Erec roamed the halls; his armor was a charcoal grey suit. His weapons? Nothing but words and the fists at his side were things to shake out incorrectly. But he didn’t do so alone. At the very least, this wasn’t a battlefield that he had to wade into with nothing but his axe—though, right now, he wished he could have the weapon on his back dearly. Lately, it’d grown more familiar, more comfortable. A welcome friend in any circumstance, and to be without it left a pang in his heart.

“He reeked,” Enide said as she pinched her nose while they walked away from their latest conversation. It was with a bald man with deeply tanned skin who’d opted to put on far too much cologne.

She was correct; he’d smelled like distilled oranges fermented and half-rotted. Worse than the odor of choice, he’d applied to his body in what had to have been paste to achieve the effect. He’d been a fellow count—but not someone Erec could imagine as one of the ‘friends’ Dame Robin had cultivated in the farmlands.

So far, these people seemed like something other than the sort Erec wanted to develop that connection with. They were all so self-interested. None of the ones who’d spoken to him so far had joined the Military or Knighthood, so finding a thread to relate was already hard.

At some point, he’d changed. Being a Knight and slaying monsters had a way of transforming one’s perspective on things.

While every Knight was made a noble, even if they joined from the ranks of commoners—the firstborns of many houses were not expected to join the Knighthood or military. Second sons, thirds, or daughters who showed promise and would give their house renown through their service were more likely to join the ranks of Knights or join the military. With those, at least, he imagined it’d be easier to get a hold of the conversations. So he held out, hoping he’d meet someone tonight.

Yet so far, none of those approached Erec. It was a monopoly of the heads of houses who had to be the first to make their acquaintance at the event. Some of whom he was sure he’d met before were already trying to gain his favor. Until now, though, Erec had let them flood by in a wave of faces, drowned among the flood of people that came with these sorts of things. But tonight, he worked on changing that, trying to take his first shaky step into the deeper levels of the courts, much like a child took theirs on those two wobbly legs at the start of their lives.

“He did reek. Count Hastrifus is fond of his cologne. Oddly, I found it familiar. Growing up, I always knew other boys in the Baron’s court who swore it made them more appealing. Though, even then, I didn’t quite believe them,” Erec said, slowly still drinking his first cup of wine—Enide was on her third, and he didn’t blame her. He'd have eagerly joined if he had not been trying so desperately to keep his wits straight.

She shook her head. “How’d you even remember the name? I couldn’t keep track of anything since he kept talking about his eligible daughter to you. I almost punched him out then and there. If you hadn’t grabbed my arm, I think I probably would have.”

“He was certainly eager to try that tactic; I’d have thought you would dissuade them from trying; ever since the Stag, there’s always been that sort. But they’re foolish, and it would do us no good to dip into violence yet. But, if you still have a bone to pick later, maybe we can track him down and get revenge later.” Erec remarked. It had annoyed him as well. Barely not enough to spark into Fury, with each interaction like the one with Count Hastifus, that line was getting a little easier to think about crossing.

“Two so far,” Enide counted on her fingers. “I thought they might just marry you off. The one before Mr. Oranges even mentioned being fine with me as a… Concubine? Is that what they said?”

“Too brazen, I’m sorry.” Erec rolled his shoulders, his eyes scanning the nearby groups. He and Enide were sectioned off in the hall outside of the ballroom, and the soft guitar strumming and the lively lyrics of a singer were filtering out from the interior. It was a relaxed melody that matched the occasion. Too early in the night for anything with a bit more energy to it. No, usually, those came when people were a bit deep in their cups, if at all. Given the show the Duchy had put in so far, Erec almost counted on it.

Despite having his eyes peeled, there wasn’t anyone Erec could think to make a friend in the same way he had Basil, the farmer—maybe it was just these people were too unrelatable, but their friendships had the sort of strings attached that Erec wasn’t sure were worth the cost.

Whatever, he’d try his best. The constant thrum of conversation and feeling out people was valuable practice. If only the level of concentration it took him to pay attention to them and their motives didn’t carry such a steep personal cost.

Less than an hour after splitting from their main group, Erec had a pounding headache, and his eyelids felt like lead.

