The journey of destiny

Chapter 8

Will nervously left his room, not sure what he was supposed to do now. The hour Owen had given them had almost passed, with just a few minutes to spare. He could barely suppress a sigh of relief when he saw Nathan exiting his room as well. Nathan looked cleaned up, too, and Will was happy not to be the only one to have taken new clothes. Nathan nodded at him as a greeting.
“Do you know where we need to go?” he asked, sounding as though he expected Will to have the answer. Will shook his head; he’d hoped Nathan could tell him that.
            Luckily for them, Gavin entered the hallway.
“Good, you’re ready,” he stated not at all unfriendly. Then he knocked on the doors of the rooms of the other four boys, asking them to hurry up. As soon as they’d all set as much as a foot outside of their rooms, Gavin took off, ushering them to follow him.
            As Will hurried after Gavin, Nathan right beside him, realization dawned upon him that he barely knew anything about Nathan or any of the others besides Bryan. They were total strangers to him. It as an odd thought, considering he’d been travelling through the country with them for days. Until this past hour, during which they’d had their own separate rooms, they had been forced to spend most of their time together ever since the training started. Will frowned slightly as he wondered why none of them had shared anything about their own lives. But then again, he couldn’t accuse anybody of shielding themselves from him, for he hadn’t been much of a talker either. Only Bryan knew he had never known his mother, for example.
            Gavin turned a corner, entering a broader hallway splitting up to both sides. He took the left side and continued the last part down the hall, where two wooden doors concealed whatever was behind them.
“Here’s the procedure,” Gavin explained, turning toward the boys. “You will enter first to take your seat. Someone will be inside to place you at the table. Then the king and queen will make their entrance. Make sure you remain seated, so they can come in as soon as possible. They’ve got more to do tonight.” After he finished this warning, he signalled to one of the guards standing besides the doors, who then opened them. As he stepped aside to let the knights-to-be through, Gavin peaked at Will for a moment. Confused, Will wondered if he’d done something stupid, like forgetting to put on pants. He secretly checked it, to find he was dressed perfectly fine. The servant didn’t look disapproving, though. He looked curious and somewhat excited, the same way Owen and sir Steven had looked throughout the day. As soon as he was out of Gavin’s view, Will rolled his eyes. These odd glances everyone seemed to be giving him were really getting on his nerves.
            He forgot his annoyance as soon as he got the opportunity to look around in the room behind the doors: it was a great hall, two storeys high. It was as big as a small ballroom and decorated just as sparkling. One wall was completely covered in high windows, letting in the last light of the day. The sun was visible as a large orange ball and reached only just over the window sills. A long rectangular table made of oak wood was placed amidst the hall, multiple chairs around them. Some small lanterns, decorated with a brilliant golden design, were spread over it, slowly taking over the task of the sun. Plates and cutlery had already been placed neatly in front of every chair, inviting people to take a place.
            As Gavin had said, some other servants hastily joined them to take them to their seats. Will thought it was a little extravagant, but he decided to let it go; if the royal family insisted on official manners, then who was he to tell them otherwise? He felt tiny, sitting at the enormous table. He figured he wasn’t the only one. Everyone waited excitedly, glancing at the empty golden plates in front of them. The six knights-to-be sat in the middle of the table, three on each side. Will was placed right of Adam and Bryan, facing Noah. Both ends of the table were set, too. Will guessed the king and queen would take those places. Two more chairs were put left of the boys and just as Will wondered who’d be sitting there, sir Steven and Owen walked in. They didn’t even have to be pointed to their seats, as though they already knew where they’d have to go. Curiosity to their history with the royal family started to rise inside of Will. He didn’t have much time to think of it, though, as the doors through which they had entered closed and another pair opened. The king proudly strode inside, the queen only a pace behind him. Even though they wore the same clothes as before, they seemed to look different. Will figured it was caused by the change of light. He decided to shrug it off. What did the king and queen’s cloths matter to him anyway? He smiled slightly. Silly thoughts.
            The royalties did indeed take place at the ends of the table, the king on the left and then queen on the right, meaning she sat closest to Noah and Will. The two of them exchanged excited glances. Both were extremely curious as to what the night was going to be like.
“Welcome!” the king said sounding genuinely happy he could greet his eight guests here. “I am truly happy you all made it here tonight!” For the millionth time that day Will noticed Owen and sir Steven sharing a mysterious look of barely disguised expectation. It was as though they were the teenage boys instead of the trainees. The king, however, did not spot this odd behaviour and continued his speech. “It is my pleasure to invite you all to stay with us the coming three weeks, during the Festival of Freedom. You’ll have plenty of opportunities to explore our beautiful city of Fraede – and the castle of course,” he added with a wink. Curiously, Will realized the king was only addressing the six boys; their two trainers appeared to feel at home. Will found it strange, since his father had never mentioned any connection to the king or the queen, besides the saving-the-king-from-being-burned-alive-in-a-dragons-flame thing, nor had he ever spoken of Owen being a friend of him. He hastily turned his attention back to the king, as he was speaking again. “You must be wondering as to why you are here,” he said in a more serious tone. Bryan and Leon eagerly nodded, making a small smile appear on Will’s face, but they were to be disappointed. “Don’t worry, all will be explained when the right time is there.” Will resisted the urge to roll his eyes; that excuse was really starting to annoy him. “For now, let’s have ourselves some nice dinner!” With those words, the king sat down and servants started to make their way inside, carrying platters filled with all kinds of food.
