[SC] You Are Cordially Invited To The Sovereign's Award Ceremony And After Party

[AsherTheLion]

The morning of the awards ceremony, the butler awake from his chair at the Child King’s bedside just like he had every night. His nightmares seemed to have gotten worse since the death of his general and the attack from Discord. The man was sure there were other contributing factors to all of this, but he wouldn’t ask something the other wouldn’t willingly share. So for now he simply got up and began to open the curtains to let the sun shine in. He watched the lump on the bed curl up into a tighter ball and drag the blanket even further over its head. There was loud groaning and something that might have been ‘five more minutes’. He was more than willing to accommodate, leaving the room in his usual routine to retrieve breakfast to get the boy out of bed. He retrieved toast and honey as was per usual, the Sovereign himself starting to slightly uncurl. By the time the butler came back, the boy was sitting on the edge of the bed and sighing.

Normally this wasn’t something the boy would have done. Arsenic sighed and had half a mind to call in the Arch Governor. He had been consoling the Sovereign and working with him on the state of affairs. They hadn’t picked a new Arch General yet. The Sovereign wasn’t really liking his options, but he desperately needed to choose. He had half a mind to appoint Cruveto to this position simply because he had previously been Draconian, but had suddenly become Meticulous when appointed by the Council to come talk to the Sovereign. The boy would have to give it some more thought though, hoped that someone would make a very clear option for him very soon. The butler sat down on the bed with the depressed boy and offered him the toast. He ate it quietly before getting up for his bath.

Malik knew what he had to do as he walked through the bedroom with a towel wrapped loosely around his waist. Arsenic had set out some clothes for him to wear for the award ceremony. The older gentleman was in the room polishing the dragon claw ring to make sure that it was nice and shiny. He’d even gone so far as to sharpen the blade that was attached to it. The Sovereign stood there quietly for a few minutes, just watching the man before he managed to speak.

“What do you think he would have done in my place?” The butler knew exactly who he was referring to without having to ask.

“Do you want the truth or what would make you feel better?” The boy hadn’t thought this through. He bit his lip and looked off to the side.

“I wish he was here.”

“I know.”

The Sovereign almost broke down in tears, but managed to keep himself composed. He took the towel from his waist and dried his eyes, blowing his nose. The towel was dropped and the golden silk underwear was picked up off the sheets and easily slipped onto his thin body. He sat on the edge of the bed and began to put his socks on. He kept one of his knees on the bed and leaned his head against it, closing his eyes. It was strange to think about. He didn’t think any of this would happen, but in the back of his mind he had known it would. Hadn’t his Predecessor warned him of this? Perhaps not the exact events that had happened, but something similar? He had to buck up and make that man proud. So he took a slow, deep breath and went back to getting himself dressed. Once he had his suit on, he walked over to the full length mirror in the corner and stared at himself.

For a few moments, he just stood there. Eventually he reached up and ran fingers through his hair, combing it, trying to style it. Once he got it to look how he wanted, he slipped into his shoes and walked over to the bed to pick up his doll before making his way over to the butler. Without speaking, the ring was handed to him and he put it on. The blade was sheathed and put into his pocket. The two looked each other in the eyes and so much was said without a word being spoken. The butler got up, he took his Master’s hand, and the two walked out of the bedroom and down towards the throne room.

The Throne Room had been decorated for what might have been a party despite the fact that the servants were setting up tables and chairs for an awards ceremony. Although, mostly just chairs seeing as how the tables were already in here. No, that was wrong, too. Arsenic had requested actual tables be brought in instead of the bone tables already present. Something about not wanting to scare people or give the wrong impression. He made sure to request this out of earshot of the Sovereign. He'd been so distracted between his bouts of depression and fits of rage. His attention was on Miranda right now, sitting with her on the throne. He really should have been prepping his speech for the ceremony, but he just didn’t feel like it. He was trying to get Miranda’s hair to look right.

“Sir,” He had to look off to the side to see the guard who had dared approach him. “I’ve been informed to tell you that your guests are on their way.” The Sovereign narrowed his eyes and began to sit up on the throne. Fearing the worst, the guard continued. “Lan and Apollo are also on their way.” He flinched as the boy stood, but when nothing happened, he peeked an eye open to see him just standing there.

“Thank you, you’re dismissed.” The guard honestly wasn’t sure what scared him more; the fact the Sovereign was letting him leave without so much as a threat or the fact that he was thanked. He just nodded and left to go back to standing outside the doors. The butler wandered over and handed the Sovereign some papers and two medals.

“We have enough time to set up the podium before everyone arrives. Please, sit back down and wait for our guests. I’ll get everything started for you. By the time the ceremony is over, your party can start and I’ll even let you have a single glass of wine. How does that sound?”

“Can it be honey wine?” The butler smiled and nodded, “Alright. Let’s hurry and get this over with then. The quicker I get this started and finished, the quicker I can meet up with Johnathan and ask him about the state of our new Arch General.” Once more the butler nodded and busied himself with setting up the podium. The Sovereign took his seat on the throne again and sighed, shifting to try and get Miranda’s hair to look perfect again.

