The Select were required to attend a banquet and social event the King held annually with the leaders and heroes of his military.
When they'd told us this particular event was coming, it had sounded strange to me. A bunch of soldiers mingling with fancy noblewomen with no set purpose? But David explained that the military might of Arinel kept it safe—and actually aided diplomacy. Neighbors and enemies were hesitant to launch outright war with his nation because of their strength. But their strength only remained because Stark, and the generations of generals and Captains before him, had made the military a source of strength and wealth for the men involved.
And they were only men.
