The Judgement

Felix stood up and looked around the faces of the crowd. He stood tall, shoulders back, with a wide grin on his face. There were murmers from the by-standers as they cleared a path for Hodge and Drevil to examine the result of the task. An expectant hush descended as the men drew near.
Drevil crouched down and ran his hands along the edges of the box. He nodded approvingly. Hodge copied Drevil's action and Felix thought that he saw a feint smile flicker across Hodge's face. Felix was feeling confident now. The council had obviously placed him correctly. He had found his calling.
Hodge and Drevil moved to one side to confer, before they announced their verdict. It was not entirely clear to Felix what happened next.
Felix saw, from the corner of his eye, a ripple in the crowd. There was a sound like a slow gasp. The crowd swayed again and a bright shape made its way towards the huddled figures of Hodge and Drevil. The whole thing happened in less than a second before the men parted and led Felix back up to the platform for the final declaration. It was just routine.
Once back on the platform, Felix looked for his mother in the crowd. He flashed a reassuring, confident grin her way and waited for the words to be said. Drevil's face had reverted to the miserable, tired look that Felix had been so wary of. Now, it seemed more suited to evoke pity than fear. Hodge looked flustered, his face redder than usual. His standing in the town was obviously so important to him that he was worried about making a mistake in the final part of the ceremony, thought Felix. The crowd stood silent.
"In the task appointed to Felix in order to determine his suitability as apprentice to Drevil the undertaker," Hodge's voice rang out, "we have made a judgement of..." The whole village seemed to be on edge. Felix felt a warm glow of pride begin to spread through his body.
"...failure!"
The swell of disagreement from the observers began. Desperately, Felix looked around, checking what he had heard. He locked eyes with his mother, and immediately knew that he had heard correctly. He shook his head. Nobody failed! He felt a sudden surge of anger. The heat rose faster now and turned ugly inside him. He felt a light touch on his shoulder and turned towards Drevil. What he saw surprised him. The sinister face looked even more tired than usual. The eyes were darker, but even more shocking, were blinking back tears.
"Sorry, my boy." The simple, softly-spoken statement was powerful and hit Felix like a fist. He crumpled with the force.
"At this point it is my role to ask for an alternative offer to be made," Hodge continued to address anybody who was listening. There was no direct response. A few voices wanted to know what the reason for failure was, but Felix knew. It was that last nail that he had pocketed rather than hammer home.