The crown weighed down on his head. The cold metal brim pinched his forehead. The crown made him want bow down his head under its weight. Adi’s head remained still, his eyes remaining without expression as he looked over his newly appointed men.
His fellow men looked up at him with gleaming eyes. They knew he deserved this more than them, more than any other who worshiped the Iron Lord. Adi had proven himself through sacrifice, loyalty and a stiff upper lip to whatever had happened over the years. He was the ideal General who sat comfortably upon the armor gauntlet shaped throne.
Two men dressed in grey robes with snow white trimming flanked the throne. The one on his right held sword whose blade had never seen the face of battle. The sword sparkled and shined like the stars in the dead of night. The torch light made it’s polish glitter. The one of the left held a large cloak made of grey wolf pelts. Even though most of the cloak was bundled in his arms, some of it barely trailed on the ground.
Great General Emmerson Algar stood on the stops that lead to the throne’s platform. The torch light made his dented armor glint. His shaven head was painted with three red stripes that ran up from his eye brows to the nape of his neck. Low, sagging eyes showed no expression as he raised his palms up, gesturing to the men neat rows of men. “Footmen, Bearers, Practitioners, Generals, and Lieutenants. Today on the fourth of Snowfall, we welcome our former lieutenant Adi Kronos, into the ranks of general. He has proven himself to the Iron Lord over and over again. His dedication has been strong since the first day became a Footman. He has shown his worth through sacrifice, pushing himself beyond his limit and succeeding every time.”
Great General Algar paused, his hands lowering to his side. His great booming voice became quieter; a hint of regret tinged his voice as he spoke. “To those who doubted General Adi, including myself,” he placed a hand on his chest, “witness and behold the man who we told would never find himself seated in the Lord’s Hand. Witness and behold of the vial treason of our tongues, the cruelty of words have all been proven wrong.”
Adi held his breath as Lord General Algar turned toward him. The old man’s normally expressionless eyes now filled with emotion. Tears brimmed on breaking forth like a rushing river pressing against a broken dam. His superior fell to the ground, his hands clasped as if in prayer. “Give praise to your new General and submit to him!” He flatted himself down, his armor clicking against the brass platform. Soon after the Lord General submitted him, the men in neat rows either knelt or fulling submitted them to General Adi. The clicking and clanging of their armor sounded down the stretch of the hall.
Adi did not externally respond to this. He wanted to maintain his cold, glassy gaze. He considered it the look of a calculating General. On the inside, he was smiling at the sight of his superior and his men submitting to him like beaten dogs. He wanted to sign the old songs his mother forced him to learn. He wanted to dance a folkish jig around the Lord General’s flat body. He never wanted to see the old man more like this, besides dead.
General Adi Kronos rose from the Lord’s Hand. Keeping his eyes forward, his right hand extended to the sword. The man slid the hilt into his hand, his fingers curling tightly around it. The sword met both of his hands. He faced the flat of the blade toward him. Adi’s brown eyes were distant as they were reflected back at him. His hair had been recently cut and cleaned for the ceremony. He allowed his stubble to grow out to further prove his masculinity to his men.
The heaviness of the cloak almost made him want to bend over. He remained standing tall against the weight of crown, cloak and armor combined. In one fluid movement, he held the blade outward to the kneeling men and then rotated it in his hands, the blade’s tip balancing on the floor. His chest swelled for the first time with pride. His father’s words echoed in his mind “You can never be a real man until other men kneel before you.” Adi allowed himself to smile.
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