The King’s Courtier

Chapter 6 - Matrons Against Mortal

Aurelia gathered all her courage and swallowed harshly. "Do proceed." 

She had asked exactly 6 questions, so they were to ask her that many back.

Amyra was the first to start, perhaps to prevent Kai from bombarding Aurelia, "Do introduce yourself. It is rather rude for us to be the only ones presenting ourselves."

"My name is Aurelia Hemmingsworth. I am known as the global beauty, but perhaps you'll all soon realize during the tests that there is a lot more to me." The king's eyebrows rose to that. Ignoring his reaction, Aurelia continued, "I was raised in the Oblivion as a priority. I spend my spare time training, usually with the person I care about the most. My bestfriend. He alone was given the right to call me Aura, but perhaps you all could call me Aurel if you wished." 

That is enough answers to their simple question. Perhaps the shorter her answers, the less productive their questions.

"Rank us from most to least handsome. The men only." Kai smirked. He reminded her of a snake, sharpe tongued, attentive, and very careful about where to strike to cause the most effect.

"Are you serious?" Aurelia replied impatiently. She would need to start mastering the art of trickery if she wasn't to lie in the castle.

Kai merely nodded, playing with his nails with a bored expression. It was clear that Kaiyus was very powerful. He radiated energy the same way the king did, but the energy around Kaiyus was somewhat more dramatic... more dangerous... more alluring.

"I suppose King Sulfur is the most handsome, followed by Kaiyus. Then Jeremyus. Then Niklaus and next Lucifer." 

Appearing pleased, Kai signaled for the next question to be asked, dismissing her with a wave of his hand.

"Are you into women?" Asked Melantya with humor in her eyes.

Aurelia found Melantya to be a beautiful name, far nicer than Melody. But clearly Melody was a fitting nickname for the person gifted with music and rhythm. Aurelia couldn't nonetheless think about how the name Mel or even Tya would sound like a better alternative nickname.

"I suppose I have never been intimate with a woman, but I often find myself attracted to them the way I am men." Aurelia replied honestly. Melantya's nostrils flared at that. So Aurelia decided to continue just to spite her, "however, I am not at all interested in Alaya. Nor you for that matter." 

It was Nik's turn to chuckle at that. He then to Aurelia's shock asked a question, "where do you gather all the courage to be so arrogant. You do know that we have five times the speed of normal mortals and ten times the strength each right? Let me put you in on a little secret. Although we too are given categories, we are better than all mortals in every single category. We simply out do ourselves in our designated one."

She did not know that, but she knew she mustn't let him intimidate her. "So is the question whether I know of your strength or where I gather the courage to be arrogant?" 

They all laughed except king Sulfur. "Oh how fun it would be to break your little arrogance down piece by piece." He mumbled, only for Aurelia to hear from beside him. She could barely mask her shudder.

"The latter I suppose." Nik replied upon halting his laughter and hiding his amusement. It was clear they were all amused by her bold responses. She was sure they were seldom exposed to defiance and disobedience, specially considering the door filters out all those with ill intentions. 

"I survived in the oblivion where babies were trained as prostitutes. I survived all my other talents being discarded simply due to my looks. I survived not being given half the freedom of anyone else and in fact all of this was because I was deemed the most beautiful of all. It wasn't a title I necessarily wished for, but being perfect has made me miss out on many things. So perhaps I have earned my arrogance." 

The matrons no longer laughed, but rather listened attentively, seeming pleased by her response. Two more questions. That's all she had to answer.

"How exactly do you plan to punch the king?" Kai mused again. "Oh don't fret, we have eyes and ears everywhere! we hear all that happens in this kingdom. I do wish you'd give me the pleasure of witnessing the act first hand though."

"I do not plan to punch the king any time soon. The how, well I suppose with my fists. Unless you have a better alternative?" 

Kai responded with the same level of sarcasm, "perhaps I do not, but I do suggest preparing a bucket of ice for after you completed the act. And not for the king my darling Aura." 

Aura. Had she not made it clear enough that Iliyus was the only one to call her that? "Aurel or Aurelia, please." 

Kai simply ignored her request and diverted his attention from her. 

It was then Alaya's turn to ask a question. "Why do you wish to train?" 

This was the first question that she actually had to consider. She knew her reasons clearly but was it worth sharing?

