The Day Finally Arrives

The next day dawns as Saria opens his door, entering his room, Leaning down close to him, her black hair falls down beside her ears as she wakes him up ‘gently’ by shaking him. “Wake up young master, today’s the day.” Her voice stirs his consciousness from slumber.

Joshua, who was sleeping well, wipes drool from the side of his mouth as he sits up. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he greets his handmaiden with a yawn. “Good morning, Saria.”

“The patriarch requests your presence in the dining hall, so I’d get yourself ready.” She smiles cheekily as she pats him on the shoulders before bowing.

“Yes, ma’am.” he sighs as she lets him know she’d be waiting outside for him. Standing up himself he hobbles over to his closet pulling out the outfit Dialos left for him.

Draxis, remembering its mention earlier pipes up. “Kid, you know you never told me the story behind that suit right.”

As he pulls the suit out of its film, he lays it alongside his bed as he brushes his hair back. Stretching his back, it pops with relief as he cracks his neck and relaxes his shoulders. “Oh yeah, Dialos made this for me by hand. Saria had put it in my closet for this very day. You may have heard that he is a bit of a monster on the battlefield, but apparently, he’s also a brilliant seamster.”

Draxis chuckles at the thought. “I see. Why did he make it for you in particular?”

“Apparently, he made it with some extremely flexible and durable fabric allowing it to be used properly in combat. I was told that he wanted me to show it off during my naming ceremony.”

Dropping his lounge wear to the ground he slides on the suit’s pants and socks as he sits down on the side of his bed. Putting his boots on, he ties the laces before shaking his feet around. Grabbing the dress shirt he buttons it on before reaching for the tie. After minutes of struggles, he ends up unable to tie his tie. Calling out for his handmaiden. The door knob wiggles.

“Kid, what the hell.” Draxis comments, with a sigh.

The door opens and Joshua looks to his handmaiden. “Hey Saria, a little help.” Joshua somehow had the tie wrapped around his throat strangling him in the process.

“Oh dear…” Saria sighs as she comes up behind him and properly adjusts everything, placing her hands on his shoulders with pride. “I don’t know how you managed that one young master, but now you look proper.” She beams as she rustles his brushed hair, receiving a smile from Joshua in return. “Thank you!”

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Dressed in a black suit, gray shirt, red tie and combat boots he stretches his arms out to see how much give the fabric has. Surprisingly there’s no drag and everything fits perfectly and is extremely light weight. Much lighter than a traditional suit at least. “Kid, how did he get your measurements right?” Joshua is unable to answer as he suddenly feels pain in his left hand.

Taking a deep breath as he winces in pain, he puts on his gloves to cover up his scar from last night. Putting on a confident face he turns to his handmaid, her thankfully not noticing. “Let’s go, Saria, I don’t want to keep father waiting.”

She nods her head as she leads the two of them down the hall to the dining room where both of the twins sat in silence. Everything was in pristine condition, the tables and chairs were dark wood with black cushioning, the table cloth was a sleek white with a few candles lining the middle. Golden ornamentation littered the rest of the empty space.

Throughout the room were a few paintings and lamps. Hanging overhead was a unique steel chandelier that was illuminated by the exterior windows light. It’s bound to the framing of the ceiling, stretching beyond the spackled white tiling.

At the head of the table sits the patriarch quiet in thought as he hears the door open. Gently opening his eyes, his youngest enters taking a seat at the opposite end after bidding his greetings to everyone. Eyeing his father, Joshua notices him in full military dress, his black military coat with red and gold trim lining its surface alongside long red epaulets hanging from their shoulder pieces. scanning down with his eyes, Joshua notes excess cloth around the biceps pinned back to the coat by red, rectangular pins. His coat trails down his sides, flaring out at the waist as his black and red belt is neatly fastened between his pant loops. Beneath the coat is a uniform dark red vest with gold tie . On his hands are his usual black gloves that wrap around his fingers, keeping his scarred hands hidden from view.

“Hello my youngest, I’m glad you could join us.” The patriarch replies pleased with his son's sense of decorum. “Today is a monumental moment in all your lives, so I’m glad at least one of you decided to dress for the occasion. I can also see that it must be my eldest’s handiwork.”

The twins look towards Joshua’s outfit confused as they weren’t informed to dress up and why their servant didn’t warn them. Even though he actually did.

