Two Princes
It looked as if the members of the Asteria's church were about ready to plan yet another ceremony- maybe even another festival- so it was with great relief that I saw none other than Keith Loric come to interrupt.
It felt like an age since I had last seen the guard captain who had been escorting Leon and Serenity on their way back to Helios.
Of course, this didn't appear to be some sort of coincidental, happy reunion either.
"Apologies High Priestess." Loric said, offering the older woman a deep bow. "I hate to interrupt, but I have been sent by the king."
"My father? Has something happened?" Leon asked, worried. I guess the king wasn't the type to summon his children without cause.
Loric laughed lightly and shook his head. "No Prince Leon, its nothing like that. Word reached the palace about your match with dragoon Trent this morning. The king has summoned you to discuss that, I believe."
"Well, that makes sense." I said, thinking that it would be odd if the King didn't want to hear about his son suddenly being able to perform magic and the like. "I suppose he will want to know about all this too." I stated, looking around the hall as if indicating the whole building.
"What happened here?" Loric asked, confused.
Rather then fly to the castle, we decided to walk.
It was a great deal slower, and it meant that I had to feel awkward before the bowing and gawking citizens.
.. but walking meant that we could catch up with Loric.
The guardsmen informed us about his mostly mundane life after returning to the capital, then listened raptly as Leon talked about becoming a dragoon cadet, and then about the happenings of this morning.
It had only been a couple hours, but some how felt like the greater part of the day should have passed.
Like before, with Master Otis and the teachers, Leon made no mention of having received his skill from me, and continued to let people believe that he had been granted it by Asteria directly.
I hoped that letting a goddess take the fall for my other-worldly acts didn't come back to bite us, but it made me feel better that others didn't know.
I may not know this world all that well, but people were people, no matter the world you lived in.
If it became common knowledge that I could grant people skills, there would be no end to the bad or inconvenient things directed my way.
Everything from political power struggles over obtaining skills from me, to possible religious repercussions.
Either, the temples would feel like I had committed blasphemy in doing what only a god should be able to do, or they may start to view me as a god's proxy or something.
Given that I was a dragon, I would bet more on the latter.
I wasn't sure if being hounded as a god's proxy would be better or worse then being labeled as a heathen...
Making my way through the castle some time later, Leon seated comfortably on my back with Loric walking at my side, I tried not to make eye contact with anyone.
The palace was quite busy, with maids, butlers, and several nobles and knights going about their business.
Well, they were going about their own business, then I entered their line of sight.
The staring got worse everyday as people learned that, not only was I a dragon- which would have made me the center of attention anyways- but I was a female dragon, who had just announced herself the partner of their so called 'talentless' prince.
There were stares, pointing, and hushed whispers spoken behind hands.
.. as if their meaty palms could some how block the words from my ears.
"- really wild? She seems so small..." I heard a woman hiss, dressed in a fine gown with her hair up in a net of silver.
"I hear she comes from a famous line." Whispered one knight to another as we passed.
"They say the king is sparing no expense to fulfill the dragon's request." Said another man, this one dressed in a suit with a bald spot badly hidden with a comb over.
"Using the kingdoms resources?" Replied the balding man's companion, looking scandalized. "We pay taxes for the dragons now too?"
I resisted the urge to snarl at the gawkers who dared to gossip about me. Any other day I may have confronted them, but Leon was in the best of moods and I didn't want to be the one to dampen it. Let the idiots whisper.
"Open the doors." Loric stated calmly to the two guardsmen outside the double doors leading to, what I assumed was, some sort of reception room. All I knew was that it wasn't the same one that I had been in before, when we had first arrived in the city.
"This is the main receiving hall." Leon stated, always able to tell when there was something I was curious about.
"The one you saw before was specifically for welcoming dragons.
It's extremely large and ornate, designed to impress not just bound dragons, but also any wild dragons-such as yourself- who might wish to see the king when they come through.
This one is still as extravagant as one would expect of a royal reception area.
After all, we host foreign dignitaries and hold balls in here.
.. but the ancient kings went all out for the other hall.
It would be a lot of work for the servants to clean and care for that one if it were used for every little occasion.
Not to mention, it would look awfully empty if no dragons were in attendance. "
"I see..." Must be tough on the servants, even cleaning a 'regular' ball room, in my opinion.
The doors were pushed open and I saw that it was, indeed, much smaller than the previous hall I had been in. It could probably hold a couple thousand humans for a party, but I doubted more than three or four dragons of average, fully grown, size could fit in here.
Within was pretty well what I had expected: the king sitting upon his throne, a couple dozen noblemen, half as many knights, and standing next to the seated king- Leon's mother, Sillia Orelious.
I didn't see either Serenity nor her mother Amanda; a true shame given I wanted to see the aggravated look on her face when she learned that Leon was far better than she had ever given him credit for.
There were a couple new faces, too. Two men: older than Leon but clearly younger than the king, even if his majesty looked a great deal younger than his actual age.
Both men stood to the king's left and watched us enter the room with blatant curiosity and, perhaps, just a little excitement?
At least they didn't look openly hostile as Amanda had, given I was pretty sure that these two men had to of been relatives of my prince.
"Good, you're here!" Grinned the king, getting to his feet. It was the most animated I had seen him so far, and it wasn't a stretch to say that he looked elated. "Is what I have been told the truth? Has Asteria truly blessed you?"
Leon and I approached the throne, leaving Loric at the door and ignoring all the incidentals we passed. Once we reached the royal family Leon offered his father a slight bow, while I eyeballed the two young men next to the king.
One was a carbon copy of the king, with his trade mark blonde hair and icy blue eyes.
