The Apathetic Knight

Chapter 4.1 - Kynareth

Chapter 4 – Kynareth

Ah...that had done it.

I finally gasped out as my mana unleashed, flinching and wrenching myself away from him with a sharp cry, stumbling backward and falling onto the floor.

Everyone around us gasped, and I sobbed out before anyone could say anything, tears pouring down my face.

"Kynareth!" My father snapped at me under his breath. "Control yourself at once!"

I couldn't. Hiccups and sobs bubbled out of my throat, and as the prince reached out to me, a wail ripped its way out of me as I stood on shaky legs, and as he spread his arms to try to catch me, I slipped under his grasp and ran.

"Stop her! Stop her but do not harm her!" My father shouted frantically as I barreled through the banquet hall, somehow managing to weave through the onslaught of spreading arms and attempted grabs, and I slipped out the terrace door and to the balcony...because it had been the only place that I could go.

The doors to the banquet hall had already been blocked off by the guards.

I climbed to stand on top of the railing, and I wobbled as my father, the crowned prince, and my brother and his knight, all came out to stand on the balcony.

"Kynareth!" My father cried; hands held up in almost surrender. "Please...do not do this," he said. "Come down from there, and we will discuss this, rationally."

"No!" I sobbed. "For you to betray me this way," I cut myself off. "How could you?"

He gaped at me. "Do you not wish for a strong match? A valuable match?" He asked. "You are to marry the Crown Prince! You are set for life, in a position that commands great respect. I could not do you any better justice than this match, nor could your brother. Kynareth, you'd be a fool to cast it away! With your mana outweighing your aura, you should be thankful that you are able to find a strong match at all!" He hissed at me. "The king has commanded this union himself. This goes beyond your wishes. I'm not giving you a choice, Kynareth...I've already accepted the proposal. Astaroth and I have already decided."

"If you're selling me off this way and betraying my heart, why can't I at least marry into a different family?" I cried.

"There are no other high standing families available that would mutually benefit from the union!" He said, exasperated.

"But brother's new bride has an older brother!" I cried, and he sighed.

"What brings more honor to a household? To have the duke's daughter married to the son of a fellow duke? One whom has already arranged a marriage between that same family, on top of that! Or, to have the duke's daughter married to the crowned prince of the empire?" He asked. "What would you have had me do? Turn down the king himself, to appease you? This union is strongly beneficial to us, to them, to the kingdom and to you!"

"I do not wish for such a union!" I cried. "I am not in need of his title."

"You continue to be selfish, I see," the crowned prince said, crossing his arms. "I had hoped that you would have matured a bit by now, but I see that you are still just as immature and bratty as you were that Christmas two years ago. You really think I want to marry you?" He scoffed. "You're a mage-blood brat who is immature and pig-headed. Looks don't make up for your attitude. You don't see me complaining like a tantrum-throwing toddler. I've accepted my role and held my tongue. Perhaps you need a lesson in how to do the same!"

Pain struck through my heart at his criticism, and I almost lost my balance.

"Why don't you just...come down from there, Kynareth," my brother said, stepping outside the doors and reaching for me, eyes wide and his voice fearful even as his knight stepped closer to me, ready to grab me if need be.

I shook my head. "No!" I sobbed. "Nothing has gone the way that I wished today. My life is ruined! Aren't birthdays supposed to be, I don't know, a pleasant day? How come it is that not only was I unable to meet with the knight who I wished to appoint, but I also got sold off like a brood mare?"

"Watch your tongue!" My father snarled, and I flinched hard enough against his shout that my foot slipped off of the railing.

I cried out as my body wobbled, and before I could steady myself, I saw someone rush onto the balcony, leaping over the railing even as my body fell backward, and jumped down to the ground even as I fell.

I screamed, until I felt a thick, muscular body stop my fall.

"Are you alright, my lady?" I heard a familiar voice ask, and I gasped, looking up at the man who had caught me, and seeing Seryn standing there, dressed in a beautiful silver and gold uniform, his mask silver with gold lace and embroidery this time.

"Lord Seryn!" I gasped, clinging onto him. "What...what are you doing here? Is...was this the party you had to attend in place of your father?"

He flinched a bit. "So, you knew. It was as they said, hm?" He asked, scoffing a bit.

My family rushed down stairs, coming out of the doors and into the courtyard where we now stood, and Seryn gently sat me down on to my bottom on a nearby bench.

