Chapter 59

ARTORIUS' POV

Vincent and I sat around the living room, waiting for Felix or Alexander to walk in. We were sharing opinions about arbitrary topics or an interesting story. It made me feel closer to Vincent.

"You had it rough with Lukas, didn't you?" I told him as he finished up a long story he shared about Lukas

He falls back on the sofa and spreads his arms around. "He was a pain to deal with. But his heart was in the right place if you think about it,"

"He thought with his emotions, not logic,"

An hour had passed just like that. Amelia had fallen asleep on my lap as usual. The day was too lazy for my liking.

Luckily a change would happen. A half asleep elf would walk through the doorway, holding his mouth and yawning as he tried to keep his eyes open.

"Good morning, Alexander!" I greeted him enthusiastically.

"Good morning…" He answered me in a sluggish voice.

Vincent and I giggled as he slowly took his seat to my left. Instantly laying his head on the arm rest and falling asleep once again.

"If you're that sleepy then go back and sleep," I told him while shaking him awake.

He flailed his arm at me and wrinkled his brows. "Let me sleep here!" He groaned out loudly.

Both of us were amused by his reaction. Though I didn't annoy him any further, my arms tingled from mischievous intent.

I turned to Vincent who was gleaming with a smile. "Have you improved any further?" I asked him for good news.

The smile on his face slowly fades. It becomes nearly non-existent. "Not a lot, but enough," He replied back.

I cross my arms and lay back on the armchair. "It's okay, just be able to fend him off for ten minutes," I reassured him.

His face turned serious as he leaned forward. "I don't know how much I can hold him off. I'll do my best," He tells me, as if he's swearing an oath.

"Don't beat yourself about it too hard," I told him as a reassurance. "It's my fault for not giving you time to train."

"Whatever. As long as you don't die," He scoffs, trying to push aside his fears.

My lips break out into a big smile. "You mean you don't die," I told him in a light hearted tone.

Alexander gets back up and sits upright on the sofa. "You both are so~ fearless," He said in a mocking tone

"I liked you better when you were tired," Vincent mocked him back.

The two got into a childish argument while Amelia and I watched. It was a fight with words which made it all more amusing.

ZENITH'S POV

The day was busy at the barracks, much busier than we thought.

Blacksmiths worked hastily to sharpen and make swords. Every single royal guard would be given a new or sharpened sword.

Countless voices talked over one another. It has been chaotic since the break of dawn. Ever since the bells rang at six, it has been chaos.

King Alaric ordered me to overlook the blacksmiths and test the swords. I had already tested a few dozen swords in the past hour. My arms were going weak from testing greatswords and halberds.

"Zenith, here is another one," The wrinkled and black bearded blacksmith told me in a haste.

He handed me another sword to test out. I grabbed it out of his hand and felt the heat of the newly forged blade on my face.

The training dummies were already prepared for me. I took a deep breath and dashed towards them, easily slicing through them all in a matter of seconds.

I turned back around and walked over to the blacksmith. "The blade is sharp enough," I told him as I handed him the sword.

He quickly put it inside a scabbard and rushed back inside the hut. His body barely fit through the hut's doorway from how massive his body was.

"That's all the weapons. You can go now," The blacksmith yelled out as his head peeked through the doorway.

I give him my usual bow and march away from the blacksmith hut. My next task was to get ready myself.

As I walked through the camp, I saw countless soldiers putting on their armour. Many needed help with how heavily armoured they were. Some only wore light armour while others wore steel suits that would block out any stabs or slices.

The sound of everyone's chatter filled my ears. Gossip spread through the camp, along with stories of adventure. I listened along to all of the voices but couldn't make up a single sentence that made sense.

"Hey, Zenith!" A voice called out to me. "Won't you wear your armour?"

I turned to where the voice was and saw a man with messy burgundy hair wave his hand at me. To not be rude, I walked towards him instead and sparked up a conversation.

"Where's your armour?" He asked me once again, holding his helmet on his hip.

"I won't be wearing armour. I'll be inside the party," I replied back to him.

His jaw dropped out of surprise. "Inside the party? Boy are you lucky!" He cried out. "You won't have to wear this heavy armour or stand outside guarding."

How annoying.

"Yeah, quite lucky," I told him in a shallow voice. "Anyways I need to get ready."

I walked away from his tent and started to speed towards mine. I wasted too much time talking to the soldier, perhaps giving too much information too.

Without wasting any time, I entered my tent and quickly changed my clothes. I was given a new set of clothes to wear. A butler's outfit. It was to disguise myself at the party.

The scabbard of my sword was given a new colour. Rather than being brown, it was black and given a gold secondary that glittered when under sunlight. This was the first time I was given something like this.

