There Crowds Hanging Around The Front Gate Of The Castle Were Still Dense And Loud, Even As The Prince

There crowds hanging around the front gate of the castle were still dense and loud, even as the Prince had gone inside already. They were an excitable people, but far too eager to see more of his highness for themselves. The knights did their best to try and disperse the gathering, but it was a slow game. One that was sure to lead well into the afternoon. Do these people have nothing better to do? Sir Joshua thought to himself. His own to-do list was never ending, even once he was finished with the new recruits.

Speaking of new knights... This one was surely not like he was expecting. Sir Simon was receptive and observant, but there was something in his eyes that Josh was having trouble reading. As if the man was in a fog or a haze. There was already something interesting in the way he spoke. Nervous, sure, but the way he spoke was unusual. Almost as if he was trying too hard to seem like he was from the Gold Kingdom. Josh didn't want to judge it too harsh. After all, his own family and descendants came from far off lands, distant kingdoms that were vastly different than those of Europe. He was grateful that his family came up as such to give him this opportunity to serve royalty. Perhaps Sir Simon feels similarly.

"Down here is where you will sleep when you are off duty," Josh gestured to an empty room saved for him within the barracks, reserved only for the higher ranking knights, "As you will be in service to the prince your shift will depend on the hours he is awake. All knights not on the graveyard shift are expected to rise with the sun every morning for early training before their duties. Is that understood?"

"Yes, sir, it is," Sir Simon simply nodded, his eyes seeming to scan the halls around them, pausing only now and then on distant things, "Uh, when do we get meals?"

Josh took pause and turned to look over the smaller man, "Between your duties, which are shared with your fellow knights. Sir North will fill you in on all those finer details. For now, you can wait in the training grounds. The King will be assessing you and the others to decide if you are worthy."

That seemed to unsettle the knight once more. The change in his expression was minute, but it was clear to the advisor. He has seen many soldiers come and go within these walls. Both by choice and not. Was he truly just nervous about this? It started to make Josh wonder if he would even survive long enough. If he couldn’t protect the royals, then there was no point in keeping him around. 

“Something wrong?”

“What? No - No, sir, I’m sorry. I was... Lost in thought.”

“Mhmm... Where do you hail from, Sir Simon?”

“Wh- where?” Simon seemed to hesitate, almost stopping in his tracks even, but he kept pace beside Josh, “Here, of course. In the Gold Kingdom -”

Josh gave a more friendly look, a slight smile, shaking his head, “It’s alright, I get it. My family did not originate here either. So, I know what it feels like to feel nervous or like you might not be accepted. But I can assure you, no matter where you are from, so long as you are willing to fight in honor of the Gold crown, you will be accepted.”

There was a long silence as the knight seemed to contemplate that, as if wondering if he should be more open with himself and with the ones he was going to be working closely with. He took a breath and exhaled a long sigh, “Out east... My family comes from a village that no longer stands, whose people were chased out or killed.”

Josh’s face turned sympathetic, letting the silence hang between them as they reached the end of the hall. He stopped in front of the knight, looking over his face, “Silver?” when Simon gave a little nod, he rest a hand on his shoulder and nodded in response, “War is a terrible thing, but you are safe here. I can promise you that. The Gold Fortress is well protected, and you will be apart of that. Go on out and get acquainted with the others. Alright?”

He watched the young knight march out into the training grounds, hesitantly approaching the others waiting and conversing together, for a few moments before retreating back down the hall to meet with the king, “You got this, kid. Hang in there,” he said to himself. 

Josh straightened up when he spotted Sir North coming his way and nodded to her, giving a smile as he approached, “The recruits are all together and eager to begin. But... keep an eye on the blonde one, Sir Simon. He’s a bit wet behind the ears,” his smile widened just a little, “How are the king and prince doing?”

@goldnfortune , @queenxnorth ​ , feat. @homemadehappiness ​ / xxx xxx

“ let us ᖇIǤᕼ丅 the ωяσиgѕ of this world ”

A short exhale left the advisor as he gave a smile, shaking his head, "He seemed pretty optimistic about this group. The letter he sent ahead suggested they are all promising, young soldiers. But, training is one thing. They can all hold a sword just fine, but when it comes to combat... Well, as I said, your newborn pup there might need some extra work," he pointed to Simon, who seemed to be observing the training grounds around him, "I fear he might not have the stomach for it. But, hopefully I'm wrong. We don't have the luxury of time to prepare more than this."

The battle night have ended with the previous Red King's death, but the war was far from over. The only thing that truly stood in the way of the Red Kingdom ruling over all of Europe was Gold. At any moment they could have ships and soldiers come down on them and attack their home, slaughter their people. The same way they did before. The question remained if they would be able to stand a chance. Could they protect their people?

Listening to Sir North mention the state of their king gave Josh doubt. On the brink of another battle at any given moment and he was drunk once more. "I swear it's as if he wakes up in a damn bottle. Much work to be done, and yet - Well... It seems that will be another matter for the prince, then." Josh had little patience to sit and play babysitter today. The chatter surrounding the ending of the Red Feast was causing more of a stir than in the past.

Between the tension the world felt watching the Red Kingdom celebrate and potentially prepare for war and their own Gold King refusing to do anything but sit drunk on his throne, it was no wonder the people of the castle tended to be unsettled. Or maybe Josh was just projecting his own frustrations with the situation. He rubbed his temples gently. All the time he's served the throne, headaches were never so frequent.

"A gallant king... I'd say he already is one," he gave a little shake of his head before returning his eyes to the Knight's face, dropping his hands once more. He retrieved a letter from his robe and handed it to her, the letter from the recruiter about their new guard, "Good luck with the recruits. If you'll excuse me, I have to go find a rope so I can pull our king out before he drowns himself in a sea of his own making."

@queenxnorth​​ / xxx  ment. @homemadehappiness​​

BOTTLEDMOONLIGHT.  independent  •  selective  •  multimuse, haunted by muses from a wide variety of fandoms.  The blog is medium activity, and roleplays over tumblr and discord. Mun is an adult, and dark or triggering content may occasionally appear.

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           ( уσυя тнσυgнтѕ were never ｙｏｕｒｓ anyway )

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