Chapter 42: Isekai Life & Royal Vow

You could have picked my jaw off the floor. And judging by the mood of the room, I wasn’t the only one. The various elven nobles were whispering to one another. I noticed the High Priest himself was just as dumbstruck as I was, shaking his head in denial. Meanwhile up on the dais, the Prime Minister had leaned over to confer quietly with the King.

“That’s not possible...” Travaran eventually said.

“Why, even now Prince Theodore is wearing his signet ring, if you care to check for yourself,” Raszil offered, rubbing his chin with a satisfied look on his face.

I was, at that. I had taken to wearing both my signet ring and my marriage band through all my travels in the Lakelands, because I assumed that this was far enough from home that I shouldn’t have to worry about hiding it. Turns out I underestimated the breadth of Raszil’s knowledge, or maybe the interest that Suleyar himself had in me.

Whatever conditions that Travaran’s Old Laws demanded must have been satisfied by my royalty, because he practically tried to run out of the audience room. I noticed that nobody stopped him despite not being dismissed or paying respects to his king. Soon after, most of the Sentinels, two laden with the body of the High Commander, followed.

Meanwhile, my own companions were processing the news. Sorrel was shaking her head, barely managing to stutter out, “H-h-he’s a prince?” in stunned disbelief. Yua was taking it a little better, having had moved up next to me now that Voss was leaning against one of the columns, taking a breather after his fight. But, then again, Yua’s estimation might have changed little by the news, I had little idea what was going on in her head, and even less than I thought judging by the night previous.

Eventually, King Kindroth rose, and faced the assembled crowd. “That is all for today, I have serious things to consider in this matter,” he said, waving away the assembled nobility, “Prince Theodore you and one of your attendants may stay, as should my daughter and Sir Haseth.”

I nodded, turning to my friends. “Calliope, take everyone and go see that Voss gets some proper rest and care,” I gave an aside glance to Raszil, “And make sure nobody goes missing. I’ll take Yua with me in case of danger.”

Calliope nodded, looking a little pale. “That’s certainly not how I expected this trial to end,” she muttered.

“That makes two of us,” I replied with a sigh, “Get going, I think with the High Commander out of commission for awhile, we should be safe enough for a bit.”

Calliope reached over and gave my arm a brief squeeze, before ordering Sorrel to follow her. The fourteen year old farmgirl, laden with weapons at this point, made for an odd attendant as Raszil and Calliope helped Voss limp his way out. The layout of the palace seemed pretty simple, so hopefully they wouldn’t get lost.

I couldn’t help but notice that Prime Minister Caeda didn’t move at all, either. Instead, she was giving me a long, considering look. King Kindroth was simply standing there, watching people file out. As for below the dais ... Haseth had his usual stoic expression, but Kythaela was staring right at me, unblinking.

Once the main doors had finally slammed shut, Kindroth sat back down on his throne, and slumped, looking utterly exhausted. He sat there a moment with his face n his hands, and the Prime Minister looking down on his with concern. Eventually, he raised his eyes, to mine and asked, “You have some way of proving that you are who you say you are, yes?”

“Of course,” I said, stepping forward raising my hand with it’s signet ring to show the Prime Minister, who had stepped forward to examine it with interest. She took my hand and examined the ring carefully, and from several different angles. Eventually she nodded, and said, “Be still, I am going to cast several spells on you. They are harmless, and you need not be worried.” I nodded, and the Prime Minister began to sing elven prayers, asking the Ysiphine for guidance. I didn’t feel anything, but she nodded with satisfaction.

“Well?” King Kindroth asked.

“He has some magical items on him, nothing large. Potions or scrolls, I expect,” she reported back, “And while I cannot discern if he is lying, he is not of evil intent, nor does he have a history of evil actions. I think it’s likely, given the presence of the ring, that he is who he says he is.”

I had no idea that she was at least a part-time priestess. She must have cast Detect Magic and Know Alignment on me, given the context of what she said.

The king nodded, satisfied. “My Prime Minister who deals more extensively in such things tells me you are a Prince in exile. Tell me, what brings you here, so far from home.”

I decided to be honest. No sense keeping up a deception now. “My sister and I are travelling the land, gathering people of talent and allies with which to one day take back my homeland,” I told him, “We had made contact in Tresens with a retried adventurer named Ricard Parett, and he hired us in turn to investigate the disappearances of villages in the area. Fighting the goblins and rescuing Princess Kythaela was a result of that investigation, although it is my true desire to not see her killed unnecessarily.”

The Prime Minister seemed incredulous. “You would marry an elf, who will long outlive your short life, just to save her from death, on a whim? That beggars belief.”

“Ah, well ... polygamy is a tradition of my house,” I explained, which was technically true, every living member of my family did look forward to practising polygamy. “If a position by my side as one of my wives would rescue Princess Kythaela from this situation, I will do it,” I continued looking over where Kythaela was sitting, “If she will have me as her husband, of course.”

Kythaela slowly rose from her chair and came towards me. But when her mouth opened as if to say something, all that came out was a loud sob. I reached for her and she collapsed into my arms, crying, her sobs echoing in the vast, empty chamber. I pulled her close and stroked her hair. It was a bit of a shock, for her to do something so intimate as seek me for comfort when we weren’t all that close, but if it made her feel better, it was fine by me.

“I think Princess Kythaela’s choice is clear,” the Prime Minister said, looking at King Kindroth, who nodded in return.

The King looked back to me. “I will allow this, on one condition, Prince Theodore.”

“Go on,” I asked, noncommittally. Sorry, but I’d like to hear your condition first before I agree or not.

