Wilt stared at the metal canister in his hand. It was his fifth one for the day, and he felt his Ein slowly pouring into it. This job was quickly becoming tedious, but he had to do it. Otherwise, his position and name were practically worthless. Although he still wasn’t technically a counselor yet. There was a whole ceremony related to that, and they didn’t want to do it so soon after Pali’s death. In fact, it was scheduled for later today, but he didn’t feel particularly good about it. It had only been a week since Pali’s death had been made public, and they decided to rush the promotion to assuage the people’s tension. There would be both a demonstration of his own ability and that of the canisters Janette had made.

He looked more closely at the strange metal contraption in his hands. It defied all logic. The metal canister wasn’t the warded item, it was the crystal that was held within. He had no idea how Janette had made the item and his little bit of knowledge on the subject wouldn’t help. It revealed the difference in their abilities clearly. For a while, Wilt hadn’t had much trouble with most chants. This was a perfect example of something he could not accomplish with raw Ein. Even other ward experts probably couldn’t understand the item, so there was not much use in attempting to figure it out at the moment.

Once the canister was full, he set it into a box that was holding the other three. They weren’t very large, but it took a while to fill. The conversion of his Ein into the crystal was slow, and his own abilities didn’t seem to speed up the process. It didn’t really matter he had finished enough for the morning. The box was made of wood and was big enough to hold ten of the canisters. They were valuable enough that the canisters were constantly under watch. He had to go to the institute to do the work. Glad to be finished for the morning, he got up from his seat.

The institute was quickly becoming a second home to him. He spent more time here than he did with his family. That was a bit disappointing, but he knew that it would grow worse the longer the war continued. His eyes slowly drifted upward from the canisters, looking over to where Stella was sitting and working on something of her own. They had gotten a lab together so that they could work together whenever needed. He never minded giving her some of his Ein, though she was one of the few people who didn’t ask for it. She was determined to do things on her own.

“I think it’s time to go.”

Wilt spoke while looking at the timepiece hanging on the wall behind Stella. She briefly glanced away from her work, and to the clock herself before replying.

“No, we still have two minutes.”

Her response came quickly, and he rolled his eyes at the response. She had become addicted to her work. She was extremely efficient with her time, spending it either working or with him and his family. It had gotten to the point that she spent most of her nights at his home. Apparently, she was fighting with her aunt. He felt like he was to blame for that altercation since it had started once he revealed what had happened in Thaktall to Stella. Still, it wasn’t something he would keep hidden from her. It wouldn’t be right, especially with how concerned she had gotten after his return.

He rose from his table and walked over to see how her progress was going. She was working on something that would hopefully let them capture the monsters from Larkin. It was a circular device that was meant to be worn as a bracelet, but he saw it more as a shackle. In a sense, that was an accurate description of the item. It was designed to block a person’s nerves, stopping their body from functioning. Despite how strong those monsters were, they were still human in the end. The best part of the device was the fact that it needed very little Ein to operate meaning that anyone could make and use it.

“How close are you?”

She frowned at the question. He knew that she didn’t like being bothered while she was working, but he was hoping to get her to stop. She did not though, and just kept working right up until those two minutes had passed. He just watched her work, her small metal blade slowly carving into the stone shackle. Ein had problems traveling through forged metal, so most items were made out of stone or crystal, with metal used as a covering. Only after finishing her work, did she give him a proper response.

“Almost there, I think. The problem is I think it’s too dangerous as is. It would probably just kill most people that get it put on them. We don’t need any help with that…”

Wilt noticed her mood dipping as she spoke. She had struggled to accept the truth about Thaktall, and she still didn’t like talking about it. He didn’t like it either. Every time someone mentioned it, he felt the urge to vomit. Pushing the memories as far down as he could, he tried to change the subject.

“We need to go, otherwise we will be late. How does it feel to know you are going to be marrying a councilor?”

He tried smiling, even though he knew that it was forced. She put a comforting hand on his arm.

“I feel like the council has really lowered their standards. Hope you're prepared for this.”

She started shoving him from behind, making him move towards the door. He let himself get pushed, opening the door when he got there. On the side, his knights stood beside the entranceway, and he nodded towards them. They took up positions beside Stella and him, wearing a full set of decorated armor for the occasion. Normally, they wore a more casual uniform but had gone all out for today. He wore a military uniform. Stella did too, but hers was covered in flecks of stone.