“The looks on their faces, I was just like you last time. But now I know better and what father expects from us.” As Joshua thinks to himself, he closes his eyes, placing his hands together as his father nods approvingly.

“What are you doing kid?” Draxis questions.

In his mind he calmly replies. “Father is such a stickler for tradition that I’m paying respects to our ‘unknown’ founder before we eat.”

“They don’t even know his name.” Draxis groans in annoyance.

“That’s irrelevant Draxis, if I want to stay on his good side, I’ll do everything I can to not disappoint him.”

After a moment of silence Joshua opens his eyes as a meal is brought out to the four of them. It wasn’t anything heavy as they had an active day ahead of them, but nonetheless sufficient. A simple chicken styled stew with honey bread, as well as an assortment of roasted vegetables. Everyone eats in silence until the Patriarch breaks the silence.

“How is everything my sons?” His voice echoes through the dining room.

“Everything’s good,” Vilhelm comments as his fingers tremble. His throat, tightening slightly. The ingrained fear is still very prevalent. The patriarch looks over at Wilhelm as he nods likewise. Then he turns to Joshua.

“Everything is delicious father, thank you for the meal.” He bows his head with a calm expression.

“Very well then, I’m glad to hear and will make sure the chefs know. I must get going and make sure everything is ready for our guests. I should probably let you all know that this ceremony will be special as I’ve invited a very important outsider to witness it. I expect you all to be on your best behavior. Understood?”

“Yes Sir.” All three of them call out in unison. With that he gets up from his seat and makes his exit leaving the three brothers to let out a sigh of relief.

“Okay, now that he’s gone, how are you feeling today, Joshua?” Vilhelm pipes up as the twins move seats closer to him. The two lean over, looking him over.

“I’m doing well, Saria had to shake me awake though as I didn’t want to get up.” Joshua chuckles aloud.

Wilhelm nervously sighs, lowering his gaze. “You ready for today guys, I’ll be honest I’m kind of nervous about having to spar in front of everyone. I don’t exactly use a sword anymore, you think they’ll mind?”

“Just show off your training and aura and you’ll be fine. The overseers don’t care as much about tradition and prefer utility. And frankly speaking Gail probably informed him already.” Joshua smiles as he finishes his stew by soaking it up with his bread. Bringing to his lips, the flavor trails down his throat as he wipes his lips with a dining cloth.

Laying it down, Vilhelm pipes up with a question. “Do you know what time we’re supposed to meet back up? I’d like to change and not have father angry at us.”

Joshua lifts his hand to his chin pondering. “I think we have a few hours at least. I’ll probably head there after I’m done though since I don’t have anything else to do today.”

Vilhelm nods his head as he quickly finishes his own meal before retreating back to his room. Wilhelm stays back in the dining room for a moment, a look of slight anguish crossing his face. He wants to speak, but the words won’t come out.

“Joshua, I…” He attempts to speak, but stops, turning around, running to catch up to his brother leaving Joshua confused.

“What was that about…” Joshua ponders as he lets his food digest for a minute as he sits in silence. At least until Saria sneaks up on him having come in, seeing Wil leave in a hurry.

Popping up behind him, his heart skips a beat, but he remains stoic to her question. “So, how did everything go?”

Lowering his gaze to his empty plate he smiles slightly. “Everything went well, he seemed very pleased with my attitude and reactions. I’m grateful for it as every time I’m in a room with him my blood goes cold.”

“He has that effect on people.” Saria chuckles as she looks at Joshua's mouth. Grabbing a napkin she wipes a speck of food off that he somehow missed.

“Saria.” Joshua whines like a child.

Chastising him with narrowed eyes shakes her head. “Don’t Saria me. You know proper table manners.”

“Oh, I enjoy watching this with a passion; it’s hilarious every time. It’s nice to see you put in your place.” Draxis laughs in his head whilst Joshua tunes him out rolling his eyes. “Bastard.”

Smiling to himself, Joshua scooches his chair out and stands up wiping himself off as he stands at equal height with his handmaiden. Letting out a breath, he closes his eyes and balls his fist with fervor. “Let’s go and see what father has in store for me.” The two of them head out the way they came, only for Saria to pause in her tracks.

Raising her hand, she bows. “Actually young master, you go on ahead I forgot something back in my room.”

