Of Arms and Arcane Chapter 205

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As we entered the throne room and walked down the red carpet toward the King, I observed that we were flanked on both sides by royal guards. Behind the royal guards stood a host of nobles, their eyes following Dad and his noble friends while I and the knights from my and the other two noble houses trailed behind them.

When we were before the king, we all took a knee and bowed our heads, and Dad and the other two nobles said, “We greet His Majesty!”

From my peripheral vision, I saw the king nod and say, “Rise, defenders of the kingdom.”, and so we did.

When we all got to our feet, the King spoke, “Lords and Ladies, Nobles of the Realm! We have gathered here today to reward exceptional bravery and performance. As I am sure all of you know, recently, our belligerent neighbors to the north have started a new campaign of aggression against us and attacked ten forts along our border using powerful weapons we have never seen before. In the ensuing battle, seven of our forts were captured, and many good n died. But despite these losses, new heroes arise.” the king said while gesturing at us.

“Despite the overwhelming strength of the enemy wielding these powerful weapons, three forts managed to stand strong against the attack and even managed to capture the weapons used against us.” the king declared grandiosely.

This caused the nobles to ooh and ahh while talking among themselves about what they thought actually happened.

As the king carried on praising our accomplishnts, I started to realize what this was. We were being used as morale reinforcent to boost the public’s confidence in the country. Despite all the flowery language, at the end of the day, despite the forts now being taken back by our side, we lost seven forts in one night, and that made the kingdom look weak and worried the people. And in tis of weakness, heroes rising to the occasion usually comfort the masses.

When the king was done heaping praise upon us, he got to the part most of us were waiting for, “Seeing all that these n have accomplished, it was only right that they are rewarded. First among those rewards is bestowing upon you, Lord Holr, Lord Ironcrest, and Lord Ducel, the title of Defender of the Realm.” the king announced, making the nobles gasp in excitent.

The title Defender of the Realm is a formal title acknowledging heroism. It also granted the person bestowed this title the right to raise a personal army instead of the paltry number of n at arms Dad currently had at his disposal.

However, with the right to raise a personal army ca the increased responsibility of taking a more active role in defending the border near them. In other words, instead of the royal army manning Fort Eldric, the king may extend our lands for it to incorporate Fort Eldric, making it Dad’s responsibility to man and defend it, freeing up so of the royal’s finances and manpower. So, it is not all good, but that is quite a lot of land that could be a boon if used wisely.

After the titles were bestowed, the monetary rewards ca. All of us, including the knights, were awarded gold; even the knights who died were awarded gold posthumously, which would go to their families.

When all that was done, I saw the king’s eyes zero in on . I knew that he had sothing in mind, and I had a bad feeling about it.

What confird my bad feeling was when he smiled at , “While all these accolades are being given out, there is a special ntion that made it possible to recover the enemy’s new weapon for study.”

Oh no…

“Luke Ironcrest, step forward.” the king said, but at this point, it was more a command than anything else.

When I was right in front of the king, he asked to take a knee, which gave an idea of what was coming next.

The king drew his sword and tapped on the shoulder, “By the power invested in as king of the realm, for your ritorious deeds and skill of arms by slaying powerful enemies in single combat, I hereby knight you.” the king said as he tapped my other shoulder with his sword.

“Rise, Sir Luke Ironcrest, knight of the realm.” the king said, and I did so while putting a forced smile on my face, only to see his smug face as he did a great honor… well, he did, but I was not happy about it.

Being the son of a baron, the title of Knight did not an much to in my daily life. The only thing this granted was the prestige that ca from the title and formal authority in military situations instead of being known as ‘so noble’s son’ on the battlefield.

On the bright side, I did not need to go through being a page or squire before gaining this title. The other upside to gaining this title was the matter of who gave the title. Sure, one could beco a knight by appointnt of a noble, but there was a difference in prestige when the king himself knighted a person.

As I turned back to take my place beside my father, I could see so of the nobles eyeing like a piece of at. I could practically hear them ntally practicing their sales pitch to introduce their daughters to .

When I stood by my father’s side, I could not miss the look of pride on his face. “Congratulations, son.” he whispered to as the king invited everyone to move to an adjoined ballroom to mingle.

“Not my idea of reward I was expecting to get. Is there any way to get out of this social event as fast as possible? I can practically feel the socialites looking at like prey.” I asked Dad.

“I am afraid not. Leaving too early might cause a scandal. Besides, did you not learn how to mingle in etiquette classes? I am sure you can get through this without causing any incidents. Just politely turn down their request if they ask you for anything you are not comfortable with.” Dad replied.

“Yes, I learned it in etiquette class, but that does not an I want to apply it.” I complain petulantly.

“Well, too bad. If I have to go through it, you do, too,” Dad said mockingly as we moved to the ballroom, and the socialites closed in on us.

I have survived one battle, and now another has begun. I just hope my social stamina is enough to weather this battle.