Faction before blood?

Chapter 32

It was an important day for all of us.

Initiation day.

But not just any Initiation day. Today Theo would become a full-fledged dauntless member.

His choosing ceremony was 4 months ago and he made us all proud as he and Ben chose dauntless without the slightest hesitation. Not that they had to worry about competition, despite the large numbers of dauntless born this year. Normally there were up to 20 dauntless born going through initiation at once, but because of the mixed up serums from erudite, that caused my pregnancy in the first place, there were 34 this year.

Three of them deflected, one of them to erudite, one to candor and the last one to amity. The later had caused a slight uproar under our members, since they couldn't understand the wish of a peaceful life.

I, myself knew that there were worse things than living in peace and amity seemed like a decent place to spend the rest of one's life.

Without pressure.

Only love.

However, I was glad that my boy decided to stay, not that we had to worry much about him deflecting in the first place. Theo and Ben started to participate more in leadership matters even before initiation, to prepare for their chosen profession and to, without a doubt, prove everyone what they were really capable of.

Both unbeaten in the fights, managed to set a record for the longest lasting fight between two initiates. Over two hours they struggled against one another, refusing to concede or let the instructors, who were thankfully not their fathers anymore, but two higher ranking members, call a tie.

Only when Ben slipped on something, which I strongly assume was blood, Theo was able to knock him out, with a well-placed hook to his jaw.

I wasn't able to stand Eric's gloating, which lasted over a week, until it became clear that Ben was a little ahead in the sims.

This time my bother boasted, as Eric sulked like a toddler. The both of them were awful.

It was a neck-to-neck race, even tempting the members to bet, which one would be the first ranking initiate this year. But the boys didn't seem bothered by it.

There was competition between them, of course, but they weren't sore losers and it didn't really matter anyways.

Their profession had been, like I always assumed, determined, soon after they had been born and had been fortified after everyone knew, just how gifted they really were.

When it came to fighting, especially when the two were tag-teaming, there was no one who could take them on.

Not even Eric or Tobias.

The first time we discovered this fact was when the boys were sixteen. They had come home from one of the excessive parties the dauntless hosted, drunk out of their minds. Eric had always been Theo's role model, but the next morning as he tried to punish the both of them for breaking their curfew and one of my favorite vases, Theo refused to listen to anything his father had to say.

So Eric dragged him to one of the fighting rings to handle it there, since he would have never laid hand on his children in any way, except in a controlled fight, where he was always in control.

Theo won that day, but still got his punishment, just like Ben did.

I strongly assume the two of them are our most skilled fighters.

And I was proofed right through the duration of these weeks of combat training.

Like the two years before, it was Max' turn to inform the faction of the rankings, like Eric used to do, when I was in initiation. This happened, after he had decided to assign Eric the position of our head leader. Something he had worked hard for since he transferred from erudite. Guided by Max' expertise and experience, my husband managed to master this hurdle without great difficulties.