Outside it was dark but the street lamps lit up a magnificent black-lacquered coach with gold trim and the royal hawk in flight emblem on the door. The driver was wearing palace livery, which consisted of coat, hat, pants, shirt, and boots, all in shades of green, his boots and hat being the darkest. The Sergeant-of-the-guard, a slender man about Daniel’s age, gestured for Silvia, David, Marcus, and Jared to enter a fancy green carriage that was behind the coach, which they did. The guardsmen took to their horses, six in the lead and six taking up the rear. Both conveyances were pulled by large white horses. Inside the coach was a pair of couches. Sir Carlo sat on one and motioned for Daniel to take the other. The Knight looked to be in his late thirties or early forties. His hair and eyes were dark; his skin pale, like nearly all Ducaunans, and his mustache was neatly trimmed. In fact everything about him was neat.
“I am glad to finally meet you, having heard so much talk of your exploits,” Sir Carlo said in a rich baritone.
Daniel gave him a nod of the head in response but then decided the man deserved a better reply. “I’ve heard about your reputation along the Pentrosan border, impressive that.”
“It seems they always try to test our kingdom’s resolve to hold the boundaries. Every few years it is necessary to remind them just how resolved we are,” the Knight replied.
“I never imagined a Knight of the Realm would be sent to fetch me,” Daniel told him.
Sir Carlo smiled. “I volunteered for the honor. Eight of the twenty Knights of the Realm are in the capital as we speak, eager to meet the man who has rid our realm of Balen Tamm, and smashed his headquarters so hard his associates have scattered like roaches.”
“Glad to have been of help,” Daniel replied and could not resist smiling back. The man had an easy manner about him.
The coach traveled up the thoroughfare, which was so well lit it seemed to be kept in perpetual twilight. The procession continued on, passed the gate between the granite walls, and up into the palace grounds, which were also well lit. The trees were just beginning to wear their autumn colors. Beds of flowers in multi-stepped terraces surrounded the hill leading up to the huge pearl colored royal residence, one of the few buildings in Ducaun built by the Stone Guild. Tall hedges lined the way along the inner road leading to the massive double-door entrance. There was gold leaf on those doors and four royal guardsmen with halberds guarding it.
Daniel had never seen so much wealth displayed outside of Aakadon, where precious metals and gems were as common as bricks. Sir Carlo led him out of the coach, into the palace, and down a side corridor. Daniel had no idea where his friends had been directed to go but knew they were nowhere in sight. The Knight set a brisk pace but there was no trouble keeping up with him. A thick green rug ran the length of the hall. The walls were white marble and every ten paces was an alcove on either side with a vase or statue within. Between the alcoves were portraits of past monarchs going back to Queen Veronica. They came to a maple wood door and the Knight led him into a room that had seven palace servants, three of which were woman younger than Daniel. All but one stood with various articles of clothing in hand.
“If you would just remove your clothes,” a young, comfortably plump, woman in green livery said, the empty handed one.
Daniel felt his cheeks grow hot. “What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?” he asked, surprised. Jared had assured him his current clothing was fit for any royal court.
Sir Carlo smiled, folded his hands, and leaned back on the door. “You are not dressed appropriately for what is to come,” he said cryptically.
Daniel looked more closely at the garments they wanted him to wear. The silk shirt and cotton undershirt, being held by one of the young women, the one with a slender nose, were green but had a family crest; a falcon in flight carrying a golden lighting bolt in its talons against a sky of blue. The same crest was on the upper arm patches of the emerald green coat with gold cuffs being held by the skinny young man next to her. One light brown-eyed woman was holding a pair of black boots stylized with the royal hawk in flight in the leather, and the remaining men to the left and right were holding silver chain mail and the emerald gold on green pants. Each dark-haired man tried to maintain solemn expressions, but their lips kept twitching as if in a struggle not to smile. Then it dawned on him what they intended.
