Chapter 116: Chapter One Hundred and Sixteen: Audience with the King

The carriage rolled its way through the city streets, as we made our right to the centre of the capital. The very centre of the city steadily rose on a slight hill and turned into a completely wooded section. I was expecting the palace to be some construction made from trees, much like the shrine, but as we neared the top of the hill, we cleared the treeline, and I was met with the sight of a vast stone palace. It wasn’t what I’d expected at all, and it came as a surprise. From the lower reaches of the city you couldn’t see the palace. Because the high king was an elf, I expected it to be constructed in their style.

There was a small wall and a deep moat surrounding the entire complex. There was only a single bridge that crossed it into the palace. Our carriage rolled up to the bridge and past the guards stationed at the entrance without stopping. It seemed they recognised the vehicle and were already expecting our arrival.

I glanced over to Altria and wondered how she was feeling after the previous day. She hadn’t mentioned what happened since, but she had only really spoken back when we were being interviewed in the guild. As I sat there wondering if I should say something to her, Serin tapped me on the shoulder.

“Is everything okay?” She asked.

“Yeah.” I replied.

“You aren’t worried about standing before the king?”

“Well, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little worried. There seems to be a lot to remember, hopefully I won’t mess up anything important.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure that you don’t.”

“Thanks, Serin.”

As we spoke the carriage had passed inside the wall of the palace, we went through an archway and a small tunnel before finally coming out inside a large courtyard. We slowed, before finally stopping just in front of a small set of steps that led inside the palace. Once we stopped the driver quickly hopped off their seat and ran around to open the carriage door. As soon as they had done so we all climbed out of the carriage and were met by an official looking elf, who was stood waiting at the foot of the steps.

“Welcome your highness, princess Ailouros, lady Staphenidie.” He said greeting the first three girls as they walked over.

“Forgive me, but I do not know your names, although I was told to expect you with the rest of the party.” He said turning to Siofra and me.

“That’s quite alright, I’m Siofra Lonhart and this is Theo.” Siofra said to elf.

“Thank you, Lady Lonhart and um, Sir Theo… Well, if you could all please follow me, you will be seen shortly.” He said ushering us up the steps.

We followed the elf into the palace, and he led us down through the corridors lined with white marble. The construction of this place was on another level of that from the catkin palace and that was already impressive enough. There wasn't much time to look at the surroundings though, as we were quickly taken past. After a short walk we stopped in front of a large double door, it looked like the entrance to a large hall, or possibly the throne room itself.

“The king is currently addressing the nobles and his generals. I will inform them of your arrival, please wait here until you are summoned.” He said once we stopped.

“Thank you, we will.” Answered Lillia.

The elf then left us there to wait, while he headed down the corridor and into the hall through a side entrance. This was it, in just a few minutes I would come face to face with the high king. The person that sits atop of the guild masters and the entire kingdom. I would finally be getting my first glimpse into what he was actually like for myself.

“I wonder how long we’ll have to wait out here for?” Asked Siofra.

“I don’t think it will be long, they are expecting us. I imagine they are just finishing up.” Answered Lillia.

As it turned out, we didn’t have to wait there for long at all. Almost as soon as Lillia had spoken the sound of a horn rang out from inside the hall and a moment later the large doors opened. The elf was stood on the other side to greet us.

“The king will see you now. Please follow me.” He said with a bow.

He then turned and strode back into the hall. We all followed behind. It was a grand hall, made from the same white marble as the rest of the palace. It was high ceilinged, which was made from glass letting in the daylight and huge pillars lined the route to the throne, where the high king was sat waiting for us.

The room was filled with nobles all sat at either side of the walkway, all of them watching on as we followed the elf to throne. The throne was at the far end of the room and was on a platform a few feet higher than the floor level. Once we reached the steps at the foot of the platform the elf stopped and bowed. Serin, Siofra and I all knelt down and lowered our heads, only Lillia and Altria still stood in front of the king. As princesses, they weren’t expected to kneel before him.

“My lord, I present the victorious adventures. Princess Lithsentine, Princess Ailouros, Lady Staphenidie, Lady Lonhart and Sir Theo.”

“Thank you.” The king said with a wave.

The elf bowed once more and quickly left to take seat at the side of the hall, leaving us there in front of the king.

“Well, well daughter how long has it been since I last saw you?” Asked the king.

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“Quite some time father.”

“Yes… Oh and please, the rest of you may stand before me. You are my honoured guests.”

Serin, Siofra and I all stood at the king’s request. The king waved his hand again and an attendant hurried over and placed a small box in front of group before hurrying off once again.

“Please accept this as a token of my appreciation towards your efforts to rid our kingdom of its enemies.” The king said.

“But we have already received our reward from the guild.” Lillia said after quickly lifting the lid of the box and looking inside.

“I know, however this is something from me, to show my appreciation. I hope you will accept it.”

“Thank you, father. We will.”

“Good. Now then Theo, I understand from the reports, that it was you alone that was responsible for bringing down the demon?” The king asked as he turned his gaze from Lillia to me.

“Your majesty, I may have dealt the final blow, but I would have been unable to do so without the help of the rest of my party.” I replied, trying to sound as polite as possible.

“I see, modest as well. Very good. I would like to offer you something else in return. Is there anything you would ask of me?”

There were a few things that ran through my mind, the first of which was being given my relic. I knew well enough that the simple mention of that would spell my demise.

“Thank you, your majesty I am honoured, but I couldn’t ask for more than I have already received.”

The king laughed for a moment at my response.

“I see… Well, I would still like to do something for the first person to fell one of the demons in over a decade. Let me see, yes.”

The king clicked his fingers and the elf that had shown us up to the throne earlier got up from his feet and stood at the foot of the platform.

“Please show Theo to the armoury once we are finished here. Make sure he is given the finest armour that will suit him.” The king told him.

“Yes, my lord.”

The king then got to his feet and begun to address the room.

“Now all of you here, remember the faces of these brave heroes, as I expect great feats from them in the future and they carry the thanks of the entire realm.”

There was clapping and murmured cheers from around the room.

“Now until we meet again, I wish you good luck in your travels and quests to come.”

We all bowed to the king and the elf ushered us off to the side of the hall and towards one of the exits. The whole thing was over in just a few short minutes and I was left wondering what to make of it all.

“Was that all we were called for?” I asked once we had left the hall.

“Yes. What were you expecting?” Asked Lillia.

“I don’t know… For some reason, I thought that he would ask us more questions.”

“It seems he’s already read through the reports and he’ll have many more meetings like that to get through in a day. The number of people seeking an audience with the king on any one day is almost endless. If he took any longer than that, they would never get through them all.” Lillia explained.

That did make perfect sense. We were just one group out of many that would be there to see the king, I suppose it would be stranger if he had taken the time to talk it through with us. In the end, I wasn’t able to form much of an impression of him. If anything, he seemed much less intimidating than I was expecting from the person that oversaw the implementation of the summoning ritual.

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