Chapter 1014

After the church committee had provided us such a rude welcoming, we continued on into the church. We needed to be introduced one at a time. We managed to get in line just as they were announcing the last few guests. We technically should have been near the beginning of the list. This would make Aberis look bad in the eyes of the other guests, but there was no helping it at this point, I supposed. The giant cathedral had several stage boxes on the top. Aberis was granted one of them, which ultimately also decided how many guests we were allowed to bring.

The box fit only ten people. The four Tibults and the four of us constituted eight of those spots. The remaining two were reserved for the ambassador and his wife, neither of which I had ever met. At the very least, they had arrived early and provided proper respect, as was their job.

“Lord Octin Tibult, Duke of Aberis, general of the southern border.” A man announced in a dry voice. “He’s arrived with his three children, Marquis Octius, Count Otto, and Countess Octavia.”

The four of them walked into the room beyond.

“Princess Eliana Aberis, escorted by Lord Deek Deekson, Earl of Aberis, keeper of the wilderness.” He continued.

“Am I an Earl now?” I whispered.

“Shh… just accept it,” Eliana whispered back.

The other two girls were just considered servants, so they filed in behind. Raissa’s eyes were big as she took in the whole place. Faeyna had initially been confident, but after the church had insulted her breasts, she was slouching slightly and trying not to bring as much attention to herself. I would need to make it up to both girls later, but for the moment, we were in enemy territory and they needed to just deal with it.

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“Deek Deekson!” A voice suddenly called just as I was looking for the direction Lord Octin had gone so that I could follow him.

My eyes moved an scanned the crowd to see who had suddenly called my name when they fell on a man who had been glaring at me. Of all the people I had thought it would be, I hadn’t realized it’d be the groom. He was already at the front of the altar, waiting to receive his bride. That would be Alysia, or so I had heard from Harem. However, an Osterian man I had never seen before in my life suddenly called me out when I entered the room and was now glaring daggers at me.

Hearing the groom suddenly speak out, the entire room went quiet, and all the eyes in the room fell on me. The man stepped down from the altar and began to march up the red carpet toward me. I pulled Eliana behind me before stepping forward, trying to keep from showing my confusion or fear. The man’s step faltered slightly as he approached. He had seemed to be expecting to tower over me, but as he closed the distance, he started to realize I was nearly as tall as he was. He was still taller than me, but only by a bit. After a few slow steps, he regained his traction until he stood right in front of me. A sneer formed on his face.

“Yes?” I asked, hoping this was just another misunderstanding and finding myself regretting not just staying in Chalm.

“You are Deek Deekson.” He stated this as a fact.

“I am,” I responded.

“You thought yourself clever by hiding to the very end.” His voice was loud and crisp so everyone in the room could hear. “You thought that I wouldn’t upset the wedding to challenge you if you arrived so late.”

“Huh?”

“Well, you failed! I challenge you to the Osterian Karn!”

Several people gasped, including Eliana. I looked over at her for verification.

“The Karn is a fight to the death.”