Chapter 4.5 Part 3: Answers

Without waiting for an invitation, Amalie began to describe what their life would be now. They could stay in this carriage while they traveled across Oranalas. That alone would be one month of the coming journey. They would then cross the border to Batsalia and move about inside there before crossing another border into Bakabeli. She grew amused at Mei’s subtle attempts to say the names of those nations.

Shortly after they cross, they would meet with the other teams at the port and board ships to the School of the Chosen.

“It’s out at sea?” Jun asked. Despite his attempts, she could see his curiosity growing.

“The School of the Chosen is an Island.”

“On an island?” Mei parroted.

“It IS the Island.” Amalie emphasized. “Well, not exactly. All the cities and towns were created by former students. Originally the island belonged to Bakabeli, but after they tried to control how the school operated, they learned to just… treat us like we are our own separate nation.”

“Interesting,” Jun hummed. Amalie could see the tidbits of history were intriguing to him. Having seen the Matriarch’s control, she wondered just how much of this world the kids knew about. She smirked as she planned out the next bit. Like a carrot teased in front of them, she continued.

“But history, isn’t what you two need to know about. At least not yet. If anything, you two need to be aware of how strange you behaved during the faith test.”

Jun and Mei both tilted their heads in time with one another.

“Closing your hands on the sacred silver embers is an insult to the Silver Flame,” she chided. Jun’s brows darkened at that. Either he didn’t know, or he disagreed. She would dig into that later. “Second: most only show a red—“ she quickly corrected her thoughts “Let me explain it like this. You Jun glowed blue while Mei, was yellow mixed with blue. There is a hierarchy of Faith. Red is the lowest, followed by Yellow, Blue, White, and Silver. There is no rank above Silver, but even then, there can be a disparity between one silver to the next.”

“And you are a white flame,” Jun pointed out. Amalie was surprised he had latched onto that detail.

“Only in title. I’m on the verge of Silver, a type of grey, but my position at the school is a white flame—one of ten who assist the principal.”

Feeling the conversation had strayed Amalie changed course.

“There are four primary divisions of study at the school. And… a limit of six years to your education. You can learn as fast as you want, but after the six years are up, you will no longer be a student.”

“That’s… strange.” Mei folded her arms.

“Didn’t you mention some stay on the island after?” Jun asked. With another tangent, Amalie began to change her perceptions towards them.

“Yes, but not as students. More like staff. Some gather resources, others procure or grow goods. There are many that also stay on as knights.”

“That must make independence a bit easier,” Jun remarked. Amalie’s eyes narrowed. He caught onto the strangest tidbits. His assessment was correct, but not entirely.

“Yes, though we still need to import goods and hire exceptional teachers. All these things require money and tie us to the outside world. It isn’t uncommon for a noble family to pay the school a large sum of money to have their children attend with fake burns.”

Mei shuddered. It was the unvarnished truth, but Amalie did not hide her disdain for the practice in her tone of voice. Jun remained quiet, his eyes lost in thought.

“But then why insist on the sacred burns? And what of the poor. It seems this education costs.”

She could see his mind racing. Without saying it, he was wondering ‘why them?’, his doubts about their clan supporting financially, and division and persecution. Despite recognizing it, Amalie still was amazed at him. He was sixteen, yet acted more sly than most adults she had met.

“Slow down, Jun. The founding principle is that all are welcome so long as they have faith. I’ve witnessed a few truly awaken at the school after much prayer. Understand that while we do not encourage the practice—in fact discourage it— all things require money. We hire the best teachers not in one nation or location, but from the entire world. Many former students have been helping develop the island so we won’t have to accept that sort of money. This last year, we were able to support the teachers entirely on the funds generated from the island exports. And even then, it’s a delicate balance—one the school has been trying to get out of for years.”

Jun’s brows furled.

“Why are you telling us this?”

“Because I trust you two to stay silent till the school can officially announce this. And… I say this to put your hearts at ease.”

Jun nodded, but Amalie pushed one final time. “I don’t trust the Matriarch. I pray you don’t either.”

The atmosphere was heavy and Amalie realized her wrong. These were children. Not adults. Why had she gotten that impression and delivered her words like that?

“But this conversation has grown a bit dark. As much as you two are sober and mature, I would prefer a different topic.” She diverted. Jun let out a breath and then offered a wan smile.

“A little guidance on something essential. I doubt the Matriarch had you study it. How much do you know about prayer and faith?”

“Not much,” Mei admitted, hands raising in a long stretch.

Amalie shrugged. “Figured. Faith, put simply is your belief in the Silver Flame. It allows you to perform miracles. Without faith, prayer is useless. Prayer is the power to perform miracles. If you are lacking prayer, no amount of faith will be enough to have miracles.”

Amalie watched as their eyes glazed over. Even the basics could be too much.

“Envision this like a flame. Faith is the fire, and prayer the fuel. One without the other will not provide heat.”

She raised her hand, channeling her prayer.Aa small flame appeared in her palm. Jun and Mei looked at in surprise. It was moments like this that they seemed more like their age. Amalie moved the prayer up her shoulder and the flame followed.

“The more powerful your faith, the better you can manipulate prayer. It can get to the point where you can sense, or rather, see beyond what the eye can see—able to sense changes in your body is just one example.

“Like sensing poison?” Mei chimed. Jun stiffened. How many times had they suffered that?

“Indeed, and you can sense the power of others. When prayer accumulates in a faith filled vessel, it warms up. She gathered in the prayer from her artifact, avoiding explaining more than the basics. They would learn the exceptions with time. “Oh silver flame guide our time so we may receive understanding,” she muttered softly. She held out her hands and Mei touched it. She jerked back.

“Hot!”

Jun’s curiosity grew and he tapped her finger.

“Isn’t this dangerous? Like a fever or illness…”

Amalie looked at him confused. What sort of education had he received to believe that?

“No Jun. Fevers are just signs that the body doesn’t have enough faith for the amount of prayer in the body. It can be annoying, but not dangerous.”

She was about to go into a long discussion hunting for where else they were misguided, when a knock at the carriage door interrupted them.