Wish upon the Stars

I'd been expecting to be escorted to the king directly by a bunch of  guards, but we only got a retinue of four armored figures to escort us.  The closed in around us, silvery armor clanking as they formed a sort  of guide box, forcing us to move in a specific direction and not to  deviate. The armor was shimmery to an absurd degree, but more than that,  it was also seamless over their whole bodies. It had lines to give it  shape like normal plate, but seemed to be made of one solid piece in  reality.

"I wonder if they need can openers to get  undressed at night." I said conversationally to Callie, who giggled as  one of the guards stumbled slightly, then tried to pretend it hadn't  happened while the others huffed in annoyance.

Stepping up  next to Anna-Marie I pitched my voice low, using Stealth through my  bond with Callie. "So what do we need to know here exactly? I'd rather  not get executed because I used the wrong spoon for soup or something."

That  got a giggle. "Etiquette is formal and respectful. Address my father as  your majesty, don't speak unless spoken to, and be polite. Other than  that you should be fine. He'll tell you what he wants, just agree  respectfully and you'll be fine."

Annoying because I'd  hoped to possibly bring up wishes, but it sounded like that would be  impossible without risking offense. We walked for about twenty minutes  before finally stopping at a pair of absolutely massive double doors.  Next to them, a single smaller door opened and a man came out to meet  the guards. They whispered to each other for a minute, then spoke to  Anna-Marie, all without me hearing. I supposed the man had a Stealth  Skill.

Then he went back inside and the double doors began  to creak open. I stepped inside onto a long, plush brown aisle carpet,  at the end of which sat...a man. Now, when we arrived we'd been  surrounded by guards, and so had Jessie though I hadn't seen it at the  time. They'd been walking behind us, and I'd heard them so I hadn't  worried about it, but the inside of this place was big enough for she  and Randall to walk in side by side with us.

All of which  is to say that when I said the king looked like a shaved bear, it was  definitely accurate because I had an ACTUAL bear to compare him to. The  man from before stepped up beside us. "Introducing Solomon of the  Starchaser Pavilion and Retinue! All kneel for his majesty Crighton  Deville, fifth king of Ladrigan, Mountain Crusher, Lord of Cracking  Bone, Fist of the Kingdom, and Bearer of Unyielding Force." The man who  was apparently a crier bellowed at the top of his lungs.

Crighton,  for his part, just stared at us coldly. Huge and blocky, with broad  shoulders and a stocky build despite being tall, he had coal black eyes  and long silver hair. There was a crown of beaten black iron adorning  his brow, making his gaze all the more eerie, and his large protruding  jaw made him look like he might bite into me at some point, his eyebrows  thick and pulled down in displeasure.

We knelt,  obviously. Because one look at this guy and I knew he could fucking  murder all of us. Not only was he obviously at the peak of F-rank, but  he'd used several drops of the Moonglow Dew, as his Impact was much  higher than ours. I had no real way to gauge it, but I'd have pegged him  at somewhere near forty Impact. Which meant he was chronologically  probably close to four THOUSAND, because this guy was very obviously  incredibly old.

Most old people I'd seen tended toward  being just grizzled versions of their younger selves, Vitality keeping  them in good shape until the very last minute. Crighton was no  different. He looked like a really buff old man, an aged version of who  assume he'd been as a youth. I could very well imagine the huge,  bearlike man towering over his subjects, brown hair falling like an  avalanche down his shoulders, instead of the lank silver mane he had  now.

I knew why Anna-Marie had said he got his drops from a  prior awakening, because I didn't think it was the last one. Maybe the  one before? I wasn't sure exactly how long it had been since last time  the Glade opened. No wonder he was looking for an heir.

He  stared down at us coldly for a minute or two, the silence seeming to  crush down on us, before a voice like breaking rocks at the bottom of a  steep cliff boomed out from that barrel chest. "Outsiders." He mused.  "Young. Though aren't you always. I find myself...unimpressed. Still,  you won't be the last. I assume my daughter has enlightened you on the  situation?" That question was addressed to me, and I nodded, since I  didn't want to run my mouth and screw us over when I had nothing to say  except 'yes sire'.

"Good." Rumbled the king. He picked at  the sleeve of his well tailored brown doublet. "Then you know you will  choose one of my children to support. Traditionally, the child who finds  the outsiders has first claim, but you may wave it should you wish for  someone more..." His eyes raked Anna-Marie. "Useful." His tone wasn't  scornful really, just dismissive, but I felt Callie bristle as the blue  skinned princess wilted under his apathy. "Make your choice."

She  did NOT, thankfully, say anything. I was pretty sure we'd die if we  tried to fight our way out of here. The guards might not be higher  Impact than us, but they all seemed to be far into, or even at the peak  of F-rank. And suddenly...I just didn't care. I wasn't going to be  disrespectful or actively hostile, but I just didn't have it in me to be  afraid of this giant Ascendant bully.

