While talking to his mother liedia she was rudely pulled away by Queen Vanessa to his surprise he was left without supervision normally his mother lady lieda would not allow any such thing to happen but it was the Queen her authority was comparable only to the king and the combined members of the the royal parliaments
Although they were friends but from what his mother had told him the specific requirements and the constant concerns she placed over the creating and supervision of the Queens wardrobe hinted that it was safe to assume that his mother feared that the Queen could potentially throw a temper tantrum at any moment revealing a more hideous side to her
It only made sense the king himself was not shy of executions one mistake and your entire family and household could be called for treason and either turned into a shish kabob by his executionar or have your heads served up in buckets to the kings feet
He was determined to take his mothers words to heart overcoming his fear that caused his hand to tremble or his face to release drops of sweat over the slightest touch or a unknown nobles proximity
Amidst the crowd he saw a young girl of similar age with a dark blue colored dress as he gently moved his eyes upward slowly sizing her up he could see that she had beautifull dark green eyes and ginger hair it seems that she had been left alone just like him as her mother had previously gone to attend her drunk senile father stopping him from further embarrassing himself her mother was a Quiet mile mannered person she kept a distance from her father when entering so Darian did not pay any mind to her thinking she was just a relative but had caught notice of her in the VIP section of the stands during the jousting Matches she exuded cunningness and nobility
To others of lower status it seemed unsafe to leave a child Amidst a crowd of potentially drunk party goers but this could not be further from the truth nobles were trained since birth to maintain a certain amount of self control and public image in all things and only those who already had an incredibly high position could afford a little fumble or two not only that among them in that room were trained mages knights and servants so the chance of a criminals survivability and or escape was slim to none you could call it irresponsible but not unsafe
When Darian took a glance at her he felt as if a force in his own mind was fighting against him trying to stop him from looking directly at her his eyes contorting as if his face was having an inner conflict after their eyes met he felt as if his mind was tearing itself apart he Quickly closed his eyes placing his hands on his head as he tried to cancel out outside noise his solution was simple to Quickly get out of the room
He began by speed walking so as to make things as Natural as possible before sprinting to the exit Annabeth had an expression of shock and surprise asking herself if she did anything wrong but curious at the same time Meanwhile Darian arrived infront of the door infront two male servants his eyes blurry he used the only weapon he had been good at since learning to speak the ability to talk more specifically flaunt your status in a way to getting a certain desired outcome and thats exactly what he did
The Castles exterior wasnt as supervised as the inside so using his knowledge he easily arrived outside for some reason he felt a deep inclination to cower and hide in fear to run away as far away from his house as possible flashes of visions would appear as he ran a house on fire a snowy forest the sensation of deja-vu as sensations he had never felt like a deep pain as if being pierced through the shoulder his eyes and faced twitched unconsciously as if trying to reorganize or an incompatible reality had been detected within his mind
Eventually he began to realise something Amidst all that random running he was doing he had ran himself into the thick and complex hedge Maze Claus had designed which exacerbated his mental decline he felt as if the world around him was spinning his heart beating ever faster he tried to find a way out but each time all he met was a corner a dead end each time he was reminded how hopeless his situation was each time feeling more and more helpless with more and more tears streaming down his face and for some reason that feeling of helplessness hurt him the most as if an old wound had been reopened by being forcibly cut open with a knife
In a corner of the hedge Maze Darian sat alone his knees curled up with his arms around his face as it looked downward it was the pose of someone who had truly given up
Meanwhile minutes prior Doulos and Roselle had decided to spend the rest of the night challenging each other at first in pool as Roselles aproach of sinking the balls in holew was based more on mathematical calculations while smart Doulos prefered to rely purely on instinct which led him to winning the pool game they kept taking shots as they went around taking count of each game while keeping score of who won who eventually with only poker being left out of curiosity people had found out about this challenge and surrounded the gambling table watching in anticipation as each card was handed it was a five card draw in which the Gods unfortunately favored Roselle which made her the overall winner
In the midst of the crowd surrounding the two gamblers lady Vanessa suddenly burst through with liedia not far behind before she could issue a challenge Roselles eyes widened as her mouth swelled before her drunk self simply collapsing on the table with vomit spewing from her mouth on the table leaving everybody in shock or in disgust with Doulos clearly being the latter as his mouth grimaced with his hand slightly raised above his nose
Matilda who had been asked by Conrad to look for Darian had refused to use her abilities within the ballroom in order to not catch any attention or ruin the mood in room filled with mages any use of magic coming from you could be considered as hostile so she took her time searching within the large room amongst many children eventually realiseing he wasnt in there she then took time looking across the castle attempting to find him even going to his room the kitchen aswell looking beneath the counters while the cooks were cooking or cleaning plates that were coming from the ballroom
Eventually she had decided to simply use her abilities she made sure she was a safe distance from the ballroom as a Orange glow suddenly manifested from her eyes eventually become illusory with her pupils growing darker and wider into a tube shaped
Darian sat and stewed his thoughts at the moment werent all coherent attributing the intense outpouring of emotions to the fear of the nobles as he tried to justify it a gentle hand grabbed the biceps of his arm as a shy voice resounded are you okay he slowly lifted his head only to see annabeth it seems he immediately expected that occurence to happen again so he Quickly tucked his head back Annabeth tapped the top of his head and said common people are looking for you can't stay here
