The Other Nobles

"We waited for you, fool" whispered a young man kneeling next to you. It's true you came in and everybody was already in place. When your father hears about this he's not going to like it.

"Rise men." At the words of his majesty you all stood up solemnly and then rose your gazes to meet his eyes. "We have summoned eight of you, promising lords to be of our country to see for ourselves if we can entrust our future to you." When he says 'we', the king is not talking about a group of people but only about himself. He is using the 'royal we'. "For that, we will task each of you with a mission. Those of you who succeed will receive knighthood at their return. If you were to fail that mission then we will never send you to fight abroad for our country."

This might sound like a kind offer, not having to risk your life and shed your blood in war. But it is in fact a punishment and a humiliation. Not only will you be a laughingstock for the rest of your life as a lord who has never set foot on a battlefield but your family as well. Your own people might grow defiant of you if they start to think that you are weak and unbefitting of your title.

"Aye, Your Majesty !" you all yelled.

Then the speaker called out each of you and gave you a task in the name of the king except for Tupac and another man. He must have been brought along by one of those who were summoned too. Some of you were tasked to find and capture criminal bands and others had to bring peasant rebellions to an end. A few had to build infrastructures or facilities in their county. For some of the men summoned, the bureaucracy had reasons to think home cities were infiltrated with spies and so these men were tasked to find and capture them.

"Sir Christopher Mavis, son of George Mavis the Conductor. Lord Rusitis rebelled against the His Majesty. He dares to declare the county of Julius independent of the state. His Excellence commands you to claim back the lands of the state and capture the traitor Rusitis." These words sent a chill in the audience of the hall. Nobody expected a greenhorn like you to battle against a lord and his armed corps. To fight disorganised peasants is something totally different from conquering fortified cities defended by organised soldiers.

The speaker continued "Each of you has up to six months to honour your mission except for Sir Mavis who has to defeat Rusitis in three months." You cannot believe what you are hearing, nobody in the hall can. Even the chancellors who must have known of this seem worried. You feel your whole body shiver. To defeat Rusitis in just six months would already be a exploit in itself. The rebellion has not been squashed yet since it started a year ago. This is damn near impossible. Which is why you are trembling... from excitement.

After you left the hall you meet the other men summoned by the king in a nearby corridor. There were eight of them and one brought along a friend just like you did.

"The both of you are crazy to have brought uninvited people into this hall. Especially you Mavis, coming in here late like you own the fucking place." That was Suge Turner. He's the one who whispered to you in the hall. He's got long hair and a long nose but short legs. He's smaller than everyone of you here.

"Well it's not like the king minded it at all." said Michael Valburgh. He was mixed like Tupac but more thin and long than him. If Tupac was bulk then Michael was shredded and there was something about his eyes, they way he looks at you. Perhaps it was these pointy eyebrows and sharp canines that gave him a mephistophelian look.

They pursued the topic until "Come on Mavis, do you really need to bring your **** everywhere with you ?" Suge made that joke.

"Don't ever call me a **** again shrimp" answered Tupac.

You're angry too but you try to calm down. "Tupac is my friend, like a brother. That's why we work in duo. I'm sure you understand Ryo." You look for support in Valentine Ryo. He's the other summoned noble who brought his friend along with him. He was cute with blonde hair and a bright innocent smile. He looked even a bit childish to you, like the cherubs painted in chapels.

He looked at you with his bright smile and answered "What are you talking about ? Ringo is my ****. I just like to keep him with me everywhere I go because of how cute he is. And it is the duty of a master to let his dog breath fresh air regularly too." You stood speechless at his bold statement. You just realised Ringo did not speak at all since you saw him and contrarily to Tupac he wore rugged clothes that certainly did not keep him warm. "You don't believe me ? Ringo, clean my shoes."

Ringo quietly kneeled on all fours in front of Valentine and started to lick his boots. Then Ryo kicked him in the stomach and said "You can stop now." Ringo stood back up with great effort. He looked pale.

None of you managed to produce a word at what you just saw, not even a sound when a guard came to talk to you.

"Young lords, you are to meet the High Ministers in the Oval Chamber. Please follow me." You just followed the guard without speaking a word.

You arrived in antechamber where you sat and waited for the bureaucrats to call you in. Once you talked with them about your mission you were then free to leave but everybody stayed until you met with them surely because they wanted to ask you how you're going to achieve your task. You could tell they all thought you were already done for, they just wanted to know how. However you already knew you could do it.

At last, after everybody got called, it was your turn to meet the ministers. This time, the guard told Tupac to wait for you in the antechamber. When you were about to push the doors of the Oval Chambers you couldn't help but replay in your mind the way Ryo treated Ringo.