The Crimson Prince： Awakening 42 Chapter 13: The Crimson Knights

Sir Christopher was never one to disobey a direct order from his superiors. He had always done his work to the best of his ability, and for years he was recognized for his hard work to Ebonhart. His formal uniform was decorated with rows upon rows of awards marking his past achievements.

He himself was in charge of countless soldiers back in his prime days. He raided enemy compounds with the flame wielders back in the day as well as holding the border of Ebonharts surrounding villages. He was used to keeping his beloved citizens safe from the tyranny beyond the border of home.

Ever since King Ragnos had lost his wife and heir, it seemed like he had been reduced to a lowly tax collector and added to his list of obligations of late, kidnapping.

When his king had felt the presence of a royal flame wielder, he had sent the knights on a blind hunt to find the cause of such an uproar. Wherever they went, it seemed they were just following calamity. Villages were uprooted, piles of ash in the corners of the many huts he had been forced to intrude upon.

Just steps in front of him at all times, it seemed as though the source of the anomaly knew it was being chased. After a brief time, Christopher had all but forgotten about his previous orders and set out on a hunt for the one who would set such destruction and ruin upon the land he had sworn to protect. He sent scouts ahead to the other villages to ensure their safety, yet none of them returned. When he reached each village, he only saw ash and destruction.

It was during such an investigation that he happened upon the earth sage. Following into Crystal Cove, he and his men were confronted with an awful truth. The king in his isolation had lost control of his kingdom. He had locked himself away in his room and only opened it for meals. The question that was on his mind and his men, who had been ruling the kingdom, had finally been answered.

The earth sage had placed himself in front of Christopher's men as if he were an unbreakable s.h.i.+eld as they made their way back to Ebonhart. The gates were in view as they stopped and made camp to go over strategy. It was not an uncommon sight for anyone pa.s.sing by to the gates. To them, it was as if the knights were training for an upcoming raid.

If anyone were to pay closer attention, they would see that no fire was made. No tent was pitched. Only one hundred warriors in which the earth sage himself collected were gathered in a circle around him.

The circle was in the middle of a muttered discussion on what might be happening when the earth sage raised his hand, commanding silence.

"I'm sure you all are more than a little confused as to the reason we are right outside of the gates To the place you consider home. Realize good and well that the question you are all confronted with is simple. That is not your home."

Christopher looked around the circle to his brothers who wore even more confused expressions. He knew it would take more than that small explanation to quell their racing minds.

"I want you all to answer one important question. It may seem ridiculous but answer nonetheless. Who is your king?"

"King Ragnos." Christopher heard from somewhere in the rear of the formation.

"Come up front soldier." the sage said with a patient smile. From the rear Christopher saw a knight appear that was old enough to be his son, but no older. The knight now stood in front of the sage with a wary expression on his face. "What is your name?"

"Anthony sir." the knight answered instantly while his unwavering gaze fell on the sage.

"Good, now Anthony," the sage said patiently as if he were talking to a toddler. "Who is your king?"

"King Ragnos, sir." Anthony boomed to the rest of the formation, as if he were answering for his brothers instead of the sage.

"What if I were to say you were mistaken?" the sage answered simply while Anthony's mouth opened along with most of the men. Before they could speak, the sage raised a hand to keep the silence. "What if I were to say that you were serving under King Aremesis?"

Anthony's eyes narrowed to slits as he glared at the sage. Who was this man to dishonor his king so formally? Many others were put to death for such an act of disloyalty.

"Sir I don't know what land you believe yourself to be in, but this is the crown capital of Crystallia, Ebonhart. Through the ages since the beginning of civilization within these lands, the Ragnos line has always been sovereign and I will not stand for such insults towards our king." the young soldier put a twitching hand upon the pommel of his sword.

The sage merely twitched a finger upward in a gesturing motion. A vine shot from the ground and wrapped around the young man's sword hand. "Let's hold the theatrics for a later time, what do you say young man." he said with a wink.

