In the back garden of her mother's modest half-timbered cottage, Kara sat hunched over a board game deep in thought. Hilda was teaching her how to play Knights and Ladies. After two huge losses, the wizard thought she might have finally wrapped her brain around it.

One by one, Kara had lined up her pieces so that she could make great rows within a couple of moves and attack some of Hilda's pieces. Satisfied, she leaned back and sipped her barley tea.

While Hilda placed her final opening piece, Kara absorbed the beautiful autumn flowers in tidy beds. The garden was her mother's passion project. Amid a wide range of healing herbs and blossoming calendulas, the dahlia beds brightened her heart with their golden-orange color of a Minningen sunset.

The dwarf played different tactics each time. Hilda stroked her long, thick braided beard, interwoven with warrior beadwork. Taking a slurp of cold cider, she stared intently at the board before placing her last piece on an empty square far away from all the others.

She gave Kara a wry grin.

"What are you doing?" Kara furrowed her brow. "You're setting your pieces in every shadowy place!"

"Ahhh, but the point is to put them in versatile positions," replied Hilda. "Make sure you coordinate them over time. Finally, gather them into rows. Then..."

Hilda made a sound like a fireball smashing the ground.

After a few moves, Kara realized her mistake. But it was too late. Hilda captured nearly all her pieces in three deft moves.

Kara placed both hands on either side of her head. "Ugh! May the Shadow take this cursed game!"

"Curse you! It's my favorite!"

"Yeah, well, there's no accounting for taste."

"Come on! Give it time." Hilda started to reset the board. "You cursed brainbags always get pissed if you don't understand something right away."

"I'm not a brainbag."

"We all know you got top marks in your exam." Hilda pointed at Kara when she opened her mouth to object, cutting her off with a dismissive interjection. "Don't deny it."

"That doesn't mean I have anything to show for it." Kara rubbed her hands over her face and sighed. "I've waited all week for my scroll. And still nothing."

"Mine came only the day before yesterday."

"Oh, come on! We all knew you'd be chosen for the Guild."

The dwarf gaped. "What the Shadow does that mean?" She jutted her chin. "Are you saying they chose me just because my father is General Stormbringer?"

Hilda said her father's name with the kind of stark derision that would have landed anyone else in the stocks.

"No!" Kara's stomach twisted when Hilda's face turned bright red. "Seriously! If you want proof of your ability, look at how you wiped Lord Querck's son in hand-to-hand combat."

The dwarf gave her a skeptical look and crossed her arms.

"Who trounced everyone in swordsmanship?" Kara extended both hands to Hilda. "No one from Minningen judged the tournament. No bias there. If anything, they hated you."

"Great, thanks," came her sarcastic retort.

"They wanted you to lose." Kara caught her gaze. "You still made first place, though."

"That did feel pretty amazing." Hilda relented and gave her a casual swat. "I wanted to kick the smug royal right in the nuts."

"Why didn't you?"

Hilda shrugged. "Beating him fair and square was so much more rewarding."

"Querck looked like he would crap a burning candlestick."

"Not to mention Staufen's spawn." Hilda grinned. "Did you hear? That night the spoiled little brat got drunk in the tavern and started a fight with Harald."

"No way!"

"The foolish little mouse fart hurt himself way worse than our beloved giant."

Kara snorted.

"Whatcha reckon?" Hilda stuffed the rest of her bread roll into her mouth. "Might be the first time that prick lost a tournament?"

"And it certainly won't be the last."

Their cackling was cut short by the pounding of hooves on the gravel track. Kara's heart leaped into her throat. She exchanged a worried look with Hilda before racing into the front courtyard.

There stood the royal messenger, a rogue dressed in formal black linen atop a gorgeous black steed. He was one of the special couriers. Under the saddle was an ornate royal standard with the Minningen coat of arms on each side: a hunting eagle with its wings spread wide against the backdrop of the yellow sun.

The Minningen symbol of fighting for the Light.

"Light above!" exclaimed Kara. "Do you have any scrolls?"

Let there be one. By all the Light in Minningen, please let there be one!

The messenger reached into his leather satchel and found a few letters addressed to her mother. Offers of payment. Requests for help. But no scrolls. Not even a letter from the university offering her a place to continue her language studies.

"There should be one there for me," said Kara trying to get a sneak peek into his bag, which he summarily snapped shut. "Can you check again, please?"

"Eager to get into the Guild, huh?"

"Yes, how did you know?"

"Everyone's been asking me about those cursed scrolls all day."

Kara's heart thudded against her ribs like a Dwarven hammer. "My best friend already got accepted a couple of days ago, and I'm expecting mine any day now."

I hope!

While the messenger rummaged through the satchel, Kara bit her bottom lip.

As each day passed, she regretted her callous behavior during the exam. It was beginning to look like she wouldn't get into the Guild. Or into any position at all.

How could I have been so crazy? Standing up to a Tower guard like I'm the Queen of Paxus!

Perhaps the guard wasn't officially royalty, but he might as well have been. He lived in the castle. How often would he have partaken of the same banquets as Lord Staufen himself? How often would he have devised master plans to protect the land from the Shadow? How often would he have mixed with the finest circles in society?

And I—the daughter of a Master Healer with a small local practice—had the audacity to challenge him? 

He'll never accept me now. I've destroyed any chance of becoming a Master wizard myself. Much less acting for the Guild with Hilda. What a fool!

If only I hadn't given up healing.

No, that's crazy. I was never cut out for that. I learned that lesson all too well.

The messenger pursed his lips. "I'm afraid not. Maybe tomorrow."

Kara's heart sank into her stomach. "Thanks anyway."

"Oh! Wait," said the messenger with a cheeky grin. "I forgot the other satchel."

Kara gasped. Unable to exhale. The messenger dug through the black satchel with Lord Staufen's royal seal. Taking his sweet time, the rogue cast his gaze at her now and again to gauge her reaction. As though he was delighted to make her wait.

Is he messing with me?

"By the Light, will you please hurry?" Kara bounced on the balls of her feet as she clutched her upper arms. "I'm dying here."

"Relax, wizard. No one died from pure excitement."

"Maybe I will."

"Oh, good." He grinned at her. "One less pointless brainbag."

"Will you get on with it?" Hilda shouted in her booming voice and stormed toward him, one hand on the hilt of her battle ax. "Or you'll crap out of two holes instead of one!"

The rogue's notch bobbed in his throat. Without another word, he promptly pulled out a scroll with a fancy blue ribbon and Lord Staufen's formal wax seal.

It wobbled as he handed it to Kara.

"By the Light, thank you!" Kara pressed the official proclamation to her heart with a muted squee. Such a formal scroll could only mean one thing: she'd made it into the Guild at last!

Breaking open the seal, Kara read the contents and screamed. Running to her best friend, she shoved it in her face, jumping up and down so much the dwarf probably couldn't see a word on the cursed thing.

"We made it!" exclaimed Kara. "We both made it!"

She waved it at Hilda wildly, who fist-pumped the air.

"Guess who's getting drunk toniiiiight?" said the dwarf in a booming contralto. "You, me, and the whole gang. Well, except the Sorcerers and Clerics. They're pointless."

"Thank you, Sir." Kara reached for her coin purse. "Please take this as a--"

But the rogue took one last look at Hilda, slapped the reins, and bolted in a wild gallop. When Kara gave Hilda an incredulous look, the dwarf shrugged.

"People say I'm intimidating," she said with a curled lip, "but I can't see it myself."

___

Word count: 1,393
Total word count: 6,675/8,000