Cameron was feeling reinvigorated as he and Logan made their way onto the palace grounds. Of course he was exhausted, and fairly certain he’d broken a few ribs from where Logan had kicked him off the plateau, but none of that mattered to him right now. Instead, there was a sense of freedom coursing through his body. A feeling of visibility that he’d been missing for a long time. That feeling lasted for all but a fleeting moment until he saw who was standing there to greet them on the steps leading up into the palace proper.

“There you are. I was afraid we’d be forced to send the guard out to collect you from whatever tavern you passed out in. Happy to see that I was wrong” The king’s booming voice seemed to melt away the feelings of happiness and levity that had warmed Cameron’s soul since the moment they left the train station. He was standing there expectantly, adorned in a gilded blue robe. Flanking him on both sides were the ambassadors, Lendrick and Darwin, the former flashing a toothy, false smile, while the latter’s vacant gaze slowly drifted between Logan and Cameron.

“Good morning Father.” Cameron said, forcing a trademark grin to appear on his face as he took a step forward. “A bit early to be taking the dogs for a walk don’t you think?”

Augustus looked momentarily confused before looking between Darwin and Lendrick, then back to his son, his tone dropping into an irritated growl. “A bit early to be making such childish comments, boy.” He said, emphasizing the last word of the sentence like it was a curse.

Cameron gave a shrug, his mood souring by the minute, “And yet I made them, anyway. Funny how that works isn’t it?”

Augustus’s face went a bright red, a vein protruding from his brow, as he opened his mouth to no yell. Then he caught himself and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath while rubbing his temples. “Enough. I will not play these games. The day of Miranda’s coronation draws closer, as does your ascension to Seneschal. The ambassadors have requested an assessment of your combat abilities. I’m of the mind to oblige them ”

Another voice joined the exchange then. Logan’s gruff timbre filled the air as he couldn’t stop himself, more so shouting than speaking. “He’s not ready!”

All eyes turned on Logan, including Cameron’s. He saw worry in the mercenary's eyes, which didn’t help him feel better about the prospect of whatever his father had in mind for an assessment. Yet, judging by Logan’s outburst, it couldn’t be good.

“What do you mean ‘he’s not ready’?” Lendrick called out, his pretentious, slurry, highborn accent dripping with a bored pretentiousness. “Haven’t you been training the boy for the past few weeks?”

“Yes…” Logan said slowly through gritted teeth. “But he’s not combat ready yet. I was under the impression I’d have more time to teach him.”

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“That’s rather… disappointing Mr. Rake.” Lendrick shot back, not bothering to hide his disdain. “His Majesty has done nothing but speak of your accomplishments and accolades both within the kingdom as well as the fleet. To hear that you cannot accomplish the simple task of preparing a noble scion of the Ketrisite kingdom is simply-”

“I’ll do it.” Cameron said, his voice deep and firm with a determined finality. All eyes broke from the exchange between Logan and Lendrick, focusing on him instead.

All was quiet for the longest time, the only noise being the soft trill of birdsong coming from the trees above. Then, as if a starting pistol had sounded, a cacophony of voices erupted all at once, each vying to be heard over the other.

“That’s a good son.” Augustus said, nodding in gruff approval.

“Wonderful,” Lendrick agreed, clapping his hands together triumphantly.

“Are you insane?!” Logan exclaimed, voice straining from the volume and intensity of his statement.

Cameron felt an iron like grip on his shoulder, and before he could react, Logan had spun him around, looking at him wide-eyed. “Kid, you don’t know what all goes into a combat assessment. Just please, listen to me on this. You’re not ready.”

He looked back at Logan, eyes firm and jaw set. Cameron knew he wasn’t ready. Even with Logan’s hellish training, most of it had been done outside of a Squire. What the hell was he going to do in a combat environment? And yet… he didn’t care. All that mattered to him was being in the cockpit again. There was a fire burning inside of his very soul. An almost primal need to do this. It was like this is what he was born to do. To actually pilot an A.R.M.S. unit. So when he turned to his father and spoke, he did it with an unyielding conviction.

“Tomorrow. Midday. Tell me where you need me to be and I’ll be there.”

A growl of frustration came from behind him, but Cameron didn’t dare look back. He’d made his decision and was more than prepared to live with the consequences.

His father simply nodded, flashing a wry smile, that was a rare sight for Cameron. “Very well. Be at the guard barracks by midday and we’ll go from there.”

With that the king turned and was about to walk away, but Logan wasn’t quite done voicing is displeasure.

“Augustus!” He shouted. Cameron watched as both of the dignitaries flinched involuntarily, though the king simply turned back, eyeing Logan from where he stood on the steps.

Logan walked forward, passing by Cameron without so much as a single glance, making a beeline to where the king stood. When he was nose to nose with the man, Augustus based on his place on the steps and Logan based on his augmented physique, he spoke again, no longer yelling, but letting the dangerous growl that left his throat be heard by everyone around.

“We need to talk.”