Re: Zero - Dawn Eater

The warm lighting inside shone with hues of red and yellow and orange and the chatter of dozens of voices reached their ears.

Hedin squinted his eyes as he saw hundreds if eyes turn to them as they entered.

Obnoxiously dressed nobles and the knights with their signature white and blue coloured attire stood in their own groups in the hall. At the end if the hall, there were a collection of five chairs - empty.

Hedin's eyes fell upon the most eyecatching of the people present in the room.

The first was a green haired beautiful lady. She had a thin face and a confident demeanor. Her hair was styled into a single braid that fell below her waist. Her attire consisted of a military style suit, predominantly blue.

The next was another beautiful woman. She was, in many ways, the opposite of the first woman. She had bright purple purple hair that fell freely from her head in locks and curled around her shoulders. Her shapely figure was covered by white garments that looked made from fur. Her face was unblemished and her curving eyes felt scheming and calculative.

The next group of people that caught his attention were Reinhard, with his bright red hair and Felix Argyle. And finally, a knight that stood close to the purple haired woman, his hair mimicking her's.

Names flashed in his mind like a tidal wave and he found himself recognizing a few of them.

Time seemed to resume and the double doors opened completely.

"Lord Mathers and Lady Emilia, alongside her bodyguard have arrived!" The announcer's voice boomed.

Roswaal turned to him with his signature smirk, "Heeeedin. Since you are acting as Lady Emilia's bodyguaaaard you should join the kniiiiiights' side."

Hedin merely nodded at his request and was off.

From the corner of his vision, he saw Emilia going towards the other two candidates, Crusch and Anastasia.

"Hedin." Reinhard greeted him as he got close.

"Hi there." Hedin passed him a smile.

"When we first met, it never crossed my mind that we would meet again under such circumstances." Reinhard chuckled.

"Likewise."

"Meow? You two nyow each other?" Felix came between them and asked with a curl of his lips. At least Hedin thought it was so...

It may also be that his lips are naturally curled as a cat man.

"That's right." Hedin nodded. "You can... well, you can consider us friends? Though our first meet wasn't exactly great in the slightest."

Reinhard's eyes widened a bit by his words before a smile appeared on his face.

"Yes, we are indeed friends."

"Nya! That's great, then!" Felix exclaimed. He put a hand on his shoulder, "Being a knight is hard work, Hedin. You should do your best to make sure your liege doesn't get disappointed in you."

Hedin smiled wryly. "I'm not fit to be a knight. Too much pleasantries. And I can't imagine myself disappointing Lady Emilia."

"You seem confident in your abilities." Suddenly, a voice came from the side.

All three of them turned to the voice and saw the knight with the purple hair coming towards them.

The man had a perfectly symmetrical face and gleaming yellow eyes.

He kept a hand on his chest and bowed.

"Julius Juukulius. Knight to my lady Anastasia Hoshin."

Recognition dawned on Hedin's mind.

The finest of the knights, is it? A man who embodies the knightly virtues even better than Reinhard does?

Hedin greeted him in a similar fashion.

"Hedin Haverill. Lady Emilia's attendant and bodyguard. Pleased to meet you."

Julius gave him an easy going smile and said, "As Felix here said, even though you're not a knight, attending to a royal candidate in no small duty. You must be ready to face all sorts of challenges. Having confidence might be good, but it's not the right attitude to have."

His words took on a stern tone by the end and his eyes turned a bit sharper.

The change made Hedin feel a bit weird but he could see where his words were coming from. As someone called the 'finest of knights,' of course he would care about teaching others of his ways.

In typical knight fashion that is.

Hedin could feel a sense of quiet confidence and subtle wariness in his emotions. It all mingled with the air of superiority he hung around him.

In the end, Hedin had a clear impression of him.

He's stuck up... He thought to himself. He might think of the knights as virtuous and kind in all respects. I've seen hundreds of cases where such an attitude can make one feel better than the average man...

"I shall take note of your words." Hedin replied diplomatically.

Julius' brows furrowed, but before he could speak, the announcer's voice boomed out again.

"Lady Priscilla and her bodyguard have arrived!"

The doors opened with a swing!

And in walked two eye catching figures.

In the front was a beautiful young woman. Her hair were a burning organe, as radiant as the sun and styled into a braid that fell over her shoulder and down to her waist. Her eyes were a blazing red like rubies and her skin was white, almost pale.

