Knights’s Barracks, canteen

  They arrived at their destination and made their way inside, the Knights on guard duty made sure there wasn’t a cluster of people around the Aurelia, but the place was surely crowded, Mos and Bos would have freaked out if people were pressing on them so the redhead was especially grateful about it.

  Veronique got the feeling that it was unusual for the Duke to be present to such ceremony himself and that it was his presence making it a bigger deal then it usually was.

  ‘I doubt he got the time to be present to each and every of these ceremonies’ she had reasoned her line of thought on the matter, but she would have to find out more about it later.

  ‘I will just ask Miss Hawkings during a lesson, I surely can’t risk Noah running his mouth now that the Duke is right there’ she glanced at the knight in question and shuddered seeing his furious expression ‘shit I hope he can keep his cool or the Duke is going to fire him for sure’ then another thought got to her head ‘damn if he has to keep working with Kain then it’s certain there are going to be problems, but maybe things will cool down enough so only Kain will be needed’ she followed Lucia’s subtle directions towards her seat.

  The canteen’s tables had been moved out of sight and more benches added to accommodate everyone, Veronique’s seat was at the first row right after Duchess Lucretia.

  The Aurelia’s seating arrangement followed their rank going from right to left with the Duke seating first followed by Alexander and Rhea.

  ‘I thought the Duchess was as important as the Duke’ Veronique was disappointed ‘I guess such things never change…at the least in stuck up noble circles, people like Madame Luise seem quite powerful and the Hound Master stuck me as a well respected individual, maybe I am just reading too much into this and seeing shit where there is none’ it was an honest concern of hers ‘it could be that both Alexander and Rhea are deemed more important just because they are the future heirs’

  No one else was allowed in the first row, their maids and the guards sat down in the row behind them.

  ‘Why didn’t they just bring chairs for us?’ she wondered ‘this way they wasted a whole bench just for us’

  “Mos, Bos sit” Veronique had quietly ordered her dogs, which had obeyed her ‘I am surprised they let me bring them there’ she glanced towards the Duke catching him doing a light warning glare at her poor pups ‘maybe it wasn’t his idea’ she choose to not dwell too much on it and paid attention on what was right in front of her.

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  Unlike what she would have expected there wasn’t an elevated platform, just a semi circular wall with a couple of solid wooden doors.

  On the wall there was a large glass mosaic depicting several knights swearing their allegiance to a deer, which no doubt symbolized the Aurelia.

  ‘It kind of looks like we are in an old times church’ Veronique thought stopping herself from outright looking up at the ceiling to take in all the details ‘It’s not proper to look like a tourist..I am going to sneak a peak at it while we are leaving, maybe there is some sick looking mural up there’ just then Kain entered from one of the side doors, walked all the way to the center of the semicircle and knelt down giving his back to the crowd watching, while he did so he also removed his helmet and let it rest under his arm.

  He bowed his head.

  Mos and Bos tried to go to Kain, but Veronique had been able to keep them under control, even if she hadn’t been able to do anything about the loud wagging of their tail and the soft yelping coming out of them

  The Duke let out a displeased grunt.

  ‘I should have found a way to let them meet Kain before this thing!’ the redhead lightly panicked knowing that if the dogs decided it she was going to get dragged and made a fool ‘please be good till this ceremony ends’

  A few moments later an imposing man with short brown hair and a thick circle beard had entered from the opposing door Kain had used.

  ‘That must be Commander Regulus’ Veronique guessed seeing the Aurelia banner hanging from the man’s waist ‘wait isn’t our banner of a different color?’ he was accompanied by a completely shaved young looking boy dressed in ceremonial bright green robe with golden trims, who was carrying a white pillow with a pair of silver cuffs resting on it ‘are we sure this isn’t a church?…well it is supposed to be some kind of ceremony’ she ended up reasoning trying to not stare too much at the boy’s red protruding ears just in case her mind came up with some stupid joke that would make her laugh like a moron.

  “We are all here reunited to celebrate our brother in arms and be witness to him being fully acknowledged as a Knight of the Aurelia” Commander Regulus’s voice had thundered all across the canteen “Kain, for so long I had denied you this honor due to no fault of your own, but the recent events have demonstrated your valor and combat proneness are equal to any other knight of Aurelia”

  “BULLSHIT!” the speech had been interrupted by one furious Noah, who was matching towards Kain

  ‘Fuck’

  “He can’t even cast a single skill! He doesn’t deserve such honor to be given to him when the only reason he did well against the Scorpion was because it was targeting Daryl and he got lucky!” Noah declared at which Veronique gave him a look remembering quite well Kain had engaged with the Scorpion first.

  “You dare to put Kain’s valor under question?” Commander Regulus had stated but didn’t sound surprised “Are you prepared to face the consequences should your claim prove incorrect?”

  “Yes I am!” Noah had declared as Kain got to his feet and faced him.

  ‘What in the world is going on now?’ to say Veronique was confused would be an understatement.