Enide settled next to him, her hand clasping his. She looked concerned. “This wears you out, huh?”

“Obvious?”

“Well, I mean, I saw you around my family; you’d get the same way. Just not as quick.”

“There’s a bit more effort going in this time, but these people have a way of getting to me. From being unwelcome as a second son to a disgraced family line to… Well, a praised hero…” Erec trailed off and shrugged his shoulders, closing his eyes for but a brief moment.

He could remember his time before this; the Garin’s father, the baron, still had them show at his functions, and the occasional noble family invited them due to their close ties to Garin’s family. But he’d been alone. A child without his mother, a father who always seemed haggard and working to please his boss—at those courts, all he’d had was Bedwyr. Who took the attention from him and shifted it on himself, letting his younger brother hide in the shadows.

Now, there was no escaping the light.

Enide squeezed his hand and mentally worked himself up to get back to the task at hand: making friends. He needed friends, which was a good time to start making them. His friends may not be Knights, but nonetheless, those relationships could go far.

For a second, he delighted in the calm and dreaded the future.

“Count Audax!” A woman called, her familiar, though it had been quite some time since he last encountered her.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

Erec’s eyes snapped open, and he saw Lyotte Luculentus walking directly to him and Enide—her eyes bright. She wore a shimmering gown cut in a style closer to Vega than anything in a high court. A detail, no doubt, planned by her family for that exact reason. Enide cocked her head as she regarded the woman, no doubt seeing the recognition in Erec’s eyes.

The two had gone through the trial together, and she and Colin had been thrown into their group—at the time, he thought it was a move to make both her and Colin come out looking better. Of course, after joining the Azure Tower and the events following the expedition, Erec hadn’t seen much of the girl. Though the odd interactions when he first became a Knight came to memory now, he’d never pieced together her game, and by association her Houses’ game, it made him distrust the entire Luculentus Household.

“Lyotte,” Erec nodded, “Your family has hosted quite the event.”

“Her family? So she’s part of this place.” Enide asked, looking Lyotte over once more.

“She is part of the Duchy, yes. Second daughter, I believe. But more important than that, Lyotte is an Initiate in the Order of the Azure Tower,” Erec smoothly introduced her, including her rank. There had to be other Knights here—higher than an Initiate, too, but they hadn’t approached him. Let alone someone from the household.

“… There are four of those Orders, aren’t there?… And the Tower ones are the group who run the wall?” Enide asked.

Lyotte gave her a warm smile—genuine, too. The type that said she was thrilled the Pendragon was at her family’s gathering, unlike any other nobles.

Even the one who’d tried to toss a compliment Enide’s way hadn’t shown any actual warmth to it. That alone… Made Erec reconsider his thoughts about this girl. He hadn’t even truly understood her end goal. This whole family, too, from Olivia to her, had always felt out of reach. As if they were flitting on the edge of what he could grasp. Butterflies in a bio-cavern garden, flying too high to catch in a net.

“Indeed, the Order of the Azure Tower is responsible for maintaining the defense of the wall and aspects of the internal defense of the Kingdom. We deal with matters of keeping stability and peace for the people below. Our first oath is this: ‘I shall use my strength to face the tribulations of this world first before they fall upon any other,’ I think that gives a good idea of the foundation we are taught to hold ourselves to.” Lyotte explained.

“So, your lot is the protectors; his lot is the ones who go outside and do stuff,” Enide jerked her head towards Erec, “And the other two…Yeah, the fact you’re all this jumbled together and split up is a bit of a headache. Our family has people who are good at some stuff and bad at others. Seems simpler if you all were just tossed in one big ‘Order,’ right?”

“It’s about Balance. The Silver Flames are a faction meant to represent the Goddess’ interests for the Knighthoods, and the Crimson Lotus is there to raise keen minds specialized in combat and magic to leverage them where the Kingdom needs them. However, with the current Master Lotus, their Order has fallen towards Mysticism to achieve the potent power they seek. The goals of the Orders are related but distinct, and the actual Knights within could belong to multiple Orders depending on their talents—take your partner Erec in another life; he could’ve gone quite far under the doctrine of the Crimson Lotus. But he’s shown a lot of promise for the Verdant Oak.”