She wore a glorious red dress that left the shoulders exposed and was adorned with various jewels and formed a rose at the hoop skirt.

Behind her trailed a man. In was not wrong to say he drew more attention than the women, solely because he was the most under dressed for the occasion.

The man was a collection of rippling muscles and scars.

His attire consisted of a gladiator helmet and an otherwise bare chest save a small linen vest and a sand coloured cloak over it. He wore sand coloured trousers and a pair of sandals. His gait was smooth and strong, but his missing left arm from the forearm down couldn't be mistaken.

Both of then strode into the room and looked around. Then, Priscilla kicked the man who silently began to walk towards Hedin and Co.

But before the woman turned away, her eyes caught the sight of Hedin.

And she smiled.

She followed behind Al and overtook him, arriving right before Hedin.

That's... Hedin thought, feeling wary and puzzled.

"You!" Priscilla waved her fan at him.

"Me?"

"Yes you! State your name, commoner!" She said, covering her face.

"Hedin Haverill. Bodyguard to Lady Emilia."

Priscilla's sharp voice scoffed.

"Only a fool cannot recognize greatness! Can you not see the epitome of what you are supposed to be, right before your eyes!? If you acted good and kneeled before me now, I might consider taking you in as one of mine!"

"... I beg your f..inest Pardon?" Hedin caught himself before he could ruin his gentlemanly image and stared her down. She was shorter than he was, so she had to look up to meet his gaze.

"Hmph! Our eyes shouldn't be meeting like this." She waved her fan again. "I told you. Kneel and I might consider making you my servant!"

From the corner of his eye, he saw Emilia trying to make her way to him.

With a simple gesture of his hand, he told her to not intervene.

Protecting her bodyguard in front of the nobles and other candidates will harm her image. It might make her appear weak and insecure about being left.

"Princess, can you not make things more difficult for me." The gladiator helmed man spoke, his voice heavy and metallic due to the helmet.

"Shut up! Only speak when I tell you to!" Priscilla snapped back. Her amber red eyes turned back to him suddenly, Hedin felt a change.

Shuuuu~

He felt a phantom heat emanating from her. His eyes narrowed in tension and his white gloved hand clenched.

"I am blessed by the world!" Her exclamations had begun to attract attention from all sides. "I am the one who holds the power of the sun! Grovel before me, commoner. I will not offer such a thing again!"

Hedin gave her a serene smile and bowed a bit. "I'm terribly sorry. But no."

Priscilla raised an eyebrow.

"You dare deny my gratious offer?"

"The value of a man is given by the weight of his words. I will not be defecting from my chosen camp."

His words changed the air. The light became more saturated, the colours in the surroundings seemed to jump happily and suddenly, he seemed to have become the center of attention. All eyes fixated upon him.

The nobles' eyes shone upon seeing him and behind him, in the eyes if Felix, Reinhard and Julius, Hedin sensed a quite acknowledgement.

In just a few words, he had advertised himself as being true to his words and a man of honor. Not only that, he had put out his camp by mentioning it.

Hedin's eyes gleamed as he thought about the benefits of this small exchange.

Priscilla looked at him for a few heartbeats before she huffed and turned away.

"I cannot fault your reasoning. Very well then! Suit yourself!"

Having said that, she walked away.

The tension in the air devolved and the nobles turned their gazes away.

The power of the sun huh... did she somehow sense glory? I do keep it active to cradle the miracle... it might be possible, now that I think about it.

"Yo!" The man raised his remaining arm and exclaimed cheerfully. "Myself Al. I'm the princess' bodyguard. Sorry for her behaviour."

Hedin shook his head with a smile.

"Don't mention it. Hedin Haverill."

One by one, the others also introduced themselves.

"Nya, does your lady always treat nyou like that?" Felix asked, tilting his body.

"Well, at times she's more moody, at times she's less. It all depends on her mood really. I try not to piss her off too much."

"Seems rough." Hedin offered his condolences.

"It is. But the benefits are absolutely worth it!" Al nodded with enthusiasm.

They talked for a few more moments before a man walked over to the stairs that led to the chairs.

"That's the knight commander and the captain of the royal guards, Sir Marcos Gildark." Felix whispered into Hedin's ears.

"Everyone! Your attention please!" His aged voice said, booming into the air.

Then, the announcer's voice reached their ears.

"The council of the wise men have arrived!"

