Chapter 87 - Arrival at the royal castle

It came at last, after days of preparations and hard work – the day had come. The banquet was to happen later in the evening. The princess since the guest arrived, took care of them. She helped, answered to their requests, and most importantly; kept their animosity in check. Plaustan remained as mysterious as always. Only three out of seven attended the event. The remainder of the nobles were calm and compliant of which most visited the famed capital. Gallienne had trouble dealing with Kreston. The Pope immediately caused a mess when they arrived. He demanded to hold a holy prayer for his majesty the king. After hours of convincing, the pope remained adamant. The king's health didn't permit such luxury, everyone in the court tried to tell him that to no avail. In the end, the princess got fed up and ordered him to stand down. He obeyed; duke Hawkins wasn't happy by her actions. Their animosity grew over the days to come. The princess would order them around like dogs – she had the right to do so. Kreston felt insulted; she knew they were brewing some sort of conspiracy for the fated day but chose to ignore it.

Alongside the castle, the capital also got ready to celebrate. A festival got put together by the guilds and various companies. This festival was in honor of his majesty. Disparities ran rampant around the town, but for that festival, none chose to pay heed. The main reason being that the nobles weren't going to attend the festivities. The event in the capital turned out to be made for commoners. Traders from around the kingdom traveled all the way. Bards, wandering musicians, and other artists joined. The streets were filled with banners, flyers and pamphlets recounting the majesty's ascension to glory. The idea to organize such an event for the commoners was given by her royal highness. None knew the reason nor why she acted out of character. The guilds were happy to hear her announcement. The commoners felt included, they all rejoiced, drank late till night, the taverns were filled. The town square was where most of the celebration happened. All the wandering artists performed for day and night there, people loved it.

For once, Rosespire felt united. Sadly, that didn't include the demi-humans and beast-men. The demis were locked in a cage and devoid to take any part in the celebrations above. The beast-men were put to fight in underground deathmatches. On occasions, a few drunkards would ask to have a lovely night in the company of a certain lady. All knew what they meant, the caged demis were put onto a display. The clients walked around the bas.e.m.e.nt and picked the one that tickled their fancy. Most notably a certain girl grew to be more popular amidst all who remained imprisoned. Her ears weren't of dog nor cat, it was one of a fox, and her once fluffy-tailed told it all. The rarest of the rare, and considered divinity by some belief – she was up for sale for anyone. Her price, five gold pieces. With such a high price tag, most ran but a few remained, the truly rich people. After a certain incident with a noble whom she bit – the girl was put to chains and left to die, alone, and suffering. Her price now fetched forty gold pieces, they put her up for sale as a slave. However, how she looked visually remained appalling and most walked by her. The days where she stood popular amidst her comrades were long gone. Now she sits, alone, with a shriveled-up tail, shrunken face, and injured ears.

Stories like that were common. No one cared, dogs and cats were treated equally as demi-humans. A human supremacist society could only bring ruin to them, the non-humans. Despite being far stronger, faster, and more talented than humans, these beings were left helpless. Trained like animals to obey every order given to them. They had to be put on a leash if one grew rebellious, they were put to the sword. Years had gone by, but nothing changed regarding how the non-humans were treated.

The time now was five hours before the big event. The party from Dorchester set out after a long dispute. Julius, being himself had ordered his company to bring in dresses for each of the ladies. The dresses matched their hair perfectly. Eira wore a white dress, that had diamonds scattered around – expensive but a gift. Julius didn't care for cost; he was one of the richest men in the entire kingdom. Autumn wore a yellowish colored dress. Fenrir chose to have a suit instead; she didn't like the whole girly thing. Adelana wore red, Ancret, blue and white, Alyson, brownish blue and Annet, grey. The dress made for them had a similar design, they were twins. Viola wore something unexpected; she took out her gothic dress, her appeal looked like a vampire. Millicent wore a red and black long dress. Julius had a normal suit, the ladies though in their thirties looked stunning. The drive from his home to the castle took longer than expected, the streets were filled with people celebrating. After an hour or so, they made it to the castle.

Butlers stood ready and waiting. They opened each individual door, the ladies got out and entered the gigantic castle. The cars Julius had brought did leave an impact on the few people outside breathing in the fresh evening air. The silver guardians caught the eye of every man standing. One by one, they entered, Julius walked behind them, he was acquainted with the majority of the people. A few nods here and there, he entered.

"This way please," a young maid escorted them to the throne room. Faint music was heard, moments later, they entered the room. An orchestra of countless musicians played the king's favorite tunes. The man in question wasn't here yet, instead, the princess was the one who greeted everyone personally. The dining hall stood next to them.

