Silver powerforce's Arc

Chapter 2 of 5

Silver woke before dawn and walked the yard alone. The night guard had gone home and the day shift had not come. That gap was the problem. She had two people she trusted, and a hall full of strangers who still called her ma'am like they were testing the word. If someone rode against her this week, Celeste and Pearl would fight for her and die for her. That was not the same as winning. She called them into the hall at first light. Celeste came in armor. Pearl came in drill leathers, pink ponytail damp from washing. Silver set a whiteboard against the long table and uncapped a red-tipped marker. She drew three columns. Loyal. Trained. Ready. She wrote both their names under Loyal. She wrote nothing under Ready. "This is where we are," she said. "I need to know if we can hold the hall for one week without me on the wall." Celeste read the board and did not blink. "We can hold it." Pearl said, "For a week. Longer if you feed us." Silver tapped the empty column. "Prove it. I'm riding to Maplecrest tomorrow. Two nights out, one night back. You run the hall. You run the drills. You handle any rider who comes to the gate. I do not want a messenger chasing me." They did not argue. Celeste asked what she was riding for. Silver said she needed to speak to the time-keepers before anyone else did. A ruler who did not know her own sisters of the realm was a ruler people could split. Pearl nodded once and went to the yard. By noon she had every recruit sorted by weight and reach. Celeste posted watch rotations on the door of the hall in the same red ink. Silver rode out at dawn. Maplecrest sat two days east. She found Sierra Cylendar in a small yard behind a shuttered shop, green hood back, working a pocket watch on a chain. Goldie stood three paces off, yellow hair catching the sun, counting under her breath. Silver waited until Goldie dropped her hand. "Five," Goldie said. "Better than four." Sierra said, "Do it again." Then she saw Silver at the gate and did not stand up. "You came out here yourself." "I did," Silver said. "I wanted you to see my face, not a seal." They talked until the sun moved. Silver did not ask for loyalty. She asked for a line of contact, and a promise that if a rider came claiming her name, they would send word before they answered. Goldie agreed in one sentence. Sierra agreed in three words. Silver rode back the next morning. She returned to a hall that had not burned. Celeste met her at the gate with the watch log. Pearl stood behind her with two new recruits who had not been there when Silver left. "Held," Celeste said. Silver looked at the yard and knew her guard could stand a week. One week. Not yet a year.