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C534

Camelot

Yesterday was the day the Divine Order Tournament finally came into a close and concluded its tale. Like what it had been done every year; today, which was the fourth, all one hundred top squires were bestowed with the title of knight, with ten of them receiving the prestigious silver knight title.

Unfortunately, all of yesterday's grandeur and joy was quickly cut short as they found out that disaster was imminent on the horizon. Today, it was replaced by an atmosphere so somber that everyone could almost feel their lungs suffocating from it.

At the moment, there were almost a thousand people gathered in the great hall of the Divine Order. It was a gathering of the 7 kingdoms' brightest squires and knights.

They all gathered for the knighthood ceremony, but because all the 7 kingdoms had finally received grave news that could threaten their land and sovereignty, it was only the upcoming invasion from the north and east that was left on their mind.

Not only were these hundreds of people concerned with the massive force that was heading in their way, they also had specifically tried to accuse the representatives from Norgales and Iceni who still attended the gathering today. The reason was obvious.

Unfortunately as they had no real proof at the moment, they actually had nothing they could use to condemn the two kingdoms. Moreover, they were currently within the Divine Order event, and as it was quoted by Maleagent, one of the Norgales' golden knights.

'Even if we are involved, the knight of the Divine Order was not supposed to interfere with the war between kingdoms; even though it was specifically aimed toward Logress.'

The notion, obviously, brought untold amounts of anger to the Logress' knights, civilians and its allies. In their opinion, it was just plain outrageous when the situation already involved forces outside of the kingdoms. With it the whole members of the Divine Order should join together and take action.

But then again, there was nothing the Knight Commander of the Divine Order could do about it, without the existence of proof.

The event was kicked off by the three knight commanders: Sir Owain, the Aegis Knight; Sir Agrival the Wise; Uther Pendragon and also Logress King Arthur Pendragon, who acted as the host of the event.

Just like in previous years, all one hundred squires who had proven themselves were called forward, and they were quickly asked to say the Oath of the Knight.

"We are the knights of the Divine Order. We are the protector of the realm, slayers of evil. We will always be brave and upright. Speak the truth even if it leads to our death. Safeguard the helpless and do no wrong. This is our oath!"

As the oath was uttered, apparently many people that gathered in the hall became even more irritated. Many, if not the majority, started to lose faith in the order itself. Especially with what was happening right now, many felt that too many knights had lost their purpose, that the oath was just a mere string of words.

It was apparent that the state of the famous Knight of the Divine Order had dropped to an all time low. Doubt and distrust began to grow within, and chaos was bound to ensue if this continued.

One person in the hall felt the most despair as he watched and understood the situation. It was the ruler of the Logress Kingdom himself, Arthur Pendragon.

When the squires were done declaring the oath, Arthur felt something within was burning. It was telling him to say something to the people who had gathered today.

Giving trust to his feelings, Arthur quickly stood up from his seat. His sudden action naturally caught attention as everyone's eyes were on him.

"My brothers of the Divine Order, we now have crises loomed upon us, and the 7 kingdoms don't seem to have seen such a threat since their founding." Arthur said loudly, causing the atmosphere to become even more solemn. "However, it is not the threat of foreign enemies that worries me. It's the one within."

Arthur's words had successfully made everyone once more think about the two accused kingdoms. Even so, the man was still not finished yet.

"From where I am standing now, I can clearly see the look on your face. I see doubt, I see fear, I see distrust… These are the biggest threats that we are facing.. When we start to be divided, then we will start to loose"

Arthur said those words passionately, in such spirit that it brought attention and admiration to the people who heard and those around him. But he was still not done.

"Brothers of the Divine Order! Trust me, we will prevail against such threats!!"

The people in the hall felt their blood pumped, their spirit ignited as they started chanting, "For Justice!! For Honor!!"

The previous ruler of the Logress Kingdom, Uther Pendragon, was looking at his fiery son with pride scattered all over his face.

Naturally, there were also some who only smirked and showed disdain inwardly when they heard such statements - as if they knew better.

Afterwards the situation turned much brighter and the knight commander started with the accolade ceremony of the 100 new knights and gave these knights their new swords.

The ceremony was performed at noon, when the sun was at its highest point in the sky directly above the heads. Ten brightest and noteworthy squires have conferred the silver knight title. Calmness was seen on their faces, but everyone knew they were excited inwardly, honored to be bestowed with the title.

When the accolades were finished, it was time for the ten newly-conferred silver knights and all the golden knights would have their special session towards a different building to see the sword of the Divine.

Arthur reminded them again of the royal wedding, which was to be held before the night was over. The invitation was given to everyone present. The people in the hall became boisterous, and once again, their spirits were lifted.

Before the next event started, Arthur decided to check on his future wife, who was currently preparing for the wedding that would be held in a few hours.

Thinking about Gwen, before leaving the grand hall, Arthur's eyes scanned through the entire place filled with hundreds of knights, hoping to see a particular face, but he didn't find what he was looking for. He let out a sigh and said to himself.

"You are not coming, after all, aren't you, Merlin?"

To be continued