“Close your mouth,” Sir Carlo told him. “You are going to be knighted and it is my honor to get you ready to approach Her Majesty.”
Daniel was shaking his head. This could not be happening; surely they were not going to make him a Royal Knight of the Realm. He was strongly tempted to refuse, just walk away, no one could stop him, a fully functional Six-bolt Accomplished, but he remembered what the Teki Seer had advised and so hesitated to follow his first impulse. “Why?”
“It is not official yet, as it has not been published, but I have seen the legal documents. You are being knighted for uncommon valor in service to the realm. The crest was personally designed and registered by the Queen, which is practically unheard of. She is well pleased with you,” Sir Carlo replied while stepping away from the door and pointing to a smaller door in the back of the room. “If you prefer, you may change in there.”
Daniel went into the other room, which had a single oil lamp on a table, a three legged stool for him to sit on, and several hooks attached to the walls. He removed his outer clothes and opened the door just enough to pass them through to the attendants, who gave him the cotton shirt and pants. He put them on and waited. After a few moments passed he realized they expected him to step back into the outer room. He did so and allowed then to help him finish getting dressed. The only thing he lacked was the sword and belt.
Time flew by swiftly from that point on. He was escorted into the main hall where General Tallen stood waiting. He was a middle-aged man possessing few wrinkles, a round face, and who seemed more muscle than fat. “Pleased I am to see you again and be here on such a grand occasion,” he gave greetings and joined the procession. The general wore a pair of gold stars on the collar of his light green silk shirt, beneath which was the finest quality chain mail, and four golden hawks on the shoulders of his jacket, which was gold trimmed, and a slightly darker shade of green. The royal hawk in flight was engraved in gold on his green lacquered helmet.
Sir Michel Kagan, a man of medium build with a broad flat nose and Sir Tomas Zollaf, a rugged man with a touch of gray in his hair, both Royal Knights of the Realm, completed the escort into the throne room, where they all came to a stop. A herald announced their presence and Daniel was told to approach the throne, Sir Carlo was the only one who proceeded with him. Cleona of house Ducalin, Queen of Ducaun, sat in fine regal apparel of violet and red. Her hair was peppered with gray even though she was only thirty years of age, her face was gaunt, and she was bone thin. She might have been pretty once but her obvious poor health robbed her of whatever physical comeliness she might have had, but her eyes were alert and reflected a keen intelligence.
The room was filled with noble observers, cabinet ministers, lords and ladies, seven Royal Knights of the Realm, not counting Sir Carlo, and royal guardsmen at the doors and four around the throne. Beside Her Majesty were her advisers, four silver-haired men and two women, one of which was decades younger than the other five counselors present. Her hair was black and she bent over and whispered something in the Queen’s ear, who nodded acknowledgement.
“We are pleased to have you with us,” Queen Cleona told him in a surprisingly strong voice.
“I am honored to be here,” Daniel replied, and then bowed from the waist.
The Queen snapped her fingers and Sir William Bonner, a middle-aged man who seemed to have more vitality than men half his age, stepped forward and handed her a sword while a gray-haired attendant handed a belt to Sir Carlo.
Cleona arose from the throne and walked down the seven steps to stand right in front of Daniel. She had to look up at him and after a moment he got down on his knees because it did not seem right
to be looking down on someone of her importance. She smiled and tapped both of his shoulders with the flat of the blade and said, “For actions of uncommon valor, I dub you, Sir Daniel Benhannon, Royal Knight of the Realm of Ducaun. Take your sword and greet your fellow Knights who are here to welcome you into their brotherhood,” she said in a powerful voice made stronger by the acoustics of the room, and then handed the sword to Daniel; offering him the hilt.
Daniel took the sword. His reflection in the wide blade was clear as a mirror and the weapon, cross guard and all, made of high quality tempered Zunean steel, was the finest in the world. The handle was gold with a black grip that would keep it from slipping in the heat of battle. Everyone in the room applauded as he stood up and turned to face Sir Carlo. The Knight put the black diamond studded belt on him and Daniel sheathed the sword in the scabbard, again to much applause.
