Ethen Gearhart's Arc

Chapter 1 of 9

Ethen Gearhart carried a gun as tall as a child, and no one would let him use it. He stood at the edge of the testing grounds, where the royal steam-knight order tried its recruits. Two years ago they called him too young and sent him home. Now he had the scars, the kills, and the aim to lead them. He meant to command the order that threw him out. First he had to get through the gate. A guard blocked the path. His armor hissed steam at every joint. "No sponsor, no entry," he said. "The order doesn't test strays." Ethen held out his service record. The paper was stained and torn. "I've fought more battles than half your knights." "Then one of them can vouch for you," the guard said. "Until a sponsor signs, you don't exist here." He turned his back. Ethen walked away before his temper won. He crossed the field to an old war relic that squatted in the mud. The thing had once been a tank. Now rust ate its plating, and someone had cut a door in its flank. Smoke curled from a pipe on its turret. He had slept inside it as a boy, after they first turned him away. It was the only shelter he trusted. Inside, a lantern burned. An orange cat sat on a crate, goggles pushed up on his head. The cat watched Ethen with calm orange eyes, then patted a folded cloth with one paw. "Not now, Waffles," Ethen said. The cat patted it again, harder. Ethen lifted the cloth. Under it lay a sealed letter. Lavender wax held it shut, stamped with a crown. His hands went cold. He knew that seal. Princess Hazelyn had promised to help him months ago. He had told her not to risk her name on a reject. He broke the wax and read. The letter named him. It bound the crown's favor to his trial. It was a sponsor's signature, written by a princess. Waffles jumped onto his shoulder and sniffed the page. "She shouldn't have done this," Ethen said. The cat purred, unbothered. Ethen read the last line twice. If he failed the trial now, her name failed with him. He folded the letter and climbed out of the rusted hull. The guard still faced away. Ethen walked back and held the seal up to the light. The guard turned. His posture changed the moment he saw the crown. He read the name, then read it again. "The princess vouches for you," he said, quiet now. "She does," Ethen said. The guard stepped aside. "Report to the testing yard at dawn. The order will judge you then." Ethen passed through the gate he had been barred from for two years. He had his way in. He also had a princess's reputation riding on every shot he fired tomorrow.