There were at least forty Knights on the Steel curtain as they watched the Pendragon’s cars stall outside the walls. Among them were several members of the Academy—Verdent Oak, and even a few Knight Commanders from that order and a couple of Master Knights. But notably, the Grandmaster Knights of the Verdant Oak and the Azure Tower were among the ranks.
By far, the Order of the Azure Tower had the majority of people in the situation, and right now, they were the only ones outside the walls. They had to search the Pendragon’s Vehicles before letting them in.
Erec did his best to stay patient. But it was a struggle. Down there, he saw Enide leaning next to Yniol while someone went through the car, affectionally named ‘Betty.’ He could see her Uncle there too—Bors, though he looked far less sure of the search.
This search was more than anything symbolic. Security fell within the Order of the Azure Tower, and they’d outlined this new procedure as mandatory for any entrants seeking to cross into the Kingdom. Were it another group, it’d make complete sense. With these people, Erec knew the measure was only a waste of time. He’d lived among the Pendragon’s for months. The ties that now bound them to the Verdent Oak were powerful; even now, they were returning from the wasteland from a mission assigned by the King.
That wouldn’t always be the case. Now that the Pendragons were back, they expected to see a delegation from Vega arrive any day.
After a half-hour of needless search, which almost drove Erec mad with impatience, the Pendragons were cleared for entry. Erec and the rest of the Verdent Oak knights filtered down the wall, but none were as fast as Grandmaster Oak, who walked off the side and landed at the base with a plume of dust. Seemingly unharmed. When the gate opened, Grandmaster Oak was the first to greet their guests with a broad smile.
“Well, well, well. If it isn’t our friends from the wasteland—Y’all left some monsters out there for us to kill, right?” Grandmaster Oak said.
“No, killed them all. Took a lot of bullets. Think we could tear down the wall for resupply?” Rochester said, his car coming for a park and a grin on his face. The man’s skin crawled with tattoos, and as leader of the Pendragons, there was no confusion over who Grandmaster Oak wanted to talk to the most. As it stopped, he leaped out of his car, shooting a wink at the man in shotgun with a quick instruction to park it with the rest. With the logistics sorted, he walked over to join the Grandmaster.
But Erec didn’t have long to focus on that—his eyes were on Betty. Filled with Yniol, Bors… And most importantly, Enide. The woman he loved.
“Nice to see you again!” Garin greeted, tearing Erec’s gaze away from the gate. His friend was walking off towards a car with Corey, of all people driving. The young Pendragon who’d played soccer with them—when had he gotten a vehicle? “Take it things are fine in Vega?”
“More than fine; the city’s buzzing with news that your Kingdom is opening its walls. With some talk, they’re delivering on sending the news out. A couple of months and your little isolated bit of wasteland will be flooded with interested tourists.”
“That good or bad?” Garin prodded.
Erec did his best to ignore the two talking and plotting. He was sure it was good information, but his heart wasn’t in it. Besides, the actual context of Pendragon’s mission would be shared in the confines of offices and backrooms. After this, Rochester was headed towards the palace to deliver a report to the King along with the Grandmasters. And whoever Rochester trusted would be heading back with the Master Knights of the Verdent Oak.
While the Azure Tower now had the pleasure of securing outsiders coming in and ensuring they didn’t bring any significant threats inward, the Verdent Oak was taking its new responsibility as the ‘face’ of the Kingdom in stride.
No, what had Erec’s heart was the sight of a particular Pendragon car. He doubted a charging monster could have captured his attention when it crested the gate.
Enide didn’t even wait for it to stop; her eyes met him, then she vanished. Reappearing right before Erec, throwing her arms around his shoulders and pulling him into an embrace.
“Long time no see, hero.” She said into his ear before planting a kiss on his lips.
Erec welcomed her, the piece to the chaos he craved in his world. Or, maybe it was the other way around. Maybe it was that this woman was the grounded one, and he brought the chaos they needed to soar—or maybe it was them together; their company might tear reality aside and make any possibility come true. They broke their kiss at the cue of polite coughing from Olivia.
“Truly a vagrant and deplorable display of impropriety. As if the rumors of you courting an outsider needed more confirmation, here you two go insisting on putting on a show for the public,” Colin said.
“It is a pleasure to see you again, Enide.” Olivia gave a half bow.
