Elliot Payne and His Royal Knight

Chapter 2

Aiden's POV

Well, that was dramatic. "Sir. Kimball, you're dismissed. Thank you for bringing Elliot back," Queen Coventina smiles kindly at me.

"Yes, Your Majesty." I nod, bowing slightly before turning to leave the royals.

I leave the castle and start my walk home, making sure I avoid being in anyone's way as some vendors and merchants start packing up their goods.

"Excuse me, sir," a young boy almost runs into me as he laughs with his friend, running around the area.

I buy an apple on the way home, finishing it by the time I get there. My home isn't big like the castle is. It's just a simple apartment in the city where most of my work has been recently.

The king and queen have assigned me to find Elliot and bring him back to the castle today but beyond that most of my work has been odd jobs for the townspeople and awaiting orders from my superiors.

Being a knight has ups and downs in the Rimwell region. On one hand I get to meet all sorts of people, help keep the kingdom safe and put my strength and training to use, but on the other hand I have to do whatever job the higher positions don't want to, there's a lot of down time between when I'm needed for small things and when I'm needed for the more important things that means the kingdom is in danger so I don't wish to be needed for too many important things.

When I get inside I sigh in relief to finally get these boots off. I set my boots next to the door and lock said door before cleaning myself up to go to sleep. The next morning I eat a quick breakfast before throwing on some clothes and my boots to go out. As I open my door I come face to face with my best friend, Maira. She's been my best friend since we were little and we started knight training together. She's a year older than me but she never uses that to boss me around or anything.

"The King wants us to guard Prince Elliot and Prince Elena," the blond girl in front of me says. She's dressed in her usual dark, loose fitting bottoms and top to match. Her hair is fairly long so she tied it into a low ponytail.

"Did he give a reason?" I ask, stopping in my tracks.

"I'd guess it's because Elliot listened to you yesterday. You know he normally has to be chased half way through the city before they get him back in the castle," she shrugs. "I don't understand why he wants me to guard Elena though. They rarely leave their room in the castle." Prince Elena is Elliot's little sibling, we rarely see them but they're open about saying their opinion and that they would rather be a knight than a royal.

They're only fourteen though, and you have to be sixteen to start training to be a knight. They got the spirit to do it, just have to wait a couple years first. "When do we start?" Maira gives me a slightly urgent look at the question.

"Right now, get your sword and let's go." I do as she says, quickly tightening the leather to my waist as we walk down the street. "Why don't you put that thing on in the first place?" Maira always has her sword at her side even when we're in a formal setting.

"Because I don't always need it. I can fight fine without a sword."

"Not against a group of people with swords. What if someone ambushed you?"

"Why would someone ambush me? I'm not some infamous assassin or anything," I can't help but chuckle at the thought of that ever happening.

"I'm just saying that it could happen some day," she shrugs.

"Well, I'll deal with that when it happens then." When we reach the castle we meet the king and queen in the throne room, bowing our heads when we get there until the king speaks.