Having left the commander’s office, Sara and Ronin stopped in the corridor and let Casey catch up to them.
“Well, I’d better get back to my duties. I’m sure Maddie has torn up half the palace by now searching for me.” Sara giggled and placed a hand on Ronin’s arm.
Ronin smiled and patted her hand, “Best of luck with that, she is a terrifying lady. I do not envy you.”
She stepped back and waved at Casey. “Enjoy the tour, and don’t let Conrad scare you. He’s secretly quite the softy, you just gotta make it through his hellish training to tell.”
“That’s not exactly helpful right now you know!” He grimaced and waved back at her. She only laughed and turned down another corridor.
Casey sent a questioning look towards Ronin “Who’s Maddie anyways?”
“Sara’s Lady-in-Waiting. Someone you better hope you never end up on her bad side.” Ronin started walking down the corridor Sir Baro brought Casey from. “Don’t fall behind, I’m not going to go searching for you if you get lost.”
Casey hurried after him as Ronin led him back to his room to retrieve the sword. Along the way he asked Ronin something he hadn’t had the chance to ask the night before.
“I get the impression the Elemental Knights were very important individuals but I don’t actually know much about what they did. I can guess that it had something to do with those creatures in the paintings but that’s it. Speaking of those creatures, what even were they? They looked almost like they came out of a nightmare.”
Ronin sighed and gave him a look that suggested he thought of Casey as an idiot. “Those creatures were known as Shaydes, at least that’s how they are referred to in the history books. They appeared seemingly out of nowhere only a few years after Decra was founded. They swept across the land killing everything they came across.
“Our armies were no match for them. In a final effort, the Elemental Knights disobeyed orders and confronted the Shayde army in the gorge outside the capital. At the cost of their lives they stopped the invaders. Not much is known about how they did it but after that battle, the Shaydes vanished. It was as if all of them had been killed in that single confrontation.”
Casey silently contemplated this information as he walked. In the book there was some background information about the founding of Decra, mostly detailing how the first King and Queen gathered their army and overthrew the previous warlords that ruled this part of the continent. However, there was absolutely no mention of these Shaydes that nearly destroyed the kingdom so soon after it was established. How could something so important to this world’s history be left out of the book?
Casey looked up to find that they had made it to his room. Somehow the door which should have had a busted hinge was now good as new. He also found that the bed he had left undone was made up nicely. Saving the why for later he went to the bed and buckled his sword to his waist. “The Captain said I should keep my identity a secret, but wouldn’t this sword give me away? A sword that belonged to the former Knight of Frost is sure to be recognized right?”
“Not necessarily. Most people have long disregarded the Elemental Knights, now their tale is mostly told to children as a bedtime story. I only know the details because it’s one of the history portions covered in the Rider training”. He paused, “It’s highly unlikely that someone would recognize that sword unless they’ve been down to the Knight’s Hall and seen the murals. And aside from us, no one’s been down there in centuries. The deeps are kept locked. You only made it down there because Sara found the key to the gate before you arrived here.”
“Wait, that seems wrong. Didn’t we just establish that they were very important to the existence of this kingdom. Why would something like that be turned into nothing more than a bedtime story and locked away?” Casey said as if speaking to himself.
Hearing the question Ronin answered, “You’d have to ask the Church that question. A few hundred years ago the Supreme Pontiff ordered any mention of Shaydes to be struck from public records, including any mention of those that defeated them, your predecessors. Once again, the only reason I was able to be told of their existence is because I’m a Queen’s Rider. Being the direct subordinates of the Queen of Decra offers some protection from the Church’s edicts.
“However, That protection only applies to our own, attempting to spread any information to the general public will be seen as an act of inciting panic by the Church. Our position wouldn’t be able to protect us if they arrested anyone for that.” Having said that Ronin turned to leave the room, “ Come on, let’s get this tour over with.”
“Alright, I’m coming.” Casey followed after him and muttered under his breath, “The Church huh? So they were like that.”
The Church Ronin had been talking about was called the Church of the Eight Gods. A highly organized church bearing some similarities to the medieval Roman Catholic church, especially it’s strong influence in the politics of each nation it is a part of. They were not a major force in the book, only appearing a few times, but it was implied that they favored the Crown Prince over the future Queen, Sara Langley.
Learning about more things that weren’t in the book gave Casey a bad premonition.
Just what else was left out?
