I Will Be the Greatest Knight-Chapter 260: Wondering

"How?" Irene asked as they began to calm. "Why?"

"We are in a period of reformation of the knighthood," Sir Gunnar explained to her as he gently squeezed her shoulder. "Most of our knighthood is in the south with the Knights of Hydrogia. We expressed to them before they took the trip south after the war that, even though they are still part of our knighthood, their not being here for our knighting ceremony allows us to do what we see fit to the structure of our knighthood."

She wanted to vehemently disagree, but she knew that doubting his judgment could be considered insubordination, even though they were now both knights, she an even higher knight than he.

"I feel I am unfit to stand above you in rank, Sir Gunnar," she responded honestly and more calmly than she likely would have.

"I don’t feel that way at all," he insisted. "While most of the already established knights will remain closer to the Duke’s Tower until a new Commander is decided upon, we want you and Felix to act as our representatives across the duchy in protecting the people. You will take a more active role than we established knights. We also believe that your experience in estate management, which you undoubtedly had to participate in as the firstborn of a noble, has given you a unique perspective that none of us have. Only Sir Eitan was the other noble-born knight in our knighthood. If he were still here, then perhaps he would have your seat."

She was still in disbelief but managed to nod at this. It was good enough of an explanation because it was the only one she had for the time being.

There was a large part of her still feeling terrible that she hadn’t been there for the last months of the war. She felt below the others for such a thing, not realizing they saw her as the youngest and most necessary to protect. Her leaving the battle made sense, so she could come back to them a whole person rather than someone hollow.

Since the ceremony was continuing, they all sat back down on the mismatched benches, and she found herself next to Sir Gunnar. She would stay by his side to learn as much as she possibly could while she could. It seemed their intentions for her and Felix were to be on the road as much as they possibly could be.

However, any knight was still a knight. If it were asked of the older knights to hit the trail, they would always be willing to do so. She knew she always had their support no matter the circumstances.

As the knighting ceremony went on, Irene admired as her father gave a personal touch to each person knighted that day. Each one of the apprentices there was one he was extremely familiar with because they had been around even longer than she had.

Each time a new knight was presented to them, they were all welcomed with open arms just as she and Felix had been the first time.

As the accolade was finished and there wasn’t anyone left to knight, Irene looked around and noticed that the knighthood seemed imbalanced now. There were only two apprentices left who had moved up from squire status. No squires were left at all.

The knights were the fullest group, but it was still a far cry from a full knighthood, considering how many they lacked in the Duke’s Tower.

Before they could get too far into their socializing and forget the main event of the evening, Ingrid came to the back entrance of the tower and opened them wide for all to come back inside.

"I hope all of you are hungry because the feast is ready," she announced.

Before Irene could follow the others back into the tower, she couldn’t help stopping at the top step and turning around to look at what the Duke’s property had become since the beginning of the war.

While all the necessities were repaired in the tower, the barracks were devoid of anyone. It would be a while for the mages to cleanse them so that the place could become livable once more.

Her heart clenched. She hoped for a decent Duke to grace their duchy.

Would it be someone they knew or someone entirely different? Could they trust if a southerner was chosen?

However, there was another who noticed Irene was standing back and lost in thought.

"What has you lost in thought?" her father asked from the doorway.

Of course, he noticed immediately when his daughter’s bright red hair, so much like his own, wasn’t amongst the group of knights she had been amongst before. Since she was the smallest, at least she stood out in other ways.

"What sort of Duke do you think we will have next?" she asked. "Is there a possibility of His Majesty choosing someone genuinely bad?"

The knight stepped forward the few steps it would take for him to get close to his daughter. He placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"His Majesty knows that we will not accept someone with no connection to the north," he explained. "Whoever is chosen will have to have proven themselves worthy in one way or another. As he stated before, the Duke was in the process of choosing someone upon his passing. This is a decision out of our hands until something more is presented to us. In the meantime, focus on the duchy. Prove yourself in other ways. When the next Duke and Commander is chosen, hand him off a duchy that shows your worthiness without needing to be told."

"I will do my best, father," she promised.

"I know that you will," he responded. "Now, let us drink and eat with the others. It’s your first night as a knight. Who knows what sort of exciting things you and the others could get up to?"

Irene wasn’t entirely sure what he meant, but they heard joyous shouting from the dining hall already. That meant it was time to unwind and accept that her path had been pushed forward just a little bit harder.

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