The Queen made a speech, telling of Daniel’s deeds, making them sound more heroic than they actually were, and encouraging everyone to come and meet the twenty-first Royal Knight of the Realm of Ducaun. Which, unfortunately they did. Daniel had little time to himself from that point on. All of the Knights introduced themselves and welcomed him as did many of the lords and ladies of the court. Silvia, David, Jared, and Marcus managed to get through the crowd, and Daniel was glad they had been allowed in to see the ceremony, but there turned out to be little time for chat.
A thin-faced girl came forward, begging his pardon for the interruption, and told him, “Her Majesty would have a word with you in her private chamber.”
She then led Daniel away from his friends and into a room with comfortable chairs and an elegantly carved table, along with several paintings on the back and side wall. One was a picture of the palace and the other a portrait of the Queen’s mother. Cleona was sitting at the table. She waved the servant away and then gestured to Daniel, “Come, have a seat and we will talk,” she said in the manner of one who is accustomed to being obeyed. He had to readjust the sword on his hip in order to comply.
She stared at him for the longest time without saying a word, studying him, assessing him, and finally nodded her head after coming to some conclusion. “You believe I have given honor where it is not deserved.”
“Almost every little boy plays at being a Royal Knight of the Realm, bringing justice to the oppressed, and having adventures. I stopped pretending before age ten. Life in the mountains, particularly in winter, can be hard and the realities of survival tend to strip away boyhood fantasies early on. I never expected to be knighted.”
“Did you not do the things I described at court?” the Queen asked.
“I did,” Daniel admitted. He wanted to go ahead and tell her about his abilities and about his concern for her life, especially after seeing her face to face and realizing how sick she actually was.
“I have been told you have acquired another title since leaving Aakadon,” Her Majesty said and paused to give him time to speak if he so chose, when he did not she continued. “Your being the Chosen Vessel does not surprise me, it would explain your strength and success at striking blows against the Serpent Guild that has so infected my kingdom. To think, their headquarters was right under my nose and I never suspected. I suppose we are going to have to convince the Grand Maestro that you are the one to lead us in the fight against Tarin Conn. We must also convince him to remove the Silencing.”
“Is that why you made me a Knight of the Realm, because you believe I‘m the Chosen Vessel?”
Cleona shook her head. “No, I knighted you for the reason stated in the ceremony. Preparations for your knighthood have been under way ever since word of your Silencing reached the palace. Your new title I only learned this day. Be that as it is, I require men of strong character to act in my name and be the extension of my power wherever it is needed throughout the realm. This is not an empty honor, this title comes with heavy responsibilities and I do not bestow it lightly.”
Daniel gave a quick nod of the head. “I did not mean to suggest otherwise. I sincerely hope there is some kind of training program because I do not feel qualified to judge concerning matters of the law. I don’t even know what half the laws are.”
“Law books will be sent to your estate, study them, civil, criminal, and military. There are differences and matters of jurisprudence you will have to become familiar with, but I am confident you can fulfill all of your duties,” the Queen replied and smiled as if waiting for him to ask a question, and looking forward to giving the answer.
The most obvious flaw with her plan that Daniel could see was; he had no estate. “I’ll have to get back to you on where to send those books,” Daniel told her. “You see, I have not had time to buy land and build any dwelling on it.”
Cleona clapped her hands loudly and two men came in, one a young male servant carrying a map, and the other a gray-haired man dressed in a brown wool suit and a white silk shirt with gold cufflinks. The servant spread the map across the table and placed a paper weight on each end to keep it from rolling shut, and then exited the room. It was a map of Ducaun showing all of the jurisdictions in the realm and all the lands owned by the various lords. Each district was shaded in a specific color. Purple represented the lands personally owned by the Queen. There was a district about thirty-five spans southwest of Ducanton that was shaded in light blue and Benhannon Estate was printed in neat letters within the blue area.
