Zeydrick
The chatter of nobles and courtiers pressed against my sensitive eardrums, tightening my jaw, causing a slight throb in my head. I kept a stony face, knowing I couldn’t hide a snarl behind a helm thanks to my horns. Even the Knights without horns were told no helms tonight. The Emperor wanted the people to know that demons didn’t hide behind those helms and that the rumors about monsters in the Holy Knights were untrue. But beyond that, this was an important banquet to the Emperor and we must put our best foot forward.
Or something like that. To be honest, I stopped listening after he started lecturing us about the last time we Knights had to attend one of these banquets. In all fairness, I wasn’t involved in the chaos nor was I even there; that was all on Esrin, my second, and he doesn’t really have a handle on keeping the rest of the Order in line.
He’s far too nice.
As if to punctuate that, my eyes fell on the black-haired knight as he was trying to take a flute of champagne away from Kravos - whose dark skin made the redness of his face stand out all the more.
With a sigh, I slipped forward through the crowd of nobles until I stood behind Esrin, towering several heads above the two knights and glaring down at Kravos. With a sheepish grin, Kravos handed over the sparkling glass of bubbling liquid.
“Go outside and sober up,” I growled out to Kravos. Muttering a quick ‘yes sir’, Kravos dashed away, heading in the direction of the balcony doors.
After handing the offending glass to a passing servant, Esrin turned and gave me a small smile.
“Sorry you had to intervene, Captain,” Esrin said, rubbing at his neck.
With a shake of my head, I put a hand on Esrin’s shoulder. “You’re far too kind to discipline the Knights. You don’t speak with command, but with request. You should work on that for the next time I have to take to the field and leave you in charge here.”
Esrin sighed and nodded. “Yes, sir. I’ll work on it.”
“For now, just keep an eye on the others,” I said, turning away from Esrin and surveying the rest of the banquet hall. “I don’t see anyone else indulging themselves too much just yet. Maybe we’ll get lucky and it’ll only be Ser Kravos.”
“If only we could be that lucky,” said a voice I’m only all too familiar with. A glance to my side confirmed the Illustrious Holy Emperor himself graced us with his presence. Joy.
“Shouldn’t you be greeting your guests and not worrying about your carousing Knights?” I said with a knowing smirk.
“I’ve greeted those that needed special attention,” Emperor Arias muttered, a sour look darkening his otherwise delicate features. Bright green eyes stared out at the crowd of nobles from under white-blonde hair, making his fair skin seem paler still. His clothing didn’t help much, white with gold trim, cut close to his frame. To me, he looked sickly, but I knew this was just how the Svetovid line appeared.
“The rest can wait for me to catch my breath and have a drink,” the Emperor continued, “Besides, I have to make sure the Holy Knights don’t cause any scenes. You did tell them to keep their hands off the servers, right? I don’t need an earful from the chancellor again.”
I let out a snort and crossed my arms, my muscles bulging against the tight formal wear the Emperor insisted all of the Knights had to wear. “I told them. I also told them to go easy on the alcohol. See how that works out? They forget orders as soon as a bit of alcohol touches their lips. My legion obeys far better than the Knights.”
“You also beat your legion into the mud with your training before you allowed any of them to have even their own names,” the Emperor pointed out as he waved down a server and took a glass of dark red wine. “I can’t really allow you to do that to the Knights. They’re supposed to be a cut above.”
“What they are is a gaggle of horny hatchlings,” I countered, raising an eyebrow at the Emperor’s words. “Especially when they’re off the battlefield. A good war or two wouldn’t hurt right about now.”
“Funny you should say that,” Emperor Arias replied, a glint in his eyes. “I’m thinking the population is getting a bit too large to safely provide for all my citizens. Why don’t we finish uniting this side of the continent, then move east?”
“Past the mountains?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll give you a good reason why not: demons.”
Emperor Arias shrugged, draining his glass of wine and picking up another from a passing server. “Demons are just another species of magic beast. I trust you can handle it.”
A sigh escaped my lips as I shook my head. “With all due respect, demons are a pain and a half. First, you gotta worry about actually landing the killing blow without getting gutted in the process, then you gotta worry about after. Their death curse. Pretty sure all you mortal races aren’t immune to it. You have heard about a demon’s death curse, right, your holiness? ”
The Emperor turned to me, frowning, a look of warning in his eyes. “Not here. We’ll talk more on this tomorrow.”
With that, he left, merging back into the crowd of courtiers and nobles. Esrin stepped up closer to me, lines of worry wrinkling his forehead.
“You have to convince him that expanding east is a bad idea,” said the knight quietly. “The humans under us aren’t protected from the death curse. And… you remember what happened to Ser Veschis...”
“I remember.” My eyes followed the Emperor move easily through the room, tracking his progress as he smiled and traded pleasantries with everyone he deemed important. Pompous ass. “We just have to make sure none of those under us strike the final blow on the stronger fucks. And hope we don’t run into any S-Class.”
Esrin shook his head. “I don’t see that working well. You know how the bloodlust gets more than any of us. It… infects the troops. They won’t see beyond it.”
“Then be prepared to lose a lot of people.” A grin split my lips, showing my sharp teeth. “I’m not going to stop the Emperor if he wants a war.”
“I swear, mention war or battle, and you’re happy,” Esrin grumbled. “Are you sure you’re not the incarnation of war?”
I laughed at that, a full-bellied laugh that attracted a few eyes. With a smirk on my lips, I told him, “If I am the incarnation of war, you are the incarnation of piety and naivete. Come. Let’s collect the others and have our own party away from these opportunistic fucks.”
“The Emperor won’t like that we’re leaving so soon,” Esrin replied, even as he followed in my wake. Nobles parted before me, darting out of my way - some graceful about it, others not. All this prancing about made my head throb.
“Don’t care,” I replied, “now go get Kravos from outside, I’ll handle the rest. Meet us back at the Hall.”
I didn’t need to check if Esrin obeyed; I could feel his presence leave my side and head in the right direction. The first Knight I found, I sent after another of his comrades, same to the next and the next, until I’d found all the Knights left in the banquet hall. Slipping out the servants’ entrance, I breathed a sigh of relief and headed off, in the direction of our Knights Hall. Our private building, where nobles dared not go and only the servants who lived within the building came. Normal people tended to stay away from our little den of monsters.
As soon as I opened the iron-wrought doors, I knew we were missing someone. Fuck.
“Where’s Euri?” I growled out, my eyes roving the various knights lounging on benches or one of the couches. Several of the Knights shrugged, nudging each other or elbowing their neighbor with a grin. Finally, one of the Knights spoke up, and I admit I already knew what he was going to say.
“Probably found a serving girl he fancied,” said a pale, white-haired Knight. The tall, lanky albino - Duras - sported patches of hardened scales along his neck and jawline, similar to my own, but I knew he wasn’t a dragon.
Each of the Knights still bore the scent of their previous life - at least, to my nose - and some even had the same feel of presence.
Ser Duras had the scent of a frozen tundra and still moved sometimes with the swiftness of a striking adder. All this - plus the chilling presence he gave off - made me conclude he was an ice basilisk.
A natural enemy to a fire-breathing dragon like myself.
Another growl left my lips. “I swear to the Gods…”
“I’ll go find him,” Esrin said, showing up at my elbow for a moment of acknowledgment before he slipped out of the building. The black-haired, fair-skinned Knight stood two heads shorter than myself, and the scent of a meadow in full bloom followed his steps. His presence was small compared to many of the other Knights, but his scent was exquisite. There was no doubt in my mind that he was a forest nymph.
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