Can't rely on Fate
A/N: Thank you for all your suggestions on his magic, and after plotting the major plot of the story i finally have made a name for it, as well as a lengthy back story that will be connected to his slayer magic. So stay tuned and please read and comment.
It had been three days since he rescued the surviving members of the village raided by bandits and they were currently in a large town a day away from the capital. After arriving at the town, Blake had asked the women what they were gonna do and they responded by asking to follow him to the capital.
After looking at their hopeful faces he conceded to their request and decided to stay the night at the town. They sold most of what they looted from the bandits in the toen and they now had quite a bit of gold coins. It seems that jewels were not yet used which was understandable considering they were hundreds of years before the main story began.
After resting the night in a famous inn, Blake and his entourage of 17 women and 12 children continued on their journey towards the capital. Blake had decided to buy a carriage big enough of all the kids to sit because they were exhausted riding on horses. As they traveled on, Blake looked at his travel companions and was happy to see that they had recovered considerably along their journey. But he didn't know what he wad gonna do with them when they reached the capital, while he was thinking they finally reached the gates of the capital of Dragnof. The capital was surrounded by huge grey stonewalls atleast 26 meters high and there was another wall surrounding the inner part of the capital. It was truly magnificent and grand. They was an inspection at the gates where Blake showed the guards the medallion given by his grandpa and were let in without a fuss. Since he had a lot of women who were quite attractive and beautiful he was afraid that they might get harassed so he decided to go high key inorder to avoid unwanted trouble. Inside they were greeted by huge roads filled with people and carriages as the markets were busy and noisy.
After asking about they found a good inn that could accomodate them all and paid for a week of lodging. After settling the women amd children he told them to stay there and to not cause any trouble and decided to head towards the palace to quickly finish his errand as the schemes of Rustmore needed to be addressed before they caught wind of it.
While Blake was making his way towards the palace, in one of the palaces courtyards.
~Irene POV~
Today as i was training to fight with my staff i heard clapping coming from the outer yard and when i saw who it was, i was inwardly cursing. It was that Rung who was supposed to be my fiancee, how i hated that word. After that day when father announced about this arrangement and his ... hatred of me, i never felt so lonely and hurt in my whole life. The grandfather had to leave me as well. I know why he left but why couldn't he take me with him instead of leaving me here. It feels empty without him and now father doesn't allow me to leave the palace without escorts at all times.
I really hated the position i was in, but everytime i see the happy faces of the people i just can't make any selfish actions. When they look at me with those eyes, reverence, awe, almost worship i just can't bring myself to act selfishly.
While i was in my thoughts i heard a voice that woke me up but i hated it immediately.
"Incredible as always princess, not only are you a prodigy with magic but even your staffmanship has come a long way. You'd put many mages to shame with your talent", came the voice of that obnoxious Rung. He was a large man about 2 years older than me, with high cheekbones and a face that was quite handsome. Many of my maids and noble ladies had told me of how lucky i was to be married to such a charming and gentleman. But there was just something there, something that gave me shivers and felt wrong whenever i saw his eyes. Maybe it was because i didn't want this marriage but there was just something about him that rubbed me the wrong way.
But without showing any of my thoughts in my face i did a small curtsey and answered him politely,"You overestimate my capabilities Sir Rung, I simply have a passion for them, i am nowhere near the level of those esteemed mages. But i must ask why you are here, i specifically asked the guards not to let anyone disturb my training", i finished with a bit of stern tone at the end.
He had a wry smile on his face and with both hands in a surrenduring manner said,"I was asked by the King to come and escort you to him". I see, father asked him huh, figures, though i will marry him because of my people it doesn't mean i have to like it. "I see, father has called for me, then i will freshen myself up to meet him, thank you sir Rung", after giving him a quick short bow i left the training yard towards my quarters.
After Irene left the courtyard, the gentle smile on Rung's face vanished as a condescending smirk appeared on his face, "Hmph!, still stubborn as ever. Even after 5 years of courting and chasing her around she's still stubborn as ever. Just wait till were married, i'll show you who's above who", he said as he imagined pinning her down on the bed and having his way with her. Her helpless look as she could only consent to anything he wanted to do. After having these dark thoughts he adjusted his face to his gentle facade and went towards the royal courtroom to wait for the king's announcement.
After taking a shower and wearing formal clothes, Irene made her way into the royal courtroom where the ministers, various nobles and Rung were standing along both sides of the throne where her father king Edmund II Augustus was sitting. As usual he had that expressionless face that she remembered all her life which had changed only once that she knew of, which was when they argued that one time all those years ago.
