Scales and Swords ✓

21: The Meeting

I didn't recognize the girl in the mirror. She was a stranger. She was stunningly beautiful. She was healthy. Someone who provoked curiosity. She looked like someone who belonged in a painting. Whose history was a mystery to a first time viewer, whose life had been lived. Who certainly no longer looked like she.

Her wild curls up in a tight bun. Her brown skin glowing like the sun. Her scales shimmering like stars. Her eyes glistening and gleaming. Her rags replaced by armor. Armor that was light and fitting. With a cape flowing behind her. She was what one would think of when they thought of a hero. But I was anything but. I saved no one. I was a fraud. Undeserving of such stature.

When I walked into the throne room to meet the king, I set my eyes to his feet. Got on my knees and dropped my head so low, all I could see was the carpet beneath me.

"Rise knight," came his deep commanding voice. I rose my head to meet eye to eye with his majesty in all his glory. Though if you looked carefully enough, he looked like an ordinary man. His straw-blond hair had streaks of white. His sunken eyes were colored both green and gold, just like the Prince. He was not frail, nor feeble. He was of strong-built. He was all but who I had met in my first test. He was truly, the great king of Kreatier.

He was the man who conquered kingdoms. Who sent men to battle fields to fight his wars. Who has all of Kreatier beneath his feet. Who at just a wave of the hand, could have you killed. He was whom I would serve.

I hesitated to speak, for he was staring at me so intensely I feared I had already done something wrong. When he finally spoke again, he looked away. "What is your name, knight?"

"Mo," I answered quickly. "Mo Dalk."

"Mo?" he said my name as if he was trying it on his tongue. "What an odd name? Is it short for something?"

"No, your majesty."

More silence, as his eyes travelled across my face, across my body. "I hear you are part dragon. But you were adopted."

"Yes, your majesty." I felt short of breath, I wondered when I had begun to hold my breath, maybe when I first walked in, but it felt longer.

"It's been so long since I've seen another dragon." He stared off into the distance longingly as he spoke.

I had planned on just saying, "yes your majesty" and "no your majesty", to all he said but for some reason I had the courage to ask, "do they still exist?"

For the first time, he met my eyes with a ghost of a smile on his lips. "I hope so. Mo, do you know why we are at war with Ogalsia?"

Ogalsia was the neighboring kingdom. All I knew was that the war began shortly after I was born. And had since been claiming lives from both kingdoms by the thousands each year. A real knight would have known the answer. A real knight would never have said what I did. "I am not sure."

"As expected." I froze. I questioned whether I heard that right or not. "No one truly knows why I am so determined to bring down Ogalsia. But I'll tell you. Ogalsia kills, Kreatier unites. They fear difference, we celebrate it. They're the ones who took the dragons. Because the dragons didn't follow their regimes. Those who act out are executed. Those who don't follow the rules are executed. I want to make sure, all races are given a chance. A choice. A life they can enjoy living. Are you as my guard ready to stand at my side to crumble the kingdom of Ogalsia?"

A simple "yes your majesty" would've sufficed and yet seemed so difficult to say. The words were stuck in my throat. Because agreeing was like agreeing to the slaughter of those who supported Ogalsia. Agreeing was agreeing to war. Agreeing was agreeing to more chaos and bloodshed and pain. The longer I didn't say anything the narrower his majesty's eyes became.

"I will serve you, your majesty with all I am capable of." I knew myself enough to know that I was not capable of such.

~~~

"You don't like the stew?" Philip asked from across the table.

I looked up from my untouched bowl of lamb stew to meet his eyes. He perked a brow. I swallowed and looked away. "What if I'm not able to carry out my duties?"

He lowered his spoon and sighed greatly. "And why can't you?"

"I didn't sign up wanting to protect the king. I signed up to bring my family back."

"Well you can do both, can't you?"

"Can I, though?"

Philip folded his arms over his chest and leaned back. "Stop it," he said simply.

"What?"

"Stop doing what I did, doubt you."

"It's not that," I conceded. "What if I have to kill someone to protect him? what if I have to look away when he kills? What if I do what that mage did to me, take away someone's loved ones?"

"So that's all it boils down to?" He groaned. "But it isn't as simple as that."

I lifted my head, I had unknowingly dropped, and met Philip's intense stare. Long gone was his cheery grin. "What are you talking about?"

"I became a knight, because I wanted to serve my kingdom, my king. And I did it, knowing the consequences. The things I'd give; the thing's I'd need to do. In no way am I justifying the lives of those lost at the hands of his majesty, but that's the job of a knight. You make tough choices for the safety of others. If this is something you can't see yourself doing, then"—he stared me dead in the eye—"quit. And all you've done will go to waste."

I would be lying if I said I wasn't on the verge of tears. "Why do we have to fight? Why does there have to be war?"

His expression softened at the break in my voice. "Those are some things that we can't change. Only the king can you give you an answer."

But he did. And I knew why. His answer, however, was insufficient. Was Kreatier any different from Ogalsia, if all my life I had been treated differently, treated less than others just for the laws he stood by? Were they any different if men and women were not allowed to bare children, based solely on their race? Surely, he had a better reason.

"I won't complain," I told Philip. "I'll do my job, but once I get my family back. I'm leaving. I don't want them to know what I did to get them back."

I didn't want the burden of the kingdom on my shoulders. I didn't want to be responsible for more than I could handle. And yet, despite all he did, I couldn't help but feel sympathy for the king and his heir, this was their life. Their lives were planned out before they were even born, their destinies set in stone. They couldn't just leave as easily as I could.

A/n: I dunno if I mentioned it but Mo has brown skin...yeah. I'm melanesian so...also Kreatier is sort of a mixture of all cultures around the world so dont be surprised if you find your culture added in.