Chapter 38 - Royal Arrival

Late afternoon seemed like it would never arrive for Ryan. Each class seemed to drag on forever as he daydreamed about what his 'date' with Laura would be like. There were several occasions where a professor would smack him upside the head for not paying attention. All he could do was profusely apologize before drifting off into happy thoughts once again.

Finally, the last lesson ended. Ryan bounded out the door, pushing past several of his classmates earning displeased looks. He had to rush over to his dorm room in order to change out of his stuffy Academy uniform. There was no way he would go outside with Laura dressed in such a thing.

After digging through his closet and throwing the unwanted clothes haphazardly on his bed, he finally found the outfit he was looking for. It was a pair of clothes that his mother had bought for him before she had died a few years ago. At the time she purchased them they were much too big for him but insisted on buying them for him as they were made from monster spider silk, an extremely rare material.

It was a simple suit with an overcoat, it was much too warm still to wear the coat. A stark white undershirt stood out with a baby blue vest and black slacks. Gold embroidery lined the hems in the pattern of different magical runes. It wasn't enchanted in any way but gave off a mysterious vibe. Ryan looked at himself in the mirror, liking what he saw.

With hurried steps he made his way to the main entrance, turning quite a few heads on his way there. All of his hurry was for not though, he rounded the corner only to see that he was the first to arrive. A little relieved that he wasn't late, he dabbed sweat off of his forehead then checked to see if he smelled or not. He was glad that he had purchased high quality deodorant from some merchants a little while back.

"Have you been waiting long?" A crisp voice sounded out from behind him, causing him to turn.

His pupils dilated when he saw her. She had changed outfits as well, changing into a black skirt that came down to just above her knees and a sleeveless white blouse that was well fitting and showed off her slim arms. She had also applied a light layer of makeup as well, although Ryan didn't think she needed to wear any at all.

Noticing how long he had been staring at her, Ryan managed to squeak out a response. "Uh, no, I just got here a little bit ago."

Her face blushing slightly because of the way Ryan was looking at her, Laura started to rub her left arm with her right hand. "Y..you look nice Ryan."

"You're gorgeous! Ah, I mean, uh, you, you look nice as well." Ryan said quickly adverting his eyes, his face burning from embarrassment.

Smiling from the compliment, Laura grabbed Ryan by the hand pulling him out into the street, "Come on, let's go."

…..

"Who do you think is coming?" Ryan asked Laura as they were both enjoying a skewer of meat, walking down the somewhat empty street.

"I don't know. I've asked my father earlier, but he knows just as much as we do." She explained as she looked around at the knights in their heavy armor that were patrolling.

"He's a noble, isn't he?" Ryan asked, perplexed.

Shrugging her bare shoulders, she answered him. "We're only of the Baron class, it's the lowest rank among nobles. We don't even have any territory to call our own, so it's only natural they don't let us in on some information."

"Really? I thought they all got together and made all the important decisions about Amine." Ryan said, interested in the inner workings of the nobles.

Ryan's family was barely considered a wealthy one, not even close to the status of a Baron's family. He had no idea how the higher classes behaved or what they did behind closed doors, so he was curious.

Giggling cutely, Laura wrapped her arm around his, causing Ryan to stiffen up. "It's nothing like that, at least from what my father tells me. Really, I wish it were different. I can't stand all the decorum, all the pompous uptight people there are. You can't imagine how arrogant they all are, it makes me sick."

"O…ok, u..um ahh." Was all Ryan could say as he felt Laura's soft body pressed against his arm.

Laura turned to him; her head turned to the side. "Is something wrong?"

"Nope, nothing at all!" Ryan yelled out, pulling away from her as he pointed down the street at a large gathering of people.

"Let's check out what's going on down there!"

Ryan's chest hurt, it felt like his heart was going to explode. Being that close to Laura had drove him over the edge. The feeling of her body pressed against his, the scent of her hair in the faint breeze, made him almost loose his mind. He had to get away from her, if he didn't, he was afraid that he would pass out.

Not seeming to notice Ryan's excited state, Laura brushed off his strange actions. She quickly agreed to his suggestion. They walked together, edging closer and closer to the crowd that had gathered near the main street of the capital.

A row of knights in shining armor held back the curious crowd of commoners. Low murmurs could be heard, they all were talking in quieted voices, afraid to make too much ruckus around the knights. It was hard for the two of them to see what was going on over the throng of people. They used their small statures to their advantage, squeezing through the crowd and arriving at the front.

With a much better view, the two of them could see that the entirety of the main road had been closed off. A solid wall of armor lined both sides of the road. Soon, a blaring sound of a horn could be heard from the front gates, signaling the arrival of what the knights must have been waiting for.

The crowds of people all went silent, craning their necks, trying to be the first to spot what was coming through the city gates. Moments passed, soon, rhythmic shockwaves could be felt through the ground. The knights lining the streets remained stoic in their posture as the shockwaves grew stronger.

"I can't see anything, let's go over there." Laura said, frustrated over her height as her view was blocked by the tall knights.

She pointed to a stack of crates set up not too far away from the main road. They were stacked in the shape of a pyramid, standing some ten feet in the air.

"Are you sure? I mean, is it safe?" Ryan asked, not concerned about himself but for Laura.

