As her skiff docked with the kings gate in orbit of Rhea, Law felt a potent mixture of emotion she'd never before felt in all her years of living. It was a dangerous toxin that had began to flood her bloodstream the moment she'd awakened in the Embassy of Worlds that threatened to undo the arduous years she'd spent forging her mind and body into the Saturnian Knight that she was.

It consisted of the natural pride from having achieving not only King Vaher's task, but of her own, which gave her a sense of self-respect and triumph that would surely give a less willful individual a self-destructive sense of entitlement or self-worth. The fear of her impending punishment was added to that pride, turning into a type of poison that actively sapped at Law's mind, removing the want out of the equation of nearly any and everything she'd found herself doing since returning to the land of the living. The lingering sense of emptiness that had followed Law since leaving left the great weapon, Vel, in the hands of Jordan Astros had only intensified after that moment, forcing an oppressive paranoia into her mind that spawned a premature shame to plague her sense of self.

That shame; that fear, only multiplied once Law had moved from the docking bays to the transport tubes, and was immediately sent off in the direction of the royal palace.

"Why are you shocked." Law scoffed at herself as she vacantly watched the forever unchanging tunnels passing around her.

What she'd done was a first occurrence within the ranks of Saturnian Knights. The King; the Imperial Paladin rather, would most certainly make an example out of her for the rest of the ranks and many of the royals and nobles to see.

Of that she was certain.

For perhaps the first time in her life, Law wished she could simply disappear from sight as she entered the King's waiting room dressed the way she was. The room was a vibrant, baroque style hall that was nearly large enough to make one think they were outside, were it not for the large murals stretching across the vast ceilings that artistically depicted the many festivals and feasts held by the King and his court over the history of his reign. Law's armor however, was imperfectly polished and covered with clearly visible scratches, lumps and bruises that covered the gauntlets and legs from toes to shoulders. The chest of her armor; which normally held the prideful animals that signified her occupational house, was missing entirely. The space-black mass of her undersuit served as the only thing to shamefully stand in its place.

'I may as well be wearing rags.' She sighed to herself before picking a section of wall to stand at attention at.

Law hadn't even began to fall into the trance of a patient wait before the unmistakable tapping of heels on stone echoed into the hall, causing Law's heart to rapidly quicken into a frenzied pace. Before she had time to cycle her breathing in an attempt to calm herself, a young-looking woman; presumably in her mid-twenties, elegantly strode into the hall. She had a single French braid of wood-brown hair that fell gracefully to her knees and swayed like the flicking of a cat's tail as she ceremoniously snapped her head around the room before looking to the one subject presently waiting and gesturing to the hall behind her.

"Field Marshal Quinn Law." She declared. "Ulric Vaher, Monarch of Rhea, summons you."

With a silent bow, Law removed herself from her place before the wall to trail a step behind and to the left of the scribe as they passed through a massive gilded door that housed a hand painted depiction of Saturn, seen from Rhea's surface.

The King's false throne room was a magnificent atrium shaped like an egg laid on its side. At the most tapered point, stood the King's throne; a magnificent piece of furniture that stood beneath the only unglassed portion of ceiling within the space and made of layered and welded swords, spears and daggers that were made entirely of the purest golds, platinums and silvers found within the Empire. Along the flanks of the building were sets massive marble pillars that were painstakingly carved into the visages of the Vaher family, centered between spaciously separated plush couches, benches and recliners that were filled with an assortment of high ranking knights, His Majesty's vassals, family and a slew of other royals and nobles, all looking down on Law; and giving expectant gazes at their King.

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The moment Law passed through the threshold, The King's voiced boomed around her in a horrifically monotonous tone. "You must find it ironic." His Majesty stated from his seat on the throne. "That you return with what I asked of you, only to be missing something else."

The King himself was dressed in his own suit of armor, a set crafted by the most artistic pair of hands in the empire from the most pure and polished metals refined within Saturn's gravity well and adorned with articulate etchings that detailed the entirety of the King's long life; all the way back to his childhood on Earth.

Looking at his magnificence and knowing the pitiful state of her own armor; Law was certain that there was no proper way to answer. Not that King Vaher would have permitted her to in the first place. She could only kneel before him and await her sentence.

With rise from his throne, the king towered before Law, looking down on her with a dominating gaze. "Field Marshal of the house of Dieujuste, Quinn Law," King Vaher said without a change in tone, triggering Law to snap upwards into a salute. "You are charged with two counts of misplacing Imperial property. By the authority granted to me by Her Imperial Majesty, I declare that your punishment is to be stripped your class as a High Knight, be demoted to the rank of 2nd Class Knight, and go 182 days with two-thirds pay. Do you accept your punishment?" He asked, leaning forward at the waist by a single degree. "Or, will you decline and assimilate into the Arxis Hub?"

While assimilating into the holy land of Arxis was nearly every Saturnian's dream, living within the ranks of the Knight's was the only life Law had ever known. Regardless where life took her, she wanted live in service of the Empress, her Monarchs and their Nobles, and no mistake, mishap or misfortune would ever change that for her.

Which made Arxis off limits.

With a resolve as dense as tungsten, Law reaffirmed her salute and filled her voice with conviction as she proudly stated. "I accept my punishment, Your Majesty."

"Then your punishment goes into effect immediately. Report to the chamber of guilds for reassignment."

With a wave of a hand, the King dismissed Law from his presence, allowing her shame, sense of defeat and emptiness to backpedal her out the door before they began to plague her mind with dark, intrusive thoughts.

Despite her seemingly harsh punishment, Law tried to hold her head high with pride from the apparently successful outcome of her actions. An obsession had successfully been seeded within Jordan's mind that will drive him to actively hunt Saturnian Knights. Which conversely would cause more and more knight's to travel to the Galilean Powers to hunt him in the name of avenging their slain and robbed comrades.

Outwardly, she very well may have be successful in her endeavor to appear pridefully stable. Inside however, she was torn whenever she'd consider the inevitability of facing her subordinates.

Former, subordinates.

After a lengthy ride in painful solitude around half the gate's circumference, Law emerged from the transport tube tunnels and stepped out onto the expansive plateau that housed the Council of Guilds.

She hadn't even made it past the first row of barracks before she saw a long-familiar face appearing from evidently nowhere, causing her heart to plummet into her bowels as the wide set of eyes stared back at her from the long shadows of the building.

Sighing against her inward protests, Law diverted her course to stand before the shadowy figure and snap out a salute. "2nd Class Knight, Quinn Law, reporting."

Though there was pity in the young knight's eyes, it didn't show as she sharply returned the salute. "As you were, Law."

Despite the words given, Law hardly relaxed the professional rigidity of her posture after dropping her salute, she only stood as tall as she could before the officer while pouring as much resolve as she could through her eyes. "What are your orders, Field Marshal Blouse?"

There was a moment of hesitation before the new Field Marshal spoke. A hardly noticeable moment, but one Law noticed regardless. "You are assigned to the expeditionary guild of the Dieujuste Chamber. Brahmin Company, third platoon, second squad. Your squad leader is Senior Knight Teech. Report to him at once."

"As you command, Field Marshal." Law saluted. "So it shall be."

After the gesture had been returned and she was permitted to walk away, Law breathed a veritable sigh of relief from the outcome of the first of many unwanted interactions. Her treatment was impartial and fair; as it should've been. Being reduced to the very lowest rank and stripped of the right to guard a noble and their assets was all the punishment Law needed. Any good officer knew that additional embarrassments were unwarranted, and would only reduce morale further.

She only hoped Senior Knight Teech felt the same way.