Wednesday 19 August 2020. You receive an letter from a King of Diamonds demanding monetary reparations and an in-person apology from “whomsoever your female ‘personal healer’ is” for insulting his daughter. In this letter he insinuates this individual was insolent, undeserving of their rank, and likely only received that rank through sexual favors. Though the words are flowery, ripe with anecdotes, and littered with highranker bullshit, you understand the insults when you read them.
There are two things that can spark cold anger in General Kwon Jihoon. One of them is the self possession highrankers swaddle themselves in as though their bank accounts prove their worth to the world; and the other is insults towards his people. This King of Diamonds had done both, quite rudely, and the recipient of the thinly veiled insults had been none other than Zhang Maxine. An unwise decision.
Called to his office shortly after Jihoon had received the letter, the Healer had given the General the real story. She had been walking back to Triage when she heard the distinct sounds of a mugging. Then, putting herself in danger, she had successfully stopped two young highrankers from continuing to brutally beat a Heart Academy student without drawing any blood. These actions, to the General (and he was sure, most sane people), were actions that were to be rewarded rather than reprimanded.
Guiding Maxine out of his office and into the mess hall where the majority of his faction was gathered, he made an announcement. Voice amplified easily by a subtle manipulation of grey mana, the General began, “I recognize that I am interrupting your meal, so I will keep this brief. Normally, there would be more ceremony to this but these are special circumstances. Today is special because today we reflect on the true meaning of courage, service, and selflessness, and honor a rare person who has embodied them.”
Here he gestures to Maxine, powering through before she even starts to think of butting in. “Many of you know the woman beside me: First Sergeant Zhang Maxine. If she hasn’t saved your life or healed your wounds at one point or another, she’s healed your brothers, your sisters in arms. Your family. Two days ago on the night of Monday the Seventeenth of August, she saved a young man’s life. A Heart’s life.” A pause.
“She stopped when she heard a cry of pain and she did something about it. She risked her own life, knowing she was facing not one but two Academy trained Elementalists, for the life of one man. Why?” Another pause, longer, his eyes roaming the mess hall with a fire alight behind them. “Because it was right. Because that is what it means to be a Spade. To protect those around you; to do what is right even if it hurts, even if it isn’t easy.”
There was a roar then, the soldiers in the mess hall grinning broadly, pride in their healer and pride in their faction vibrating through the very air. Mugs were banged, affirmations were shouted, and weapons were rattled at the General’s proclamation. After a moment he raised a hand, quieting the crowd before he continued, “Even more impressively she did this without any bloodshed. One life saved and none taken in the process. It is my honor and privilege as your General to stand before you today and, for exceptional valor, courage, and strength of character, raise First Sergeant Zhang Maxine to the rank of Sergeant Major: Queen of Spades.”
