Lunar Flare Book 2: Midnight Eclipse

Chapter 13

Beowulf made an unsure noise. "But I don't want people calling me sir... I call you sir, I'm not a sir!" he asserted, sitting up on the bed finally, accidentally knocking Thedrick out of the way in the process. He grimaced, and then helped to set the jester upright.

"Beowulf... I'm not even a knight you know, so soon you'll outrank me," Cassian said cheerfully, smiling at the soldier. "I'll have to call you sir instead!"

A look of horror washed over Beowulf's features, which Cassian and Thedrick couldn't help but laugh at. "Please don't do that," Beowulf said, practically squirming where he sat in discomfort.

"Okay I promise I won't call you sir, if you get up and get dressed and ready for the ceremony," Cassian offered with a wink. "Unless you'd rather spend some time in the dungeons again, which is what Tybalt will probably do to you if you stand him up."

"... fine..." Beowulf grumbled, swinging his legs out of the bed and getting to his feet. Cassian grinned in victory.

"Thedrick, could you get Maerwynn ready for the ceremony while I help Beowulf?" Cassian asked the jester, who nodded in response and hopped out of the bed, heading over to where his daughter was still playing with her dolls.

"Hey sweetie, it's time to get ready," Thedrick said as he plucked the child out of her seat and held her up to give her a hug and a kiss on the cheek. Maerwynn squirmed around indignantly.

"Effie always gets me ready!" the young queen protested, trying to fight off her father's affections.

Thedrick went quiet for a moment, setting Maerwynn down on her feet. "Yes well... now I am going to help you, okay? So, let's go in the wardrobe and pick out something stunning for you to wear, yes? We don't want Beowulf and your uncle to be stealing the spotlight entirely, your majesty," he offered to her, gesturing to her walk-in wardrobe.

"Okay papa," she said, and turned and ran off into the wardrobe, leaving Thedrick stunned with what she had just called him.

****

Due to Maerwynn's insistence, Thedrick got to stand next to where she sat on her mother's throne during the ceremony, with Cassian close at hand as well, given that Beowulf would be unable to perform his usual bodyguard duties during the proceedings. By now the whole kingdom knew that Maerwynn was Thedrick's daughter, but the pair of them still got some odd looks from people who hadn't seen them together in the same room before. Mostly looks that seemed to convey the feeling of 'oh, so the rumours are true after all'.

The throne room was filled with anyone and everyone who could say that they were of noble blood, along with a fair number of guards and castle staff, and some important people from the town, including Beowulf's parents. Despite only meeting her once, Thedrick recognised Beowulf's mother, mostly from the death glare she was serving to him from across the room.

However, this was his first time seeing Beowulf's father, who was also a large man, though a bit shorter than his son, with an equally burly build. His long fair hair was tied up in a bun with his face framed by fluffy sideburns with a matching moustache, while his chin was clean shaven. He had a large visible scar running over his left eye, which was cloudy in appearance. He appeared to be beaming with pride, a stark contrast to his wife's attitude.

Thedrick's attention was grabbed by someone else who was looking at him and his daughter, though in a more curious and less hostile way. It was a tall well-built woman who was dressed in armour and carried a large battle-axe strapped to her back. Her red hair was braided against her scalp, pulled into a bun at the nape of her neck and had grey streaks running through it.

She seemed a bit familiar to Thedrick, as if he may have seen her around the castle once or twice before, but he didn't know who she was. He leaned over and elbowed Cassian lightly and asked in a hushed tone, "Hey, who's that?" When the officer glanced at him, Thedrick nodded slightly in the woman soldier's direction. The ceremony had yet to begin, and most of the audience was making hushed small talk among themselves.