The Knights' Chronicles Part 9
"Have either of you considered consulting a seer? We could always have a message sent to Romefeller that you may have audience with one to put your minds at ease over your wish for both a child to you as well as an heir for our country..."
Those words from Odin when he addressed the king and queen many years ago flooded back to Heero as he stood in the throne room of the Sanq royal couple. At the time, he had been hidden in the trees to confirm whether the rumors that Sophia had suffered another miscarriage were true.
Little did they know back then just how challenging the wish for a healthy pregnancy would remain for the pair. After waiting and trying for so long, clearly it was all too much for them to not know whether or not they would ever have a child of their own.
Back when the Commander had suggested the assistance of an oracle to ease their minds, King Solo and Queen Sophia had already considered the notion but were hesitant to follow through with the invitation in case what they learned would be hard to take.
Clearly now, they simply wanted to know what would become of their many failed attempts of a family... whether the information was good or bad.
For the knight-in-training, he silently wished that he had the assistance of the empaths' abilities to ease his growing nerves as he stood in wait along with his officers and 'family.
Wufei and Anna were a few feet away, quietly whispering amongst themselves and from what bit of the conversation he was able to pick up, Heero figured that they had come to the same conclusion as to what was being discussed in the closed royal chamber.
"I do so hope that the telling brings good news for them," the archer murmured. "I really do not blame them for bringing in the seers for their guidance."
The swordsman nodded and replied under his breath, "The king and queen certainly have waited long enough to have some answers. With any fortune, there will be a horde of children in their future."
Giggling in a breath, Anna grinned, "That would be wonderful. It would make all of these challenging days for them something to laugh about in the end."
At the opening of the door in the wall behind the empty thrones, Justin was quick to urge his charges, "Look alive, soldiers." Their backs snapping straight and rigid in a tight line with their leaders, the knights-in-training held their breaths when the first sign of life walked into the room.
First to emerge from the chambers were Dallion and Virgil. Their charges, Relena and Quatre, followed close behind. The smiles on the lips of the gifted lot were reassuring for their audience... but it was the elated smiles on King Solo and Queen Sophia's faces along with their laughter that said much of how the telling had gone
Though there were tears in their eyes, there was no question to their being present out of sheer joy.
Nearly falling over with relief, it took every bit of concentration for the small band of soldiers to keep their shoulders from slacking. When the returned lot joined them, they watched as the queen sniffled and bent to embrace Relena tightly with a broken, "Thank you so much for coming here and for helping us."
Happily returning the hug, the girl responded, "It was my pleasure, your highness." When they pulled back, she added so lowly that the others had to strain to here her quiet, "Congratulations."
At that clear evidence of a future heir to complete the royal family, Heero, Anna and Wufei made no effort to hide their exchanged smiles. Even Odin and Justin, normally the picture of restrained emotions when on duty, smirked to one another.
Beside herself with excitement, Sophia went on to embrace the remainder of her gifted guests while Solo followed suit.
Wiping his eyes dry after offering his own appreciation, the king cleared his throat and cheered, "We must celebrate, all us!"
Gently patting the queen's shoulder, Virgil urged, "While that we would be honored to partake in that, you both have been through a lot emotionally, and should rest a bit before anything else."
Wrapping an arm around her torso to collect herself, Sophia's whole body sagged as she sighed, "I could not agree more with that. I will see that you are all shown where the guest rooms are."
Odin stepped forward and said, "Justin and I will take them, highness. We can also give them a tour of the palace while you get your bearings." The royal pair smiled in gratitude and each gave him a firm nod.
That said, the knights led the gifted from the throne room with a lightness in all of their steps.
* * * * * *
After their guided walk through the castle, Dallion and Virgil dismissed their students and contented themselves to having a moment to relax in their shared guest room. Odin and Justin relieved their own charges to do as they pleased until the king and queen had all the time that they needed to prepare themselves for the private banquet being prepared for them.
Freed to go about as they pleased, the band of friends unanimously decided to visit the palace stables. Gathered in the communal center of the facility with Sand Rock, Wing and Peacemillion, they made a ring and ducked their heads in when there were no other ears present.
"So, there is a baby in the future for King Solo and Queen Sophia, then?" Wufei was the first to ask the gifted pair at his right in a hushed voice.