"I overheard the other nobles saying my name in surprise, and I caught them mid-conversation, mentioning that you had wished to meet me at the Knight's Order, but since I hadn't been there for the day...you left and planned to return tomorrow when I had come back."

I nodded, looking away, sheepish. "I...I know that it might seem...silly...but you were the only knight whom I was interested in appointing."

His eyes widened. "You...didn't pick someone else?" He asked.

I shook my head. "I didn't even speak to anyone else."

He looked at me in complete shock. "But why? Your determination is baffling."

"Because you...you were kind to me. When I was out on the balcony, alone and crying and overwhelmed...you were kind and warm. You were a gentleman."

"Wow...you are, truly, one of the sincerest people I've ever met." He rubbed the back of his head, looking exasperated. "Do you even understand who it is that you are asking to appoint?"

"The 'monster knight' who is known as a war prodigy, who survived being thrown into a lion pit at the age of eleven, even while being unarmed. No knight shows greater promise than you...or higher morals."

He startled, looking at me in surprise. "...What?" He asked.

"You didn't want to give the Oath of Fealty because you knew that an imperial order would supersede the order of your master, and you disagree with that rule."

He watched me with cool, calculating golden eyes. "You are rather sharp, my lady."

My father sighed, exasperated. "So, it turned out that he happened to be here. This was the party that he had to attend on behalf of his father?"

Seryn turned to my father, giving a slight bow. "Yes, Duke Severing, my father had received the invitation but he wasn't feeling well, so he sent me in his stead. I hadn't anticipated that I would be chosen as a potential knight, so I hadn't thought it would be a bad idea to leave for the day."

My father nodded, looking at me. "So, it turns out that you two were able to meet after all," he said, glaring at me a bit. "Is he your choice?"

I nodded, glancing at Seryn. "Yes, he is the only knight I would want."

My brother looked at Seryn. "Do you accept her as a master?" He asked, crossing his arms.

Seryn glanced at me. "I would rather not have a master at all. However, I likely wouldn't ever be chosen otherwise, and would have to accept some ridiculous guard duty or other lower position if I turned it down. That would be even more bothersome to me. Protecting her as a personal knight holds more honor than a lower position, and I suppose if I must have a position as anything, it is best not to disgrace my house any further, whether I care for the idea or not. If she can succeed in the subjugation, I will not oppose accepting her as a master."

I gasped, clutching my hands over my heart. "Really?"

The crowned Prince glanced at me, then back to Seryn. "You realize that to become a personal knight, you must undergo the Oath of Fealty to the royal family before you can even be knighted, don't you?"

Seryn flinched, but closed his eyes, gritting his teeth before he nodded. "I understand."

"We do have a sorcerer here," my brother said, pointing back toward the castle. "We can do this now."

"If you have the knight you wished for, will you calm down about the engagement?" My father asked, looking frustrated.

Fear spiked through my heart, and I stepped back, feeling the need to flee again.

Seryn stirred at my side, glancing at me with a blank expression, though I could see some underlying concern beneath the surface.

I glanced at my brother, and though his eyes were sad, he gave a slight nod.

I remembered his request from me...asking me to trust him...

I hugged my abdomen, looking away. "I...I will feel better if I have my knight," I whispered, stepping back a step. I would feel better if I could be with Astaroth, but I couldn't. I could only trust him.

My father looked to Seryn. "Let's get to the wizard, then."

My father quickly had a stone table sat up in the banquet hall, seeing as how I hadn't been able to perform the ceremony that morning and part of my coming-of-age had been missed by missing the ceremony.

This way, in front of everyone, nobody could deny me as a proper daughter of the duke.

The duchy's castle sorcerer arrived on the scene, dressed in ceremonial robes as instructed, and when we sat at the table in the center of the room, he was stunned.

"This is the knight you wish to appoint?" He asked, taking in his physique. "My lady...you understand you could get hurt?"

I nodded. "I am determined," I smiled.

The sorcerer looked a bit nervous, but drew out a diagram on the stone table with a piece of chalk. It looked similar to the one that the sorcerer had drawn for Astaroth's ceremony, but there were more feminine touches, as well as a difference in the names integrated into the seal.

I had thought each seal would be the same except for the names, but I supposed that each design was unique, specifically drawn for that master and that knight.

