Meeting the King

"If what you say is true, then I believe your father is already waiting to meet me. I was already invited to come and meet the King and compete for one of his daughter's hands in marriage." Jax said with a sly smile.

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"Please, let's take a seat at one of the empty tables so that we can continue this conversation." Suggested Jax

"Oh, ok." Replied Alice blanky.

Alice couldn't believe her ears; she was uncertain if this young man was telling the truth. She had heard from her father about how he was inviting several young men to compete for hers and her siblings' hands in marriage. She never expected to run into one of them and also to be so charmed by one of them. She hadn't even thought about giving the participants the time of day, she had been totally uninterested in the competition or who might win. Now however, she was interested in this young man and the way she felt after meeting him.

"I assure you I speak the truth, when I see my father next, I will tell him your name and see his reaction for myself. If he doesn't know who you are, then you can forget about finding me at the Academy, because I have no desire to be acquainted with a liar." Alice said with a fierce expression.

"Dear lady, fear not, I have no doubt of what I said. My father is the one who, at that time, received the invitation in my stead. My father had taken a random quest that was actually posted by his Majesty. After completing the quest, my father was able to meet the King. At that time, his Majesty told my father to bring me to the palace when it was time for my coming-of-age ceremony. However, if you mention my name and our meeting, I'm sure his Majesty would be more than happy to meet with me." Said Jax with confidence.

Jacob had told Jax about the King asking to meet him when they were planning to go to the Spiral Mountains. Jax still wanted to visit the mountains to train but with meeting Alice and the potential chance of attending the Academy early, he doesn't know when he'll be able to make the trip out to the Spiral Mountains.

"When you do see your father and you give him my name, tell him also, that I won't need to attend the competition, because I know which daughter I would like to get married to." Jax had said the last bit with a warm smile and gentle tone.

Upon hearing what Jax wanted her to tell her father, Alices face began to grow red, and she seemed at a loss for words. She felt like he was talking about her, but she didn't know for certain, and didn't want to hope for it to be her, when he was talking about one of her siblings. After a moment of collecting her thoughts, Alice was finally able to say, "I will relay words to my father, but he will want to know which daughter you are speaking about."

"I mean I thought it was obvious, but just to clarify, I Jax Talen, would like the opportunity to marry, Alice Kingsly Helgard. I will do whatever is necessary to prove my worthiness her and his Majesty." Jax said with a bow, he wanted to show his seriousness regarding the current situation.

By now Alice had become completely red, from her hairline to her neckline, there wasn't a bit of skin that wasn't red from blushing. Alice again had much difficulty finding her voice, after a few moments of taking several deep breaths, Alice looked Jax in the eyes and asked, "I want an honest answer, are you being serious? We just met a short time ago and we know next to nothing about one another. Will you really want to marry someone that you know nothing about?"

"Are you prepared to spend your life with someone that you might not even find sexually attractive? How would you explain not giving my father grandchildren? I will not accept a political marriage or to be forced to marry someone, I don't love and doesn't love me, to prevent a fight or war, I want someone who will loves me for who I am." Alice asked after calming her nerves and gathering her courage to ask such questions and basically demanding some honest answers.

"I swear on my life, every word spoken is with the utmost truth. I would never lie about the way I feel towards someone. We may have just met, and I can't explain why, but now that I have met you, I don't think I could bear to not see you again. I feel a connection with you and would like to explore that." Said Jax solemnly.

"For some reason I can't help but believe you, so i will take your name and words straight to my father. I expect he will send for you and your family as soon as I tell him about our conversation. I will leave right now, so that it will happen sooner. I look forward to seeing you again later, please don't disappoint me." Replied Alice, as she gave Jax one last look in the eyes, as she gets up to leave.

Jax also decides to head back, he wanted to wait at the hotel so he could explain the day's events and warn his parents about the possible meeting with the King later today. His parents still weren't back, so he decided to meditate and absorb energy until they return.

Meanwhile

Alice had taken her carriage back to the palace, she had told the driver to make haste, as she had important matters to discuss with his Majesty. The driver obediently complied and drove his horses as fast as he could. The normal hour commute through the city took less than half that, Alice was very impressed with the carriage drivers' abilities to handle his horses, so she gave him a tip for getting her back so quick.