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Joshua nods, waving her off as he makes his way down the main hall, passing by guardsmen and older knights equally. Walking at a brisk pace he goes down a looping corridor with a garden at its center. Glancing through the glass he sees an assortment of colored flowers and two women who seemed to be veiled with faintly translucent lace, one in a blue dress and one in black. Their outfits are heavily modest, rolling down to their feet with very little skin exposed.

“Those must be Dalia and Valeria… the twins and Lysandra’s mothers.” He looks down as he reminisces over Roderic. He had many wives who’ve fallen over the years.

“Did all of his children have separate mothers?” Draxis questions, kind of flabbergasted.

“Yeah, the only ones who share a mother are Wil and Vil. Most of his wives fell ill for some reason. Dialos’s mother on the other hand was killed in an attempted coup d'état years ago. Nobody is quite sure why but the overseers responsible were publicly executed after being brutalized for treachery. Father doesn’t play around with snakes, at least the ones he knows about. Those two were also still alive when I was exiled, but I never had much interaction with them. Father became extremely overprotective of them after losing so many children.”

“That’s extremely odd kid, sounds like sabotage or these women’s bodies aren’t good at bearing children. Aside from the treachery. That sounds normal.”

“Only my mother died in childbirth.” Joshua pauses for a moment as he makes his way past, further down the hall and then to the right leading to the main door leading outside. Two guardsmen, blades at their sides, look at Joshua, before nodding their heads.

“I see…” Draxis stops talking not wanting to sour the mood.

As he pushes open the door, the sunlight beams down on him as the flora and nature welcomes his arrival. He could hear birds chirping and squirrels running about as he starts down the trail, his boots tapping against the dirt path. Faint particles rising into the air.

As he looks down to his left, he realizes that he had left his blade behind. “When Saria arrives, I’ll have her go fetch it for me.” He thinks to himself before clutching his left hand. The stinging pain still faintly prevalent.

As he continues on with a calm look, he makes his way back to that barricade from yesterday as the guardsmen bow towards him as he passes by. Them obviously knowing who he is. Making his way through he notices there are even more guards and knights stationed than the night prior.

“So, he really is going with maximum security this time around, does he think something's going to happen today?” Joshua mumbles quietly to himself as he continues walking. Draxis interjects. “He did say that there was an important guest after all.”

A little while later, he arrives at the arena he saw the prior night, except now it looks fully furnished now. With more chairs, cushions, White and black tents scattered. Even some hors d'oeuvres being passed out by servants. A few overseers are already congregating and speaking to one another, most of them men.

“Last time all that happened was a sparring match between us three and only father watched. I hope he has something else interesting in mind as this has nothing to do with the ceremony.”

As he passes by them, Raphael catches his eye as he nods towards the young boy. And out of the corner of his other eye, he also could see some people who looked to be from the neutral territories. He could tell by the way they dressed, it was more casual, pale colors, grays, beige, browns, even some yellow. Yet they all still held some semblance of authority.

Draxis, amused comments on everything.“Interesting, so he plans on showing his children off, are you sure this is just a ceremony and not just a father showing off his offspring? Since the ceremony just happens in that cave from what I understand.”

“You’re right, but who knows with him. Even if he is, he’s still the most terrifying person here.” Joshua shudders slightly as he makes his way to their waiting area. There were three seats and an older looking man in a black suit waiting for him.

“Master Joshua, it’s nice to see you. Where are masters Vilhelm and Wilhelm?”

“Vilhelm wanted to go change and Wil ran off after him.”

The older man sighs. “What am I to do with them? I’m glad they’re taking their training seriously now, but some character traits just don’t go away do they.”

“Indeed, sir Gideon.”

The older man smiles at the mention of his title from when he used to be a proud knight before retiring. As Joshua takes his seat, he pulls out a book from his overcoats pocket that he grabbed from the pile he and Saria had collected and spent the next little bit reading a book containing assorted sword techniques.

“First Form: Rending Fang.” He thinks to himself reading the title as he begins scanning through the section, noticing that this page in particular didn’t belong in this book.

And just as he begins getting enthralled with its footwork and form, he’s interrupted by Saria who arrives with both his sword and something that’s wrapped up. Thankfully for him, the images of the technique were now stored in his mind due to Draxis also being intrigued by it.

