Alister looked at the younger man with a patient expression on his face. �You cannot take the throne until you are officially recognized as an adult,� he explained calmly. �In order to do that, you must undergo The Ordeal.�
�I�m not adult!?� Keenan snapped, getting to his feet. Turning to the only other person in the room, he calmly asked, �How old am I, Phillip?�
�I think you�re thirty-five years old,� the warlock replied, already seeing where the wizard was going with this argument.
�You�re right,� he said softly. Turning back to the Intelligence Director, he said, �I�m thirty-five years old, married and have two children and you�re trying to tell me that I�m not an adult? Are you completely OUT OF YOUR MIND?�
Blackstone winced and rubbed at his ear. �Your age has very little to do with this, sir,� he explained in a calm voice. �It�s a matter of perception. You�re people simply won�t acknowledge you as their ruler if you haven�t undertaken an ordeal of some sort.�
Keenan sighed deeply and flopped back down in the chair. �Stupid!� he mumbled. �I don�t even want to be king and now I learn that, in order to obtain a rank I don�t even want, I have to undergo some foolish ordeal that will just as likely get me killed.�
He shook his head and glanced up at the other man, now seeming calmer. �What sort of thing counts as an Ordeal?� he asked in an irritable tone.
Alister shrugged. �Any difficult experience, that serves to test the strength of your character and your endurance,� he explained.
Keenan frowned and shook his head; then turned helplessly to Phillip. �I was kidnapped, held by evil mages and forced to work for them. Then I began spying on them and doing everything in my power to keep them from� hurting anyone,� he whispered. �Doesn�t that fit the qualifications he just described?�
Phillip looked ready to argue and then scowled thoughtfully. �You�re right!� he exclaimed. �Everything you�ve gone through would certainly qualify as an ordeal to most people.�
Meadows smiled brightly and turned to Alister. �I already did all that,� he said happily.
The Director scowled and then said, �In order for it to count, we have to� compare how you were before the ordeal to how you are now.�
Keenan frowned slightly. �You could talk to my parents, I suppose,� he said quietly.
Alister shook his head. �We need an impartial, objective observer. Most of the time children use their teacher or ��
�My master was killed,� Keenan whispered. �I � I was there when it happened, had to watch�� he trailed off, shaking his head sadly.
�Then we need someone else,� Alister said thoughtfully. �Is there anyone who knew you before that you�re still in touch with?�
Keenan�s expression turned thoughtful. People came to mind, but he just as quickly discarded them. Yarneraj and Xeneel never spent enough time around him to really get to know him. No one from that early on did, really. The mad man who�d killed his master would be able to see how he�d changed, but since he was also dead, that didn�t leave anyone. Looking up, he said, �They�re all dead. Anyone who knew me before Master Bartholomew was killed is dead now.�
�Master� Bartholomew?� Phillip whispered. His eyes widened and he turned to Keenan�s familiar, which was curled up comfortably at the end of the table. �Bloody hell!�
�I couldn�t tell him the truth, Phillip,� the rabbit said, quite calmly. Turning to face the young wizard, Bartholomew said, �Keen� look at me.�
Keenan frowned in confusion, but did as his familiar asked. A moment later, he nearly knocked over his chair in his rush to pull his familiar into his arms. �Master!� he chirped. �You � you�re� you�re my familiar?�
�Set me down, Keenan,� the rabbit requested. Once Keenan had done so, he explained, �I knew I was dying and my only thought at first was to tap your hat, so that you�d be a master. Then I realized that there was no way I�d be able to reach it, so I cast one final spell.�
�A spell?� Keenan asked softly. �You transferred your soul into� this form and became my familiar,� he said thoughtfully. Bartholomew sat up proudly on his haunches and Keenan smiled gently and patted the soft brown fur. �But, why?�
�Because you still needed me,� Bartholomew answered quietly. �I also needed to watch over you and� you needed a familiar, Keenan. You�d never have reached your full potential without one.�
Keenan sighed deeply and nodded. �I�m like� super powered,� he whispered. �Walking around with so much magic flowing through me that I have to wear damping bracers or I start leaking magic everywhere.�
Phillip�s eyes goggled and he said, �You wear dampers? All the time?�
The wizard smiled sadly. �Why do you think he wanted me so badly that he killed my master?� he asked softly. �I used to get frustrated and effect magical items, then my master put dampers on me and it stopped.�
�Yes, well,� Phillip started, not a little flustered. �Putting damping bracers on apprentices isn�t unusual, it�s just that most can hardly do even the simplest of spells with them on, but you don�t seem limited at all in what you can do.� He shook his head. �Glad you work for us now,� he muttered.
Keenan giggled and turned to Alister. �So, now you have an �impartial, objective observer�, what next?�
�You leave the room,� Alister said softly. �He�ll give testimony to the council and we�ll decide if you have the strength of character and endurance of an adult, or if you�re still a child.�
Keenan nodded and hugged Bartholomew gently. �I still wish you�d have told me, even if I understand why you didn�t,� he whispered.
�I know, Keen,� Bartholomew whispered. �I�ll see you soon and, no matter how it goes, I�ll always be there with you.�
Keenan smiled and stood up. Phillip followed him and the pair left the room, while the other members of Keenan�s future royal council filed in the room past them. He turned nervously to Phillip and asked, �You think I�ll pass?�
�As if there was ever a doubt!� Phillip exclaimed. �You not only overcame horrible adversity and paralyzing fears, you turned a horrible situation into a rather happy and productive life,� he stated. �Even if you did things that you probably shouldn�t have at times, that doesn�t mean you have a weak character. That means you made the only choice you felt you had when you looked at very bleak options.�
Keenan smirked and nodded. �I guess so,� he whispered shyly. He wasn�t used to praise of any kind, especially from people he looked up to the way he did Phillip. Although the warlock was most likely unaware of how his words had affected the wizard, Keenan now felt confident at the results on the council�s deliberations.
End