Arriving just before the steps that led to the throne, Irene bowed to her king and announced,"You called for me Father?". King Ed looked at his daughter and said in an emotionless voice, "Your marriage with Rung has been hold off long enough, you have finished your studies in magic and you can further your pursuits after your marriage. The wedding will be held in a week.", he said in the same emotionless voice. Hearing her fathers words Irene was shocked then angry and said,"Father we agreed that i would finish 'All' my pursuits and i haven't finished by nature magic studies and haven't completed my staff training", but the king didn't budge and simply said, "You have suspended this engagement long enough, you must think for you people before your own, besides you can continue your pursuits after the wedding, my decision is final".
After hearing the slight anger in his tone Irene knew her father jad made up his mind and so could only accept her fate, "As you wish your majesty, then i will take my leave", she said, and you could hear her displeasure from her tone as well as her address of your majesty instead of father.
After leaving the courtroom, Irene decided to get some fresh air and leave the palace. But instead of having escorts she decided to sneak out by herself as her last act of defiance before her marriage. She wore a pair of her training leather armor and covered herself with a cloak. Using a secret escape route made for the royal family to leave the palace in case of emergencies she sneak out of the palace and went to the market to look around.
As she was walking around the market, she was looking around the various stalls and wares when she heard a loud commotion coming from further infront of her. She decided to see what it was about and as she went closer, she saw a noble man was ordering his guards to capture a pair of young women as they shielded a few children behind them. Seeing this Irene quickly ran and stood before them and confronted the noble, but before she could do anything a large man had already incapacitated the guards and was now holding the noble by the neck and holding him in the air with one hand.
Irene looked at the man and was surprised to see that he looked about her age and had sharp features and looked quite handsome. Hearing her own thoughts she had a small blush on her cheeks and thought he looked quite charming defending the helpless innocents. She quickly shook her head as she heard the struggling noble speak,"Let me go you commoner! Do you know who i am! I am the son of the minister of commerce, I'll have your head for this!", hearing his threats the young man didn't seem to care as he said is a low but calm and deep voice, "I don't care of your the king himself, if you try anything against them again i'll tear off your arms and legs one by one and slowly led you bleed to death, now scram!", after which he threw the noble across the market under the shocked gazes of the crowd and Irene.
Before the crowd could come out of their shocks the young man looks towards the young women and children and said in a helpless tone,"I specifically told you to stay out of trouble and this happened huh", The children ran towards him amd hugged him as he knelt down on one knee and the women also came besides him with apologetic faces and said,"Were sorry Blake, the kids wanted to see the market and we simply couldn't refuse. But after coming here that noble saw us and ordered us to come with him to become his concubines, after we declined his offer he became angry and tried to take us by force. We're really sorry", "Noo!! it wasn't their fault Big brother, we asked Ann and Amy to take us here, were the ones at fault, so don't get mad at them big brother", the children defended Ann and Amy. Blake just smiled and ruffled their hair and said, "Its okay, but you have to stay at the inn from now own until i finish my meeting ok", he really couldn't get angry with them with those pitiful eyes so he decided to simply escort them back to the inn and meet the king tomorrow. So he took the kids and women to return to their inn as the younger kids climbed to his shoulders and some hung on to his arms, legs and hold his hands, Ann and Amy had fond smiles and blushing cheeks as they saw the happy face of Blake.
Irene was also captivated by Blake's actions and all her thoughts were halted seeing him gently handle the kids as he made his way away from her. Wait! she quickly composed herself and ran after them. "Wait!", she simply yelled and the young man now named Blake and the two women halted their steps and looked back, Irene could see the surprise that was quickly hidden in his eyes but decided to ask about it later as they looked at her approaching figure. "Can we help you?", Blake asked and Irene couldn't help but take a better look at his face and found him even more handsome upclose and couldn't help the small blush resurfacing but still answered, "That was very brave of you but quite reckless, that noble won't stay quiet for long and would try and find you soon. You should leave the capital before his father acts", she advised as she didn't want them to suffer needlessly because of the selfishness of the nobles. Before Blake could answer they heard the sound of soldiers and so they simply ran towards their inn and Irene just followed them because the soldiers would recognise her if they found her.
At the inn the other women were waiting for them and when they saw Blake carrying the children they all had smiles on their faces and welcomed them. After dropping the kids and asking them to stay in their rooms he called all the women and Irene to his room to have a discussion. After they all made themselves comfortable he decided to introduce the women and himself to Irene, "We didn't have time to introduce ourselves before, my name is Blake and these are Ann, Amy, Lucy, Mary, Beth, Jean, Anna, May, Kathy, Rose, Ruby, Lyra....", after introducing the women Irene also introduced herself, "Pleasure to meet you all my name is Ire-", she paused and then immediately realised her slip-up, "Call me Merredith", she decided to use her mother's name instead. Hearing her slip-up Blake decided to just go with her lie and replied, "It's a pleasure to meet you Merredith".