130 Pomp and Ceremony

Magnus watched Shasta put her arm on Skye's shoulder, and felt relief. The fight they'd gotten into upon meeting had mostly been Magnus' fault. He feared that the tension between them would build since their fight didn't go as he'd hoped. Skye was quite talented for someone with little experience. The king had hoped Shasta's natural love of fighting would spark a friendship.

  The Vice Commander's evaluation skills were sorely missed during the Mage Trials. She was not only the top evaluator for the past several years, but was utterly fair about it. Bribes, bloodlines; nothing swayed her judgment but talent and potential. Shasta even randomly dropped in on training sessions to give advice. Anything to foster potential sparing partners.