"I was born beautiful but that doesn't mean I am not also many other things. There are good looking people in the other categories but somehow they're never required to become escorts or be treated as mere objects. They are valued and given a chance to compete and fight for their worth. I was never given that chance, but I nonetheless don't wish to forget my own talents even though no one else would ever know of them and appreciate them. I think the king has created a perfect world for everyone. A world where everyone is happy and satisfied... but for some reason, the void and oblivion were deprived that life. We are simply the dreaded few."

They all turned to look at her at that. She could sense slight pity in Alaya's eyes. King sulfur however ignored the statement all together. She was rather upset that the king didn't react to her little speech. If he had acknowledged it, at least she would have slight hope for the future. Lucifer observed her attentively. She had by now noticed that he is the quietest of them all. He hadn't spoken a single word the entire time she was there. 

Alaya seemed the sweetest. Her smiles and looks were always kind and never malicious. Kai and Melody were the contrary. They seemed the snarkiest, and as the king had confirmed, they were the most sadistic. Jeremyus seemed cooled off but attentive, and Amyra seemed like the force to be reckoned with. Her beauty alone could mesmerize all those around her, let alone her brains. Niklaus seemed the most protective, but perhaps they were all over protective in their own ways. Perhaps Niklaus show cased that trait more than the others because he had a perfect sister to care for and protect. It was no secret that Niklaus's sister was beautiful and single.

She couldn't help but keep thinking of who Iliyus would end up being an escort to. Are there more women in the castle? More people with respected positions? Are they worthy of Iliyus? Of course not, she thought. No one would ever be worthy of him.

"Have I answered all your questions now?" 

"You have indeed." The king finally deigned her worthy of a response. "Your tests will start tomorrow at 9:00am sharp. I will not be needing your services this week as I have a guest of my own to attend to, so you are to spend the next few days determining your specialty. Some tests will take shorter, some longer. In five days when my guests fly back, I will return to discuss the evaluations on you. If the tests are finished before that, I will hold the meeting sooner. Your lingerie rule is withdrawn until I return to the room in five days. Dress according to the test, you will be informed of what each dress code will be through a hologram, and the Wardrobe will prepare the best fit outfit."

And with that, the king turned on his heels and exited the room, telling Lucifer to discuss tomorrow with Aurelia further as he guided her back to the room. The hologram clock at the entrance of the dining hall read 1:00am. 

She couldn't help but notice Kai's eyes trail her as she walked out the dining hall. 

Lucifer informed her that his test will be held first. He will be testing her pain resistance and resilience against different weapons. It wouldn't take long but would rather hurt so she was asked to come wearing numbing cream on one arm to determine healing speed and resilience, leaving the other arm to help determine pain resistance. She was to wear a simple top with leather pants.

He also gave her the schedule of her tests. Immediately after his assessment, she was to go to Melody for vocal tests. Next she was to visit Amyra to give a written IQ test. The next exams were to be held the day after.

She had clearly noticed that Lucifer only talked when necessary in the shortest amount of words possible. He had not engaged in further conversation after letting her know the plan in precise, short words. The rest of the walk to the room was quiet, but she also noticed that the reason he was chosen to guide her to the room was that his was closest to it.

Although she didn't get a good view, Lucifer's room seemed to lack gold as well. It appeared to be colored red and orange. The color of flames. He was living in a personalized hell. She removed her attention from him and walked into the king's room, parting paths with Lucifer.

As Aurelia laid on the ginormous bed alone, she thought about the world beyond this kingdom.

In 2200, parents were a long forgotten concept. Usually, two people in a category fell in love and conceived a child, but those people would not parent their newborn.

The babies were immediately allocated to a category where they were nurtured and cared for by people who were assigned to them rather than parents. One could ask, 'why conceive in the first place?'. Very few people conceived children, and not many children were required per year since the king wanted to maintain control over the population. His limit was at two billion people filling Elexia.

Usually, the escorts that were kicked out of the kingdom were allowed to choose whether they wished to become fill in parents. They could travel to a continent of their choosing (usually in relation to the extra talent they picked as kids) and they would care for new borns there. Their jobs didn't pay and provided no luxuries though, so most oblivion adults preferred to teach in oblivion instead.

It wasn't that the oblivion was any better, but at least in oblivion no one judged them and gave them dirty looks. This judgement and prejudice was the new racism now that the concept of race was diminished.

It was always the same story, there was always a group that are oppressed and judged even though they were choice-less in the matter that caused their oppression. She dozed off to sleep while reminiscing the injustice of Elexia.