The Warrior King

Five

Marko followed the line of carriages to the Great Hall. It was a large building, easily three times bigger than our largest barn. Unpainted with a plain facade, it looked like a barn as well. It had wide steps across the front and thin wooden pillars. An unimpressive building for such an important occasion. 

The carriage came to a stop, rocking Brielle and me slightly in our seats. A page stepped forward, dressed in the royal colors of gold and purple, to help Bertha down, then Brielle, and then myself. We said thank you and the page gave us a slight bow before moving on to the next carriage. Bertha gave us a once over and smiled. 

"Remember no matter what, you will always be our girls and there will always be a place for you at our table, " she said giving us each a quick hug. 

"Make sure to set extra places then, " Brielle said with a wink. I let out a loud nervous laugh before slapping my hand over my mouth. Bertha rolled her eyes and turned to walk up the stairs. We followed behind her, lifting our dresses slightly so we didn't step on them. 

Inside the Great Hall, I was amazed at the contrast to the outside. It was clear all the attention had gone to transforming the inside to a reception hall fit for a king. The room was a long rectangle and tables for food had been set end to end along the walls to the right and left. The tables were covered with sumptuous gold fabrics with beautiful floral arrangements in various shades of purple. Between the arrangements was an array of food and drinks. Bowls overflowed with berries, pastries, and puddings next to platters filled with sliced meats, fish, cheeses, and cakes. Pitchers of wine and mead were filled to the brim with crystal glasses arranged in intricate patterns next to them.

"There's almost enough food here to feed your brothers," I joked quietly to Bri. She smirked.

"Almost. At least for Jace anyway," she agreed. My eyes scanned the room. At the far end of the hall, two steps led up to a large platform with an ornate oversized chair with arms resembling a throne sitting on it. Behind the chair, hung a banner with the Warrior King's coat of arms emblazoned on it: a white wolf with his head thrown back in a howl while his front paws crushed the head of a snake under them. 

"Look there's Misty!" Brielle shrieked excitedly. She grabbed my hand and began to drag me through the crowd to our friend. Misty, a plump girl with frizzy mouse-brown hair and a beautiful smile, was standing with two of our other good friends: Lise, a beautiful redhead with fair skin and bright green eyes, and Elana, the most exotic looking female in the room with her dark chocolate skin and hair so black it had a purple sheen to it. 

We greeted each other with warm hugs and squeals of delight over each girls' dress. The three of them were dressed similarly to Brielle, in beautiful lush dresses. Even though it was quite obvious my dress was far less attractive, each girl gushed over me as if I was wearing the finest garment in the room. The five of us had been friends since we were children and I was glad that we were here together.

All of a sudden, the sound of trumpets blasted through the air. We were standing about halfway back into the room and I had to stand on my tiptoes to have a better view of the front. Baron Hirad stepped up onto the platform, placing him up higher than the crowd, giving me a clearer view. 

He was a thin man, with thick wavy silver hair and a warm smile. He was dressed in the district's signature colors, wearing a pair of beautiful mustard-colored pants and a purple silk shirt. Around his neck was his official collar, gold cast in the shape of wheat to signify the wheat district. The crowd fell silent as he spread his hands and began to speak. 

"Welcome to the Wheat District's Freedom Feast! As I look out and see all of you, I am confident that there exists a no finer group of young women in the kingdom." A collective chuckle rippled through the room. 

"We are honored by the presence of the finest regent in any kingdom. The Warrior King and his army have brought an end to the war that has plagued our land for so long. Tonight is a celebration of life, the lives we lost, the lives in this hall, and the lives that the unions of this time will bring forth." 

“If he just stopped talking, we could get to the life making,” Bri muttered under her breath. I smiled as Lise dug her elbow into Bri’s ribs. 

“And now, it is my great honor to present, the Warrior King,” and with the Baron’s last words, trumpets blasted again and the crowd parted, creating a center aisle. 