“Master, you left this back in your room.” She passes his sword and scabbard over to him as he fastens them to his side. He thanks her whilst she holds something else at her side. As she greets Sir Gideon herself, they begin chatting away like old friends.

Gripping his blade handle with his left hand, he still winces as the wound hasn’t fully healed. Draxis, noticing this, informs him that it shouldn’t be a problem once he starts using his aura as the adrenaline should numb the pain.

“Thanks captain obvious.” Joshua mumbles aloud as Saria turns around wondering what he said.

“Did you need something young master?”

Joshua shakes his head with a sigh. “Nope, just talking to myself. You know how it is.”

She rolls her eyes with a smile before walking over and standing behind him before the twins finally arrive. The two of them show up dressed in something more proper for the occasion. Vilhelm is still dressed more casually whereas Wilhelm wears the Blackwood uniform. This catches a smile from Joshua.

“Glad to see you two followed my lead. This is an important event for our clan after all.” Joshua speaks loudly to his brothers.

Hearing this overseer Raphael wanders on over to the three. “That’s correct young Joshua, not only do we have an envoy from the neutral territories there’s also two special guests. One from the Frial and one from Caldfell.

“Caldfell; isn’t that the massive island kingdom off the coast of Seteralia that's a massive trade partner?” Joshua questions, his eyes widening.

Raphael nods his head. “Yes, their royal family was invited to come watch, and the patriarch wishes to establish a better relationship with them for trade. Of course, only the king's wife and her two children were able to make it. That’s why the real reason security is so tight.”

Vilhelms eyes light up as sir Gideon chops him on the head. “No getting any stupid ideas young Vilhelm. Maintain some semblance of decorum. Don’t pester their royal family.” Gideon chastises him.

“Geez, I gotcha.” Vilhelm rubs the top of his head as Wilhelm chuckles himself.

Wilhelm looks up to Raphael, his voice curious. “What are their names, I don’t remember them being taught to us?”

Joshua pipes up. “The Caldfell family; the current Queen Regent Lucille and her two children Blaine and Celia. As well as the king who’s fallen ill, Edmund.” Everyone looks at him in surprise at his knowledge.

“That is right Joshua, I’m glad someone has done their research. The exhibition matches should begin soon enough, I hear that they’ve arrived a little while ago and are making their way here now.” Raphael muses with a pleased smile.

“What about the one from Frial?” Joshua questions not recognizing the city's name.

“Oh her, she’s some up-and-coming talent within our territory. I think she’s around 25 currently. She’s a bit brash, but the patriarch invited her for a special fight.” Joshua sighs knowing that his father probably is going to have them fight her.

“Sadly, I must depart, I’m looking forward to seeing your results young Joshua.” He lifts his right hand to his heart as he turns around and makes his way back over to the rest of the overseers.

Ignoring the two hand servants, Joshua turns to his brothers, filling them with resolve. “Take this event very seriously guys. Don’t hold back anything. This is our time to show our siblings and the overseers what we’re made of.”

“Yes sir, captain.” The twins respond out of instinct as Gideon grins at their responses. As they finish, they witness a decorated white and gold carriage pulling through the edge of the forest.

As it pulls over to the side of a large pastel blue and gold tent with cushioned seats. Joshua notices a fancy table decorated with biscuits, tea and other assorted pastries. Three knights clad in jet black armor are also stationed around the tent for maximum security. Joshua recognizes one as the knight captain Leon.

Shortly after, the patriarch makes his way over to greet the Queen Regent taking her hand as she steps down the carriage, her children following behind.

They looked to be the same age as Joshua. Both having shining blond hair and crystal blue eyes. They were adorned with fancy decorated blue and gold outfits respectively with Celia wearing a blue flower hairpin on the left side of her hair. Matching her dress.

The Queen Regent wears a pastel blue and gold dress with lace blue gloves as a Bejeweled tiara rests upon her head. As they get themselves seated however, Joshua has to take a double take as Celia reminds him of a young Seraphina minus the hetero-chromatic eyes. “Celia…”

“She's cute, kid, but I think that elf chick fits you better.” Rolling his eyes at his master's comment he looks back towards his father. Shaking his head, the Patriarch makes his way over to a podium at the side of the arena as he readies to speak.