Ronin led him to a large room that seemed to be a dining hall. There were large tables that lined the hall like you would find at a school cafeteria. There were not very many people eating in the dining hall. Those that were were eating what looked like classic eggs and bacon. Seeing the food, Casey’s mouth began to water. He hadn’t eaten anything since the night before he came here. Come to think of it, wasn’t I just waking up when I got here? I hadn’t even had breakfast yet. There’s no way I was awake yesterday long enough to be as tired as I was last night.
“This is the dining hall that also serves as the main lounge.” Ronin glanced at Casey and noticed how hard he was looking at the food. “You don’t really have enough time to sit down and eat, but we can see if the cook will give you something to eat while we walk.”
Ronin went through a doorway at the back of the hall which presumably led to the kitchens. Casey followed in after him. Entering the room, he was hit with a powerful aroma of roasting meat. Standing in front of a massive spit was a portly woman barely tall enough to turn the meat. She was wearing a chef’s apron and a kerchief in her hair. The meat looked like it had once been a large boar. It completely dwarfed the small lady.
“The cook’s in the middle of preparing for lunch and doesn’t like to be interrupted while she’s cooking. It would be better to ask her assistant.”
Ronin then walked over to a young man who was quietly peeling potatoes in the corner. “Back on potato duty again are we, Declan?”
The young man, Declan, glanced up from his peeling and said, “Yessir, dropped the wrong spices into her soup so now I’m peeling potatoes for the next week”.
Ronin chuckled at that, “Well stick with it, you’ve already lasted longer than her other apprentices. That has to count for something with her. Anyways this new haesu-casul hasn’t eaten anything so could you grab something for him?”
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“Sure, I think there are a few rolls left over from breakfast this morning.” Declan glanced at Casey before grabbing a few rolls from a cooking rack.
Casey, slightly confused about the new terminology, turned to Ronin, “Haesu-casul?”
Without even a glance in his direction Ronin said “it’s what we call the new recruits who haven’t completed the training and earned their crimson cloaks. It means grey-cloak in an old tongue.”
“Oh, got it.” He had been wondering why his cloak was different from Ronin’s but didn’t want to ask.
Declan handed the rolls to Casey and ushered them out, “Now hurry and get out, before she notices you.”
Casey thanked him and left the kitchens continuing the tour. Munching on the stale rolls along the way.
There wasn’t a whole lot left to see of the wing, most of it was made up of the Riders’ personal living quarters. Casey thought it was rather plain for a wing of a palace, but he figured it was probably designed to be simple. For whatever reason, the Order of the Fox was mostly made up of lesser nobles and commoners. People who tend not to care as much for fancy decorations.
At the top of the tower was the Queen’s personal library and private study. Her actual quarters were in the central wing of the palace near the King’s, but most previous Queens prefered the tower. When he asked if the library was a part of the tour, Ronin just scoffed and continued walking.
As Ronin was leading them through one of the halls on the top floor of the main building, Casey stopped to look out one of the windows. The view he saw outside the window was breathtaking. A magnificent city spread out across the land before him with the palace at the highest point. There were no skyscrapers with their glass walls and yet the city still seemed to sparkle. Most of the buildings near to the palace were made up of some type of whitewashed stone. These eventually turned to buildings made with wood and mortar and red roofs.
The city was split into four tiers with the palace on the top tier, and at the center of the city. The third tier was the Noble’s district, where most of the high ranking nobility held their mansions. The second tier was mostly made up of military facilities, with the general barracks and training grounds. It also held the grand arena where all of the tournaments were held. The lowest tier, and the largest held the Commoner’s district and the Merchant’s district. Each tier was separated by large walls that served as defense and a way to keep the commonfolk and the nobles separate.
“So this is Decria” Casey whispered aloud. Though he didn’t really approve of the obvious division of the city, he still found it beautiful.
Without stopping Ronin called back to him, “Move it.”
“Alright alright, I’m coming”
Soon the tour of the main Riders’ wing came to an end and it was time for Ronin to lead him to the training ground. Ronin led him down a mostly private route from the palace to the training facilities designed to allow the knights to traverse the city efficiently. It was a route only used by the soldiers, knights, or the servants to reach the lower parts of the city without hindering the nobles. In the case of a siege it could be easily blocked to prevent easy access to invaders.
Along the way Ronin began to explain his new schedule to him. “Every day you will wake up at the sixth bell, eat breakfast, and then report to the training fields by the seventh bell. From then until the noon bell you will be doing physical training with Sir Baro.This will include weapon training.
“From the thirteenth bell until the fifteenth bell you will be attending horsemanship training with Sir Kalloc. After that your academic lessons begin.”
Casey groaned, “Academic lessons?.”