Relena smiled and answered quietly, "Yea, one for certain. They simply wanted to know if there was at least one child and no further information was requested. Dallion and I both saw one when we called upon our gifts and stopped at that information."
While they had assumed as much based off of their leaders' reactions following the telling, it was still a relief to actually have the true confirmation of their oracle friend. Letting out deep sighs of relief, the trio's heads fell further at the lack of tension in their necks and shoulders.
Now with that bit of news, Anna was suddenly more intrigued for further details. Biting her lip, she questioned her friends across from her, "Would it be alright to ask if you were able to catch if the baby was a boy or girl?"
Giggling, the seer nodded firmly. Careful to keep her voice even more soft, she said, "Only because I know that none of you will let this slip before the birth, I can tell you that they will most definitely have a son with his mother's violet eyes. The vision of him was so clear that I had to fight the urge to hold him and end the spell."
"Our future king," Heero breathed, a small smile tugging his lips. Wufei and Anna beamed with excitement in having a glimpse into what was to come.
Reaching back to run his hand over Wing's head, Yuy breathed, "Thank the Creator the king and queen's prayers will be answered. They needed this... to know that there is going to be a family for them when they have been trying for so long."
Quatre grinned, "It was overwhelming the emotions that were flooding through them when they heard what Dallion and Relena had seen. I have no doubt that they will be wonderful parents when the time does come." Peering over to Relena, he rubbed her back and complimented, "You handled yourself beautifully with this being your first telling. I sensed that Dallion was most impressed with you."
The seer's face glowed with the wild smile that threatened to split her face when their eyes met. "Well, it is wonderful to know that my gift can come as such a comfort to others in cases like this," she shrugged. "Having had this ability all my life, I can take for granted how helpful my visions are."
At the sound of a throat clearing, the group sat up and turned to find Odin and Justin approaching. Stopping before the ring that the youths had formed, the Commander informed with a kind grin, "The kind and queen are requesting our attendance."
* * * * * *
Once the knights and their gifted accomplices entered the banquet hall of the castle, the guards standing by closed the doors to give the small party their privacy. The way that Heero and Anna scanned the room and its fine details of deep red walls and fine metal accents, Wufei was sure that they were as new to this part of the palace as he was.
Rising from their seats at the furthest end of the long table in the center of the space, Solo and Sophia smiled warmly at their guests. "Please," the braided king offered from the head of the table as he held a hand out to the empty chairs that were set close to their own.
The soldiers stepped aside to allow Dallion and Relena the places at the queen's right while Virgil and Quatre took to the king's left before they filled in the remainder of the seats.
As the wait staff came through with platters of food to lay out on the table, Solo held out a chalice that was filled with a fine wine and stated, "My wife and I do hope that you will all stay in Sanq for a time before you return to Romefeller. We would feel terrible that you had made such a long trip for such a short favor to us."
When the young woman pouring his drink finished, the braided man smiled kindly to her, "Thank you, Elizabeth. I will be back in the kitchen to thank your mother and everyone working back there for making this meal."
The brunette beamed and lowered her head in a bow. "It is always an honor to serve you and the queen, your highness," she replied sincerely before making her way around the table to see to the other celebrants.
For the gifted in particular who had not known the royal couple personally, it was quite the surprise that the king and queen took the time to know their staff and take such care of them. Impressed expressions were glanced between the four guests over the exchange.
Her hands folding at the edge of the table, Dallion grinned to their hosts, "Your hospitality is most appreciated, your majesties."
Shaking his head, the king insisted, "Solo. Any friend of Sophia and myself may refer to us by our first names."
The queen nodded to second the sentiment. Turning towards the knights-in-training, she winked, "And that goes the same for all of you, so long as it is not in the presence of others who feel as though we may be favoring you." Their eyes widening, the three friends' faces broke out in wide smiles.
Dallion giggled, "Very well, Solo and Sophia. Actually, we were hoping to spend a few days seeing the sights of your kingdom. This is the closest to a vacation that any of us would have seen since Relena and Quatre began their training with us many years ago."
