The King's Collie

Part II, Chapter 3: The Arrival of Sir Afon

Cameron didn't sleep nearly as well as usual that night. He lied in bed and whined all the while. Why did he want to go with so badly? He didn't know his own motive for asking the question. It had to have been something to do with not wanting Felix to leave. He kept thinking of how it would be with just the Queen. What was so bad about that? He tried not to dwell on it for too long, but failed in that respect. Only the King was on his mind, for as long as the moon was high.

What if Felix didn't come back? He was headed, as awkwardly described at the table, to war. It was a small war, with what Cameron knew would be some of the best fighters of the Kingdom, as well as the knight from Cambria, what was his name? Afon, that's right. He distracted himself from the more concerning matter, by trying to wonder what this apparent knight looked like. Was he a dragon, neck stretched and breath fiery? Perhaps he was a great wolf, with sharp fangs and quick, muscled arms? Maybe a mighty eagle, a beak sharper than the finest spearpoint?

Speaking of which, what did this apparently special knight wield? That left a myriad of options, and Cameron was left imagining every combination of species and weapon he could think of. He was thinking of a gryphon with some great battle-ax when he finally drifted to sleep.

—

It was the very next day that this mystery would be solved!

"Sir Afon of Cambria has arrived at the port, awaiting a royal welcome," a guard announced, after having burst into the throne room. In there was the King, having been in the middle of a consultation with an assortment of bishops of the smaller towns throughout the Kingdom.

"My apologies, Your Holinesses, but this is an important matter" the King quickly mewled to the holy officials, who nodded in understanding, glad to simply have met the ruler of their nation.

"The Cardinal should be in the Church, if you would like to meet with him," he followed up quickly, before getting up and hurrying off.

He made his way to the gardens, where he knew his wife and her favorite dog would be on a nice day like this. Indeed, when he got there, he saw Cameron and Ophelia chatting.

"Awfully nice day to be out like this, but our noble company has just arrived," Felix described.

"Let us give him a most warming greeting, then!" Ophelia excitedly mewed.

"Can— uh. May I come see, too?" the collie asked, correcting himself after minding his manners. His half-asleep questions had a chance of being answered!

The royal couple looked at each other.

"Wouldn't do any harm, would it?" Ophelia asked.

"Well... he's not exactly royalty, but, hell, I shouldn't think so," Felix nodded. "He should get a chance to see this knight."

Cameron stood and barked in delight, before accompanying the lions outside. The three took a short but slow carriage ride through town, with the cheering of all those who decided to come out and watch. Ophelia didn't much mind the noise, now, with what she knew was her family by her side. Yes, she considered Cameron family at this point. It was hard not to, in fact.

It was also hard to not notice the fairly large ship in the harbor, and, as the royal party stepped out of the roomy car they rode in, they were greeted with two rows of silver-armored knights, lining a path to the ship. It was evident with the banners they were presenting that they were Valentia's own. These banners featured a blue top third, with the bottom two-thirds striped vertically with red and yellow.

Off the ship came a lone, grand figure. There he was: Afon, all the way from Cambria, this country being a great distance north. He was clad in cobalt armor, which was decorated with curved and pointed bronze accents. He was large, too... Such a body size required good training, or good food. He marched slowly between the rows of Valentian knights, smiling as he looked to each of them. For a weapon, he carried a large halberd, a spear-axe of considerable length.