At the head of the procession was the biggest wolf I had ever seen. It was easily the size of an ox, completely white from head to toe, the only color on him being his black nose and black eyes. Directly behind the wolf were two men dressed in all black with heavy black velvet capes trimmed in red. From the stories I had heard, I knew that they were the leaders of the Elite, the two strongest of the strong. 

Next entered a man who was clearly the Warrior King. In my mind, I had pictured a grizzly looking man, unsmiling with long hair, a long beard, and maybe a limp. Instead, before me was a man with short hair, long enough to curl over his collar, and clean-shaven. He was blonde with dark eyes; not blue, not black, perhaps gray but at my distance, it was hard to tell for sure. His face was calm and there were laugh lines around his eyes. 

He was certainly as tall as I thought he would be with broad shoulders and at his hip, a broadsword, a weapon much more suited to the occasion than the battle-ax he was said to normally wielded. He was also dressed in all black except his dark cape was trimmed with gold and purple and his crest had been embroidered in the center. To put it quite bluntly, he was gorgeous. 

Next came the members of the Elite dressed in red and black with no capes and finally, the soldiers of the king, dressed just in black. They all had their short swords at their hips, hands resting on the hilts as if even though the danger had passed, they expected it to begin again at any moment. 

As the procession passed in front of us, Brielle grabbed my hand and squeezed, delight clearly written on her face. Who could blame her? The soldiers were all good looking; even those that did not appeal to me would certainly appeal to someone else in the crowd.

When the wolf arrived at the steps, it waited until the Warrior King was by its side before they both mounted the platform together. The Warrior King clasped arms with the Baron and then turned and faced the crowd, the wolf sitting to his left. The Elite commanders stood on his right, the Elite guard lined up in front of them, to the right and left of the platform, and then the other soldiers in front of them. The crowd was pushed back as the soldiers had to stand six rows deep. 

The Baron launched into another speech, detailing the exploits of the king and his army. He took the time to highlight each of the difficulties that were overcome in order to bring peace. As he continued with his speech, I felt a bit restless, so I took a moment to take in the crowd around me. I tried to look around discreetly but suddenly felt a sharp jab in my side. I swung my head around to look at Bri, whose eyes were as wide as saucers. She jerked her head to the front and as I turned, I realized that the Warrior King was staring directly at me. I could feel my cheeks warm and I wished the floor would open up and swallow me whole.

I tried to look away but I couldn't. He was still staring at me and my whole body was beginning to heat up. I was finally given a moment of reprieve as the Baron ended his speech and the entire room began to clap (minus the soldiers). The spell seemed to be broken as the Elite commanders both gave a short bark of an order and the soldiers visibly relaxed and stepped forward into the crowd to begin the feast. My eye line with the king was lost and Brielle stepped in front of me, her eyes gleaming. 

“Did you see the way he was looking at you?!” she said loudly.

“Keep your voice down, Brielle!” I told her pulling her off to the side. “I don't need the whole room to know I wasn't listening.”

“It wasn't because you weren't listening,” she hissed. “He started staring at you the second he got up there! He watched you the entire time!”

“What are you talking about?” I asked, genuinely confused. Was I in more trouble than I thought? Misty and the other girls came rushing up to us.

“Sasha! Did you see the king?! He could not have been staring at you any harder!” Misty exclaimed.

“Be quiet! I don't understand what you're talking about,” I said putting a hand to my head. A dull ache was beginning to form behind my left eye. 

“How did you miss it??” Lise asked. 

“Miss what?”

“Sasha, seriously. The man was looking at you like he wanted to eat you,” Brielle said.

I shook my head at my friend. Suddenly, a massive presence came up behind her. Bri must have felt it because she instinctively moved to the side. It was him. Standing five feet from me, I could see that his eyes were deep gray and they seemed to be getting darker the longer he stood there, watching me. I quickly ducked my head and dropped into a low curtsy. He closed the gap between us and put his finger under my chin, lifting my face up to look at him.

“Do not ever look down in front of me again,” he said. While it was clearly a command, the words were not said with malice. His voice was soft but firm, simply giving me instruction for the future.