28 Lef (1/2)

- ”Start from the beginning... what happened in the mine?” – Said the King

Riou told the king the same story he have told Eileen and Therese, that he luckily found a portal and ended up far away with news of a mage named Callas and information that confirmed the fact that the council was working with Argos to weaken Allard.

Both knights puffed and moved around irritated by the story, clearly doubting the boy's words. Both looked at Ursula who was there, hoping she'd stop that nonsense. But she remained silent, strangely neither agreeing nor rejecting the boy's story.

The King expression on the other hand, was deadly serious. The king was one of the few that really knew what happened over the days the boy spent in the castle. The fact that Riou helped extensively to save the king's and the queen's life was not spread out, but was kept in mind by the king along with Max's words about that boy.

Those words had an even deeper meaning now that the king was able to put the boy's feats in a better perspective. He made a troubled expression and looked to Ursula.

-”What do you know of this mage named Callas?” he asked

Ursula pondered for a moment - ”The Undying, was the name given to a mage that used to live in Iris before learning the dark arts. It is said that he became proficient at Argos' Death magic and even was able to complete the first Dark Ritual to extend his life… his stories are from a century ago, and nothing was heard about him since. Nowadays it's just an old story, told by some of the teachers in the academy” She answered.

-”I see” Said the king turning to the knights -”Rottcher, he's from your city, do you have any information about it?”

The fat bearded man shook his head – ”Callas the Undying is a children's story my lord, mothers on Iris tell it to their children to scare them into proper behavior. If they are naughty the evil mage will take them away to eat them… the boy clearly heard it somewhere and is trying to use it to diverge our attention from his… miraculous feats your highness”

The king took a few moments to think - ”Miraculous or not, the fact that they have powerful people backing their plan was more than proven on their attack, so we must consider every possibility to not be taken by surprise again” Said the king angered.

-”Is it that unusual for these orcs and goblins to attack like this?” Asked Riou looking at Ursula.

-”Yes, they all live in different villages inside the forest to the north of Brigantium, for so many of them to orderly gather together and march towards the city is a clear sign that a powerful hand is behind them” Confirmed Ursula.

The king took a more comfortable position on his chair – ”This conference has gone long enough… while we discuss, the fact that the enemy approaches the city won't change” he paused for a moment - ”Ursula and Rodrick, you shall go immediately to Brigantium to warn and reinforce our forces there, consider that powerful enemy mages are behind this assault and act accordingly, it's better to act cautiously in these times. We must prevent unnecessary losses as this move is clearly intended to further weaken our military force.”

Both bowed respectfully acknowledging the order.

-”Go now, everyone is dismissed… All but you Riou, I wish a word with you”

The knights didn't liked the preferential treatment that the boy received over and over again. Maybe this was what caused Rodrick to show his cards today, imagined Riou. And that fact told him that the King also didn't trust them enough to discuss his secrets with them, or they would certainly be much more careful around him by now.

”This is interesting, and explains a lot about the positions they took against me” thought the boy.

Once all were gone the king stood up and called Riou to approach him – ”Walk with me” he said slowly moving to the exit that lead to the royal wing.

•”Do you know why I turned a blind eye to your tantrums so far?” asked the king normally while walking to the end of the room.

Riou smiled – ”Probably for the same reason you prevented most of the information about me to be disclosed…I mean, by the knights reaction I can tell they didn't believe I was really part of the incursion, much less have entered the mine, you probably asked Bhalrom and Ursula to keep it quiet as well” Riou said calmly while looking forward, then continuing – ”Max probably said something… and now, you don't know what to think of me”

The king also smiled – ”You are too clever… that's why you were so quiet during the dispute with Askjell? You expected me to intervene on your favor in the end? You knew I wouldn't let anything happen”

Riou smiled as well – ”I knew you still had to keep appearances for the nobles and the knights, I can tell they are already on edge because of me, so I was curious to how you would handle the situation”

The king made a serious expression – ”That's why you kept quiet and didn't defend yourself? Even so, it makes no sense boy, what were you planning?”

Riou smiled – ”My bet was on challenging the noble in the throne room” said the boy to the king – ”But it seemed that they could even get away from that, sadly, your society really thinks too little of the common people.” He said in a serious tone.

The king contemplated those words for a few moments, he understood its meaning but still could not comprehend why the boy acted so calm. So he continued in the hope of getting an answer.

They kept walking towards the Royal Wing of the castle.