Grabbing Ryan's hand, she pulled him through the crowd. "C'mon you scaredy cat!"

He let himself be pulled by the young woman, finding it hard to resist her whims. They soon arrived next to the stacked crates. Ryan hopped up first, then helped Laura up as well. Now with an unobstructed view of the entire road, they watched in anticipation.

Being late afternoon, the sun was framed almost perfectly by the city gates; making it so people would have to shield their eyes to see anything. Squinting his eyes, Ryan noticed the light was reflecting off of something shiny that was coming through the gate. Once his eyes adjusted, he could see that it was a contingent of knights marching in step with each other.

Their armor was much different than what the knights were wearing that lined the streets. Gold crests lined the center of their helmets and crimson capes draped across their shoulders. A royal seal was etched into their left breast plates, indicating that they were the King's Guard of the Kingdom of Morgania.

"What's going on? I thought Morgania was the ones that poisoned the old king?" One bystander could be heard saying as the procession of knights marched past.

"That's just a rumor, I'm sure. They wouldn't allow them in the city if it were true, would they?" Another retorted.

Ryan could hear a gasp from behind him.

"Look at that Ryan! Have you ever seen anything like it?" Laura asked, pointing at a mammoth carriage lumbering through the gate.

It was being pulled by a team of a dozen horses. The horses themselves were large warhorses bred for battle but were now dressed in crimson tassels in their manes. The carriage itself was ornately decorated with gold and diamonds that shimmered in the receding sunlight. It was at least twenty-five feet long and fifteen feet wide, making it the size of a large room. The Royal seal of Morgania could be seen on the doors to the carriage along with another seal that Ryan wasn't familiar with.

"What seal is that? The one next to the Morgania Royal Seal?" He asked Laura who was standing next to him.

She narrowed her eyes, trying to block out some of the resplendent light coming off of the gemstones embedded in the carriage. "I think it's the First Princesses' seal, but I'm not too sure."

They didn't teach the students the different seals and crests of the surrounding kingdoms, but since Laura was a noble herself, she had learned them growing up. Ryan nodded his head, continuing to watch the procession in front of them. The massive carriage rumbled by them, the crimson curtains drawn, not allowing anyone to view what was going on inside.

Trailing behind the carriage was yet another contingent of royal guards. It was really a sight to behold, dozens of men, all in shining armor, marching in lock step with each other with short metal spears held by their shoulders. Once the main body of guards marched by, another group of smaller carriages followed shortly after. Ryan guessed that they were carrying all the attendants that came along with the princess.

All in all, there must have been over two hundred people all together marching through the main street. After fifteen minutes, Ryan could see the last carriage disappearing around a curve, heading towards the Royal Palace.

The crowds began to disperse, talking loudly about what had happened as they did so. The Knights began to move as well, returning towards their respective outposts. Ryan jumped down off of the crates, being careful not to tear his suit. After helping Laura down, they began walking once again.

They chatted about what might be going on inside the Royal palace, just like most everyone else was doing. Laura took hold of Ryan's arm like she had before, although Ryan did stiffen up, he didn't pull away like last time. They were heading towards an accessory shop, looking for any enchanted items that they could use on their trip that was fast approaching.

They were in the more affluent area of Lenova, you could find many high-end stores there. Anything from restaurants and clothing to weapons and potions, you could find it here. They found the store they were looking for. It was a very fancy enchantment shop, providing anyone with enough money the means to buy magical items and accessories. It was a large two-story building, with solid oak doors and stained-glass windows in the arrangement of magical arrays. It was exactly what Laura was looking for, the only problem was that it was closed.

"Oh well, we still have a month before we leave, we can come back later." Laura said, slightly disappointed.

Ryan walked up to the wooden sign that said 'closed' hanging on the outside of the door. He then stood up on his tip toes, trying to look inside. Not seeing anything, he walked back to Laura with a shrug of his shoulders. "I don't see anything, maybe they went out to watch the soldiers march by? Do you want to wait and see if they come back?"

"No, that's alright. It's getting late anyways; we should head back." She told him.

Looking up at the quickly darkening sky, he had to agree with her. Doubling back the way they came; they made their way back to the Academy. Before they made it back, night had already fallen. The streets were all but deserted, the two young mages the only ones walking on the cobbled street.

As they turned a corner, Ryan ran headfirst into a wall of muscle, nearly giving him a concussion. He took a few steps back, rubbing his nose and trying to keep his eyes from watering.

"I'm so sorry." He began to say, before he heard a yelp from his side and felt Laura being torn away from him.

He whipped around to see that two men were dragging Laura into a dark alleyway, trying to shove a gag in her mouth to keep her from screaming. He started to run after her but was hit in the back of the head by the man he had run into, knocking him onto the ground.

"Hurry up and strip him, the guards will be patrolling shortly."

Ryan heard a man's voice through the haze that had settled over his mind. He could still hear Laura's screams, but they were muffled, he didn't know if it was from the hit to his head or from the gag they were trying to put in her mouth. Rage welled up inside of him, clouding his already muddled thoughts.. He tried to rise up from the ground, receiving a hit to his back, knocking the air out of his lungs, and causing him to gasp for air.