The Imperial Knights (1)

"Write it like this," Papa said as he traced the letters on the paper.

I've been practicing reading and writing for two weeks now, and I'm getting better.  I was able to read a few simple phrases and write my name. At that time, when His Majesty discovered that we had sneaked to see my friend, he advised that I just let Max play here in the palace so that I wouldn't have to travel to the capital, which would be extremely risky given my predicament. And so, I intend to write a letter to Max to invite him to come to the palace. 

"Papa, I'll write a letter for Max."

"Here, write on it. I'll check after you're done." Papa handed me a clean piece of paper, ink, and quill. I placed the paper in front of me, holding the quill with my tiny hand-dipping it in the black ink, and wrote down:

Dear Max,

How are you doing Max? I hope you're well. These past weeks I learned how to write and read, thanks to Papa! This is my first time writing a letter so bear with my ugly handwriting.

I already miss playing with you so I would like to ask if you could visit me sometimes. His Majesty said you could come to the palace! Isn't it great? Together with this letter is the Royal insignia. Just present it to the guards if you come to visit.

I hope to see you again.

Your friend,

Brielle

After I finished writing the letter, I gave it to Papa. He checked the letter, and when he ensured that everything was legible and right, he put it on an envelope and sealed it. Papa was about to call Lydia to deliver the letter to the courier, but I interrupted, "Papa, could we personally hand it to the courier?"

"Why? Are you friends with the courier?"

"No, no, it's just my first letter. I want to see it when it is delivered." "Alright, if that's what you want."

We asked Lydia where the courier was, and she said that the knight was the one who delivered the letters of the palace, so we headed to the training grounds where the knights were training.

We walked down the stairs then to the ground palace hall, where the clanging of the swords were audibly heard. As we got nearer to the training ground, I could see the knights, half-naked, sweating from their training. Muscular bodies were all I could see. It must be the fruit of their training. 

A hand suddenly covers my eyes. "Don't look, Brielle. It's not for kids."

"Oh! Atlas, Brielle, what brings you here?" I couldn't see who was speaking, but based on the knight's voice, I assumed it was Sir Helden. 

"We're passing over to drop off a letter," Papa said, still concealing my eyes. 

"Is that Brielle?"

"She's really cute!"

"Her tail is real! I want to touch it."

"Me, first. I'm going to speak with her."

The knights chattering was loud enough for me to hear. Judging from what I'm hearing, they were amazed at my tail and wanted to be friends with me. I tilted my head, so the hand of Papa was removed from covering my eyes and greeted, "Hello, I'm Brielle, and this is my Papa Atlas." As soon as I greeted them, they all together greeted me back and I couldn't tell who was talking.

"Knights of the Great Ronian Empire, go to your station!" shouted Sir Helden. All the knights returned to train after hearing the command. Sir Helden got his coat, wore it, and said, "Sorry for the knights' rudeness. They were just excited to meet your daughter." 

"At least you're aware," answered Papa. "Here," Papa handed the letter to him, "It's for Brielle's friend, Max." 

"I'll deliver it safely," he reassured. "You're already here so would it be great to have fun? We have horses."

"Horses?!" I blurted.

"But, Brielle, horses are dangerous," warned Papa.

"We have a pony," Sir Helden said.

"Really? You're not helping."

"I'm on your daughter's side," he chuckled.

***

Neigh!

Sir Helden took out a white cute pony and a black large horse outside a stable. The knights in training begged us to accompany us, stating they would protect me if I fell off my horse. Because of the continuous insistence of the knights, Sir Helden agreed. And also, Papa didn't say anything about it because all the people inside the palace knew that I'm a mermaid, and they kept silent on my secret, and they didn't cause harm to me. "Papa, let's ride the big horse."

"Don't you want the small one?"

"I want to ride with you, so it's impossible if we ride on the pony." Papa just laughed at what I said. 

We rode on a horse and started to roam around the palace. I knew that the palace was big but seeing it now, it was beyond what I imagined. Papa was a swift rider. Thanks to him, I didn't get dizzy and uncomfortable on my first ride. When we got back to where Sir Helden and the knights were, I saw their eyes glimmer. 

"Papa, I want to play with them," I said as we got off the horse.

"Them?" Papa questioned, staring at them. "They haven't taken a bath yet. They smelled sweaty."

When the knights heard what Papa had to say, they began to complain and defend themselves. It was a fun sight to see.

"Papa, could you please? They're nice to me."

"Alright. But first, your tail should be bathed in water; It's dry," said Papa. "Helden, do you have any buckets that Brielle could fit in?" 

"Wait a minute. I know we have it here," he answered as he looked inside the stable. After a minute, Sir Helden came out holding a wooden bucket that I could fit in. "Here, take it. Don't worry it's not used."

Papa took the wooden bucket and, using his ice power, created ice and turned it into the water, filling the bucket. The knights' expressions were all astounded at Papa's ability, but Sir Helden didn't respond because it wasn't his first time seeing it. Well, I also sense that Sir Helden possesses a great amount of mana so he must be strong and used to seeing rare attributes.

I've been placed on the bucket with cold water, and the knights started to surround and talk to me. I noticed that not all of them were males, some were females. It was cool to see female knights! They must not be on the training grounds earlier because if so, I should have seen them. Papa and Sir Helden were staying beside the stable, watching us. It seemed that they were talking about something. 

"Brielle is incredible. Despite her age, she already speaks so well." 

"…"

"Are you raising her alone? Where is her mother?"

"You don't need to know," answered Atlas in a cold tone.

"What a frigid response," grumbled Helden. "Do you know that the ice attribute is already extinct? And only magical beasts could only possess it."

"So, you're saying I'm a magical beast," grinned Atlas.

"Are you?"

"I advised you and the emperor to not dig too much about me and Brielle. If you kept making me annoyed, your body would taste what cold is," Atlas warned, sending shivers down Helden's spine.