“Woah,” Will heard Bryan mutter next to him and he couldn’t agree more. There were trays filled with smoked ham, crumbly potatoes, all kinds of vegetables, soups, pears boiled with a red wine that spread a sweet scent throughout the room and many more delicious looking dishes. Will could barely believe his eyes. He had never seen so much good-looking food in one place. From the corner of his eye, he noticed how queen Allyn sent the boys an amused glance and he resisted the urge to smile broadly. The coming three weeks were starting to look nicer and nicer. For a moment he actually forgot sir Steven’s and Owen’s weird behaviour and the training and his discommode and every other thing that had been on his mind. That is, until the adults started all over again with their peeking around and grinning like kids that know something they’re not supposed to know.
            Luckily, the chef, a big-bellied man, came in to announce ‘Diner is ready!’ which was the general sign to start filling their plates. With their attention now focussed on their food, sir Steven and Owen’s gazes seemed to leave Will alone – for that moment. Will rolled his eyes, hoping it would go unnoticed by everyone around him, and started to enjoy eating his dinner. Well, he tried to. He couldn’t help but see the smirks and vague gestures Steven and Owen were pointing in his general direction. At one point he got so terribly annoyed that his hands started to tremble. Fortunately for the two men, Bryan caused a distraction. The other trainees were already exchanging amused glances, but Bryan didn’t seem to notice. The big knight-to-be was so enthusiastic in getting as much soup as possible into his bowl that the hot substance was splashing everywhere. All of the boys stopped what they were doing and turned to look from Bryan to Will and back. Bryan’s face quickly turned a deep shade of red. Will slowly put down his cutlery, not aware of the adults who were now looking at him as well.
“Bryan,” Will said. “Food is supposed to go onto a plate, or into a bowl – not on my face.” He picked up a napkin and cleared his cheek from soup. Bryan smiled sheepishly, while the others were trying to stifle their laughs. Will just shook his head. “You’re lucky I like you,” he mumbled jokily so that only Bryan could hear him. Neither of them saw the meaningful look the king and queen gave each other, before everyone turned back to their respective plates.
            Wearily, Will realized the soup incident hadn’t changed anything about Steven and Owen’s behaviour. He was very impressed by the spectacular meal and he could appreciate everything he put on his plate very much, but knowing they were constantly being, well, odd made it impossible for him to truly enjoy the evening. It angered him, because this was not the kind of happening that would occur much. This might be his only chance to dine in the company of the king and queen, in the royal castle, and now it was ruined, only because the two men had to be acting like they were little children. Even though they must have been sitting at the table for over an hour – the sun had completely set by that time and the moon and starts had started to appear – the evening went by in a flash. Before he knew it, servants came to collect the plates and the leftover food to take it back to the kitchens.
“So, boys, tell me,” the queen started while they were waiting for the dessert. “What do you think of this city or the castle so far?” She smiled as most of the boys started talking all at once. Will, who’d expected this to happen, hadn’t said anything yet. He didn’t really know what to say anyway. The city was amazing, but way to crowded for his taste. The castle was impressive, but he preferred his small house in the town of Chadale, where he’d grown up. It was all very great and spectacular, but it was as if he was in a dream here, instead of in reality. He couldn’t imagine what it was like to live here.
            While he was getting lost in his own thoughts, the queen listened to all of the other boys’ opinions.
“And what do you think, Will?” the queen suddenly asked. Will snapped out of it, startled to find everyone looking at him all of a sudden. “Your name is Will, right?” the queen hastily added, which was apparently very amusing to Steven and Owen. Queen Allyn just raised an eyebrow at them, but Will had had enough of their irritating business. He stood up abruptly, nearly kicking his chair to the ground.
“Will you two stop it for once?” he snapped angrily. “Once you can act normal again you can come and get me!” Then he stomped off to one of the pairs of doors, hoping they would lead him to the exit and not to the kitchen for example. That would be extremely embarrassing: having to turn back to the dining hall to try and find another set of doors. Luckily for him he faced a broad hallway leading away from his friends and hosts. He was sad to find that just as he left, some very good looking desserts were being brought to the table. This only made him angrier. If they’d just let him be, he could’ve been enjoying whatever was in the bowls.
            He marched down the hallways, turning a corner every now and then, feeling both angry and disappointed. His fists trembled at his side as he got more and more frustrated the longer it took him to find a way out of the castle. He turned a corner once more and his rage didn’t notice the young woman who was walking there until it was too late and he bumped into her, knocking her to the ground in the process.
“I’m so sorry!” Will hastily apologised, startled. He offered her a hand and helped her back to her feet. “Are you okay?” he asked worriedly. The woman smiled and nodded.