He thanked her and wished her well, then he boarded his carriage and drove away with a huge grin plastered on his face because of the profits he made from this lady's kindness. He had made more money with this one trip than he normally would with two full days of work.

After arriving in front of the palace, Alice begins making her way up the stone stairs to the main gate. As she gets closer, she prepares to yell for the guards to open the gate, but before she can even begin to speak, the guards had already begun to open the gate. The guards stationed at the gate have been waiting for her to come back for a few days now, the King had ordered them to bring her straight to the palace when she returned.

Once Alice was inside the gates of the city, one of the guards approached her and said, "One moment Princess, the King has ordered us to escort you straight to the palace when you got back. I'm sorry if you had other things to do, but I must follow orders, so please come with us back to the palace."

"That's quite alright sir knight, I was heading to the palace to see his Majesty anyways, but I won't turn down an escort, and thank you both for waiting here for me." Replied Alice, since she was headed there anyway, she didn't have any reason to refuse.

The two guards who introduce themselves as William and Thomas, form a line with Alice in the middle and begin leading her to the King's audience chamber. Several minutes later they arrive in front of a set of beautifully crafted doors. The twin doors stand at least three feet above Alices head and four of her could fit in front of a single door, they were abnormally gigantic.

William steps up to the door on the right and knocks loudly and firmly, then opens it and enters. As he enters the room, he exclaims in a loud voice that seems to fill the room. "My King, your daughter, Miss Alice has returned."

When the King hears the announcement, he jumps up from his seat and makes his way over to the three of them. When he's standing in front of them, they begin to feel a warm feeling wash over them and upon looking at the King's face they can tell the love he shows to this young lady.

He dismisses the two guards and turns to face Alice, he spreads his arms, smiles and says, "Welcome home my daughter, I have missed you. Did you have a good time visiting the towns and cities of the kingdom? I'm sorry to send you on such an arduous task but you must be familiar with the kingdom's lands, laws and customs. You are now an official heir to the throne, so you must gain the knowledge you need, and you must gain it quickly, that's why I decided to have you enter the Academy earlier than planned. The sooner we start your education the better."

"It's lovely to see you again father, I had a wonderful time on my short adventure around the Kingdom. I actually headed back a little bit early because of a certain situation that occurred in the most outer parts of Helgard Cities border." She replied

Shocked with this sudden news, The King asks, "What situation? I have heard of no news from the border. Tell father what has happened so that I might punish those responsible!" He says with his anger rising towards the end of his sentence.

"Fear not father, I far as I'm aware there's no need for punishment, although you may feel different about it. As I was leaving a restaurant, I bumped into a young man my age and we started having a conversation. One thing led to another, and he told me that if I was to tell you his name, you'd happily invite him to the palace. Of course, I did not believe him at first, but after telling me a few facts that only someone you'd be interested in would know I started to believe his words."

"He claimed his name was Jax Talen, and that you had already invited him to the palace to compete for one of your daughters' hands in marriage. He also told me to tell you there's no need for him to participate, because he'd already decided who he wanted a chance to marry. He also said that his choice was me and he'd do whatever was required to gain my hand." Alice explained to the King, trying and failing to hide the growing blush on her face.

The King was confused at first, he couldn't remember this person, but remembered hearing the name before. He then reaches inside his jacket and brings out a small black notebook. He opens it and begins to sift through the pages. On one of the last pages the King pauses and his eyes grow wide with shock. He quickly asks Alice, "This young man, you said he was around your age and that his name was Jax Talen correct?"

"Yes, Father." She replies

"Did he happen to mention the name of his father or his mother?" The King asks a second question, growing even more tense.

"If I remember correctly, I believe he said his father's name was Jacob, I don't recall him saying his mother's name." Answered Alice

"He is who he says he is, I did indeed invite him with the intentions of introducing him to you, hoping you two could maybe be compatible with each other. It seems like fate or destiny had similar plans as I myself have." The King said slowly, making sure Alice heard and understood his words.

While Alice was standing there digesting the Kings words, he called for a messenger, and they soon arrived, and he gave them the order to find out where The Talen Family is located within the city and send someone to summon them to the Palace at once.