The circle became enraged by the sages actions as well as his words. Christopher could see movement from within the circle as the knights tried to close in. He also saw a twisting motion from the sages hand and felt a vine tightly around his ankle. He relaxed knowing the sage had a reason for everything. He was not the only one who knew this. All of the middle aged knights nodded in understanding while the younger ones struggled in frustration. The more they struggled, the more the vine crept upward, ensuring that they didn't move.

"When was the last time you saw King Ragnos?" the sage said loud enough for the group to hear him. "When was the last time he was at a brief? When was the last time he accompanied you to dine? When was the last time you saw him walk the streets of Ebonhart?" with every question, Anthony stopped struggling little by little. Christopher could see the gears turning in his head. "What does your king look like?"

"Tell me," the sage continued. "Who does the briefings?" he looked into Anthony's eyes as if he were looking into his soul. "Who dines with you? Who do you see wandering the streets?"

Anthony looked down in frustration. The reality of the questions seemed to hit him with the force of a hammer.

"Your king has been locked away in his chambers since you were barely able to walk Anthony." the sage said as he circled around the young knight. "Advisor Aremesis has been in charge of the kingdom. You may have been given the task of finding the kings heir, but Aremesis has been one step ahead of you the whole time." the sage featured for a bowl of water to be poured and placed in front of Anthony that took up the size of a round table.

"Christopher could you come here for a moment?" upon being summoned, the knight felt the vine fall away from his ankle. He moved purposely to the center of the formation where the sage stood. "Good, I want you to think of all the towns and villages you have encountered on your journey. Leave nothing out."

It wasn't hard to picture the collapsed huts or the intact ones with piles of ash. He remembered the rotting fields and destroyed vegetation. The sage made a gesture to the large bowl of water and the surface stilled. Within the bowl held the disturbing images swimming around Christopher's head.

One row after another of knights was hoisted in the air by their waists as the vines safely held them. The sage made sure everyone saw the calamity Christopher had witnessed and could easily hear the collective gasps from the crowd.

"Would your king allow this?" the sage whispered sympathetically to the knights. Although it was a low whisper, it carried to each individual ear. "The king you all know and love would never allow his lands to fall into such destruction." when the last of the men were cycled through and everyone saw the images, the contents within bowl returned transparent.

"This is why I have brought us here. I wish to awaken our sleeping king to the atrocities committed in his name, and I am not the only one." with another wave of his hand, the bowl emitted a bright red light. Instead of cycling the knights through to the bowl, he allowed them to move freely once again. None left the formation, instead they hovered in front of the basin.

"Your Prince, William Ragnos the Second has returned to Crystallia." the sage said matter of factly. As he was talking, the bright red focused to make out a pillar of gold and crimson though it was hard to determine exactly how big the pillar was until a silhouette came into focus. At first it only looked like a blotch of black within the ma.s.sive storm of the royal colors until a form of a single man came into focus.

"Is that man flying?" one of the guards asked incredulously. Christopher couldn't blame him, he was having a hard time believing it himself.

"Forget about that," another guard shouted in amazement. "Look at what he wields!" sure enough as he spoke, the line man's sword came into view. "That's the royal lineage blade!"

Recognition flew through the hundred men as if a live flame had pa.s.sed through them. "What you see here is through a pendant I pa.s.sed on to a knight I sent ahead of us. Everything you see here is happening at this very moment." the sage said as the basin zoomed out to the surrounding area. Along with the Prince was a woman with an aura as dark as the night sky levitating a little lower than him. Her long dark hair made it seem as though her whole body was made of the darkness around her.

"I have never seen such an aura before." a knight from the front voiced. "If you look closely at the dark aura, you'll see flecks of light within." Christopher and a few other knights nodded in agreement.

"I think I recognize her from somewhere." another knight exclaimed as he leaned in for a better look. "I believe I saw her exit the advisors quarters a few times." he said as he pondered. "If that's true, Aremesis would have known Prince William had returned."

The sage zoomed the image out the rest of the way. "Given your ranks within the kingdom's defense, wouldn't you also know of this?" the men stood in shock as hundreds of flame wielders came into focus.