[Apollo]

A number of people at this event were bizarre, and Apollo felt odd and unfit for the ceremony. He hadn't done much to receive a reward in his own eyes. He only spread the word, spoke information despite being in no condition to be doing so. Seeing everyone walk in and take seats at tables and the most civilized side of meticulous cause him to feel as though his heart was being shoved into his groin. The women and men here were very similar to those who would be pleasured by him, and this form of dress was alluring to a young boy's mind. His face was hot as he blushed when someone in a short dress walked by, it shimmered in the light which made the person stand out.


Before coming to this party, he had been caught up with all of the previous events, his new job his allies, cruveto’s meeting the lot of it all. He had also healed quite nicely being able to stand on his own again and only needed a sling for his arm at this point; which was due to more recent injuries. He had already begun to exercise what he could in order to get the strength that had been lost back, thought, for now, Apollo would have to play this diplomatic and political game where he understood absolutely nothing other than looking good and talking fast. He looked to his brother in arms Lan for confirmation that they were doing this, and nodded hopefully receiving a reassuring nod back. Then he began to walk to what he had known to be his assigned seat. As the rest of the crowd funneled in, Apollo spotted Cruveto, and a few other high rankings Meticulous and Draconian members happy to see them he sent smiles there way, Ironically enough Cruveto had volunteered to be a part of the security details something Apollo would have rather been a part of, but due to the nature of the party he was more likely to be a target than an obstacle.

The boy was dressed nicely, somewhat of a gift or recommendation from his commander. He would call it a monkey suit, but others would find it charming. Heather gray fitted his body nicely, no tie as he couldn’t seem to make the knots work in his favor but a white shirt, and silver shimmering vest, and black suede slacks. His hair, for the most part, was combed back, with black pins in them to hold it from covering those red eyes he typically liked to hide so much.

[Mandoragon]

Lan had mostly recovered if his posture was anything to go by. In fact with the exception of a new scar that took up most of his cheek, the boy looked pretty normal. Well the scar and the formal attire he was wearing. Every fiber of Lan’s being want to loosen the top buttons and rip off these damn frills that rubbed against his skin occasionally. This dress up stuff was stuffy, stiff, and really annoyed Lan. Besides, there were far too many people for his liking. He’d rather focus on getting away with at least making himself a bit more comfortable. Cruveto should’ve known better at this point, really. The boy caught the nod of his friend and Lan put his hands away from the collar of his shirt sending a smile in return.


A laugh echoed behind the boy and his mind echoed it, pushing out all other thoughts and sounds. The laugh was familiar, haunting, and touched a part of his mind that hadn’t been touched in some time. Lan saw a dirt floor that was stained with the color of blood and cheers and the clinking of coins that exchanged hands echoed through the cramped space. He and another child were kicked into the center. Lan was a veteran at this point, he knew what he had to do. A primal sound escaped the boy’s lips and he lunged forward.

A hand touched Lan’s shoulder. The boy shook his head, coming back to the present and noticed his friend had called him to reality. Lan didn’t catch what was said, when it was said or when everyone got quiet, but he did what was expected and followed Apollo up to where their leader stood. Maybe it was that Lan was still riding a rush from memories, but something didn’t sit right with him about the boy that stood next to this old man. Something felt familiar, similar to Apollo, but ever more so to those that Lan was forced to fight through his youth. Lan clenched his fists. No that wasn’t right, he needed to calm himself, Apollo would be angry if this was messed up. It was a different time and a different place. Besides, the boy next to the old man didn’t hold that need to survive. In fact he looked… sad, like he lost something important. Lan looked around briefly, catching sight of Cruveto in the far back and then looked over at Apollo. Lan understood loss.

[AsherTheLion]

The guests had filtered in while Arsenic stood on stage in front of Malik, making sure his tie looked right and that his hair wasn't messing up. Miranda was sitting on the throne, her soulless eyes staring off into the crowd. The Sovereign himself was sort of nervous about this whole event, but with the promises of wine and that very delicious looking cake over there, he was determined to see this through. So he glanced down at the mirror the butler was holding and finally decided that he looked good enough. Someone, he wasn't sure who (it might have been the butler, the Child King was reading the notes on the podium), had silenced the crowd. Someone else was speaking, addressing the crowd about the events that were going to be taking place today. 

Then it was The Sovereign's turn.

He shifted a bit and glanced around the crowd. He saw a lot of familiar faces, some that he had never seen before. He looked down at his notes and began, "We are gathered here today to award a pair of great  warriors from House Draconis. Without these two, we wouldn't have been as prepared for the Discord attacks as we were. They managed to save a lot of lives and get the military organized quick enough for us to respond and drive Discord back. For this, they are being given the highest military honor that I can bestow. Normally, our Arch General would be doing this, but," He trailed off for a second having to reach for his handkerchief to dry his eyes. Fuck, why was he still crying over a dead woman? 

"But as we haven't found a suitable replacement yet, I'm here to deliver them." This time there was a roar from the crowd of applause and kind words. It was difficult for him to continue, but they eventually quieted down and he kept reading, "Apollo, Lan, would the two of you please make your way up to the stage here? Thank you." He had spotted them as they entered, observing them both. He caught their glances to Cruveto and looked over at him as well. He wasn't even really sure why he looked in the first place. He shifted his glance back over to the other two and waited for them to join him on the stage.

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