Everything from the outfit to the holster fits perfectly around my body. Though it felt quite tight, I couldn't do much about it. This was our dress code and I had to follow it religiously

It didn't take me too long to put on all the clothes but I was having a difficult time with my tie. I never learnt how to tie one and I was struggling badly.

I quickly checked my watch and realised I barely had any time left. I dashed outside with my tie and looked around to find someone who could tie it for me.

I looked everywhere for help, but alas I found no one who could. Everyone was too busy wearing their own armour and outfits. The ones wearing full suit armour couldn't do it because of their gauntlets and the ones not wearing armour were busy talking.

At the corner of my eye, I spot a familiar face in the crowd. The only glimmer of hope I had now. The commander from the cave raid.

I ran towards him in haste. He noticed me running towards him and panicked.

"Goodness!" He shouted out. "Zenith! Why are you in such a rush?" He asked me as I stopped a few feet away from him.

"Commander! Please help me tie this tie!" I exclaimed back to him, catching my breath.

He noticed the tie I had in my hand and chuckled. "Oh, that's all?" He glanced back and forth between the tie and me. "I thought something was wrong."

I handed him the tie and he started to tie it around my neck. My face turns red from embarrassment. It was a simple task, yet I needed help from a third party for this.

It didn't take long for him to tie it around my neck. He stood upright once more and patted me on the shoulder. "There! All done," He said with a friendly smile.

I heard giggles come from behind him. Soldiers behind him were cracking jokes about me.

"Don't mind them," He said before turning back to me. "I understand what you've been through."

His face turns sour and he turns around to the soldiers. They all stopped giggling and had the face of fear on their faces.

"What are you hooligans laughing at?" He asked them with power in his voice. "Do you know why he doesn't know how to tie a tie?"

They all shook their heads together in response. Commander lets out a disappointed sigh and facepalms.

"His father died when he was only four. Do you expect him to know how to tie a tie when he had no father? You are all royal guards, yet you act like academy delinquents. Is this what I taught you all?"

The group of soldiers lowered their heads like guilty thugs. Commander's lecture made them all quiet in an instant.

Even though I was similar in age to him, he had more authority over me and the soldiers. I was just a mere soldier when he was a guard.

He turned back towards me after lecturing the soldiers. He grinned and gave a thumbs up.

"They're new recruits. Don't mind their foolish behaviour," He told me as a piece of advice.

I nodded back to him in response. "I understand. I got used to people like them," I told him, smiling bitterly at him.

We couldn't talk any further however. It was time for the briefing so we had to say our goodbyes, as soon as we had our reunion.

The soldiers were gathered at a podium where King Alaric would be giving us a quick briefing on what would be done.

The camp had lined up all in order in front of the podium. None of us spoke a word as we stared up at the podium that was on top of a stage.

Soon enough, King Alaric walked up on the stage. Slowly but surely he made it on the stage and brought the artifact closer to his mouth.

"Good morning everyone," He spoke out.

Everyone including me greeted him back, shouting out good morning at the top of our lungs.

"Today, is Prince Amadeus' birthday. It's his sixteenth' birthday. In the past, security wasn't as tight as you would remember. This year however, tensions are tight with kingdoms and empires. I'd like no fights to break out on such a crucial day."

His voice seemed… strained. Though it was loud and clear, something was wrong with his throat.

The speech continued for a few more minutes. We all stayed silent as he spoke about the importance of each individual guard today. Everyone that wore the armour or had the sword, would be playing a big part in today's event.

Many of the soldier's faces were covered by a helmet. But even still, you could see the determination as they held their heads up high while listening to the speech. The ones that didn't have the helmet on showed a smile of pride and hope, something everyone felt at the moment.

"Everyone here may not be hailed as heroes by everyone. But remember, the reason today would be so peaceful would be because of you."

His final words stuck with each soldier at the camp. He stepped down from the podium and we all clapped for his speech.

It didn't take long before all soldiers broke their formation and got into a group. Unlike them, however, I was called inside the castle to take my position.

My outfit did not go unnoticed by the soldiers at the camp. They all noticed how different I looked compared to them.

"Looking neat, Zenith!" Someone complimented me from somewhere.

I paid no attention to them and continued to walk towards the exit of the camp.

A gust of wind suddenly hits my face and messes up my hair. I panicked and tried to fix my hair the best I could. Though it was difficult without a comb.

I gave up on fixing it and let my messy silver hair flow in whatever direction it wished to go. I'm supposed to meet up with Sylas and Kody at the palace before noon. There was a lot of time left but I should meet up as soon as possible, it might be important.