“Wind of cleansing, push apart the dirt that sullies our bodies.”

Wilt spoke a shortened version of the normal cleansing chant. The wind picked up around the four of them, brushing off dirt and dust, and leaving them spotless. Stella glared at him for the public waste of Ein, but he didn’t see anyone in the hallway. With the war going on, it was frowned upon to waste Ein for something meaningless like this. That rule didn’t really apply to him since his reserves were practically bottomless. Even if he did work all day, he still would have Ein to spare. Using it for something like this wouldn’t matter much, but he would still get in trouble if someone else had spotted him. That would change after today though.

The institute had become barren after the war started. Many people either left for the war or abandoned Elpis altogether. There were a few foreign nations that would accept chanters, but they would be treated a lot worse than they were here. The other nations saw chanters as a resource and nothing else. In the past, chanters had been kidnapped and treated as slaves. That was a long time ago now.

The hallway went by in a blur as his attention was drawn toward the upcoming event. He was going to become a counselor, a leader of Elpis. A role he never would expect. A role where his peers were people who had lived far longer than he had. Where every other member was familiar with war and death and was able to cause it on an unthinkable scale. That was who he was becoming. It was an exciting prospect, though one he didn’t really want. It was too late to back down now, and he knew that they needed him to take the place of the war. The knowledge that he would be protecting his family was the only thing that had made him agree to the promotion.

The journey seemed to frag on though he wasn’t able to properly take notice of his surroundings. A spike of pain from his forearm brought him back to reality. He flinched as Stella pinched his skin.

“Don’t worry. No matter what happens, it's not like you need to change or anything.”

She spoke the words casually, but they resonated with him. He had been expecting change with the promotion, but he realized that he didn’t need to think like that. He didn’t need to change for another person or job. He didn’t need to try and live up to the expectation. He would be fine even if he didn’t change at all. He was getting the position because of who he was, not who he would be.

He rubbed his arm; the skin had turned slightly pink from the pinch. That had been done with more force than he expected.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to do it so hard.”

Stella was looking at the pink spot on his arm, but he didn’t really care about it. If anything, he felt bad for making her worry about it.

“No, it's not that. I just really need to hear those words. I got it in my head that I needed to act differently. But that’s not true.”

Wilt smiled as he moved his hand to his pocket. He had written some notes for a speech, and he crumpled the paper now. Balling it up before pulling it out of his pockets and throwing it away. Stella glanced at the paper for a second but didn’t comment on it. Jesse though picked it up, and Wilt looked at her curiously.

“You shouldn’t throw things randomly. Who knows who will pick it up?”

Jesse spoke like a mother who was dissatisfied with their child. Wilt sighed and took the piece of paper back. He had asked both Jesse and Roy to act more comfortable around him, and they were certainly living up to his demands. He stuffed the crumpled piece of paper back into his pockets as they made it to the back of the main hall. When they arrived, several servants came to meet him. They attempted to rush him inside but were stopped by Roy. The servants got the picture and simply held the doors open as the four of them passed. Inside, he saw Janette waiting for them, though she didn’t look very happy.

The back of the hall was a small space hidden away from the public by a large drape. It would be opened once the ceremony began. Lights hung from the ceiling, and people were moving about quickly. Dozens of servants doing one thing or another. The four of them walked over to Janette who glared at him when he got close.

“Are you trying to be late for your own inauguration?”

“He still has a minute before it starts.”

Stella fired back, her tone matching Janette. Wilt looked between them as they stared each other down. Jesse and Roy took a step away from the angry chanters, and Wilt was tempted to follow them. Instead, he sided with Stella.

“She’s right, we aren’t late technically.”

A comment like that would probably earn him a lecture, but she only had a minute to give it she wanted to be on time. She knew it too, and just groaned, before muttering something about disloyalty. She gave him one last look before walking away, towards the two of the other councilors. Wilt nodded towards them and gave them an apologetic look. He felt bad for irritating them as they were just being affected by the fight between Stella and Janette. They returned the gazes, and he realized that they probably pitied his situation more. Receiving pity from the councilors was not a good way to start his inauguration.