An Invitation

It had just gone morning, the sun peeking up over the horizon spreading its ambient warmth across the land as its light touched the lands of the Alioth Kingdom. The rays flittered through the closed curtains of Kye's hospital room as he was getting dressed for the day. He was going to be discharged today and Kye was excited to finally be free from the confines of his room. He had been caught by the nurses doing exercise by himself and earned himself a rather long lecture from the head nurse for putting unnecessary strain on his body. Needless to say, his protests about being bored fell on deaf ears and he was forced to stop with a nurse coming around every ten minutes to ensure he was resting properly.

Vanessa had been busy helping the Runewalker family after the incident at the party as well as making time to see other families that they would otherwise not be able to see. Though it was no secret that many of the families who were meeting with the Runewalkers were only interested in spellweave, there were still small deals to be made to increase the standard of living in the Runewalker territory. The largest deal that came out of their extended stay in Alioth City was the new river trade route opened by the Barco family along the Hourglass River. The river itself ran through the Runewalker territory all the way to a large fishing town in the Friedhand territory.

With tensions relieved between the two houses, the Barco family felt it appropriate to now bring up the issue of establishing a river city as a major stopping point in the Runewalker territory. Kye was unaware of the full details of the agreement but a new water trade route would serve as a great new revenue stream for them. Kye had heard about all of this from Vanessa on one of her many visits through the day in between their shared moments of intimacy. Elenor had also been back once since her first visit. Kye helped demonstrate how to use the communication tablet he had given her so that they could remain in contact while they were separated. Kye found a natural smile form on his face as he thought back on his time with Elenor but before he could get fully immersed in the feelings, a knock rang out from the door to his room.

"Enter."

Upon permitting the person on the outside, the door opened to reveal a smartly dressed middle-aged butler who stood around 180cm tall. He entered the room and gave a deep bow to Kye.

"Apologies for disturbing your rest young master Kye, I have come to deliver a message from His Highness, the first prince Justin Alioth."

"Oh? And the contents of this message?"

"His Highness would like to extend an invitation to you to join him and his youngest brother for a night of drinks and entertainment at the Golden Coin casino. He has reserved the penthouse layer of the casino for several distinguished guests to mingle and discuss affairs outside of the stuffy atmosphere of courtroom culture. His Highness is rather selective of the company he keeps so these evenings serve as a way for him to keep in touch with those he deems worthy of his inner circle."

"His inner circle? Then why am I invited? I haven't spoken to the man before in my life."

"With your actions at his sister's birthday fresh in everyone's mind, I believe he wishes to invite you to this meeting to get to know you better. Not many would display a willingness to lay down their life for someone they had met hours prior."

Kye brought his hand up to his chin as he adopted a thoughtful pose before nodding slightly.

"Tell His Highness that I will be in attendance but I will require transport. My family will certainly not approve of me leaving the family home after all that has happened but I doubt they could turn down the first prince."

The butler nodded approvingly.

"I shall inform His Highness promptly. We will arrange for a motorised carriage to be waiting for you at half-past 5 o'clock in the evening. His Highness looks forward to seeing you there."

The butler was about to turn around but Kye spoke up before he could leave.

"Before you go, I should ask. Am I allowed to bring a servant to this gathering?"

"Yes, each guest is allowed to bring one servant however they will have to be checked for weapons before entering as will you."

"That's perfectly acceptable, thank you."

The butler bowed and left Kye's room, gently closing the door behind him. Kye sat down on the bed as he thought over what the first prince could want to discern by meeting him. Suddenly, the memory of when they were stop searched at the gate by the female guard captain came forward to the front of his mind. Something about her and the butler from earlier matched in his head but Kye couldn't quite place it. Although the exact connection between them wasn't discernable to Kye at this moment, there was little doubt that the provocation of the guard captain was tied to this invitation to the Golden Coin.

Kye shook off the thoughts and focused on packing his things. He was finally free from the confines of this white and sterile prison. It didn't take long to gather the few belongings that stayed in his room and pack them into a fine canvas duffle bag that was of the same type soldiers used to transport their essentials from base to base. Slinging the bag over his shoulder, Kye checked himself in the mirror one last time and exited the room. He made his way past the nurse's station of the ward and waved as he left. The nurses who saw him waved back before going about their business.

It didn't take Kye long to descend the stairs that led to the foyer from the ward he stayed in. He reached the main foyer of the hospital and saw Vanessa standing at the door waiting for him. She had a radiant smile on her face when she saw Kye come out of the stairwell. Kye smirked back at her before walking to the reception desk and signing out of the hospital. After the paperwork had been done, Kye walked over to Vanessa and the two hugged.

"Shall I take your bag, young master?"

Vanessa offered her hand out to take his bag but instead, Kye grabbed her hand with his and locked their fingers together.

"No need."

With their hands joined, Kye and Vanessa walked back to the Runewalker mansion, smiling all the way.

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Hey, it's Shitler here. Been a while huh? Well, that's life for you. Now that I'm back I plan on staying back so this is the first of a few, (probably three) chapters today and more tomorrow.

To show that my dedication is back, I've created a community discord server for you to all join and harass me in.

https://.discord.gg/42AaurtH <-- Just remove the . after the // and that will take you to the new community hub I've set up. Hope to see you there!