I spent a few minutes with a priest who had a kind and wizened face. I’m kind of glad that bruising doesn’t cause one to spill blood, as others would assuredly complain if I got blood on his pure white clothing. I imagine having clothes that show even the slightest bit of dirt is probably half the reason that most priests aren’t known for leaving the temple given how much they must keep the image of being pure. I thanked him and began to walk to the rest of the people. A few guards were going around telling people to silence their conversations. A golden haired man in royal purple started getting others' attention before speaking.
“Greetings! I am Prince Michael Aubin Villard Fraland. Thank you everyone for arriving again. Same procedure as last time. The candidate the royal family brings forth is my brother, Frederick Heddwyn Brent Fraland. He is the fifth prince and a prodigy in fire magic. We recommend him for the main team of heroes. May he bring us honor and have stories of the royal family talked about for the next few centuries, if not longer. I hope we don’t have another incident like last time when one of the candidates showed a class for a rebel leader.”
The prince laughed at his implied warning. The smile on his mouth clearly didn’t reach his eyes, and whatever the full story was it was clearly hidden from the public. He waved over someone that looked like him. A young man with blonde hair down to his chin looked down on the rest of us, seemingly measuring us. He was wearing the same royal purple as a vest over a dark blue shirt and pants, along with leather hunting boots. He already looked the part for a team. A Priest came up next, different from the one that healed me, and raised his voice.
“I, Elder Maxon, bring good news! We have successfully made another Saintess. As you know we need a saintess to win, so the country needs our great church to win as well. We give you our humblest thanks for inviting our group to this gathering. I present to you, The saintess of light! We, of course, recommend her for the main team.”
He stepped to the side, as a few others in white escorted up a tall pale lady with long white hair and red eyes. From beneath the white robes, she looked like she had almost no fat on her whatsoever and very little muscle. It looked impractical as it went low enough that not even her shoes could be seen.
The young lady opened her mouth to speak but one of the attendants put his hand over her mouth and began pulling her away. She looked at her attendants in confusion but wasn’t able to fight them off.
It doesn’t bode well if the church isn’t confident enough in their candidate to not let her speak.
My commander stepped forward. “The knight's order stands to protect everyone once again. We selected a candidate strong with the sword, ready to protect and do what has to be done. Many stories have been told about our great victories and sacrifices. It is time for another to be told. This is Louis of the… Baux family. Recommended for the main team.
I stepped forward, annoyed that he hesitated to say my family name. My family may have been on the decline, but we were still nobles. I took a step back when the next person came forward, a merchant. His candidate wasn’t recommended for the main team, but he offered apologies that they couldn’t yet spare their heir. Followed by the blacksmithing guild, same phrase. Different speech. Mercenary guild, another speech, recommend for main team. Northern monastery, another speech, recommend for new team. Frank’s Opera House, another similar speech, recommend for spare team. Courier’s guild, another boring speech, recommend for spare team. Royal executioners guild, an even more boring speech than the last one, recommend prisoner for spare team. More and more groups. More and more speeches. More and more choices for the position of their candidate. Thieves guild, more droning, recommend for immediate execution.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
Wait, what?
The thieves guild leader was wearing a dark hooded cloak as he smiled. “Did I miss anyone’s attention? I said I recommend this boy for execution. His father worked against the interest of the country and he should be made an example of.”
I effeminate young man is pulled forward. He is wearing a similar black cloak but the hood is pulled up. I couldn’t see anything but piercing green eyes filled with hate and a rope tied in his mouth to gag him. The way it was made likely is causing extreme pain and possibly lasting damage, but that is of little concern considering he is to be executed. Something about this seemed unusual and rubbed me wrong. He could have been executed anywhere, but they chose here. I decided not to overthink the young thief. I couldn’t imagine anyone would speak up for him anyway.
Pushing past one of her candidates, the Saintess of Light ran back to the courtyard. Sweating profusely from the exertion and breathing heavily. “I, I ob, I object. You can’t just, just kill this man so easily.”
The representative of the thieves guild was shocked at her outburst, but he was not making as amusing a face as the priests behind her. One of them in particular was shaking as he spoke. “Please saintess, don’t speak out of turn. The filth of the world might affect your soul before you gain a path, and that would ruin everything.”
She turned back to them, furious. “You guys made an oath that we would consider everyone here a possible party member for me and bring out artifacts that would help everyone get even the slightest bit better chances to grow stronger. You guys said you would ensure the group had the best chance to survive possible. Why are you killing him, he could be important to our group?”
The thief clapped slowly, taking away some of the stir that she caused to run through the crowd. Slowly walking forward, he simply said “You are a wonderful example of a saintess, but if you continue to speak then you might be corrupted”.
The priests thanked him and began pulling her away, kicking and screaming. It seemed finalized when the saintess screamed “I call for someone to represent him!”
Prince Michael called for the priests to stop, then looked at the girl. “Pray tell, who would speak for the thief? Who would be unbiased towards a thief? Whose word could we trust after they defend a lowly thief?”
A mixture of panic and determination filled her eyes as she scanned the crowd for anyone who would be impartial to a thief. Eventually, her eyes settled on someone behind me. Turning to see who it was, I didn’t see anyone.
The prince slowly grew a smile, before speaking with an authority that had to be taught. “It seems we have our representative for the young thief. The aspiring knight, lord Louis Baux.”