-”I remember what you said to me, about the castle's low defense on the cliff side, the prediction of enemies targeting Allard and the Norse relationship” Said the king to the boy

-”Not only that, you miraculously helped the castle from an attack with sword skill alone. Despite your age, you proved most wise, especially by sparing my son's life. You were recognized by the first army, Bhalrom and even Eileen who hates teachers. Even Ursula took your side today” the king took another brief pause – ”Not only them, but the great Magus Maximilian himself vowed in your favor” The king seemed to be talking mostly to himself at some moments, but clearly wanted to depict the image he had about Riou to him.

•”On usual circumstances I'd have made a hero of you from the beginning, if you were not so young and shrouded in mystery… and perhaps none of this would have happened” The king looked at the boy – ”But something tells me you prefer the anonymity, or you'd have been all over the 4 winds sprouting your accomplishments and demanding renown and rewards. The fact you didn't, implies you have your own agenda”

Thinking back now, Riou realized his mistake, he was so concerned that it slipped through the cracks and the king caught on it. It really was as he said, Riou didn't really mind it. It was never his goal to be known or to be considered a hero. But their society was based on such exposures, the need to show off accomplishments. The prince and Askjell's personality made much more sense now to Riou. And with it, the reason he was perceived as a fraud.

The king sighed – ”If it weren't for Max's trust, Bhalrom and Ursula's word I'd have trouble believing it myself… you survived that damn mine and even brought back Ursula from a certain death. Don't get me wrong, she is powerful, but there is so much a mage can do on closed quarters.” A brief pause before he continued

-”I must admit that when I heard Askjell complaint that someone attacked him, I knew you were back, but the moment I saw you entering the throne room that really took me by surprise, you were completely unharmed.”

They both arrived in the studies room on the top floor of the castle.

-”I will not ask any more about the events of today… if you wanted you'd have told me by now” said the king sitting down in the chair in front of the chess board.

Riou followed silently agreeing. He sat down in front of him

The king smirked – ”As you said, I've been trying all this time to understand you, your agenda here if you will.” The king looked at the boy with inquisitive eyes and continued – ”You don't want riches, nor renown. You could even have married a princess and become royalty, you could have requested lands, slaves and titles and yet, you chose a damn bathhouse.” He said letting out a small laugh with hints of anger – ”Nothing seems to stimulate you” The king looked incisively at the boy trying to conclude his thoughts – ”As if…” the king paused and froze in place, his eyes squinted as he looked sideways at the boy

Riou didn't know how to respond to that – ”As if?” he asked curious to the king's conclusion.

The king was still searching for answers in his mind, as if putting a puzzle together in his head, until he finally seemed to get a realization. His eyes widened and in the sequence became clouded by doubt for a few moments.

The king seemed taken aback and stood up to prepare a drink. – ”I was… just thinking out loud…” Finally said dismissively, clearly changing the subject he continued.

•”Did you know Allard was founded by Arthur Strongheart, over a thousand years ago? He was a hero chosen by the element. With his power he united the people, created allegiance with the north and ended a war with the beastmen. Everything you see today came from his reign, our customs and traditions. Unfortunately few of what happened at those times were recorded, most of it came to be only many years later from the legends that were told from generation to generation.” Said the king getting back to his chair and handing Riou a cup of what seemed to be a liqueur beverage with strong scent of wood and flowers.

Riou listened to his story unsure to where the king was going with it.

He sipped on the drink and continued – ”As you might have noticed, he was my ancestor, the name Strongheart have been the ruler of Allard since then.”

•”So as you can see, I'm particularly interested in his legend. It is said that he was wise as a sage, holding magical powers equivalent to the best Mages of that era, while at the same time being an unbeatable swordsman.” The king took another sip – ”But you know how legends go, they tend to grow and stray away from the truth every time they are told again” The king took another sip.

•”But the curious part, and the one that I'm still trying to figure out is how he appeared in history, because what we have gathered about it right now is that he simple appeared amidst the war. There are no reference of him of his family on previous periods, but like I said, it may have been due to the turbulent times” The king paused once again, this time he drank it all in one go.

•”From about the same time, Brine's legend came to be, when the element herself emerged from the Lake of Tears. She appeared with a man in her arms. The legend says she brought him to the land, gently laying him on the ground, the phenomenon was watched by a few women that where visiting the lake. Their story goes with the elemental mother saying that the man didn't belong to the spirit world. So the benevolent mother brought him back to the realm of the living. And so the first priestesses of Brine were born, a temple in her honor was built at the place she appeared and to this day they vow to help the sick and injured.”

