A Tale of One Deviant (Book One)

Chapter 180: A Familiar's Typical Day

     "Not every urgent matter I go to take care of concerns Knight, Your Majesty."

     "I see."

     His head went back down to review the papers, and a few moments passed.

     "When-"

     "I do not know, Your Majesty. It's up to her if she visits before the set date you have to attend the ball together."

     "But the seamstresses need time-"

     "And I've told you that there is no need to enlist them for a dress, since she will end up either laughing at you or changing it to her taste anyway."

     "But it's the least I can-"

     "Your Majesty."

     All the others of the meeting had departed while River took her time coming back. They'd been near to the end anyway, and the papers she'd taken weren't the crux of the meeting. There was no rush, and there was no rushing the king's aide.

     River stood alongside the long table cleared of what had formerly been covered with stacks of books containing information about previous winter seasons, and scrolls extracted from some deep hovel of a court magician's library. Only the king remained, as well as knights outside the door straight in front of him. He did not like having them near, still skittish after numerous assassin attempts long before Knight and her familiar entered the scene. It took a rigorous selection process, a lot of convincing, and a lot of promises made to assuage the paranoid king and make him take on the bare minimum of an escort. Even then, he still eyed them warily, and made the knights tremble when those golden eyes turned on them. Without strength, and without even an aura to make them respect or fear him, his appearance and lineage alone did the job for him. The king had a lot more power than he realized.

     "No."

     In certain cases, at least.

     With everyone but a select two people, at least.

     His lips pressed together, jaw muscles moving. "I'm still not allowed to be selfish, after all this time. You said-"

     "I know what I said, and I stand by what I said. But the time is not right. Master is busy, and doesn't have the time to drop work just because you want to become colleagues outside of work."

     One of River's few regrets was stinging her relentlessly in the side, as he reminded her of the conversation they'd had to assuage him - as that all she seemed to ever do, assuage the king - but had only made him more anxious.

     "And yet, she makes fun of me for not having friends."

     "Because it's still true."

     River stepped away from the ire suddenly digging into her back, not holding it against the mortal man. His sleep schedule wasn't the best in the first place, and it was her and her master's fault his last few months had been piled on further. Rather, their fault, because of the apostles foolishly instituting themselves in the capital and trying to besmirch her master's image and take credit for her work, using the Church.

     "I'm going back to my study for now," the king sighed, standing up from his desk and beginning to gather materials in his arms, meandering for the exit. His dress shoes dragged on the floor in a manner no more fitting than his old rags which he'd dragged out again, having hidden them somewhere Knight had been unable to purge them from no matter how many times she visited. Kiki shook her head at the moping of someone who'd never admit to throwing a fit to have his way, but was clearly not caring anymore as the days passed by and his status wasn't giving answers to his questions, satisfaction to his longings. "There's another meeting in two hours, and I hope you won't disappear with documents in the middle of it."