Lightly rubbing the top of his charge's blonde head and looking every bit like a proud father, Virgil smirked, "Not that we would complain about that, at all." Chuckling, Winner fixed his hair as his mentor kept his smirk on him and continued, "These two have come a long way in mastering their gifts. Already, they are far ahead of many of their peers of the same age, so we are most impressed with them." Quatre and Relena grinned widely at the compliment.
With a put on dramatic sigh, the muscular empath addressed the royal couple, "Though it is quite nice to have a bit of a break from them for a change." He laughed when his apprentice lightly poked him in his bare, thick arm.
Queen Sophia laughed, "Wonderful. Solo and I would be more than happy to show you around wherever you would like to go."
Vibrant violet eyes peered to the other half of the table to settle on the redhead at the end of the line and the queen's smile grew. "Anna, I must say how proud I am that you have lasted this long in your own training," she said sincerely. "This is the longest any female knight prospect has lasted."
Taken aback by the recognition, the archer's blue eyes widened. "T-thank you, your h-" Quickly correcting herself, she giggled, "I mean Sophia. That means more to me than words can say."
Justin was focused on reaching for some of the food that had been laid out as he snorted, "It is nothing to celebrate yet. She still has a long way to go before she is actually knighted. That is when I will be impressed." Instantly, every eye around widened and fell on the Captain in disbelief.
Swallowing roughly, Anna's mouth fell in a deep frown and her head lowered. "Yes, father," she replied quietly. "You are right." Heero and Wufei's gazes moved from their 'sister' to narrowing back on the officer, their faces reddening with bridled anger.
Equally upset, Virgil and Quatre seemed to have had a quiet discussion between them before Justin almost shot from his seat with a sharp cry. "What just hit me!?" he yelled, reaching a hand behind to rub the back of his head while his wide blue eyes searched for whatever it was that had attacked him. Finding nothing looming around, his surprise gave way to confusion.
Quickly realizing what must had transpired, Anna looked down her half of the table to give the empaths a small smile in appreciation. Virgil smirked and winked to the archer as Quatre grinned and nodded. Solo and Sophia shared a private smile before the queen shrugged, "I did not see anything, Captain. Are you quite feeling alright?"
"I... well... yes, I am fine," the tall archer stammered with another glance around himself to confirm that he must have imagined something hitting him. Shaking his head, he kept his head lowered as he resumed filling his plate to shield his reddening face.
Odin cleared his throat to contain his silent laughter, but the smile on his face has spread as far as it could go while he made sure to not lift his own head. And so it seemed that even the Commander was happy that his long-time friend had received just treatment for his harsh remark.
Reaching over to take his wife's hand, the braided king smiled to the knights, "I am sure that you are all wondering why we had called upon our gifted guests today. Considering how we trust all of you to keep this between us, we are thrilled to announce that Sophia and I do have a baby in our future."
"Without any question," Dallion decreed, a pleased expression on her own face. "There will be at least one child born to continue the reign of the Sanq royal family to answer so many prayers and wishes on behalf of the people here." Relena's lips curled up as she nodded fervently.
The Terrible Trio raised their heads with gasps and elated grins along with their officers. "T-that is wonderful news," Lowe stammered as the information sank in. "Congratulations," he offered sincerely.
Justin laughed at his released tension, "Yes, congratulations to you both. And thank you for trusting us with this news. It is a great relief to us to know that you will be able to have a child after you have waited so long." The knights-in-training nodded their heads.
Fighting a new wave of tears, Sophia practically glowed with her growing smile. "Well, I cannot thank you all enough for the support and kindness that you have shown," she said quietly, her voice cracking. "Everyone in Sanq has been so wonderful to us and it really has helped us through the difficult times that we have endured with this." Unable to trust his voice, her husband muttered an affirmative to the sentiment.
"Well, the heir to the throne, as well as all of your children will be in the best of care with our next generation of knights, if there is any clue to how they will be with these three," Odin smirked, his gray eyes falling on the students at his left.
As his brother and sister looked to him to speak up for them, Heero replied with a bow of his head, "Thank you, Commander. We will not let you down when that day comes."
Raising his chalice, Solo chuckled deeply, "I do not have a single doubt that our child will be in the best care and protection. Now, let us enjoy our meal." That said, the partakers made sure to have a helping of all of the courses provided as they fell back into their lighthearted conversation.