The king paused and put the cup to the side on top of board.

Riou leaned in interested where the conversation was going.

”Could this man be from other world? But his story is so different than what I've been through” thought the boy

•”I have reasons to believe that it was Arthur… actually it was Maximilian who came up with the theory, he has lots of old documents that confirm the timing. He even tried to access the temple's library to see if they had records of the fact.” Said the king observing the boy's reaction.

”Is the king trying to say that this Arthur really came from another world? Why bring this up so suddenly? Did he notice something about me? But this spirit world, I've heard about it before, it does not seem right, it has no relation to that crazy forest, or Max would have told me already. So why did he bring this up so suddenly? Unless… he is suspicious of me somehow” thoughts rushed Riou's mind

-”Why are you telling me this?” asked Riou intrigued what caused the king to bring this up.

•”You seemed the kind of person that'd like this kind of story” said the king with a smirk as the queen appeared at the door.

Elrick gestured for her to enter. Riou noticing the king wished to talk to her, got up from the chair and slightly bowed to the king. He began to calmly leave the room when the king said to him:

•”Give Max my regards… tell him I'm looking forward for our next meeting. I believe we have much to discuss” Smiled the king.

”Damn this old fox, I must watch out around him” thought the boy.

Riou smiled and without turning towards him he answered the king – ”Be wary of the yellow banner, he is not with the enemy but it's being used by them” Riou continued walking and by passing by the queen he gently bowed his head towards her, finally leaving the room.

The king nodded as if that was not something new for him, as if he had already been warned about it.

The King and the queen were alone in the studies and she approached her husband.

•”What was that all about Elrick? Did they find Max?” asked the queen surprised by the conversation

Elrick shook his head denying that he was found with a smirk on his face.

The queen squinted her eyes – ”Then why did you say that? It sounded like the boy was leaving to meet him” she questioned

•”I believe he is, leaving for Thanes to be more precise” replied the king – ”And that's precisely why I think he didn't defend himself today, he was already planning on leaving, have you heard about it already? About what happened in the audience earlier?”

•”Yes, Ursula told me. But that makes no sense Elrick, he'd be arrested if convicted, how would he be able to leave?”

The king smiled – ”I believe he didn't think such thing would prevent him from leaving, if so he wished I mean” he said calmly to the puzzled queen. But her thoughts jumped elsewhere.

She quickly thought of her daughter, if she was aware of the fact the boy was leaving.

•”And Eileen?” Asked the queen preoccupied.

The king thought for a moment – ”I don't think she knows yet, or I think she'd be here already” He said taking a moment to ponder – ”But she can follow him if she wishes, I do not oppose it anymore” he complemented calmly.

The queen got suspicious – ”What changed? What have you discussed with him?”

•”I just realized something… Max tried to warn me but I was not paying attention at that time. The boy has proven himself to be strong, strong enough for Max to depend on him. And you know how that old man is hard to please”

The queen nodded on that remark, the old man was indeed difficult to impress. But she couldn't help but to be intrigued by the sudden change on her husband attitude.

But before she questioned further, suddenly the queen remembered why she had come talk to him. –”We have guests. Therese is on Allard and came to the castle to pay her respects to the king.”

The king Elrick nodded, strangely unimpressed. The queen frowned by his reaction, such news usually brought surprise. It was a very rare event to have the great Lioness as a guest – ”I will ask the guards to summon her” he said calmly to his wife complete dismay. She wondered what could possibly have happened that could cast such a shadow on the Lioness herself.

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Riou went for the training hall where he knew he would find Eileen. He passed by the bath house location, but it was still under construction, it still lacked some of the metalworking and the pipes to get the water up, but most of the walls and roof were already done. Riou estimated it would take only the pipes and the heater for it to be finished… his regret was to not be able to enjoy it before leaving.

”Perhaps next time” he thought looking at it and finally going to the training hall.

She was there training some movements with the Rapier, very similar to the ones she used in the duel earlier. Riou entered quietly and walked towards the longsword she left leaned on a pillar.

He picked it up and looked at the blade one more time.

Eileen stopped and looked towards him, noticing she stopped, he approached her.

•”Congratulations on the duel, you were great on both attack and defense. He had no chance of winning.” Said Riou sheathing the sword in a calm tone.

He scratched his head thinking on how to say his next words to the princess

•”I will be gone for a while. I don't know when I will be able to return here. So I will be taking this back” He said showing the longsword – ”There is someone desperately looking for one of these”.