The crowned prince came up, a seal drawn on his hand, and he held his hand out, palm facing us. "Come, and kneel."

Seryn groaned, but he stepped up to the crowned prince, kneeling at his feet, and Prince Cinder put his hand to Seryn's forehead.

"Seryn Von Leonhart, do you swear fealty to the Imperial family, and thus swear to not harm a member of the royal family, allowing yourself to receive orders from the imperial family?"

Seryn clenched his teeth, but sighed. "I so swear," he said through clenched teeth, voice tight.

He gasped out as the prince's hand glowed, and then the prince stepped back, letting Seryn shudder and gasp for a moment.

"Stand," he ordered, and Seryn complied immediately, though his face was full of agonized rage. The prince nodded. "You have successfully pledged fealty to the imperial family. You may proceed with your new master."

Seryn sighed, seeming to relax a good bit, and turned to face me, returning to the table and sitting down.

The sorcerer stepped up to us, a bit nervous, but he swallowed thickly and looked between us.

"Please cut your hands, and hold them over the frame," he instructed, handing us a knife. "As I recite the ancient tongue of subjugation, you must deliver your Knight's Oath to your new master," the sorcerer told Seryn. "When you are finished, she will respond in kind with a vow of her own, and use the power of the subjugation spell to bind you to her."

We each nodded, and I watched in awe as the chanting began, much like it had this morning, and the circle on the table lighting up a bright golden color as soon as the blood dropped onto the frame. Seryn spoke above the chanting.

"I, Seryn Von Leonhard, hereby vow to follow, protect and honor my master, Kynareth Renna Severing. I will not harm her, I will not betray her, and I will not abandon her. I so vow that I shall not obey any command from any other, with the exception of the royal family, due to my Oath of Fealty to the imperial family. I hereby vow that no other shall come before my master, nor my master's wishes. I so vow."

His eyes met mine, and I felt my cheeks heat up as I delivered my own oath, trying to remember what my brother had said that morning. "I, Kynareth Renna Severing, hereby hear and accept this vow from my newly sworn personal knight, Seryn Von Leonhart, and I vow in return to not ask any demand that would dishonor my knight. I hereby vow to be a just master, a deserving master, a master who respects my knight. I will rely on and trust my knight, and I will demand trust and obedience in return. For as long as this knight follows me well, he will be fed and clothed in my name, I so vow."

My father pulled out a sword, and had Seryn kneel before him. He touched both of Seryn's shoulders with the blade. "I, Leodore Renard Severing, duke and lord of the house of Severing, hereby witness and accept the oaths given by the knight and his new master. May this knight see true to his vow, and may the master see fit to honor her pledge. I hereby acknowledge this ceremony as complete."

I startled as Seryn shouted out in pain, and I felt a severe drain, my head and heart pounding even as a seal in the same design as on the table began to melt into the flesh of the back of his hand, and I struggled to hold my eyes open as I lifted me still-bleeding wound to rest over the fresh scorch mark, letting my blood drip onto the wound.

I cried out as my heart skipped several beats, sharp pains overwhelming me as my entire body trembled and my mana flowed strongly through my body, and as the room around me began to darken, I could faintly hear my father calling for applause. He was announcing that I had successfully subjugated Seryn to me even as Seryn caught my body as I slipped out of my chair, falling into darkness.

*

When I awoke, I lay on my bed, a cool, wet cloth laid on my forehead, Seryn siting on the edge of my bed at my side.

He glanced at me, noticing right away that I was awake.

"Are you...alright?" He asked, resting his index and middle fingers above the pulse point on my wrist. "You've been struggling to breathe for a while."

My head pounded, and I still felt aching and sore all over. I gasped out, groaning as I tried to simply open my mouth, and Seryn looked away.

"I knew that it would be difficult for someone like you, but I hadn't quite anticipated that you would be in this condition..."

"How...how long ago did the party end?" I croaked out.

He chuckled. "It has been almost twenty-four hours, my lady. I've had enough time to send someone to collect my things from my family home, as well as the Knight's Order, and bring all of my things back here...I even had time to get my chamber set up," he said, motioning over to the extra attached room adjoined to my own. "Though, the sorcerer said that you would not have been able to subjugate me at all had you not had such incredibly strong mana, and that you were lucky you made it through alive...I hadn't thought you would be out for so long."