The Blood Knight

Before V

"Straighten your back. That's it. Good. Now to the beat. One. Two. One. Two."

"Is this necessary?"

"Shut now. Yes. It is. Again."

Cedric internally groaned as Mr. Kellen held his shoulders and waist. Sir Gerald stared as them, as if trying his best to bore a hole on Cedric's head. He had just undergone his growth spurt, making his height stand almost head to head with Mr. Kellen.

"Is this truly necessary?" Cedric asked. Dancing boots were quite different than the ones he regularly wore, and they were not meant for comfort at all.

"Let the boy embarrass himself," Sir Gerald muttered, sounding annoyed.

Mr. Kellen shot the knight a look that must have been something akin to, 'Shut up. This is my business.'

"It will give them more of a reason to question your origins," Mr. Kellen replied, forcing Cedric into a spin.

"My origins are already considerably questionable. Your master is to blame for that," Cedric said.

"You have grown cocky boy," Sir Gerald muttered.

"Threatening children with slavery in salt mines are unrealistic sir."

"Hush now! Both of you. It's like looking after two children," Mr. Kellen turned to Sir Gerald, "You being the biggest child of all." He then turned to Cedric. "Any young lady dancing with you might think you are seeing them as the plague. Show some sincerity. Don't look like you don't want to touch her!"

"I don't want to touch anyone," Cedric said, glancing as Sir Gerald who was for some reason eyeing his hand that was on Mr. Kellen's hips. He slowly drew his hands away.

Mr. Kellen sighed and let go of the boy. "You do realise that a crown prince's adult ceremony is the biggest event that can happen in half a century, don't you?"

"But I am not quite fond of him," Cedric muttered with a frown.

"It doesn't matter," Mr. Kellen snapped. "And don't let them know that if you want to stay alive."

If there was something Cedric had learned in his almost four year stay in the palace, it was that royals were people to be avoided at all costs if you were not powerful enough to face the consequences. The fact that the fourth prince seems to dispise him for some unphantomable reason has scoped his worldview on royals, solidifying the notion that the royal family were pretty much... unresonable. It didn't help that Cedric and Prince Xalvador always somehow ended up at the finalists of their respective ages in the knight tournaments. The pattern had repeated for almost every year that the crowd automatically knew who the finalists were. Cedric only managed to win the fight once, and it was the best feeling he had ever had much to his amazement.

Cedric had only met the crown prince of the kingdom once, and it was not a very pleasent experiece. The older boy had stared at him like an object to be assesed and brushed him off. Cedric was not a person who knew how to read people so well, but the disgust and repulsion was almost tangible in the air.

But Cedric was the heir to the house of Oswain, and it was imparrative that he attended the adult ceremony, despite his wishes. The real reason why he didn't want to attend the grand celebration was due to one; having to dance with an unknown female, two; the high posibility that the fourth prince would be there and three; he was not ready for small talk.

Mr. Kellen, a perfectionist as always, demanded Sir Gerald to free Cedric of his knight duties to train him in ballroom dancing. Cedric truly could not understand how Mr. Kellen even knew how to dance, and proficiently at that. It's not like butlers even get a chance to dance. But Mr. Kellen once decided to demonstrate the entire routine to Cedric once and had Sir Gerald end up as Mr. Kellen's dance partner. Cedric expected Sir Gerald to mumble unhappily and direct all the blame to him, but unexpectedly, the grumpy old knight happily obliged.