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This is for you alone, Samuel This is your moment to be honored for your sacrifices and for your commitment to service And you have to reme your part in Duncan’s rescue and about your grayle, Third Earth power Like it or not, you’re a celebrity

A e, Luken reappeared and waved at the crowd so that within a few seconds silence had fallen But the energy a the spectators was as vibrant as ever so that the ive you Samuel Daman, of Phoenix Two, our candidate for confirmation," another round of applause swept the theater

When Sah listening

He nodded, clearly cos

Luken’s gaze then shifted to Vela and he held out his hand to her All eyes shifted in her direction and the theater once more fell silent

Heat crept up Vela’s cheeks, just as Saain

I’vethis without you We’re a team

Vela crumbled inside at his choice of words

We’re a team, she sent back

Because she knew Saht of these words, the depth of the one it alone his entire life, noas joining the Warriors of the Blood and he saw their relationship as a team effort

Endelle leaned over to her and said, "What are you waiting for, ascender?

You’ve been called Now, go" Velathat always surprised her about Endelle, that beneath her outrageous exterior, and way beyond her profane mouth, resided a woman of tremendous compassion

Vela drew a deep breath and to Samuel, sent, I’m ready

Go to Luken now

Luken addressed the crowd once e of plans

Candidate Sae Please welcos breath and she si a little added power, she kept her skirts of her gown fluttering close to her ankles as sheat the last moment to land beside Luken

The tank-like warrior smiled down at her and winked She returned his sh her heart pounded in her chest

The audience grew silent once more, expectant Vela didn’t care that thousands of people stared at her Most kneho she was because Marcus had built her up as well, including her unusual darkening ability, so that in a sree of notoriety had co power, because of Duncan’s rescue, and of course because of Saet now, just like all the women bonded to Warriors of the Blood, but so be it She had becoht, but each day taught her th and preternatural resources

Applause resounded once more, this time for her She inclined her chin a couple of tilance once more at Madame Endelle, the compassionate scorpion of Second Earth The wo along with her

Suddenly, Endelle’s voice entered Vela’s ood

Warh Vela’s heart

Sheher here, how hard she’d resisted her course, and how ed in just a handful of days She valued Endelle’s approval, the woreat resistance and unwillingness, but who had done it just the saht back

Vela smiled once more Luken’s beautiful, resonant voice, addressed the audience onethe service of our candidate arm applause as Warrior Samuel joins us" The moment Samuel appeared froh the ornate theater once e the appreciation that flowed toward him, for his service as a Militia Warrior and probablyendured a decade of imprisonment and torture by a Third entity He offered a short, slo The applause rose to a peak with this gesture, then settled back down to mere thunder once more