"What in the.." Anthony trailed off. "How could we not have known of this?" he couldn't seem to trust his eyes. "Why weren't we informed?" Anthony backed away from the basin.

"The answer is easy if you look closely Anthony. If you look below the woman with the dark aura, I believe you will find what you are looking for."

Every eye dropped below the dark lady to the men below. Every aura was red except one. "This can't be.." Anthony heard an older knight draw in a breath. "How could that man have a silver aura?"

"It's not just that," the sage continued the mans thoughts. "That aura is lined with gold, which most of you know is a mark of a true advisor to the throne." he said as his gaze swept the crowd. "I'm sure most of you know the impossible truth of this sight by now." some nodded. "Then put words to it!" he let his voice ring out around them.

"There can only be one true advisor to the throne." Anthony said almost in a trance.

The sage looked at the young knight. "I ask you once more Anthony," he said in a somber voice. "Who is your king?"

King William Ragnos." Anthony said without pause.

"And who is the kings advisor?" he asked with a gentleness in his voice that was absent up until then.

Anthony looked back to the basin with a confused expression on his face, as if his entire world had been flipped upside down. He gazed at the man with the gold embroidered silver aura with a look of understanding and acceptance. He knew once the words were spoken aloud, everything would change. "That man is."

The sage allowed a c.o.c.ked eyebrow as he looked at the circle of confused knights. "Then I ask you, the Crimson Knights, who is Aremesis?"

The one hundred man formation went silent while the sages gaze swept over them. "Aremesis is a pretender in your court. A man who has used his closeness to the king to dictate the land. He is the one responsible for the taxes that have become too unbearable for the citizens of your kingdom." he said in a loud tone, which carried over to the men and women who were travelling the path to the gates. Most of the travellers had only made the journey to request an audience with the king about the very problems the sage was now putting words to.

"Taxes," he muttered almost under his breath. "What are they for?" a group of twenty more travellers were caught in his words. "Are they not paid in order to repair roads? To feed the knights? To repair homes and defend the borders?" he cast his hand over to the basin symbolizing what the knights had just seen. "Tell me, just how much repair and defense have you men just seen?" he looked back at Anthony. "Tell me, just how much do they feed you? How much do they pay you in order to support your families?"

Anthony cast his eyes to the dirt. "Its true, he muttered as he felt wetness form within his eyes. "We get fed three meals a day, but since I've been a knight it's always been bread and cheese, if we wanted more we would have to hunt for it ourselves." his eyes went back up to his brothers. "But how much of our game are we allowed to keep? Only a leg. The rest goes to the court for their feasts."

"We get one silver every month." Christopher pitched in. "When our king was well, we were given ten silver a month and a feast in the dining hall with our families!" He hadn't meant to yell, but it seemed that particular emotion had been smoldering inside him for some time.

The sage nodded his head in understanding. "Your words ring true Sir Christopher, I remember those days well when I once dined with you along with our king."

"This man," the sage pointed to the basin where Will's image held in front of a pillar of light. "Has grown in a world where actions have just cause." he screamed into the now overwhelming crowd of men and women. "He has learned fairness and compa.s.sion the likes of which I have rarely laid eyes on. He would give shelter to a stranger even though that very man could potentially be an enemy in the future! He has saved the innocent from a fate worse than death! He awakened his gift by showing bravery in the face of defeat countless times! He has shown that even fate must bow before him!" the sages voice boomed with every word, but then took a more gentle tone. "I have watched him grow before my eyes and seen the potential he would one day have when he returned here." his eyes grew soft as he stared into the basin.

"Elder knights, do you remember me?" his voice rang out amongst the crowd that had now tripled the original hundred.

"YES SAGE!" they rang out as one.

"Do you remember who trained you?" the sages voice rang over them.

"YOU!" they roared in unison.

Anthony's eyes went wide in recognition when he looked upon the older man with new sight. "You are that sage?"

"My boy," the sage said with an endearing tone. "There has only ever been one earth sage to visit Crystallia." Jonathan said with a wink.