Other than his age, the only thing that distinguished the man from the king were that the younger man's hair was significantly shorter, and his face was sculpted into a brazen, and roguish grin, that made me think he was the act-first-ask-questions-later type.
In stark contrast, the other man had only one thing in common with the other two men: His icy blue eyes.
He was several inches shorter then them, and rather androgenous.
His skin was a milky pale tint, and his hair was very long, black as night, and left to cascade down his thin frame.
Unlike the other man's bold stare, this one looked a little aloof, but also I could see a kindness in his eyes as he watched Leon.
Indeed, he seemed to have eyes more for my prince than he did for me.
It was an odd feeling, not being the center of someone's attention. Not that I was vain or an attention hog, or anything. Really.
"Yes Father." Smiled Leon, lifting his head and beaming at his family.
His mother- dressed in a pale pink, silk dress today- looked so happy that she was already in tears, her hands folded in front of her mouth as she fairly bounced on the balls of her feet.
"In fact, I have just returned from thanking Asteria myself, and have other news to share. "
"There is more?" Asked the younger blonde man, an eyebrow raised in amusement.
Leon went on to explain the happenings at the temple, from his pledge to the goddess, the shimmering light, to the High Priestess' conviction that Leon was an ordained Paladin of the Asteria temple now.
It was funny, watching the shocked and disbelieving looks cross over the royal's faces, while the nobles hissed and whispered in the background.
"Oh! Congratulations Leon!" Queen Sillia cried, unable to hold herself back anymore, rushing forward. She wrapped her son in her arms and cried with happiness, causing Leon to flash me a smile over her shoulder.
"I don't know if you are a harbinger of luck or not, Allura, but many great things have happened for our Leon since your appearance in his life." Stated the blonde haired man to the king's left.
"Indeed..." agreed the black haired one, offering me a soft, glowing smile that probably made both women and men blush when used at the right time and place.
"Allura, these are my older brothers. The one who looks just like my father is the Crown Prince of Orelious: Christian Orelious.
" Leon informed me, indicating the blonde male.
I remembered that when I had met Leon it was stated that he was the Kingdom's third prince.
I suppose these were the first two then.
"And the dark haired man is my second brother: Prince Samuel Orelious. "
"Its an honor to meet you Allura." Grinned Christian, offering me a stiff bow and a bright smile.
"Sorry we couldn't introduce ourselves earlier.
I was away from the capital with a delegation to the elven kingdom below the falls.
But, even there, we received word of the arrival of a beautiful pink dragon queen within the borders of Helios.
" Ah, another flatterer... well, that was better then the cold eyes and manipulation of Queen Amanda.
"Oh! And this is my little brother Samuel! "
Christian slapped a large and calloused hand on the shoulder of the far more delicate looking Samuel, who almost fell forward at the blow. The pale man regained his feet and glared up at his brother, rubbing his sore shoulder. Christian seemed unfazed.
Samuel sighed and directed his gaze from the prince to me, his eyes changing from irritated to kind and welcoming in an instant. "Greetings Allura. I also just returned to the palace, so I also ask your forgiveness for the late introduction."
"Its fine." I said, not really caring at all. I mean, why would I? "I have met more than enough people since I've come here, so its nice to have them spread out a little."
"You were on a mission with Captain Trent Nordson weren't you, Brother?" Leon asked Samuel as he carefully extracted himself from his mother's grip.
Samuel nodded. "I can safely say that I am glad to be back."
Christian snorted. "You could stand to get out of the capital more often. You are always haunting the palace's halls like some pale ghost!"
"Do not start arguing in front of our guest." The king sighed, stepping forward at last. Behind his back Christian simply grinned, while Samuel sighed and folded his arms, avoiding eye contact with Christian.
Honestly, I could see a little of Leon in both older princes.
Christian was constantly smiling, and I assumed- by the callouses on his hands- that he also spent a lot of time with a sword in his hands.
But Samuel had a lot of the same delicate features and quiet kindness I associated with Leon as well.
I think that meant that they both spent a lot of time with their younger brother as he grew up.
Enough that a little of both their personalities rubbed off on Leon.
It made me happy, knowing that Leon's family was actually quite close to one another. Even Serenity seemed to love Leon a lot, despite her mother's rather obvious animosity.
"This is, indeed, a time of celebration once again.
If we hadn't been so swamped with preparations for the up and coming festival I would have thrown a ball in your honor, Son.
But it will have to wait till the seasons change, I should think.
" The king said, looking lost in thought, as if he was mentally trying to pencil in a time for the event.
Leon raised a hand, looking a little uncomfortable.
"No need for that Father. Besides, would it not be in poor taste to throw a lavish party for a thing like this?
" That sounded like an excuse to me, but I wasn't going to complain.
I know that these people are royally, but how many festivals and balls can one group of people throw?
It was all too much social interaction for my taste.
"Hmmm. Perhaps you are right... Asteria may be the goddess of beauty, but she does exude a more classy and elegant style..." Mused the king, actually looking troubled.
"Perhaps we can organize a small dinner party, and make a sizable donation to the church My King?" Sillia offered, flashing me a mischievous wink. Ah, so that was where Leon got his playful side from.
"Her Majesty speaks wisely, you Highness." Agreed one of the surrounding noblemen, speaking up for the first time. "No need to stretch the budget when a Paladin should be frugal and dedicated. It might send the wrong message to the common folk."
Annoyed, I narrowed my eyes on the man in question.
He was short and dumpy, but had a rather impressive mustache and pretty eyes.
What I didn't like about the man was that those pretty eyes were looking at Leon as if he were beneath this man.
I wasn't the only one to notice the man's allusions towards Leon either.
Both Sillia and Samuel levied annoyed eyes upon him right along side me.