Shroud of Shadows

Fear

The King and Queen of Crimea and Phoenicis were seated upon their thrones like a battle couple of old lore. Replete in their war panoply, my heart both swelled with pride and trembled with awe at the sight of both Elincia and Tibarn.

Despite no formal war or other military action taken place since my fall, Elincia wore a formal battle plate, festooned with many laurels and awards. A pair of powerful enchanted gauntlets clothed her hands as she held her sword Amiti point down in front of her. I felt a cold sweat run down my neck. It was a blade that would only be used in battle or execution. She had not done the latter, but it appeared I might be the first. Her hair was green as the North Sea, and she looked sternly at myself and the others gathered in her midst.

Tibarn looked even less welcoming, the King of the Hawks was not one known for forgiveness when he was accosted or shamed. He was the supreme commander of the army, and I feared my command would provoke his hand. His coal black hair was tied back with a bandana, though I could see his brow twitch with impatience at me. The look in his golden eyes is what upset me the most. They looked at me like a predator would to a prey it would soon devour.

"Knight Commander. Come forward." Elincia's voice was solemn and filled with command, betraying little emotion as she called me by my formal title. She never did that, at least not alone. It was always Knight Commander Geoffrey of Delbray when in the company of others. I could tell that she was upset with me, and my fate would not be kind if I was judged incompetent.

I began my slow walk which echoed down the great stone walk way, the distance seeming as if I was walking the final mile to the headsman's axe. Oscar and Kieran had come as far as the great bronze doors. There I had bid them to stay, despite their offers to the contrary. I did not want them caught up in any of this. Any judgement against the actions of Volus were mine to bear alone.

As I walked I passed under looming archways where Crimea's greatest heroes were personified in the form of great unmoving statues. I saw Helvetius, Galatian, Titus, and Ike who seemed to be judging me with the weight of their eternal stares. Each one of them appeared to be the block of marble that held up the ceiling just as they had held up our nation. I would not be found wanting under their gaze.

The huge archways had shadows crawl within their lofty vaults, though my eyes strayed for but a moment I quickly forced them back to the situation at hand. I was soon aware that I was not under the gaze of the royals but those of Renning, and his entire cohort of the honor guard. They were covered in sapphire plate and cloth, armed with elegant blades and powerful crossbows.

I focused my gaze on the fair queen, her amber eyes held a pang of sorrow for me, though weather that was because of our former relationship or the sadness that I was once a great general who had learned a lesson in humbleness by a creature without fear I could not tell.

Where had we gone wrong? We were childhood friends, she and I. I was her knight from boyhood who became a man and protected her more times than there were stars in the night sky. I had made plans a year after the final war to make my feelings known to her upon the balcony with the winter aurora dancing through the night sky. The night of the dancing lights, I made my way to her chambers only to see her embracing the Hawk King's wings. I cried in frustration, the first time since childhood could I remember those wet lines down my face. But I could never forget the way the lights seemed to encircle her head like a halo.

As I continued my walk forward I saw a trick of the light that seemed to be exactly like the halo I saw on her head. I continued with only the briefest break in stride. As I got closer I noticed that what I thought to be a trick of the light was an actual glow. No, wait a mark.

It was viridian green, and I was too late to realize what it meant.

"Get down!" Renning reacted first to my warning. He placed his armored bulk between me, as I ran down the walkway, and Elincia who was at the other end. He thought I had lost all sense and was prepared to violently knock some back into me. I had drawn my sword, igniting the blade with the azure light of its power.