Enide gave them a half-concealed grimace before replacing it with a polite smile. “Ah, yes. I suppose you two might be here. It is a pleasure to be back.”
“There is no need to play nice, wasteland wench,” Colin said, shaking his head. “We both are aware of our lack of friendship.”
“I wasn’t doing it for your benefit. I shoot straight, but if someone’s going to go through the effort of playing nice, I’ve got enough in me to keep it civil.” Enide sighed.
“I’ve always considered you polite.” Olivia nodded, “Though, I think we may have gotten off the wrong foot during the expedition. My concerns for your… presence… revolved around Erec—someone I consider a friend. I admit, I was worried about you hurting him, and not just emotionally. Your relationship certainly affects his standing in the Kingdom, as it’s unheard of. Yet, this is our chosen path, and you’ve saved his life. If you wish to say, ‘shoot straight,’ I’m not convinced this won’t end with pain from outsider intervention, but now I’m willing to hope. If you’re willing to forgive me, then I’d like to say I’m sorry. Enide. I was abrasive, skeptical, and rude to you. I hope that we may repair this rift between us and become friends in the future.”
Enide lifted an eyebrow. “That apology real or practiced? You had a good couple of weeks to work on it.”
“Genuine, though I did practice it. I wanted to be sure the words I said were what I wanted them to be to show how I felt. If you’re willing, I’d like you to consider me a useful friend to your new life in the court—a life that, willing or not, you’ve signed onto by choosing to become involved with a renowned Count.”
“…Don’t take it personal, if I keep a bit of an edge with you, given the past. But, if you’re apologizing, then I guess we can give it a shot.” Enide replied.
“It is the most I could ask for. Speaking of which, shall we make plans to shop? We have a gala to attend to in a couple of days.”
“…We do?” Enide shot Erec a look.
“Unfortunately.” He confirmed. “I was going to tell you and see if you wanted to go later, but yes. It’s for the Duchy of Luculentus; if you are willing, I’d love to have you at my side.”
“I know we don’t have trust yet, but I’m sure Garin will confirm when he returns later. But I think it is a very good idea if you attend.” Olivia said softly.
“Yeah, I suppose I could go to a party… Though this place does them odd. And hang on, Luculentus, why is that name familiar—wait, is that the one the spoiled brat hates? Could’ve sworn he ranted about them to his pa on the road.” She said.
“Careful there, such hostility, and I might mistake your tongue for an enemy, but yes. They are a wretched House who hardly deserves to be the same rank as mine…” Colin stopped, and then a stupid smile took over his face. “Hey Erec, Knock Knock.”
Erec stared at Colin at the sudden left turn from him complaining about another house. He’d expected a drawn-out rant. Not this. “Knock, Knock?”
“You are to say, ‘whose’s there?’”
“Why?” Erec asked.
“Just do so; I found it in an old world book. I’ve been perusing the thing when I’ve found spare time away from my vital research. Believe me, the build-up is worth the delivery. They called it, and I quote, ‘a punch line,’ which, on this occasion, seems a suitable name.”
“…Whose’s there?” Eric replied; while he didn’t trust anything about this, he knew there was only one way out. If he didn’t go along, Colin’s complaining would be insufferable. And, well, with Enide at his side, he’d rather this distraction than go into the details of what a gala at a Duchy would be like. Besides, Colin had captured all of their attention at this point, including the overt staring from a couple of nearby senior Knights.
“A monster.”
“…A monster?”
“You are to say, ‘A monster who,’”
“…A monster who?” Erec replied.
“Is Enide’s tongue.”
They all stared at him in complete silence.
“Get it? Because her tongue is an enemy? We slay monsters; they are the most numerous of our enemies.”
“…Dear Goddess.” Erec couldn’t help but shake his head. “…May she scorch whatever twist of fate brought this development upon us.”
— - ☢ - — - ☼ - — - ☢ - —
After bringing Enide back to his dorm—a presence he was grateful that his roommates accepted. Erec made a quick excuse for himself to leave her in the company of his friends. While the biggest part of today he’d been looking forward to was the arrival of the Pendragons in the Kingdom, another appointment changed the very course of his future. One that, unfortunately, he wasn’t allowed to have Enide tag along for.
It worked out alright since Olivia took the news in stride and took it upon herself to take Enide shopping for their dresses.
If it were for anything else, other than this, Erec would’ve been sorely tempted to ditch and spend the time with her—but this wasn’t a simple class.
