From Liverpool To Athena

chapter 24

A knight of the realm! I fucking knight. But that was the only thing I was given during my meeting with the king, I was given a piece of land and two servants! I will meet them tomorrow, I am looking forward to that but for now, lunch and festivities in the palace garden. From what I have overheard from excited nobles as we walked together through the palace. I don't know why, or how this happened, but I have become rather fond of the palace guard who was standing next to me during the ceremony thing the king had done. He would laugh or snort at things the nobles would say, so I thought I'd stay close to him as we walked through the palace. The palace is like a museum with all the old cool shit I wasn't allowed to touch. Being at the back of the pack I thought I might get away with it or find my brother but neither happened. We made it to the garden and gymnastics in purple clothing were balancing on each other three people high. Rows of tables with finger food but once again I wasn't allowed to touch them until the king turned up.

When the king turned up with Charlotte in toe they told everybody to eat and have fun, I didn't even get to touch a delicious-looking sandwich, it looked like it had cheese on it.

"Ronnie!" Charlotte called out, and then a soft hand gently tapped my shoulder. I turned around, a blushing Charlotte holding a plate of sandwiches, cake and something that resembles chocolate but I was too scared to taste it, good knows what it could be. "I made you a plate!" She handed me the plate leaned in a little closer and whispered. "Since you're new to this world, I thought I'd show you some of my favourite food".

"Thank you," I said, and picked a sandwich up, oh no, what is this green stuff? It sticks, I bit into it. My face couldn't hold back what I thought, I need to spit this out before I throw up.

"Shall we go for a walk?" Charlotte asked, I nodded my head and followed her lead. The gardens are vast, I say gardens because it looks like you could fit several 100 normal gardens into this one and have spare room till. We wandered over to a water fountain of a woman holding a vase that had water coming out of it. "You can spit it out now" she laughed and and sat down on the edge of the fountain,  as she turned away I spit the disgusting sandwich out caught it with the sweetest volley and sent it hurtling away, my old football skills coming in handy.

"That was gross!" I said honestly, laying the plate next to Charlotte and then taking a seat on the other side of the plate. "If that's your favourite food, you are gross too" she laughed again this time loudly.

"Just give it some time you'll come to love our food"

"I doubt it"

"What was your favourite food from your old world?"

"Oh now you are asking, where do I begin!" I told her about pizzas, burgers, chocolate, and kebabs! Oh, how I miss kebabs. Getting drunk on the weekend and grabbing a kebab on the way home. I realized after telling her my favourite foods I sounded like an unhealthy kid but she won't know the difference.

"Do you miss it, your world?"

"Yes and no, I miss my friends, I miss my family, I know I have found Archie, I mean Edmund, but I need to find the rest"

"Can I help?"

"Are you sure you want to?"

"Completely, I owe you a great deal, but the question is how do we find them?"

"I have a few ideas?" I heard my brother's voice and saw him close by, he must have walked over, during my rant about food, he stopped and bowed like a nobhead.

"Why the fuck are you bowing to me?" I asked, Edmund/Archie's head popped up, his eyes squinted and eyebrows touching. Charlotte giggled, I could see her chest moving up and down from the corners of my eye,

"You don't swear in front of royalty, Ronald"

"You shouldn't bow like bellend Archie"

"I least I know how to bow, I seen you before asking what you do" he stopped talking and then mouthed, "You fucking melt"

"I can lip read you know Archie," Charlotte said joyfully, I don't know what Archie/Edmund was surprised more by. The fact Princess Charlotte spoke to him so casually or the fact she called Archie. "You too really are brother aren't you"

"Oh yeah, you should have seen him before," I said and began to tell stories about Archie.
"He was sick all over 3 people in a rollercoaster" I had to explain what a rollercoaster was.

"I didn't like the motion," he said to defend himself.

"He had a hamster that died, and he cried in the rain like it was the emotional point of a movie" I had to explain what a hamster and a movie were.

"I loved him!" He tried to defend himself again.

"We didn't know any of that" That was a female voice I had never heard before. Archie/Edmund's face turned pale, and he turned slowly revealing an older couple.

"Mum, Dad," he said, I guess these two must be his parents in the world. "You weren't supposed to hear any of that, I know you said you would meet, Ronald but you didn't want to know about my old Life.

The senior ironclaws don't look too bad for older people. Edmund's dad looks noble, with perfect posture, glistening white teeth, white gloves on for some reason a Kane with a Bear claw, shallow stern eye, large nose thin lips and white hair combed over. His mum, was pretty, with long blond hair falling one, brown eyes so big that if she cried we would all drown, a small nose and large lips, green emerald necklace above her breasts, matching the colour of her fancy dress.

"Please don't fret son," Ironclaw senior said, "I am glad we heard it, there is no faking the fact that you both know each other well and have a bond that can't be explained" The Ironclaws then gave a bow to Charlotte, before rounding on time. "I'm sorry we ever doubted you, we believed you to be fake, someone trying to con our family"

"To be fair, I didn't know that's how you felt, and I'm not mad, it's completely understandable"

"You are right son, he is very reasonable, I hope one day that you will come to the house and have tea with us, so we can get to know you properly"

"I'd love that, thank you," I said, I broke out into an uncontrolled smile.

"We will be going, we have some hellos he needs to say..." The Ironclaws shook my hand and then left, but then they turned back around. "You look how you looked in your old life right? Then my suggestion is to become famous, get in the newspaper, magazine... Become known, if your face and name are out there, the rest of your family can find you" Ironclaw senior turned around but not Lady Ironclaw.

"My dear," she said, her voice very soothing. "I have just had an idea, you have become a noble, and the season is upon us, you are friends with the princess and the onlookers are already talking about you, please turn up to some event this season, your name will be mentioned in the papers, I have no doubt, it's hard to squash rumours" she winked at Charlotte, then took her husband are and left.

"What does she mean by rumours?" I asked.

"I know, and you may or may not like" Charlotte said her face glowing red.