Chapter 247: Marching Orders

Chapter 247: Marching Orders

Bee walked toward the castle gate, its newly repaired form casting a long shadow across the castle courtyard. However, her eyes were not locked in front of her but instead roamed over the Nighty Knights. The youngsters stood along top the innermost wall, spaced evenly five paces apart. Most of them kept serious faces as they looked out, but a few of them instead leaned or sat against the crenulations, kicking their legs as they tossed rocks. A few of the younger ones were already bored after only a few minutes of sitting watch. Updated from novelbIn.(c)om

Internally, Bee couldn't help but thank Arthur. The man had stayed unwavering in his conviction about keeping the Nighty Knights away from combat, and now? She understood why. They were not ready.

She could only thank Void and the dragon he had sent to prevent the total fall of the valley. Given another day or even several hours, they would have been in real trouble. And then... the Nighty Knights might have been brought into the fight as a final, desperate defense to save their home and all the other children who hadn't learned how to fight.

***

It had been nearly a month, but Bee could still remember how she’d felt. The lump of emotions stuck in her throat as she had approached Arthur's door. The memory stood out strong in her mind.

It had been shortly after things had settled down enough that her presence wasn’t mandatory, where she didn’t need to be running around taking care of things on the battlefield. She had knocked on the commander’s door and received a brief "Come in."

The door's hinges squealed slightly, a small detail, but one that showed how much disrepair the city had fallen in. That something so simple was left unattended seemed incredible. Normally, everything was well maintained and in pristine condition, but things had started to fall through after the attack.

Arthur looked up and met her gaze. His face showed a slight hint of surprise to see the High Priestess.

"What can I do for you?" He asked, with a seated bow and a welcoming smile. "It's perhaps a bit morbid, but I'm celebrating a bit while I work," he said. Gesturing to a half-full glass of brandy. "I mean, you're a bit young, but a glass or two probably wouldn't hurt with your high levels. Would you like some?"

Bee shook her head. "Unfortunately, I don't know if I'll have time to stay. I just came to say something."

Arthur was able to read the seriousness in her tone as put aside his glass. His face sobered slightly as he looked up. Bee took in a deep breath and, in a rush, she got the words out. "I just wanted to say that you were right."

It took a little bit of effort to actually say it. It was never fun to admit when she was wrong, but she wasn't done yet. "You were right about... about the Nighty Knights."

Arthur raised an eyebrow when she didn't go on any further. "How so?"

One of the younger ones that couldn't have been more than five called out. "You're just going to talk? That's boring. You should go beat them up for what they did.”

The rest of the Nighty Knights agreed wholeheartedly. Bee sighed. "Well, we hope it doesn't come to it. But we want to work things out in an orderly manner. Remember what Void taught you about fighting?"

They all looked at each other in confusion.

"Keep good posture?"

"Use your hips?"

"Don't get hit?"

They all started throwing out random sword tips, and Felix eventually cut them off with a quick order across his mental link. "Yes, we remember. Miss Bee. Only fight when necessary to maintain order."

"Good," she said. "And Void calls on you to maintain order here while we are away."

Felix snapped a salute before giving her a formal bow that he was pretty sure she had seen a lot of the military scouts giving Arthur. "If it is Lord Void's command, so it shall be."

The words were formal, as if he had practiced that line many times. The rest of the Nighty Knights looked confused, but many of them tried to emulate Felix's bow much less successfully, and a scattering of echoes of 'so shall it be' came.

***

That wasn't the end of the issue through. Over the next couple of days, Bee had to stop several of the Nighty Knights from sneaking into the caravan despite their agreement. But after Void had spent some time with them, making sure they understood what their responsibilities were, she doubted that they would have an issue again. At least, not soon enough that they would be involved in any of the fighting. Of course, she couldn't really guarantee that they wouldn't be able to sneak away from their families, but she hoped that they’d be ok.

Bee turned around and waved goodbye as she crested the first rise away from the castle. A whole host of little hands shot up over the castle wall and waved back. She was going to miss them, but hopefully, she wouldn't be gone for that long. Once they figured out what was happening at the Capitol, they’d be back. Hopefully they could even take care of the Lieutenant if they could find it.

More than that, Bee hoped that this would help some of Arthur's army and Caleb's refugees return home. With the suspicion currently cast on them, many of them had been displaced for longer than she'd have liked. They'd taken up new lives at the castle with the Church of the Cleansing Void, but for those who wanted a return to normalcy, she hoped they could help find that.

Once it was under more stable leadership, of course. If the king did have to be overthrown, she wasn’t sure who would take his place. Arthur had a few suggestions from the nobility about who might make a decent leader and also had a good claim to the throne. But honestly, those kinds of politics were beyond her at this point.

For a moment, she almost chuckled. The idea of considering who she and Void should make king after they deposed the old one just seemed surreal. Not so long ago, she'd been a glorified janitor at the mage's college, and now? She was high priestess for a new god. It made Bee realize how strange life could be sometimes. So she just turned around and continued leading the host out of the valley to go make things right.