“When you have married Princess Kythaela, I will give you her dowry,” King Kindroth explained, “But once that is done you are to leave and not return. You are aware, no doubt, of this conflict between the reformers in my court, and the people who wish to go back to the terrible days of the Storm Elves. It is tearing my people apart, and the farce of this morning was a naked attempt to have me condemn my own daughter to death with my own hand.” He sighed heavily. “I would spare Kythaela from any further harm, so swear to me that once you two are married, you will take her, keep her safe and happy, and leave, never to return.”

This King hadn’t really impressed me up to this point, but my opinion of him bottomed out with that. He’d sooner send his daughter away, forever, than fight back against the people who want to turn the Kingdom of Mist back into a raider nation who wanted to kill her? I wasn’t a king or a father yet, but I made a silent promise to my unborn children and the people that I would someday rule that I’d do better than this.

“Very well,” I released Princess Kythaela and knelt before King Kindroth. “On my name and my title as a Prince, I solemnly swear that, following my marriage with Princess Kythaela, I will take her and leave immediately, never to return.”

Of course, I had no intention of following through on that vow. Neutral good, bitch. I don’t have to take your ridiculous vow seriously if it prevents me from doing good in the world.

“However, I do have two requests of my own,” I said as I rose. If this so-called King was so easily bullied, I decided to take advantage of that.

“What is it that you require?” the Prime Minister asked.

“First of all, I cannot rest easily knowing my retainers and my wife to be are in a palace plagued with enemies,” I explained, “So I demand that you expel all Sentinels from the palace and it’s grounds, barring them from entry until Princess Kythaela and I are married. The Ravenwatch exists to protect the royal house, the Sentinels should focus on doing their usual duties.”

The King shifted uncomfortably, and the Prime Minister grimaced at me. “There would be ... consequences to that action,” the Prime Minister replied.

“I frankly don’t give a damn,” I said, cutting the air with a gesture, “They can crawl all over the palace as soon as we are gone. The Old Laws need to be satisfied with a moon’s turn, right? If they can’t handle not standing in a fancy building for a couple weeks, then they make for awfully sensitive soldiers.”

Of course, the symbolic nature of being kicked out of the palace would burn them, but if this situation gets violent earlier than I expected, then the King shouldn’t have any problem framing the Sentinels as insurrectionists or something.

“My second demand,” I went on, “Is that Ravenwatch griffon riders be engaged immediately to retrieve the remaining member of Princess Kythaela’s bodyguard from the town known as Rhymer’s Cross. No doubt with the Sentinels expelled from the palace, everyone would rest easier knowing that the Ravenwatch are as close as possible to full strength.”

This caused the King and the Prime Minister to exchange glances. “That could be arranged,” Prime Minister Caeda allowed, “Is there anything else?”

“Yes,” I continued, “I require the services of Sir Seran and the griffon Barador, as well as sufficient griffons to transport two other people, for perhaps no longer than a week. I have a small bit of personal business to take care of before the wedding, and I will be returning with one of my retainers to assist in the security of the event.”

King Kindroth seemed to hesitate, so I stepped forward, putting one foot on the dais. “I took your vow without hesitation, even if it is inconvenient for me not to make an ally out of this situation,” I said, letting a little threat creep into my voice, “Surely you can do this much for me, King Kindroth.”

There was a long moment, then the king waves his hand. “Very well, it will be done, you have my promise.”

“Good,” I said as I stepped back, “I hope that the Sentinels will be out of the way within the day.” I took Princess Kythaela by the hand, and when I I did she seemed surprised for a moment, before squeezing my hand back. “I will take the Princess back to my retainers, so we can discuss what preparations need to be made. Sir Haseth, will you please come along to chaperone.”

I didn’t even wait for the king to respond, instead I turned about and walked out. It was arrogant of me, sure, but if Kindroth was offended maybe it would put a little more spine in his back.

Once we were outside the throne room, I was happy to see that the only people waiting without were the two members of the Ravenwatch who had been tasked with guarding the door. I turned to Kythaela and let go of her hand. “Sorry about all that,” I said, “You didn’t deserve any of it, and I wish I could have avoided having you in that situation.”

The princess shook her head. “You were not the ones who ... who brought all that stuff up, and made those accusations,” she said thickly as she looked away, staring off into the distance again. “Now you see why I thought I was going to die...” she trailed off into silence.

“I told you, I don’t want you to die,” I said, producing a handkerchief from an inner pocket and handing it to her, “Go on and clean up a bit, blow your nose.”

While Kythaela turned away to do that with her back to me, Haseth stepped forward and bowed to me. “Thank you so much, Prince Theodore. I am so grateful that you’ve stepped up and taken responsibility for my charge.”

His voice was a little thick, too, so I guess Kythaela wasn’t the only one who was on the verge of tears.

“Let’s just get back to the guest rooms, please,” I said, trying not to sound dismissive, “There’s a lot for us all to discuss, and I want everyone to be on the same page for once.” After all, if Raszil already blew my secret about being a prince, I may as well just come clean about everything. At least way I’d have to stop explaining myself over and over.

When we returned to the guest area, Siora was waiting in the hall for us, and gave me and Kythaela a curtsy when we appeared out of the stairway. “You knight and retainers are waiting for you in Sir Voss’ room,” she said as she bobbed, but before I could reply, Kythaela dashed forward and threw her arms around the maid, hugging her tight.

Siora didn’t seem surprised, although she blushed a little, and stroked Kythaela’s hair comfortingly. “I’m happy that you made it, Ky,” I heard her whisper.