“…So the Orders are drawing pointless distinctions?” Enide scratched the back of her head, looking at the empty cup in her hands. “You all like to make everything so complicated.”

“No. They serve a purpose on a higher level, and within them, the Knights are their own persons with their own talents and leverage them best to achieve those goals. But because the Knights are diverse yet accountable to their Order, it is a way to divide power and balance it so that no one Order is ever too strong, even one supposedly focused on pure combat, like the Order of the Crimson Lotus.”

Lyotte went through her explanations with great care, always with that same warm smile as she talked to Enide. The entire time, though, something itched at the back of Erec’s mind.

Four. There were Four Orders and Four Great Duchies.

How the similarity hadn’t hit him before, he didn’t know—House Nitidus had an obvious connection to the military itself, House Doctus was well known for healing and their ties to the Church, he didn’t know much of House Resolvere, other than their associations to a lot of industries within the caverns… But House Luculentus… To him, they didn’t pursue an obvious goal as a House. Following the same logic as the fact that all of the Orders had a distinct aspect of the Kingdom, they were tasked with, and drawing from what he knew about the Noble houses…

Erec’s eyes widened.

“What does your House do, Lyotte?”

They’re trying to make the Kingdom accept the outside. That much is clear from what Garin and Olivia said, but why?

She gave him a pleasant smile. “Whatever do you mean? We’re a Duchy; my mother, the Duchess, does a lot, including hosting such pleasant occasions for the nobility to gather at the behest of the King. Actually, I think the announcement is coming soon, and I’ll be needed. We’re very pleased that you could make our event, Erec, and that you’ve brought your wonderful other with you. We’re honored to host you—and I also wanted to add another thing.”

At this, she stopped. Her confidence seemed to waver, and her eyes took on the edge of sadness. She frowned.

“I heard that you ran into your mother outside of the walls. And that it didn’t end well. I’m sorry for that. Your family deserves better. But I’m glad at least that they have you. And your name is now enough to recover from the injustice that was done.” The way she said it, like she had before. She knew details of it that Erec suspected weren’t common knowledge.

His mind turned over the pieces, Olivia—her… Her family, and this.

What does her House do?

Information. They dealt with information. Before thinking about how to collect it himself, he couldn’t have seen it or thought of it. But they collected that information, then leveraged it for the Kingdom’s sake. He wasn’t sure, but his gut pointed in that direction, which meant… There was a lot he wanted to know about Lyotte and her family all of a sudden. Many questions circled in his head about what they knew about him, his family, his Kingdom… He’d known Colin’s father was a major player on the board, but this House…

A magically amplified voice cut through before he could test his theory and start asking questions,

“Hello all! This is Duchess Lusia Luculentus. It is my pleasure to announce that the Crowned Prince, William, has graced this occasion with his presence; he has, to our absolute delight, requested a gathering of the nobility to hear a speech. At the behest of the Crown, he is here to deliver a message that will be of great interest to us all. Please, proceed to the gardens—there will be refreshments and fruits to enjoy while we gather, where we might all be delighted with his announcement.”

Lyotte gave Erec a soft smile. “It seems I must go. Boy, things have surely gone a little faster than expected. But, that’s the Crown for you lately. They seem to have become incredibly motivated.” She dipped her head and swept off like a spent wave receding from the coast. A sight Erec never would have seen if not for his time on the expedition last month.

Enide raised her eyebrow. “Weird girl, but she seems nice. She acts like you're closer than you are, though, don’t you think?”

“I think she’s sympathetic because she knows things others don’t,” Erec said, chewing over his thoughts that, for now, he couldn’t touch. But, maybe. Maybe Lyotte was someone worth stretching a hand out to—a potential friend. The kind that would open up far more avenues to make the sort of acquaintances Robin talked about if he did it right. One whose motives he thought he might have just understood better. But that was a potential path for the future. For now, the mingling had a great interruption. “Let’s go to the garden, shall we?”

Enide nodded, slipping her arm in his again; together, they made their way to an announcement that would rock the Kingdom.