The armored figure waited in the king’s antechambers, awaiting an audience, an audience that they were pretty sure was likely to be a very much-viewed event. Of course; it wasn’t every day that someone was lucky enough to have slain the Dragon, the most elite of the princesses’ bodyguards. Although technically he still lived; actually killing the man would have lead almost immediately to a beheading, and that certainly would have ruined some plans.

The wait had already gone on for some time; the angle of the sun had been nearly across the room before, just barely visible in the room itself unless one stuck their head to the brick of the narrow slit; the sun was beaming directly into the middle of the room, now.

Further contemplation was brought to a halt when the heavy wooden door was pushed open, the metal hinges squealing with much noise, announcing without words the captain of the Kings royal guard. The man’s only armor was his full metal breast plate, and the sword sheathed at his hip.

“So you are the dragon slayer?” the man offered with quiet surprise; there was also some slight confusion in the tenor of his voice. A slow and deliberate nod was his answer. “Come, then, and let us be presented to his royal majesty,” he offered in answer, and turned to stride from the room. A small retinue of his best guardsmen followed behind him, surrounding the armored figure as they made their way to the kings receiving chambers.

“You seem rather slight to have bested the Dragon,” the captain offered, trying to get a feeling for the other person. Clad in muted, light-looking armor from head to toe, the figure was nearly a foot shorter than himself, and didn’t look to carry much in the way of strength. He knew that one’s stature didn’t always measure equally to one’s fighting ability, but he was still rather curious as to how this one had managed to do what many others had struggled—and failed—to do.

“I have four older brothers,” the armored figure spoke, a slightly rough, young tone.

The captain frowned slightly, thinking something off about the response, but they were entering the king’s presence now, and he turned his focus to the man whom he had pledged his life and loyalty towards. With a slight signal of his hand, he brought his guardsmen to a halt, and addressed the king.

A spectacle it was, of course, as not only his royal Highness, but the king’s council, and each of their assistants, as well as the chamberlain, the senior advisor, and the king’s three daughters, all were present and watching intently over the proceedings. And of course, as the captain gave more thought to the matter, the royal guards- of both the king and his princesses- and of the servants, who moved among all others almost as whispered thoughts.