"Has everyone been accounted for?" Romand asked, looking down at the papers scattered on the table.
"Yes, sir. Every mage is currently here." Romand nodded and fished a paper out from underneath loads of others, holding it up to briefly glance at it. The rest of us went to the other side of the table so that we could all watch Romand as he got ready to assign us roles.
I stood next to Drac and flicked his hand away as he rushed to brush my hair, messing it up in the process. I glared at him and he smirked as Romand continued to speak.
"Alright, as I'm sure everyone here knows, today is an extremely important day. I don't want anyone slacking off because it could mean life or death. If anyone lets anything happen to the citizens here, then you will be stripped of your mage's title." I heard an audible gulp from behind me as all the mage's worried over Romand's last sentence. It was true that Romand had the power strip any mage here of their title, but whether he would do that or not was a different question. Despite how he acts, he can be pretty soft-hearted, so as long as you didn't have any major screw-ups, you were pretty much guaranteed to continue to have your job.
"Alright, let's assign roles."
~
I sighed, propping my head in my right hand that rested against my knee as I watched Romand give another speech to the mages. Everyone was assigned positions and roles. There was a group assigned for watching the prince, which consisted of Akan, Romand, and Lucyna. They believed that Prince Caiden would be pretty well protected considering Romand would be there, but Akan and Lucy would be a backup if something did happen. The next group was the ones who would guard the castle itself, patrolling and watching for anyone suspicious as well as making sure that nothing that came in or out was a threat. That group consisted of about 10 mages who were a little more skilled and had more knowledge out in the field. The leader of this group was Nene since she was the most skilled out of them all. The last group and the one with the most mages of all calibers were the ones who were out in the crowd, watching for anyone suspicious and reporting back to Drac. There were roughly 20 people in this group, who all were assigned a partner. Unfortunately for me, I was put in this group, assigned with Drac.
"Alright, now that we have assigned all the roles and everyone knows where they are needed, head out. And keep communicating. The ceremony will start in approximately 30 minutes, be ready for anything." Romand spoke, throwing a paper on the table and immediately burning everything there with a snap of his fingers, making sure that no one would be able to know of the Prince's whereabouts if they so happen to get any of the papers on the desk.
I groaned and followed Drac out, who was ushering all the mage's out of the door. "You heard the boss! Let's go!" he shouted, making his way out the door and towards the entrance of the castle.
"Can't you be a little... I don't know... less excited?" I asked, walking behind him. The mages around me were gossiping, worrying about the outcome, and hoping that everything would go over smoothly. Drac laughed as he made his way down the steps and towards the front of the castle, towards the fence and the town where there was already a crowd of people gathered and standing, waiting for the Prince to speak. At the sight of us, a whisper rushed forward as they all got excited for the ceremony to finally begin.
"Don't be upset, Al." Drac chided, slapping me on the back so I slightly stumbled. A glare was sent his way, but he chose to ignore its piercing gaze. "You should also be more excited! The Prince is finally being inaugurated; shouldn't everyone be happy about it?" I scoffed, and looked off in the distance, remembering the face of the small coward-like child that I had met around 13 years ago. Obviously, people change over time, but how much could this person's personality change considering how nervous he was to begin with?
Drac made his way to the center of the town. It hadn't been my first time on the wealthy side of the wall, but it certainly wasn't someplace that I knew like the back of my hand. The wealthy town was just a huge circle with a large fountain of two children (a girl and boy) holding a bucket above their heads. The children were a representation of the first King and Queen of Ekalen. They were known as a "friendly" and "childlike" pair, who did everything for their people. But, considering how they were the ones to start this idea of having a wall that separated the poor and the wealthy, I doubt they are everything the people make them out to be.
Drac sent off the group, the majority of them would be patrolling the grounds of the town since that is where the most people would be concentrated. Drac and I were with them, mostly guarding the front of the castle and the place right before the fountain in the middle of the square since this is where most people would be watching the ceremony.
It didn't take long before things got out of hand, with people shoving and trying to find a way to the front of the castle gates. No one was allowed on the castle grounds for safety reasons, but that didn't stop people from gathering at the gate's doors to try and get the best view of the Prince on his balcony at the front of the castle. The knights seemingly had their hands full, breaking apart people who were yelling and fights. Drac was incredibly amused by this, even egging people on as we rounded around the front of the gate. It wasn't our job to take care of the humans, but instead to watch out for demons, which was why we were not allowed to get into the fights themselves. Not like I wanted to anyway.