* * * * * *
At the end of the private celebration, it took little convincing on Relena and Quatre's part to have the mentors allow them to spend the rest of the evening with their new friends at the encampment. Bidding the king and queen a good night, the officers and their pupils headed out to the stables with the two gifted.
Sharing his saddle with Justin, Odin noticed along with the others how neither the Captain nor his daughter so much as looked at one another since leaving the banquet hall. Nor did they exchange glances for the whole flight back to their tree-shielded base.
The moment that his feet touched the ground, the red-headed Captain headed out of the stable on his own while Wing landed behind Peacemillion. Once her father was out of sight, Anna let out a sigh as her shoulders slumped with her face marred by a deep frown. Wufei tightened his hold around her waist and leaned forward to whisper in her ear, "Do not let him bother you. We all know that you are going to be knighted along with the rest of us."
Her blue eyes widening, the archer peered over her shoulders and wrapped her own arms around his to squeeze back. "Thank you, Wufei," she replied just as quietly. "I know that he is just trying to toughen me."
"Still, he sure as hell could try to show at least a little more appreciation for everything that you have accomplished," Heero hissed through his gritted teeth. Reaching to undo the harness, he lightly patted his sister's leg and told her, "If it helps at all, you know that we are proud of you, Anna."
Biting her lip, the Fraise managed to keep her frustrated tears back and instead reached around to give each swordsmen a tight embrace that spoke every word of her gratitude.
One-by-one, the trio rose to their feet and jumped to the ground to find Odin standing by. A small smile on his face, the Commander stepped forward to stop before Anna and rubbed the top of her head with a large hand to muss her hair. Giggling at the rare display of affection of her superior, the archer closed her eyes and leaned into the touch before the hand pulled away again.
Shaking his head, Lowe sighed, "I wish that the Creator would put your heart in every young man that I have ever trained, Anna."
A lump formed in Fraise's throat that she had to swallow. Bowing her head, she said softly, "Thank you, sir. That... is the greatest compliment that I could ever receive."
With a smirk, Odin patted her head once more and told the trio, "See that our Quatre and Relena have a good report on their treatment here during their stay. You are all free to go about as you please for as long as we are in their company." Turning to their guests, he bowed his head with a polite, "If there is anything that you may need, I will not be hard to find."
"Thank you, Commander," the band of teenagers chorused as one. Turning on his heels, the tall officer headed out.
Stricken by a thought, Heero turned to face Relena. "You mentioned that your gift can sometimes work if you are presented with a specific question," he commented. "Can you see the three of us becoming knights in the future?"
Grinning at the opportunity to help her friends, the oracle closed her eyes. Holding their breaths, the trio stood back in wait. After a long silence, Relena's brown furrowed and her lids squeezed tight.
Quatre frowned in worry and stepped closer to her side. Even Sand Rock, the calm presence that he normally was, lowered his large head to watch the girl with a disgruntled snort.
Those changes in their friends were enough to make the Heero, Wufei and Anna glance nervously between them.
Suddenly, the seer's eyes snapped open as a sharp gasp escaped her. The color disappeared form her face in the wake of large droplets of sweat on her forehead while she wobbled on her legs that seemed to turn into nothing. Quatre was there along with Sand Rock to keep her upright before the others had a chance to move in and help; the empath with his arms around her waist and the dragon propping the end of his long snout at her back.
"Relena," the empath called, carefully freeing a hand that he wiped across her damp face. "Are you alright?"
As though waking from a dream, the girl blinked until her clouded eyes cleared. Wufei appeared with a cup of water that he had collected before anyone was aware he had run off.
Smiling, Relena accepted the offering and drank it down. "Thank you, Wufei." she sighed, drying her mouth with the back of her hand. Locking her gaze with the boy holding her, she reassured, "I am fine. The vision was not coming to me and so I pushed myself a little too hard to have it appear. Unfortunately, I cannot not see anything around your knighthood just yet."
There was something in the way that Winner seemed to tense all the more that told the knights-in-training perhaps Peacecraft's explanation was not as easy as she was making it to be.
However, just when the first thoughts of questioning what had just taken place, the urge to do so was erased.
TBC...
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