Audience with the King

"Dad. Dad!" Stirring slowly, I open my eyes as her voice reaches through the darkness. Looking up into Hannah's blue eyes, a bolt of guilt pierces my heart at the worry filling them. The hint of a tear resting on the edge of her eyelid. Before I can say a word, pain splits my head. Words and terms filling my mind faster than I can comprehend. Panting heavily, I push myself to a sitting position.

"Aw my head." Clutching the side of my head as it becomes a dull throb. Looking around the room, I see several men in plate armour standing to attention nearby, and a man wearing gilded armour staring at me. Looking back at Hannah as she helps me scoot back and lean against the wall, a bolt of fear runs through me.

"I take it we're not in Kansas anymore." At my lame dad joke, she rolls her eyes and the man in the gilded breastplate comes wondering over. Bowing deeply towards myself and Hannah, he talks in a smooth, deep voice.

"My name is Jean Sutcliffe. I am the Knight Commander of the Crimson Knights. We are King Edelman's elite guard and his most trusted men. If you are well enough, sir, I would like to take you and your daughter to see his majesty." Getting slowly to my feet, I blink a little to clear the water from eyes thanks to whatever happened moments ago.

"I'll manage but tell me one thing. Surely this isn't some otherworld, summon a hero kind of deal, right?" The look in his eyes was all the answer I needed, even before he responded. After all, I'd seen enough anime with my wife to know of this kind of situation.

"I think it's best to let the king explain everything. Please, follow me." Slowly getting to my feet with Hannah's help, I follow the Knight Commander through castle hallways lined with suits of armour and giant painted scenes of battles with fierce beasts that looked like something out of a fairytale. Winged serpents and giant horned creatures. Stopping in front of a large tapestry, I look up at an image of a striking dark-haired man with pale white skin fighting a woman in white plate mail armour. Her sword was glowing gold and his eyes had a red glow to them. As if he was alive and would step from it at any moment.

"What's this of?" Stopping, Jean turns to me with a sigh.

"That is the hero maiden Cassandra fighting the Demon King. This was the last battle that took place outside of the hall of the damned. Despite wounding the Demon king, she unfortunately perished and didn't succeed in vanquishing him. Please sir, the king is awaiting you both in the Audience chamber." Gesturing for Jean to lead on, I stop as Hannah pulls on my shirt, stopping me. Leaning against me heavily for a moment, presses something cold into my hand.

"You dropped this when you came through." Feeling the weight of my gun in my hand, I quickly tuck it behind the waistband of my pants and conceal it beneath my shirt. As we walk on, I look back at the tapestry and shudder at the similarities between Cassandra and Hannah. Exiting the last corridor, we enter a large chamber. Turning, the commander led us up the nearby flight of stairs to a set of gilded doors. Pushing them open, he announces our arrival loudly.

"My liege, the summons as requested." Walking inside the door, the Knight Commander takes a knee and gestures for us to approach the king. Walking inside the throne room, I approach a man in his mid-fifties sitting on the throne. Unlike the kings in stories, he sat there clad in armour, a worn sword by his side instead of lavish jewels and gaudy clothes. Stopping just below the throne, I nod and wait for a response.

"My name is King Elias Aldermin. I understand that we have uprooted your lives by summoning you, but please hear what I have to say before you pass judgement." As he finishes his initial speech, his eyes lock onto mine. Crossing my arms over my chest, I nod and raise a finger for him to continue. Stepping up from his throne, he paces from side to side as he talks.

"Our kingdom is peaceful. As king, I have strived to live up to my forefather's legacy of acceptance and fair treatment for all who call Myrradell home. That was until thirty years ago, when the Demon King Saetaen broke free of the prison that had been holding him for over a century. Our west most border is on the edge of a mountain range known as hell's peaks. The Demon King has been gathering troops on the plains just below the mountains. He has amassed a small following of lesser demons and beast and is not yet powerful enough to pose a threat, but he will be. There have been minor battles, and I have sent the best knights and adventures from six lands over to vanquish the Demon King, but none have succeeded. So we turned to forbidden magic and performed the summoning ritual, which is said to bring a hero from another world in our time of need."

"That doesn't explain why you uprooted my daughter's and my life. The Demon King sounds like your problem. Not ours and hero summoning or not, what the hell give you the right to just take someone from another world?" At my words, the king's advisor steps forwards and mutters in his ear. Admittedly, my hearing isn't as good as it once was and the only word I heard was 'outlier'. Clearing his voice, the king gestures to Hannah.

"We have done what we needed to out of necessity. Your daughter may well bear the title of hero and can vanquish the Demon King once and for all, finally bring peace to our world after centuries of fighting and strife. She is our hope."

"I don't care if she's a saint. She's a sixteen-year-old girl and my damn daughter. You are not sending her to fight a monster."

"Sixteen is when young people come of age and are adults in our world."

"I don't care, in my world she's not. In my world, she's still a girl and my responsibility and I'll be damned if I'm going to stand for this! You're no better than this Demon King, in my book. Doing nothing but whatever you want as long as it suits you."

"Take that back, you heathen." Stepping up from his kneeling position, Jean draws his sword and charges towards me. Years of instinct and training took over and in a heartbeat, I drew the pistol from my jeans, flicked the safety off and fired. The thought of slow is smooth, smooth is fast echoing in my mind. The blast of the gun echoing through the chamber and causing everyone to cover their ears and cower. Looking at the bullet hole weeping blood from his shoulder, Jean covers it and cries out in agony, falling to his knees. Rising from the side of the room, a number of guards draw swords and start marching towards me. More than the remaining bullets in my Glock.

"Enough!" As the king's voice booms through the chamber, all the guards halt.

"Stand down. This man is our guest and as such does not know our ways. I will not have members of my court raising blades against such a person. Someone get Jean to the healers. Otherworlder, please put down your weapon." Turning back to the king, I slide the back into the waistband of my jeans.

"It is an offence to brandish a weapon in the king's presence. Given the circumstances, we will overlook it this time." Adjusting the glasses on his face, the advisor looks down his nose at me as he speaks. Before I can say anything, I feel a hand grip my arm. Looking down, I see Hannah shaking her head and giving me a look. A look I had seen a hundred times from her mother and it was the one that said it had gone too far.

"Dad enough. Take a walk. Let me handle this." Gritting my teeth, I turn and walk towards the doors leading out from the throne room. As my steps echo softly, I hear her talking to the king

"King Elias, I apologise for my father's outburst. Your customs are not ones that we share. May we please have some time to think about your request?" Pushing the doors open and slipping out of them, I don't hear the King's response as the doors slam shut behind me.