On our 3rd round, everything seemingly fell silent, and both Drac's and I's eyes drifted up to watch as knights made their way onto the balcony. It was a stereotypical Kingly inauguration you would see in fantasy stories, but I couldn't help but slow my pace as I stared up at the scene unfolding before me. Drac, sensing my astonishment, didn't say anything, and instead opted to slow himself down too so I could watch a bit longer.
I watched as Akan and Lucy exited the doors before the guest of honor arrived. I felt my breath stall slightly in my chest, and my fingers prickled as I stared at the person whom I hadn't seen in years. Caiden was the picture definition of a Knight in shining armor. He was wearing quite a different outfit compared to the previous kings. Because, typically, kings want to be flashy and show their status, so they wear something big. A lot of gaudy material like excessively big jewels, long flowy capes, big bright colors which force the people to look gaze at the person before them. They scream, "I'm the King/Queen, bow down."
Caiden didn't wear any of that. He walked out in a pair of black shoes, black pants, and a white button-up shirt. The only difference between him and the average businessman (in my past life) was the stereotypical red cape that all kings wore, with white fur along the edges and golden jewels embedded on the outside, and the small princely crown that balanced on top of his pink hair. Pink hair that brushed his forehead, and stopped just above where his green eyes were, ones that even I could see due to the shine they had despite being so far away from him. Lastly, was his face and body. He had grown multitudes since I last saw him. Granted, we had been apart for over 12 years, but there was such a huge difference between the past him and him now. I could see it in the way his long legs walked with big strides that revealed his status, and his face with more chiseled and taunt, as if he constantly worried about everything around him. I could tell that these past few years were not kind to him, unfortunately. And for some reason, his dramatic change caused a feeling in my heart to twinge, something that I pushed down and away because there was no way I was going to let my heart lead the way.
I watched as Romand made his way in behind Caiden, and he frowned as his ears moved and he sidestepped as a small person burst through past him, carrying a scroll in his short and chubby hands. Despite his small stature, his voice carried over all the people standing in the square as he cleared his throat, shifting so the scroll was in front of him to read.
"Good afternoon. Today, we are here honoring Sir Prince Caiden Luther James Roth Ekalen and his descent to the throne." A cheer resounded before the small announcer could even finish, and he waited as everyone cheered, finally happy that they had a king.
"We gotta keep moving," I heard from beside me, and I turned to look at Drac who had a slight and gentle smile on his face as if he was happy that I was showing some interest in something. I frowned at the look but chose to ignore it and continued to walk with him. We traveled around the square a few more times, barely listening to the announcer as he went through the process of explaining the role of a king and have Caiden swear that he will fulfill his duties. After our third time around, the announcer cleared his throat and gestured for someone, who brought forth the crown for a king on a pillow; and Caiden bent down on one knee and bowed his head to the announcer. The crown was much bigger than the one he was wearing as a Prince. It was huge, decorated in red velvet and gold trim and a green jewel, (the jewel which changes depending on what the king wants at the time), with white fur around the bottom. Another typical crown, but somehow, I didn't mind it when Caiden wore it.
Drac paused at this, so I took it as a sign that I could stop as well and stare up at the ceremony.
"Sir Prince Caiden Luther James Roth Ekalen, do you swear on the first King and Queen, as well as all those before you, to honor the code of protecting the people and doing your duty as a king no matter what may happen?" Caiden cleared his throat.
"I swear," his voice was deep and smooth and sent a shiver up and down my spine. At his voice, a slight gasp resounded throughout the crowd, and the people who weren't paying attention now homed in on Caiden with a razor-like focus.
"Then, I now announce you Sir King Caiden Luther James Roth Ekalen, the eighth king established in the Ekalen Kingdom." The small announcer took the crown on Caiden's head, and replaced it with the King's crown, laying it down gently on top of his pink hair. "Please rule over us well, our King."
"Glory to our King!" the people shouted, cheers mixed with sobs resounded as people finally felt like they had a King, someone who would finally listen to them. Drac and I clapped as well, watching as Caiden stood up and nodded towards the announcer. Caiden's face was impassive as he turned to face the crowd, bowing lightly at the people and causing them to cheer up once more. Now it was finally time for him to speak.
The cheer resulted for a while longer before Caiden raised his hand to silence the crowd. The crowd went quiet in a heartbeat, quiet enough that we could hear a pin drop. He slowly lowered his hand and opened his mouth, getting ready to speak.
Then, a shout shook the hearts of many.
~~~
Hello everyone! Saph here! Thank you for being patient as I work on another upload! Things are heating up and we get to see Caiden again! What do you think is going to happen next?
As always, thank you so much for reading, and please let me know how you feel about this chapter and if there is anything I need to fix. I hope you all have a wonderful week and I'll see you next time!