Darian was surprised that nothing had happened as if his mind had adapted or reached a type of equilibrium this made him feel slightly embarrassed as he asked why are you here Annabeth tsked as she said your always looking at me weird for our age Im quite smart and tall and I heard allot about you but I didn't think you would be so hostile with me I guess there can only be one but in reality I was just curious she said it while having both her hands behind her as she kick dirt in the opposite direction common I think its almost time she outstretched her hand
How are you even here theres a dead end everywhere I go whatever choice I make I feel so stuck well I find that it was very easy I simply tried as many paths as I could and marked off those that failed I tried to visualize the pattern in my head and noticed small details and if that didn't work I would of tried to think using the the creators perspective but I dont know them so luckily I didnt have to do that
So come on dumb dumb she Quickly grabbed Darians hands as she pulled he screamed how are we gonna get back I marked the right path stones I found on the way just incase and even if we get lost together we can try try again besides we have each other so it wont be too lonely we can cry as loud as we can to our hearts content as a last resort to get help two screaming children is better than one a smile plastered on Darians face as he said right but I just found out Im scared of the Darkkk!! Me too annabeth replied
Meanwhile Matilda activated her abilities only to find Darian being led by hand by a noble girl she Quickly deactivated her abilities as they came in range she noticed Darians watery eyes as she pinched his cheeks I've been looking all over the place for you thank you lady annabeth she said no problem Annabeth replied but are you even supposed to be outside Matilda asked a look of fear plastered on Annabeths face as she said he lured me outside as she crossed her hands hey no fair Darian replied
The two went there seperate ways when they returned inside with Conrad finally spotting him retrieveing him from Matilda I've looking for you this whole time I wanted to introduce you to some people before you make your confirmation speech hey dad does every noble child get the same Celebration Queen and all just for their first initiation Conrad smiled and said no when you before you were born the Queen scheduled a party for your birth many nobles were supposed to be in attendance
But I delayed it infact a meeting of this size for any noble house is rare only happening for dukes 3 children chosen by the Queen herself each year even now many could not attend as there posts did not allow it this was always going to happen I couldn't suspend your official introduction into noble society forever this would only incur the Queens wrath based on my position and would be viewed as a breach of authority
The both of them continued talking as they met multiple nobles this is Duke Richardson maple belonging to the province Durn nice to meet you little man the Duke replied Conrad explained how the Duke advocated for distribution of land and how land should be owned by the farmers not cooperations headed by the king something that could of killed him his argument was so well made it convinced the king himself
Next they spoke to lady Florence endinger wife of Duke Sofnir endinger the conversation settled on her philanthropy support for a chivalris equality in gender and race for both men and women with sir Sofnir himself establishing multiple hospitals himself the conversations went on and on as Darian was introduced to nobles who had used their wealth to become patrons of art uplifting creativity ,creating schools and better Quality education for the poor abolishin of most dangerous forms of slavery giving working rights to peasant workers ,Tax reforms fair court systems charity and infrastructure development
Conrad looked at Darian and said in everything rich poor young old evil selfish people exist anywhere bad people use good acts to cover there crimes the point Im trying to make whether they do it to hide or genuinely a nobles existence someway or another benefits the people because they fear the king as long as the crowns not corrupt we have a chance we can be inside we can fight back because the only way to live with your head held high is to fight back Darian sighed and said Im ready as he steeled his resolve
He couldn't remember much from his experience running but all he knew now was he did not want to feel helpless he wouldn't run again clenching his fists nobles Businessmen gathered as the Queen took her seat in the middle two thrones were on either side of her Throne with the kingdoms flag behind the thrones with Darians parents sitting on the left while charles and his wife sat on the right with Annabeth sitting on her fathers lap
Crowd was filled with knights who had participated his teacher Pierce who was wrapped in the arms of two noble women all sorts of mages nobles and businessmen which would one day become either his allies enemies or rivals
Infront of everyone who waited paciently using a special bow to increase his volume Darian would have to say his loyalty to the king the kingdom and how he would uphold the legacy of his family at that moment he felt a great burden slowly crushing him but he wouldn't runaway he would face it head on he could fail once but he would keep trying and keep getting up until he found his way he gulped then sighed as opened his eyes only conviction was left
I Darian windsor edison hereby declare my loyalty to our great sovereign king arthur with all my capabilities and as a citizen of palgia I will defend protect and improve my homeland and never betray its people I will uphold the righteousness and integrity of my family by building on their legacy making magic easily accessible from the poor to rich and to help our brave warriors dungeon heroes ,our police force and military so that our kingdom will stay a prosperous Nation
The Queen lifted her Cup as she said here! ,here! and just like that after the Queen gave her thanks for the attendance and hope for the safe return of each and Darian recieving more gifts the ball ended Outside 30 minutes later as each noble went their own way the Queen playfully pinched Darians cheeks you did great as she hugged him and liedia good by today did not disappoint I expect great things
Darian felt certain pride in heart like never before he would work towards the expectations set on him he would not allow himself to run anymore no matter how many set backs he would fulfill his responsibilities