"Duke Julius Garnet," the princess walked over. "I'm glad to see you've made the journey to our humble castle." She spoke courteously. "Greetings your highness," he bowed his head. The rest of his party bowed slightly but didn't speak a word. "I assume you've come on behalf of Dorchester?" she asked, her eyes met Eira's. Eira felt something boil inside her heart, the lady before her seemed familiar. An uncanny resemblance, Eira's white hair matched Gallienne's as well as the queen. "Young lady, have we met before?" the princess changed the topic. "I'm afraid not, your highness. This is the first time I've seen you in person. I must say that our hair does resemble each other." She replied jokingly. "Indeed, they do, tis something very peculiar." Her eyes filled with doubt. "I thank you all on behalf of my father for making it here today. Do enjoy the banquet as much as you want." She left.

"There's something really off about her," Autumn spoke. "I agree, I feel like I've met her before," Eira added. "Don't worry about it," Undrar placed her hands on her shoulders. "I haven't seen Staxius yet, where is he?" Julius asked. "Now that you bring that up, I'm certain that he would come out of the woodworks and surprise us all," Adelana added jokingly. "Time will tell, let's go eat," Fenrir proposed. The banquet was set to happen in three hours though the guest came in early.

"xula, Xula, XULA," Staxius shook her body. "What is it?" she mumbled. "We're late for the banquet," he awoke with a bad feeling. "the BANQUET," she sat upright, her hair still combed. "How did your hair not get messy while sleeping," Staxius dashed to the mirror after waking her. "Magic, my dear, tis magic," she boasted. "Magic or not, you better get dressed," he tied his hair. "Will do, give me a second," the memories from what happened earlier rushed her mind. She blushed; her cheeks flushed. Almost instantly, Staxius got ready. "I'm headed downstairs to check on the car, you better get yourself ready," he closed the door and ran. 'Does he not remember what happened last night?' she slowly removed her laced sleeping gown. 'He probably does but doesn't want to embarrass me by bringing up that subject again; what a man,' she got dressed as fast as she could.

As expected, she got ready in an hour. Staxius furiously banged his head against the steering wheel. "Avon, I might have to put the car into overdrive, are you ready?" Xula came into view, she got off the lift. "Yes, master, unleash all your mana into me; I'll take care of the rest," Avon replied from within the car. "Thank you," he smiled. She got inside, "sorry I took so long." Staxius stared at her intently, "so long is an understatement but whatever, you look stunning as always." His facial expression turned emotionless. "Please grab onto something and wear a seat belt. Whatever you do, do not disturb me from now on. I'm not being rude, I need to focus, we have only two hours." His tone followed; it was monotonous. "As you wish," she sat comfortably.

"Avon, here I come," Staxius injected half of his mana reserves into the car. The engine roared so loud it echoed throughout Dundee. It sounded like a lightning bolt hitting the ground. "Shadow has entered overdrive mode, do you wish to continue?"

"Yes," he accelerated; the car shot out of the town. It traveled so fast that it nearly took off, something popped up on the back of the car. Neither did Staxius nor Xula notice it, the scenery went by so fast it felt like a blur. 'How can someone even drive at such velocity, I can't even distinguish what's before me much less drive.' Xula admired him even more, Staxius's eyes were fixed on the road. Xula caught glimpse of the castle.

"We've arrived," the car blew past security and stopped at the castle entrance. The sound it made got everyone on edge. The beast stopped, everyone inside the castle heard it - a thunderous boom. They made it with time to spare. "Did you hear that?" Eira asked, said sound felt familiar. "That's definitely one of the Xerxes series," Julius added. "You don't think it's him now do you?" Adelana asked. They all stood in awe, waiting for someone they had not seen in weeks.

"Xula, are you alright?" Staxius asked he was worried. Her face told another story. "Don't worry about it," she cast a self-healing spell onto her stomach. "Isn't that cheating now," Staxius got out of the car. Xula closed her eyes, the journey took a lot out of her mentally. "Not really," she spoke, the door opened. "Well, we've arrived," Staxius took her hand and escorted her out of the car. "Excuse me, sir, to whom do we have the pleasure to meet?" one of the butlers asked, the princess had ordered them to ask the names and where the guests came from and who they represented. Staxius looked at Xula, she signaled him that she was going to reply instead.

"I'm Shanna Islegust, queen of Arda. And this gentleman right here is my fiancé, Staxius Haggard." She introduced both in a serious tone, the power in her voice made everyone around her look away. Though calling Staxius her fiancé made her a little shy, it didn't show at all on how she acted. "Greetings your majesty," the butler immediately bowed. "No need for formalities," Staxius jumped in, the poor man's leg shook in fear. "Could you kindly tell us where to go?" he asked politely. "W-with pleasure, t-that l-lady will e-escort you," his eyes remained on the ground while he pointed to another maid. "Thank you very much," they crossed arms and walked inside. "If you would, please follow me," the girl seemed more confident than the previous guy. Staxius purposefully slowed down his step, "Xula, I haven't even given you an engagement ring yet, how can you say that I'm your fiancé?" he asked in a friendly and compassionate way. "Don't ask me, it felt like the correct thing to say. Don't worry about the ring, once we get back, our courtship will be made public," she elbowed him gently. "As you wish, my queen," he smiled, he felt blissful.