Eileen looked surprised – ”Why are you leaving? Wouldn't you stay until you found Maximilian?” she asked trying to make sense of the sudden news she received.

Riou nodded – ”I think I know where he is, so I will go after him”

•”Won't you wait until the conflict in Brigantium ends? It might be dangerous to travel during the conflict” She questioned trying to get him to stay a while longer.

•”I'm afraid I can't wait for it to be resolved” he quickly replied

Eileen seemed to be still processing the fact he was leaving, but even so, she nodded acknowledging his resolve. She sheathed the Rapier and handed it to the boy.

Riou looked at it for a moment.– ”You know, keep it, think of it as a graduation gift, I'm no teacher and we already covered most of what I could show you. The next step is up to you” He said gesturing for her to keep it with a smile on his face.

She was unsure if she should accept it. It was a remarkable sword made of a legendary metal, to receive it like that seemed wrong to the princess.

But she looked at his genuine smile and realized ”That's how he is… he doesn't really care if it's a valuable item or just a small symbol” she thought recognizing how strange his behavior was when compared to the nobles she knew.

The gift made her happy, but still was not enough to stir away the sense of sadness and loss she was feeling. Riou did not spent a whole lot of time in the castle, but the conversations and the time they spent together were one of the best she had in a long time. The thought that she'd be alone once again was rushing through her mind.

Moved by this thoughts and a sense that they were not on best terms she felt the need to talk to him before he was gone.

•”I'm sorry if I was harsh earlier… I'm not used for someone fighting in my place.” She said a little embarrassed

Riou smiled – ”Then we are even, you fought in my place as well didn't you?”

She smiled back while squinting her eyes – ”The circumstances were a bit different don't you think? You were threatened to death, so if I had not intervened…” she said with certainty in her tone

•”True, while you were threatened by marriage” he said pondering and weighting both sentences – ”Hmm, now that you put it like that, I have to agree with you, your sentence was way worse than mine.” he said jokingly

The princess laughed heartedly by that remark

Riou smiled seeing her laugh –”But I know you just wanted to wipe the floor with him first… you were afraid that there wouldn't be anything left of him to kill after another fight with me”

She was still recovering from the laugh before answering – ”You may be right, I really wanted to show him and everyone that he was not a challenge to me”

Riou nodded and became more serious – ”See? I knew it.” He paused for a moment –”And sorry again if I got myself in the middle of your thing… I don't know what got in me and I get it why you wanted to be the one to win”

She nodded and smiled slowly entering a more serious and almost sad mood – ”So, you are leaving today?”

•”Yeah, I will stop by the tavern and then will be on my way.” He replied

•”What about Therese and Leona… they said you would help them”

Riou showed the sword in his hand and the one in his belt – ”I will leave this with Syldis for them, I have the feeling they won't leave me alone until we can produce more of this damn metal… but I don't know how long it will take for us to be able to do so. So, with this I think they will be able to go their own way” He said smiling once again ”And hopefully leave me alone, I can't shake the feeling they are too troublesome to deal with” he thought to himself.

•”Well… I will be going then” Riou said ackwardly turning around and going towards the door.

Eileen watched Riou leaving when a strong resolve emerged from within her.

•”You still owe me a duel! A real one once I'm strong enough” She yelled

Riou turned his head while walking towards the door, a smile could be seen in his face as he nodded slightly and waved his right hand to the princess.

The resolve quickly transformed into fear, the feeling of being alone hit her hard once again as she couldn't shake off the sensation that he'd be gone forever. On impulse she quickly followed after him outside on another attempt to talk him down, to wait a few days so she could discuss it with her father on an attempt to persuade him to allow her to go as well.

The thought to live the free life of an adventurer really pleased her, and travel with Riou was becoming her aim since he'd became her master. But once she got outside the training hall, he was already gone once again – ”How does he do that!?” she asked herself looking around.

------------------------------------------------------ Studies Room moments later

Eileen entered the room as she saw her parents talking to Therese about the Beast lord in the plains. Noticing how Eileen seemed distressed, it quickly caught their attention.

•”Eileen… it's not polite to barge in while we have guests” Said Hanna

•”I'm sorry mother, but I believe Therese will want to hear this as well” Said Eileen to the surprise of both of her parents

•”Do you know Therese?” Asked the king puzzled

Therese nodded – ”We met today and talked for a while” she said to the impressed King and Queen.

Eileen seemed restless and quickly addressed the matter, she looked at Therese – ”Riou is leaving, he already went to the tavern, he said he'd left the swords for you there.”