A/N: Just for future reference—italicized means it's in their head, to themselves. I hope you guys like the length of this chapter. It took me twice as long to write it than it has taken for almost any other chapter that I have ever written I think. Does that count as improvement, or am I just getting longwinded? Okay, time for the actual chapter.
Richard woke early as planned and started scanning the bookshelf for something that would shed light on anything about this kingdom. After searching through the first row of novels, he found what appeared to be an encyclopedia.
Perfect.
By the time someone came to wake him at sunrise, he had nearly finished the thick volume on Jump Village. Content with his research, he rose from the seat he had taken next to the oak desk and replied to the knock on his door. Someone Richard assumed by his clothes to be a servant waited outside the door. He appeared fairly young, with incredibly pale skin matched with sandy blond hair and hazel eyes. His build was lanky and slender, and the plain faded tunic and light brown fabric of his pants hung loosely from his frame.
This servant remained outside to remind him of his engagement with the king after breakfast, and then alerted him to the clothes he had been provided inside the dresser. Richard closed the door and quickly examined the contents of the dresser trying to decide what would be proper for meeting a king. He selected a light blue tunic with a white undershirt and loose trousers. They were comfortable enough and allowed for movement if the king were to ask for a display of skill.
Richard was escorted to the empty dinning hall by the servant, who explained that the hall was rarely used by the king himself, so was instead used for diplomatic guests and royal holiday feasts on occasion. Seeing as how he was the only current diplomatic guest, and the nearest occasion warranting a feast was probably months away, it seemed that Richard would be eating alone for his entire stay. The servant seated him none the less, left through an inconspicuous doorway to the side of the table, and quickly returned with a tray of warm light bread and a small serving of roasted fish.
The servant bowed but before he could quickly exit, Richard stopped him.
"If you don't mind my asking, why are you in such a hurry? I know very few are staying in the castle, and it is unlikely that anyone else is awake yet. How could you have so much work to do already today, to cause you to rush everywhere like that?"
The servant shifted uncomfortably on his feet when he met Richard's gaze before quickly focusing on the warrior's shoes, unaccustomed to the eye contact. "Well, Sir, I um..." he rung his hands as he talked. "Well, these have been trying times in the kingdom, for all of us you know, on the king too. Many of the servants got sick after the drought. Only me and a few others were able to keep healthy enough to work through the winter. Even though the plague is all but gone, very few were able to make it through and return to work in the castle. We've taken up shifts to try to ease the work on all of us, but right now, there are only two cooks in the kitchen at a time, and it's just me and a few others running about today."
Richard gave the man who could not be older than 25 a sad smile. "Well you and your friends must be doing an excellent job. From the looks I've had of the castle, I would have guessed a full staff had work here." Sure Richard hadn't exactly been given a tour of every hallway (in truth, he had only really walked down two), but the servant didn't need to know that.
The smile on the servant's face looked like one that hadn't been worn in a long time. "Thank you Sir. That means very much", he said before bowing and heading toward the door.
"What is your name?" Richard asked before he had reached the doorway. The servant looked back, surprised. This guest was incredibly kind he decided. Most preferred servants silent, only even remembered that they existed when they had something that needed done for them.
"My name is Henry, Sir."
"My name is Richard. It has been very nice meeting you Henry."
Henry smiled enough to show his teeth. "And you too, Sir Richard." He exited so promptly that he didn't see Richard smile back.
He spent the remaining time with his modest breakfast reviewing what he had learned from the volume in his room. Jump Village's flag was actually colored forest green, crimson, and gold, so he had been partially right about that. The kingdom was well known for its agriculture trade, a factor Richard suspected drove Gotham (a kingdom whose days were eternally cloudy and very often rainy) to form an alliance with it. However wonderful its variety of crops were though, Jump Village was better known for its proximity to the magic forest. While other, definitely not human beings could be found in very small groups in nearly every forest, Jump Village's surrounding forest was unique in that it seemed to be home to a miscellany of beings that ranged from Giants to Gnomes.
To say that the cultural aspect of the kingdom was altered by this was an understatement. There were local legends of Ogres eating travelers who ventured too far into their territory, Satyrs who wore long robes and head dressings to hide their hooves and horns to masquerade among the populace, and bedtime stories of Trolls who tricked disobedient children into getting lost in the forest forever. While there were some exceptions, the general consensus was that the beings from the forest ranged anywhere from mischievous to malevolent.
The people of the kingdom had a precarious peace with the creatures of the forest. Sometime in the recent past, it seems that they all came to the conclusion that if the humans stayed out of the forest, than the creatures would stay out of their kingdom. Because of this, anything wandering in the other's territory was labeled fair game. This further discouraged any exploration into the forest, which would explain the lack of information available on the details of it.
Shortly after Richard finished his breakfast, Henry returned to the dinning hall to escort him to the throne room. The walk was not long, and soon Richard found himself feeling again, small at the grandeur of a throne room. Though the doorway arch was almost as tall as the one in Gotham's castle, the doors themselves were carved out of light oak instead of marble. Henry stopped abruptly at the doorway, but Richard could see him mouth "good luck" before he bowed and briskly walked back down the hallway.