“Yes, I am giving you that land. It was given to me by my mother when I was sixteen years of age. It has been in the Ducalin family for generations. Close your mouth, I will not hear of you refusing this gift. Do not think I give it lightly. As a Royal Knight of the Realm you are now of the nobility, but landless and therefore have no voice on the Council of Lords. I am not talking about a ranch or farm, but an area large enough to be considered a jurisdiction. When you take possession of the land I am granting you, you will become a Lord of the Land as well as a Royal Knight of the Realm, thus giving you a say on the council. As a Knight of the Realm, you are obligated to support me and as a Lord of the Land, I can use your voice in council, both to sway it my way when necessary and to actually hear what you have to say.”
Daniel took in the details of the Benhannon Estate as depicted on the map while the Queen told him all of the reasons, political and otherwise for why she was giving him the land. The estate was enormous, a rectangle twenty-five spans from east to west and sixteen and a half spans north to south. It was huge to him but actually the smallest of all the lord holdings. Most of Ducaun, many of the smaller towns and villages, were outside of those districts and not controlled by lordships, those areas were self governing and often it was up to the Royal Knights of the Realm to bring the Queen’s justice to those places.
If he was reading the map correctly, there was a community of farmers scattered within his holding. In the southern part of his estate was a manor house not far from a lake. He wondered what it looked like in reality. He smiled, thinking it was a good thing he hired an account manager.
The Queen smiled as well “Jefferom Dubojerno here is the Royal Treasurer. He will be releasing to you one thousand gold coins, one thousand silver coins, and one thousand copper coins. This amount is given to each Royal Knight of the Realm upon receiving his commission.”
“My thanks for all you have given, my Queen,” Daniel replied. “Master Jefferom, please get in touch with my account keeper. His name is Jared Benfyllon and he is out enjoying the festivities.”
“I will do so right away, Sir Daniel,” the Royal Treasurer replied, and with a nod from the Queen, went off to take care of business.
The Queen looked askance at her newly dubbed knight. “You have an account keeper already; good. The servants and staff running the estate have been serving the royal family for generations and I cannot dismiss their loyalty. I am bringing them here, so you will need to hire your own people to manage the estate for you, particularly since there will be times when your duty will cause you to be away for extended periods of time.”
He was going to find out just how good Jared and Marcus were at their professions, because he was going to be relying heavily on them in the near future. All of this was fine but it was not addressing his real concern, the life of the Queen. She was springing surprises on him, now it was time to turn and turn about. “I have a concern I would like to share with you,” he began, not sure of the proper way to express matters to royalty.
“You need not be. Your name is so well known at this point I suspect you will have plenty of applicants to fill the needs of your estate,” Cleona responded.
He was not communicating his concern very well. He would have to do a little better. “A Teki seer told me that if I did not come to you here, you will be dead within a year.” There, he said it.
Cleona’s eyes widened. She likely was not used to being addressed so bluntly. “You speak your mind, that is good,” she replied evenly. She did not seem overly concerned, which was strange seeing as she was just told of her impending death. “General Tallen has spoken to me of your skill at healing the most grievous of injuries. I suppose if we can persuade Efferin to lift the Silencing on you, perhaps you can do what no one in the Aloe Guild has been able to do.”
Should he tell her? Should he offer his services as an Accomplished? She is going to want to know how he overcame the Silencing, which could lead to revealing what he truly is. Choices: leave, stand and watch, or help. He looked into her bloodshot brown eyes and made up his mind. “Efferin Tames does not know what I am about to reveal to you,” he began to explain.
The Queen sat back in her chair as if preparing to hear unpleasant news. “There are many things I would never reveal to that man. You are now one of my Royal Knights of the Realm and what concerns you concerns me and those concerns are none of the Grand Maestros business.”
To Be Chosen (The Maestro Chronicles) Page 8
