Rebellion: Prince of Dawn

Chapter 8.9: To Each Their Vows

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ILIAS PAYNE

After promising to meet up with Erina and Chris after our coronation, they walked through Gluttony's portal and disappeared—Erina's gates were healed by the gympie fruit.

The proctors headed to the explosion blast to put out the fire while the nobles and military figures got back on their horses and stagecoaches to head back to the city. They were talking about the recent battles while passing purses around.

Ivan instructed us to stay behind with him, the royal family, and the Royal Guard.

"Speaking of wager," Thaddeus said. "I passed, didn't I?"

"I passed too," Roswaal said.

"Tsk-tsk. Don't think I've forgotten. The bet was if I can pass or not and I did."

"Sorry." Roswaal chuckled. "I can't resist not trying to trick you."

The jester reached into his pocket and flipped a gold coin to Thaddeus, who inspected it before throwing it in his pocket.

"By the way Thaddeus, you've been disqualified," Ivan said suddenly. "Please leave through the portal."

"What? But I won the fight."

"You passed that, but are getting disqualified because you failed to follow rule number one. Last week during the phase two preparations, you snuck out of Base Zero and spent the night in a tavern, interacting with outsiders."

"Wait, how do you know about that?"

Why didn't this idiot at least try to lie?

Ivan held his breath and disappeared before reappearing a couple of seconds later.

"Why did you wait until now? You could've at least disqualified me before phase two started."

"I figured you would fail the next two phases, but you didn't. Try again next year and follow the rules next time."

Thaddeus stared dumbfoundedly, too shocked to realize he fumbled his goal right before the finish line.

"Hey, kid," Roswaal said. "This was your first time and you passed. If you did it once, you can do it again, can't you?"

"What if I get a bad team?"

"You can try and try again," the jester said before rubbing his fingers together. "Now, I want what I'm owed."

Thaddeus reached into his pocket and flicked back his gold coin. "So, Ivan, I take this portal, right?"

"Hey, this is my gold coin you're returning because you lost. Which means you still gotta give me the gold coin you bet on."

Thaddeus sighed and flicked another coin to Roswaal before heading into the portal. "We'll wait for you guys inside Tally Hall."

The royal family and the Royal Guard approached the portal and waited a second before stepping through. We followed them and found ourselves in a room I recognized—the throne room. Though some things had changed like the window panes being coloured and the floor tiles being in a checkered black and white pattern, the layout was exactly the same as it was over a hundred years ago.

"The Iron Keep," I said. "It's an honour to be here, Your Grace."

King Arthureus climbed the stairs that led up to the elevated quartz throne and took a seat. "Ilias and Roswaal, is it? Ivan, take them to the meeting room to sign the documents. After that, return here so I can grant them their titles."