Instantly, the air in the hall seemed to change. Hedin saw every knight automatically stand a bit taller and some of the nobles tidy themselves up.

He felt the emotions in the air change. Nervousness and anticipation lingered.

"Everyone, kindly arrange yourself!" Marcos exclaimed.

The knights and nobles began to spread apart, the knights taking the left side and the nobles taking the right.

Hedin himself was behind Reinhard and before Al.

Before long, the doors opened and 5 men walked in.

All of them were weathered, each older than the last. They slowly took their seats.

Marcos turned to the gathered again, his green hair swaying softly by his movement. "Then, without any delay, I, Marcos Gildark - the captain of the knight's order will commence today's conference!"

One of the wise men, he who was sitting in the middle chair raised his eyes and addressed the crowd. This was Miklotov McMahon, the one representing the wise council.

"It all started half a year ago. When all the members of the royal family, starting with the king went into hiding one by one. It plunged the kingdom int-"

"Listen." Anastasia interjected. "I understand that you're trying to put on a show and everything, but I have places to be, things to do. As we say in Kararagi, time is money."

Hedin did a double take.

Why would you even say that? Inwardly, he had already dreamt up various retorts to that remark that would have harmed her image. Being a merchant was one thing, a merchant running for election was another. Being patient should be the first quality of a ruler... or I would like to say. I'm thankful I'm not the one over there. Sigh!

"As much as I would like to continue this, I must agree with Anastasia on this one." Crusch said with closed eyes. She stood straight with squared shoulders, making her disposition appear stern and steely.

"Lady Crusch, should the head of the Karsten family say such a thing?" Marcos asked with a glare.

"It is important to observe formality, but it is also a fact that is it taking up time. Important time. It would be wiser to immediately inform us of the reason we're here. Naturally, I do have a general idea."

She does? Hedin's eyes narrowed sensing her confidence. The competition might be tougher than I realized.

"Ho?" Miklotov said, "You know the purpose of this meeting?"

"Yes, lord Miklotov. It is for a drinking party correct? One day we will face each other as rivals but for today, we shall get to know more about each other. In case one of us wins, they can make use of the other party's abilities." Crusch smiled up at the council, her green eyes gleaming with victory.

Miklotov shook his head, instantly shooting her proposal down. "That's not correct."

He did not look impressed.

And neither was Hedin. He barely held in a chuckle at this display.

Maybe I over thought that... they might be dangerous but they aren't too clever.

Anastasia openly winced beside her. Crusch, a bit embarrassed, turned to Felix and said, "Felis, this isn't what you told me!"

"Oh come on." Felix shrugged. "All I said what it might be a drinking party."

"I see. I may have jumped to conclusions. Allow me to retract my statement."

Well that was pointless... Hedin looked back up at the Wise Council, expecting them to speak up again.

Emilia kept quiet throughout the whole ordeal. Hedin had taught her to always speak less. In terms of politics, less is always more.

The less and more cryptic your words, the more the other parties will scramble to figure out the intent behind them and reveal their own intentions to fill in the gaps.

Hedin had varying levels of success in employing this tactic himself, but he hoped Emilia would be able to do it. It would not only save her from being targeted from all sides but also make her appear more confident in herself - so long as she didn't visually appear like a lost child.

"Then, let us continue." Miklotov spoke, redrawing the attention. "The reason why we have gathered all of you chosen to be the dragon priestesses is simple. A new prophecy has been issued by the dragon tablet."

He paused, eyes glancing over all of them. "It says 'From the five capable of becoming the nation's new leader, choose one priestess to enter into a covenant with the dragon.'"

"Five?" Hedin muttered under his breath.

"Five." Reinhard glanced over his shoulder and smiled warmly.

"Knight Reinhard Van Astrea, come forward."

"At once!"

Something clicked inside Hedin's mind.

Don't tell me... He looked at Reinhard who turned to address the crowd.

"Honoured members of the council of wise men, the knight order and all the nobles who have gathered here, I, Reinhard Van Astrea of the imperial knights would like to declare the completion of my mission."

Reinhard pointed to the door which began to open with a dramatic slowness.

"The final dragon priestess, the fifth candidate for the throne has been located. The one I revere as the queen!"

Everyone looked on at the door. As it opened, a familiar figure dressed in yellow came into view.

Hedin's eyes widened.

"Lady Felt!"

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Throw some stones.

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A/N: Enjoying yourself so far?

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Cheers~