Richard took a deep breath before walking into the throne room. As he entered, he noticed the two guards standing attention at the base of the throne, as well as two more on either side of the entrance, all of them in the same forest green uniforms. Richard bowed after he approached the dark stone throne before looking up to examine the king.
The king was surprisingly thin for a ruler of a kingdom that normally based its economy on food. His golden brown hair was shoulder length, but parted away from his face by his golden crown, which had alternating jade and ruby gemstones etched all the way around it. He had a similarly crimson robe that almost touched the ground. The robe moved with him as he rose from his seat on the stone throne.
"Ah, the prodigy himself. It is a pleasure to meet you Richard." The mid-aged king wore a genuine smile.
Richard rose off of his knee. "I can assure you, the pleasure is all mine your highness."
"I hope you rested well last night. I know the carriage ride from here to Gotham can be taxing."
"I did, and the hospitality of your servant Henry especially helped me this morning."
The king paused and smiled again. "Oh? I have had little conversation with the servants, but I have come to understand that the ones still under my employ now are quite nice."
"Henry told me about the recent…decrease in the number of workers in the castle. I assume that the losses throughout the kingdom are similar, and I am sorry for your losses."
The king's lips pressed into a solemn straight line. "Yes. It has been a difficult time on my people." After a slight pause, his lips turned upward again before saying, "but that is why you are here. I have heard great thing about you Richard, and I expect nothing less" he finished with a wink.
"Absolutely your highness. You will get nothing short of my best" Richard said, bowing slightly.
The king smiled that genuine smile again. "I hoped for that. Now, since you will be serving my kingdom, I want you to be dressed accordingly." He snapped and a female servant walked in and quickly escorted Richard out of the throne room and back down another hallway until they entered what looked to be a sewing room. The servant, which he now guessed was the seamstress, then ushered him into a secondary dressing room. On the only table in the room, he found his new uniform and tried it on. He then walked up to a small elevated platform right in front of several small mirrors.
It was composed of a crimson tunic with forest green sleeves that stopped just before his elbows. The fabric of his pants was the same shade of green. He also found a recently made black leather belt with many pouches varying in size and a sheath for his sword. He slipped on equally new black leather boots that nearly went to his knees. Finally, he clasped a black hooded cloak around his neck, the interior of which was golden. It was just long enough to go past his knees. Even though he could tell that a thin layer of lightweight armor had been sewn into the fabric, it fit him almost perfectly and made every motion he made completely fluid. The seamstress then entered and busied herself with measurements before briefly adjusting his cloak. She was finally satisfied after giving him one final inspection, and then they were off again to the throne room.
The king sat up again at their arrival and gave the seamstress an approving nod before she bowed and disappeared into the hallway again.
"I am glad the uniform fits Richard. It appears my seamstress's predictions on your measurements were nearly perfect."
"They are your majesty. Might I ask why I have been so honored as to receive my own personal uniform?"
"Well, you are going to be going in much more dangerous places than any guards in this castle have likely been, and I thought it best that you be prepared—while still sporting the colors of the kingdom of course."
Richard took a moment to notice that he was practically wearing the flag (although from behind, the entire look was much more subdued because of the black cloak).
"My seamstress is already making duplicates for you, should this one be torn beyond repair", the king stated proudly.
"Thank you my liege. It is an honor to serve such a gracious and generous king."
"Wonderful! Let's get you all filled in, shall we?"
Richard was escorted with the king to his strategy room, and spent the next half hour with the king's main advisor, discussing everything they knew about the current situation (which honestly, wasn't much). The advisor had shown him a rudimentary map that they had of what the forest might look like on the inside, though it was mostly based on eyewitness accounts from terrified peasants who had entered the edges of the forest after one too many mugs of mead.
Richard, the king, and the advisor were trying to tell if they were actually holding the map upside-down when a brisk knock came at the door.
"Expecting visitors?" The king asked his advisor, before the man vigorously shook his head no and rushed to the door.
Upon opening it, he gave the guard on the other side a glare. "I specifically asked not to be disturbed. This better be important."
The guard looked winded, as if he had just sprinted all this way to tell them something. "You…asked to be…kept informed…on the…the" he said between breaths as he placed his hands on he knees, trying to breathe normally.
"Spit it out!" the advisor said impatiently, he cheeks reddening in embarrassment as the king looked skeptically at him from across the room.
"There's a prisoner!" the guard finally stated after standing back up straight.
"And…you waste my time to tell me there is a prisoner?" the advisor began to close the door.
"Wait!" the guard shouted. With a huff, the advisor opened the door again. "You'll want to see this Sir. We caught it trespassing outside the forest. It's a Tamaranian Fairy."
A/N: Guess who? Just kidding. It should be noted though that the uniform Richard is wearing is not at all the one he is wearing in the cover image for this fic. I thought this one would look more knight-like and also be more useful in battle.