Ronin just smirked, he seemed to be enjoying this, “Of course, as a knight in the service of the Queen you will be expected to have an understanding of the history, politics, geography, and culture of Decra. As well as to be capable of reading, writing, and arithmetic. Dinner will be at the nineteenth bell. After dinner is usually freetime, but when your magic trainer arrives, you will attend lessons with them until they say you are done.”
“Hah… this is more than college.” He slumped over hearing how severe his training was going to be.
“What was that?”
“Nothing...”
Ronin nodded and then continued, “We should probably give you a backstory seeing as saying you’re from another world is out of the question.”
“Probably a good idea… What do you have in mind”
“Well, I don’t think you could pass off as a commoner from your mannerisms… well you couldn’t completely pass as a noble either, but you’re closer to a noble. No one would believe you were a commoner after seeing your hands.”
“Hey! Was that some sort of insult?!”
“You are welcome to take that however you like. Anyways, let’s say that your are from a lesser noble family serving as one of Duke William Langeleye’s retainers.”
“Ah Duke Langeleye. Probably a good idea.”
“You already knew of him?”
“Of course, he’s Sara’s adoptive grandfather so he was talked about in the book quite a lot.” Casey explained.
Ronin frowned at the casual use of Sara’s name but didn’t say anything. “Alright, you knowing about him makes things a little easier. Just avoid any detailed answers.”
Casey nodded and turned his attention to recalling details about the Duke. In the book he was Sara’s largest ally in the court. Being a distant relative to the royal line as well as a war hero, his influence was not small. He was an eccentric man in his later years whose wife died early of childbirth along with the child. This event left him with a heavy scar preventing him from remarrying. Unlike many nobles, their marriage was not a loveless political arrangement.
One day a baby girl was left on the ground beside the gate to his manor. No one knows why but he took a liking to this baby and adopted her into his family. Perhaps it was just the whim of a lonely noble that caused him to adopt her and give her the name Sara.
Due to her not being of his blood, he could not officially give her his name so he changed hers to Langley. Despite this, he never treated her as an outsider and truly cared for her.
In fact he cared enough that he was willing to do whatever it takes to ensure her position, and by proxy, her life. After all, Sara’s enemies want a different Queen and the only way for a new Queen to be called would be if the old one was dead. The one qualification to become Queen is to be called by the Queen’s Artifact. There have been many other low-born Queens that were killed because of their former status.
As he was pondering about the Duke a group of three men in flashy plate armor wearing navy blue cloaks approached them. On each of their waists were swords with an identical pommel. A ram’s head with horns curving outward. Seeing them approaching, Ronin placed his hand on the hilt of his sword.
“Well would ya look who it is, The Queen’s guard dog and little fishie!” The man in the center said with a demeaning smirk. He was a tall man with short blonde hair and green eyes. Everything about him from the way he held up his head to the way he strutted as he walked gave off a haughty and arrogant air.
Ronin barely even spared them a glance before continuing past, his hand never left the hilt.
Realizing he had been completely ignored, the lead man’s face turned crimson. “Where the hell you going? Back to your hedgeborn Queen?”
At that Ronin froze in place. He began to pull his sword from its sheath. On impulse, Casey grabbed his arm preventing him from fully pulling out the sword. “Save it for the tournament!”
Ronin’s brow went up in surprise as his eyes went from the hand holding his arm to its owner and back again. He let out a sigh and relaxed his grip on the hilt allowing his sword to slide back into its sheath. Casey, also surprised at his own actions, hastily let go of the arm.
The three men who just witnessed that almost fell to the ground laughing.“Ha, th-the great R-ronin of the Queen’s R-riders… held back by a mere recruit.”
Ronin once again turned his back on the three men, “I shall see you three at the tournament.” and continued on towards the training ground. Casey followed after him thinking of the tournament to come.
The Decrian Order Tournament, the next major event that happened in the book. The one that will decide if the contents of the book can be used to predict the actual happenings of this world. A tournament between the members of the Order of the Fox, the Queen’s Riders, and the members of the Order of the Ram, the King’s Knights. Two orders that once had highly competitive yet friendly relationship. However, with recent events and the influence of the Crown Prince, that relationship has devolved into something almost hostile.The three men from before were all members of King’s Knights. The leader of the three was most likely Sir Alfred Connan, Ronin’s strongest rival and one of the Crown Prince’s closest friends.
Ronin is the one who must win this tournament. If he loses, it will change everything. I have to make sure he wins. First though, I have to make it through training if I want to be able to do anything.
Having come to this conclusion, Casey clenched his fists and continued on to the training grounds.