Guardians of Ga'Hoole 11 - To Be a King

you.
    Worry not, the night steals away the day.
    Worry not, twilight turns to gray.
    Here comes the night,
    here comes the night.
    Hoole had been so glad that the Snow Rose had decided to stay at least temporarily. But Grank had warned him that gadfeathers rarely remained in any place for long. “Remember, Hoole, she’s already tried being a Glauxian Sister. And she left that after a very short time. Once a gadfeather, always a gadfeather,” Grank had cautioned.
    Hoole thought about this now. For the past three nights she had sung to them at daybreak. Daybreak could be a hard time for owls. The night was gone and everything seemed too bright. But she had made it a more comfortable, friendlier time. Perhaps that was it! Hoole suddenly realized a thing of great importance. The Snow Rose might stay because she had a unique role to play here. If each owl thought he or she was special and vital to the tree, it would not only make them loyal but also perhaps distract them from notions of magic and mages. More than that, it could make this tree truly great if each owl used their special talents. The Snow Rose was much more than a gadfeather. She was an artist and a warrior. Just as Theo was much more than a blacksmith who forged weapons. He must learn to make many useful things beyond battle claws and containers for embers. Hoole looked at the iron teardrop now. Suppose, thought Hoole, Theo might be able to make many similar containers, and we could put coals in them to light the many hollows in the tree. If certain hollows were always illuminated, learning could go on all the time.
    And Grank himself was a collier. He must teach others if the skill was not to be lost eventually. There were so many things to be taught, to be learned. The Great Ga’Hoole Tree could become great beyond its mere size. It would be the beginning of a new era that would be Glaux blessed and free of magic or nachtmagen. Now how to explain all of this to the parliament?
    He poked his beak out of the hollow and summoned a young lieutenant from the Ice Regiment of H’rath, who had been perched as a lookout.
    “Yes, Your Majesty?” The Barn Owl swept down from his high perch.
    “No sign of Joss?” Hoole asked.
    “No sign, Your Majesty.”
    “Thank you, Cuthmore. Alert me at the first sign of him.”
    “Certainly, Your Majesty.”
    This was deeply troubling. Joss was their most reliable messenger. He had served Hoole’s father, King H’rath, and had kept Grank himself informed during Grank’s long absences from his court. They were dependent on Joss, atough Whiskered Screech, for any and all news from the Northern Kingdoms. It was urgent that they know how much damage Lord Arrin had sustained. Was he rebuilding his army? And what about the hagsfiends? Had any been killed? Hoole was furious with himself that he had not thought to dispatch Joss first to the Southern Kingdoms to see if any were lingering there. Hagsfiends in the S’yrthghar would prove disastrous. Why did I not do this? Hoole demanded of himself for what felt like the tenth time.
    I must learn to think like a commander, to think like a king. No, Hoole corrected himself. I must learn to be a king.

CHAPTER FOUR
To Be a Guardian
    I t was a strange word, “parliament.” Hoole had never heard it before. But Grank had explained to him that a parliament was a group of owls that gather together for discussion and decision making. Hoole had decided that a hollow near the base of the tree was the perfect place for the parliament.
    So eleven owls, including Hoole, now perched in a half circle of niches and notches that were scattered around the walls of a hollow in the great tree. Hoole was in the center. He swiveled his head to one side and then the other, taking in each owl. Some, like Phineas, Theo, and Grank, were his old friends. Some he had only recently met. They had been rallied from the remnants of the old H’rathian Guard to fight in the Beyond. He studied these new ones now. There was Lord Rathnik, one of his father’s closest advisors, who had led the Ice Regiment of H’rath in the battle and fought brilliantly. The officers of the IceRegiment had all been knights, and it was Lord Rathnik who had knighted Hoole.
    For Hoole, this conferring of knighthood was more important than being anointed as king. He had already decided that he would wear no crown. And if Hoole had his way, the tree would not be called the Great Ga’Hoole Tree, but simply the great tree.
    To one