This was his meeting with Dame Robin. Arranged by Sir Boldwick and a lesson he needed. Girlfriend’s arrival or not. At least she understood. Though, leaving her shopping with Olivia made him nervous for many other reasons. But there wasn’t much to be done about that.
Erec made his way out of the grand building that made for the Order of the Verdent Oak’s Academy building, rapidly passing through the fantastic buildings and onto a dirt road leading out from the Academy and towards the city’s outskirts.
It was odd to be going so far from the school. Sure, Dame Robin didn’t have an office there—she wasn’t one of the instructors, even as a Knight lieutenant.
The further the dirt road took him, the more Erec turned over her position in his head. Boldwick trusted her; he’d always considered the woman very caring and astute. From the missions she’d run with them—and Sir Alister… It’d made sense. But outside that context, he couldn’t be sure what she did.
This kind of work? He had a hard time squaring the image in his mind.
Yet, when he reached the outskirts of a farm, there was Dame Robin—leaning against the wall of a well-built home. Out in the field, a man was working to harvest. This made sense; sunlight dropped by the day, and the temperature followed suit. Anything left in the field had to be brought in soon.
“Dame Robin,” Erec balled a fist and put it against his chest, a salute of respect as she noticed him. She gave him a slight nod, her eyes still trailing the man working out in the field.
“Do you know why I requested our meeting here?” she asked after letting silence reign for long enough for him to follow her gaze.
“I… Don’t have a clue.”
“These people—the ones working the fields, bring us food. They work both above ground and below, striving their hardest to provide for the survival of our people. With a Kingdom this size, so many mouths must be fed. If they lapse in their job and a harvest goes foul, people might suffer. We, and others, can do their job through their diligence and dedication. From the seed of their labor, we are allowed to be more than stragglers roaming the wastes, too focused on the struggle of trying to feed ourselves to settle down. Without them, there would be no courts of nobles. No Knights to protect the fields they labor on. No King to rule the administration to bring them comforts in return for their efforts. It all begins with them.” She said.
Erec stared at the man laboring, an odd feeling in his chest. This revelation wasn’t a new one to him. For much of his life he had helped worked the biocaverns down below. Though those didn’t have the farmers' fields and natural growth cycles on the surface, he was well familiar with the concept of supply lines and cultivation.
Though, what this had to do with the education Boldwick had promised him, that part he was uncertain.
Dame Robin must have seen the confusion on his face because she let out a small laugh. “I’d like to set a reminder before we talk about the games people play: We must never forget the roots that bring us life. Both in yourself and in society.”
“I’ve known this lesson—I thought I’d told you about my family. We helped Garin’s father down below.”
“You did. But then you became a Knight. Not just a Knight, but one with vast power and a future that will lead you to places far away from these roots. Don’t forget where you came from; whenever you get lost, remember these roots and let them guide you through the challenges the future will bring.”
Erec gave a slow nod.
“Now then, onto more practical lessons. I know you’re not much of one for the intricacies of the court, but you grew up on the lower end of society. That, among a myriad of a dozen other reasons, makes this a good place to start. So let me ask you, what is it about people like this that might be useful to people like us?”
“You said as much already. People like this are the backbone of our society. Without them, we wouldn’t be able to function or wield our swords in the name of this Kingdom.”
“Yes, but in a more practical aspect. The common people can do something that we would struggle to without disguise, great efforts, or more time than we can afford to spend—for people whose names become increasingly well-known, this applies especially.” She prodded him along, but Erec still struggled to see what she was grasping at.
He’d known Dame Robin since becoming an Initiate. He’d seen her as soft and welcoming but also a force of destruction on the battlefield. But this side of her. Her eyes gleamed with a nuanced intelligence he barely grasped, leaving him confused.
Ideas filtered through his head, but they seemed wrong. Was she talking about specific acts of labor? To recruit them on behalf of his Cavern—to spy? He was afraid to settle on a solution.
Luckily, Dame Robin beat him to the chance to give a wrong answer, her soft hand landing on his shoulder and giving it a comforting squeeze. “People like this farmer blend in. They can see and hear things that never reach our eyes or ears. That can make them good friends. Come, let me introduce you to Basil. One of my many friends, one which keeps those wonderful eyes and ears of his open to tell me the sort of information that might interest a Knight.”