[center][h2]Ballroom A[/h2][/center]
Dame Ionna’s comment earned her only a harsh glare as the dismissed Templars filed out. When the door slammed behind the last departing Templar, Irina did not speak; silence stretched almost too long, the Dame standing with her back to the assembled Templars seemingly examining a tapestry on the wall. 

[color=lightskyblue]“I seem to recall three vows taken by every Blessed Templar when they receive their Blessing,”[/color] it was almost startling when she finally spoke, her tone sharp and accusatory even compared to the speech she’d just delivered as she kept her back to the assembly. [color=lightskyblue]“What was your final vow?”[/color] 

The Templar of Metal’s hand shot up with an [color=E40040]“Ooh!”[/color] like a student eager to show off that they knew the answer. 

[color=E40040]“To defend your charge with all your strength of arm, heart, and mind, at the cost of your very life!”[/color] She recited, seeming proud of herself for remembering. 

Irina glanced over her shoulder, looking equal parts incensed and exasperated when she saw the source of the reply. She took a deep breath.

[color=lightskyblue][i]“Do you vow to defend your charge with all your strength of arm, heart, and mind, at the cost of your very life?”[/i][/color] Irina recited the final vow from the Blessing ceremony verbatim, pacing back and forth as if in deep thought. [color=lightskyblue]“This is a solemn oath. It is a vow to the Goddess Herself that you will take the life of one person - one of Her ten most beloved children - into your hands, and preserve it at any cost, using every strength, skill, and faculty available to you. If you must run, you do it; if you must fight, you do it; if you must die, you do so with perfect satisfaction in your heart that you have done the Mother’s will.”[/color]

Irina sounded almost fond as she spoke, as one reminiscing on a much-beloved poem. But that glimmer of tenderness didn’t last long, and her gaze soon hardened once again, somehow even darker than before. She almost looked as if something personal was at stake. [color=lightskyblue]“And yet here we stand. Each of you abandoned your charge tonight; be it for an hour or an instant, it matters naught. I would ask what you have to say for yourselves, but I really don’t care; It would be well within canon law to strip the three of you of your Blessings right now.”[/color]

She paused for a long moment, then wearily sighed. [color=lightskyblue]“Lucky for you, the Commander isn’t available to degrade you, and although you make sorry shields indeed, your Scions still require your protection. Perhaps now more than ever. All the more vital to remind you of your duties.”[/color]

Her gaze fixed on Ionna and Sara. [color=lightskyblue]“Like [i]you two,”[/i][/color] Irina snapped, [color=lightskyblue]“You may recall that your final vow was to protect [i]your[/i] charge. Not Scions in general, not whichever Scion is in need; [i]your[/i] charge. That is your solemn and [i]only[/i] duty.”[/color]

Irina held up a hand to cut off any potential rebuttals. [color=lightskyblue]“I do not care that Scion Nadine was missing. I do not care that Ulysse was incapacitated. I don’t care if every other Templar on earth is dead - your responsibility is to [i]your[/i] charge. That is your only goal. Everyone else in the world is ancillary. If you somehow manage to keep your Blessings after tonight, remember this well: Never, [i]never[/i] abandon your Scion for the sake of another [i]ever[/i] again.”[/color]

[color=lightskyblue]“And you,”[/color] Irina addressed Sara. [color=lightskyblue]“Your vows were made to the Goddess, not your Scion. He may have been the one to administer your Blessing, but your power comes from The Mother, and your duty is owed ultimately to Her. It was [i]Her[/i] to whom you vowed the protection and oversight of Her child. Your duty is not to obey your Scion, it is to [i]protect[/i] him. If that entails dragging him, kicking and screaming, from the battlefield, so be it. You are not at liberty to allow him to fend for himself. See that it does not happen again.”[/color]

Irina stepped back at long last, waving a hand. [color=lightskyblue]“You two are dismissed.”[/color]

She was silent as Sara and Ionna departed, the hollow slam of the door echoing throughout the ballroom as Jannick waited, alone, for his turn on the breaking wheel. 

[color=lightskyblue]“And you,”[/color] Irina finally growled, placing herself only steps in front of Jannick. He remembered her glowering down at him like this from training, but it felt a lot worse now that he knew she had something legitimate to be angry about. 

[color=lightskyblue]“Those other two may have abandoned their charges willfully, but at least they did so in order to fight back,”[/color] Irina spat. [color=lightskyblue]“You, meanwhile, looked like a child lost in a crowd, barely holding your own against untrained heathens while you awaited rescue from your own charge.”[/color]

Jannick chafed under Irina’s critical gaze, his eyes fixed on some point on the wall behind her. If he were the Templar of Fire, that spot would probably have burst into flame. 

Irina glared for a long moment before speaking, apparently wanting some explanation. [color=lightskyblue]“Well?”[/color]

Jannick kept his eyes stubbornly forward for a moment, trying to contain the petulant anger welling up inside him. A million comments came to mind, each more venomous than the last, but he was at least experienced enough not to let any of them surface. At long last, he only croaked, [color=9A906B]“I was outnumbered.”[/color] 

[color=lightskyblue]“So was I!”[/color] Irina barked, pacing once again. [color=lightskyblue]“So was every other Templar in that ballroom! And so you shall be from now until you draw your last breath: there is a world of Godless heathens out there baying for the blood of your Scion, and only one of you. [i]That is what Blessings are for.”[/i][/color]

Irina scoffed. [color=lightskyblue]“Honestly. Six months as a Templar and you can barely break wind,”[/color] she mocked harshly. [color=lightskyblue]“You aren’t a cop anymore. You’re up against far worse than thugs and rabble on the Veradis beat. A pistol and some grappling doesn’t cut it anymore. You have been touched by the Goddess; you should be a force to be reckoned with, not a mild inconvenience.”[/color]

Irina looked upon him with contempt; Jannick stayed silent. [color=lightskyblue]“Remember what I told those two. You are not a public servant anymore. Your job is to protect one life, and one life only. If that means you need to climb over the bodies of civilians, so be it.”[/color]

Jannick finally met Irina’s eye, so incensed at the comment that he almost gasped. His mind swirled with rage at the audacity and callousness of that comment, and even more so that Irina showed no sign of insincerity. He could scarcely believe someone in her position could say something so brazen, or that someone as allegedly pious as her could even believe it. But he was ultimately so shocked that he could muster no reply. 

[color=lightskyblue]“Good. Now get out.”[/color]

[hr]
Outside the ballroom door, the squire who had collected the armour crystals earlier awaited the last three Templars’ departures. She stood with her ear pressed to the wall, eagerly listening for any snippet she could hear of the debrief. When Sara and Ionna emerged, she hurriedly jumped back into place, offering their crystals to them with a reverent bow of the head. 

As the two lady templars departed, however, she noticed that they seemed troubled. [color=gray]“Hey, um,”[/color] she called, suddenly much less the firm and buttoned-up squire who had contended with Edmund, and more of a nervous, somewhat star-struck girl simply wanting to help. [color=gray]“I-I’m sure it must be hard to leave someone else’s Scion alone if they’re in trouble, but… remember that you guys aren’t the only ones looking out for them. That’s what we’re here for.”[/color] She offered a comforting smile. [color=gray]“So don’t feel guilty tending to your own Scions, okay? The whole Ordo Templi is here to fill in the gaps.”[/color]

The squire bowed as they left, hopeful that her encouragement could ease their concerns. 

[hr][right][@McMolly] [@Stern Algorithm][/right]