the codes of the Covenant, Knight of the Order, defender of the faith, and hammer of Karas." The sword touched her on each shoulder. "Rise, and know that you are One Under Karas."
She stared at him in disbelief, rising to her feet. "That title is only in name, Allia, but you are one of us," he told her. "There will be no oaths of obediance or any demands on you. You are a Knight, but you are free to do as you will. Your official title is Knight Champion, a Knight who answers only to me. And I officially order you to do whatever you want to do."
She stared at him for a moment longer, a stern look on her face. "No demands upon me? I will not be bound under Karas?"
"No," he assured her. "I'm certain that Karas knows that you're already spoken for, Allia. You were given a title and an official place among us, but not any duties that we would have to perform."
"Then why do it at all?"
"Let's just say it's insurance that the Tower treats you with the respect you deserve," Darvon said seriously. "We don't take kindly to one of our own suffering from mistreatment."
Allia looked directly at Tarrin, and then she nodded in understanding. "I will accept your title," she said calmly. "I would find great honor in being considered among the esteemed ranks of the Knights of Karas."
"You are One Under Karas, sister Allia," Darvon told her bluntly. "Your trials are ours, and your happiness is ours. And it is we who are honored to have such an outstanding woman listed among our own unworthy names."
"You have been practicing your flattery, Darvon," Allia said sweetly, which made Darvon blush slightly.
"You're deserving of flattery, sister Allia," Darvon grinned. "Now, I'm sure that Tarrin dragged you from something important, so you should be on your way. I have a little visit to pay to the Council," he said grimly. "Faalken, Ulgen, make sure it's made official. Now, if you'll excuse me."
They all bowed as the Lord General of the Knights departed, stomping towards the main Tower like a man about to do war.
Faalken and Ulgen quietly took their leave to go do the Lord General's bidding, leaving Tarrin and Allia to walk back to the North Tower. "What was that about?" she asked him in Selani.
"I told the Lord General why I was on strike," he replied, still trying to suppress the elation he was feeling. "He said that since they consider us Knights, he'd put a hand in on our behalf. If they don't give me what I deserve as an Initiate, the Knights will stop serving the Sorcerers until they do."
Allia gave him a look, then she laughed. "That's very clever," she said. "Most Sorcerers won't walk the city streets without a Knight attending them. That effectively traps them in the Tower with us."
"Yes, but I'm just touched that Darvon and the Knights would do this for me," he said with profound respect in his voice.
"I see. And they Knighted us to give them an official standpoint?"
Tarrin nodded.
"You do know that we have succeeded beyond anything that Keritanima hoped," she said.
"What do you mean?"
"She wanted the Tower in an uproar. What more could we possibly do put the Tower on its ear and make it spin in circles?"
Tarrin considered that. Pitting the Knights against the Sorcerers would only confound the confusion Tarrin had caused by going on strike. He hadn't heard anything back from his actions yet, but he had no doubt that there were words flying in the Chamber of the Council at that very moment. It could very well be what would push them over the edge, and make information that they needed shake from tight-lipped mouths. Where Keritanima's spies would pick it up and bring it to her, through Miranda. He had to laugh. "I guess I could go claw up the library," he said with a teasing smile.
"We'll save that one for later," she said with a wink.
"I'm shocked that the Knights are willing to take it this far. Their motto of All Are One Under Karas is more than just a pretty phrase."
"They are worthy of the honor they hold," she said quietly. "To put all at risk for the sake of one, that is true honor. I must sing of this to my clan. It must be recorded in our histories."
"A Knight," he said, his voice trembling. "We're Knights."
Allia put a hand on his arm. She knew about his youthful dream, and her warm eyes rejoiced with him that he had attained a goal he felt had been forever put out of reach. "There is only honor in it for me because I stand at your side, my brother," she told him. "You honor my family and our clan. My father cannot deny that."
"That reminds me," he said, coming back to earth for a while, "we have to decide what to do with Kerri."
"What do you mean?"
"Your clan won't give her refuge if they don't trust her," he said seriously. "I can't make the decision to allow her to accept the brands, but I don't know if your people will accept her unless she has them. It comes down to your wisdom, deshaida. What should we do?"
"I've been pondering that for a while, brother," she replied. "I don't know how my clan would accept her. She has the manners, but she would seem to them to be weak. Many of my people hate the outsiders, even Wikuni. She would have to be better, stronger, faster, than my people for them to accept her."
"She's a Sorceress, sister," he said bluntly. "You told me yourself that the Selani respect the katzh-dashi."
"After we explain why we're there, that respect will disappear, my brother," she told him. "She would have to carry the brands. They wouldn't accept her any other way."
"That's your department, my sister, and your decision. You would be her sponsor. Is she worthy?"
"From what I know of her, yes. I do like her, my brother. A great deal. She is calm, intelligent, and she is loyal. And she makes me laugh. I would find great honor in having one such as her to be my sister. But I will have to ask the Holy Mother. As always, it will be her decision."
Allia and Tarrin walked back towards their rooms, thoughts on the future, spirits riding high in the achievement of a long-desired dream, and hopes that they had done well by their Wikuni companion, who wanted the Tower to be so shaken up that the information they desired sifted up to the top. Tarrin felt that things were beginning to look good for them, that they would find what they needed to find, understand what it meant, and if it was not good, then make plans for the future to confound what the Tower wanted of them. They had found new allies in the Knights, staunch and determined men that would help them fight against the injustice being done to them. And they would help Tarrin and Allia most simply by standing up to stir the pot which the three non-human conspirators had brought to a boil.