Sylas had tried very hard to stay awake.
Without his morning caffeine, he was already feeling the effects of withdrawal. It wasn't like he could just sneak off; it was rude to be knowingly late, and additionally, his supply was too far away from their new meeting place to easily sneak away.
Since it was actually breakfast time right now, they settled on scoring a plate of jiaozi and bringing it to the dining hall, which was notably bigger and had more echo.
Already seated at the head of the table was, of course, Nicholas Yan. On his right was Gwen, and beside her, Roza. To the left, was the aforementioned Sergeant Ahran Cheng of House Frigg, and Corporal Feiyi Yin of House Vyina. Air and memory projection, Sylas recalled as he sat himself next to Solarie. Yue was seated uncomfortably next to the corporal, and she was fidgeting with her fingers.
"Good, we're all here," Gwen motioned for Sergeant Cheng to start. If Sylas remembered correctly, Ahran led the covert branch of the greater army, and was the youngest to do so at twenty-two years old. Even if she was descended from a high house, it was just as remarkable as Gwen becoming general at twenty.
Ahran stood up. "Thank you, general. To my understanding," she waved a hand at Solarie. "Your friend is one of the hostages, correct?" Solarie nodded. "Then you deserve to be informed. I know that if Corporal Feiyi was taken hostage, I would like every detail available." she smiled warmly. "We've narrowed down the possible holding locations to only five, all located in the Qingni province."
Sylas instantly felt relieved. Jason was one of Sylas' old classmates, and one of the only people in the palace who really understood him. He desperately wanted him to survive this.
A messenger approached the congregation. "General Ng, Sergeant Cheng, Corporal Yin," he bowed with each name, making it look quite silly. "There has been a... second update to the hostage situation."
"Oh? Do tell." Sergeant Cheng raised a brow.
"Sergeant, you really should see for yourself..." The messenger nervously sank, his posture crippling into something similar to a prawn or shrimp.
Gwen shrugged, but obliged, followed by Ahran and Feiyi. Sylas watched from the table as the messenger led them outside the dining hall, and all that was left to do was wait and sit patiently.
Roza cleared her throat. "Well, I have drills to run, so unless there's another update, I'm going outside. Solarie, remember you have training with Irena and Grace in an hour." she strutted out of the dining hall too, off to the snowy training fields outside.
Solarie grumbled a quiet yes ma'am, and begrudgingly headed in the direction of the training facility.
Sylas didn't exactly have much to do today; he had already graduated from the academy and applied for the science institute, whose courses didn't start until the spring semester. His training supervisor, Wei Heng Xiao, was largely occupied by the duties of the military, and around this time, professor Cao would be locked up in his own personal lab, probably trying to create immortality of some sort. Instead of choosing to do something productive, he found the courage to do something he had been putting off for a long time.
In the bottom trunk under his bed, sealed with a simple iron lock, was a letter dated to November 1st, current era. It came in his mail one day, and while he did tell himself that he would respond to it eventually, only the heavens knew when eventually was.
"Damn you, James." Sylas muttered under his breath, reading the contents of the perfectly preserved letter. The wax seal bore the design of a majestic golden-brown griffin, clutching a golden iris in its claws; the crest of the House of Golden Iris, not a house of Liyuan nobility but the royal house name allocated to the Benson's, the monarchs of Arden.
November 1st, Current Era
Dear Sylas,
Congratulations on your engagement to Lady Lin- err, whatever her name is. This isn't a formal letter so I don't find it necessary to be extravagantly proper. Oh look! I've used such big words. Father's tutors are finally paying off. Anyway, I've just written to you not only to congratulate you (because why would I do that?), but also to serve a fair warning before something happens.
My family, along with the royal procession and cabinet ministry will be arriving in Liyuan sometime between December 7th and 18th. It hasn't really been decided. I don't really get to make decisions, being spare and all. Marisol gets to do the fun (or boring, depending on how you look at it) royal duties. Bernadette is simply ecstatic to visit Liyuan once more, or at least ecstatic as she could be, because let's face it, she isn't one for expressiveness.
If you may, please send my regards to whoever you see fit, just not the dreaded lieutenant general or general of your youth army. Those two women scare me. Hopefully, I will see you soon.
Cheers,
James Benson, His Royal Highness, Prince of House of Golden Iris, Duke of Bastiere, Lord of Hanover Estate, Lord Protector of the Western Isles, Superior Guardian of Broken Hearts, Other titles I made up and can't remember
Of course, James Benson would send a letter, detailing the arrival of the royal family in times of turmoil, especially with an impending doom-saying prophecy. There were only twelve days until the solstice, marking today as December 9th. The Benson's would arrive any day now. Sylas wasn't too concerned with how the cabinet or Queen and King Consort would react to the prophecy, or even Marisol, the heir to the Ardish throne. But knowing James and Bernadette from past experiences, they would undoubtedly try to play hero and end up unintentionally killing themselves. More on James' part, really, but with the whole hostage situation, assassinations, rebel forces, and daybreak prophecy, there was going to be too much on King Magnus' plate to deal with the Benson's arrival. He was two days over-due to notify anyone of importance, but seeing that the royal family hadn't arrived yet, he was hoping now was not too late.
Sylas did not dare to go and find a messenger to deliver notice to the king. He wasn't that brave. Instead, he opted to find a more familiar person to be the recipient of his news.
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"Sylas Lai, the one time you choose to be incompetent is the one time we might be endangering a royal family?"
Prince Nicholas was not being as forgiving as Sylas hoped.
"I'm sorry, it slipped my mind, with the whole prophecy thin-"
"This letter is dated November 1st!"
"Could we not yell? It's barely afternoon-"
"I am hardly yelling."
Nicholas sat down onto the wooden chair, sighing as he grabbed a ruby red pillow from the side and buried his face in it. Sylas shifted uneasily as he waited for Nicholas to continue his ranting.
Sylas tugged on his sleeve, uncomfortable with how it was setting with his waistcoat. "Surely the Benson's would have notified your father?"
The prince groaned. "No. Queen Marilyn would never warn Liyuan officials of her arrival. She does this frequently- any excuse to show that we are incompetent and cannot adhere to a nation's needs gives her reason to invade again without too much drawback from the public."
Sylas's expression changed. "That's so unfair though. How can we prepare for something we don't know will happen?"
"Ask Queen Marilyn. I only hope that your delay will not cause any issues. I'll thank James personally when I see him next." Nicholas shot a warning glare made up golden glows and daggers at him. Sylas gulped.
"I'm going to get this to my father, but until then, start alerting kitchen staff. We can't let this problem get in the way of our other issues."
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Author's note:
hello!
hihi, it's me, remi :D This is officially the last part of Part 2, Luminary Crescents... which means I really need to take a break to refill my creative juices, finally get my own coffee machine, and take a nap...
as a reminder, I am a full-time university student, with a part-time job, meaning I am going to need some time off. Realm of the Sun returns April 17th, with a 3 (3! non-factorial) chapter premier.
Part 3 is entitled Shattered Twilight, which bears no plot relevance but does sound cool. I think.
thank you again for reading!