I looked him dead  in the eye without flinching, and said firmly. "We already have. We're  with Anna-Marie." Even if we hadn't agreed to that already I'd have said  it. I wouldn't give this dick the satisfaction. It was funny, because  when I first came in he'd intimidated me a bit, but that one action had  shown me what he really was. Just a big fish in a small pond who thought  he was important.

My tone wasn't derisive either, but it  had enough edge to raise one of those thick woolly eyebrows. I could see  him deciding if he should take offense, but he needed us and we were  the first group of outsiders his kingdom had found, so he ended up  deciding to be amused. His lips spread, exposing large blocky teeth that  looked like they could grind diamonds. "Very well. I look forward to  your performance. You have a spine, if nothing else."

He  looked away from me then, over our shoulders and off into the distance,  like we'd ceased to exist. I knew that was a dismissal, despite him not  saying it, and smiled as we were ushered to our feet and out of the  chamber, Anna-Marie trailing behind us, looking a bit shell shocked.

She'd  been expecting us to change our minds I think. So used to being written  off by everyone that even when we told her she had our support she  didn't really believe it would happen. Callie stepped up next to her,  putting an arm on her hand. "Hey. Don't let him get to you. Our parents  don't decide who we are. Even if they may decide who other people are  sometimes. We're here to help you."

I nodded. "Damn  straight. Speaking of which, I need to know a LOT more about all this. I  need to know how much Dew we get and where we get it from. Like is  there some kind of flower or tree it collects on?" If there was we might  have an advantage, because my plant seeking Skill should be damned  useful for something like that.

Callie turned and kicked  me in the knee sharply, causing me to yelp and hop back. "We don't need  to talk about that right now." She said firmly, glaring at me. "We can  worry about those things tomorrow. Tonight you can just show us to our  rooms and you and I can talk for a while. You seem like you could use a  friend."

"And you can cuddle with Randall." Chirped Jessie  cheerfully. "He gives the best hugs. Normal teddy bears have nothing on  snuggling with a real life chonky boy." The bear snorted loudly and she  rolled her eyes. "No I'm not calling you fat. You're proportionally  chonky."

Anna-Marie giggled at their antics. Celine looked  like she wanted to weigh in too, but I saw her pull back with a sigh.  She and Benny would probably want to befriend the princess too, but she  clearly didn't feel like part of the group still after her betrayal and  subsequent atonement.

Valk was also  seemingly feeling protective, having stepped in closer to the princess,  looming slightly in a menacing way that wasn't aimed at her. Figuring  those members of our group had it covered I didn't try to interject. I  wasn't the most comforting person to anyone except my close loved ones. I  was curious about one thing.

Slipping  back, I came to a stop next to Abel. "So..." I said slowly, making sure  to use Stealth so we weren't overheard. "The king. He was pretty  strong. Do you think you could have-"

"One  punch." He said shortly. "He'd have crushed me with a single blow. I've  seen F-rankers at the peak before, like Rime, but he...he reminded me  of an E-ranker. A gulf you just can't cross." He grinned widely, showing  all his teeth. "It was fantastic. I can't wait to get my Impact to the  same level."

I  shook my head. "I know she said the drops give diminishing returns, but  I'm guessing he's had a LOT of them to get to that level. Probably past  the point where most people would have given up. I'd be shocked if we  could make it to thirty five Impact, and that guy seems to be at forty."

There  wasn't MUCH Dew in between awakenings, but the king would definitely  get what there was to get. I suspected he was pretty much at the limit  of what could be done even using way too much of the stuff though,  otherwise he wouldn't be looking to prepare an heir. I wondered how many  drops it would take, and how many we would get. We'd have to share with  Anna-Marie, so we'd need to be going all out to accrue the stuff too,  since there was ten of us.

I  was so lost in my own thoughts that we came to the rooms before I even  noticed, having to pull myself up short to stop from running into  Randall's giant furry ass. "Well." Said a much happier Anna-Marie.  "These are your rooms. Three couples rooms and four singles."

Jessie  frowned at the door to hers, popping it open and then sighing with  relief. "The hallways here are huge, but I was worried the rooms might  not fit Randall. looks fine though, even if the door is a bit of a  squeeze." She looked at Abel. "Hey Apollyon, you mind helping me out  here?"

Muttering  about not being a bear delivery service, Abel slouched forward,  ignoring his giggling girlfriend as he helped use his spatial  lubrication to slip the bear through a door half his size. Once Randall  was through I could see inside the room and noted that it WAS plenty big  for him. This huge mountain castle seemed to have been made with a  bigger is better attitude in mind. With a thank you to the princess  Callie and I headed into our room, where we promptly collapsed into bed.  It had been a hell of a day. I was unconscious before my head hit the  pillow.