Chapter Ten

Lessons to be King

"So…I heard that you and Aerrow are planning on gettin' married." Finn said casually that morning on the Condor to Livia, who decided to travel with them for the time being. Both Livia and Piper, who were plotting the quickest course to the Dynast King's Temple, looked up at Finn with a "what-are-you-talking-about" look.

"Aerrow said he proposed to you, so I just wanted to know when the wedding is." Finn said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Aerrow proposed?" Piper asked, looking at Livia to hear her side of it.

"Oh honestly," Livia sighed as the door to the bridge slid open for Aerrow and Junko to enter. "To be thinking of something like that—I never said I would!"

"Would what?" Aerrow asked, walking over to where the three stood.

Finn leaned in side ways towards Aerrow, bringing up a gloved hand over his mouth and said, "I think your girlfriend is having second thoughts about marrying you, dude."

"We can hear you, Finn." Piper said with her hands on her hips.

"I think a wedding would be a nice change from our constant fighting with the Cyclonians." said Junko. "I just love weddings!"

"A wedding will have to wait; right now our priority is to get the Dawn Shard." Livia said.

"So does that mean you'll marry me?" Aerrow asked, leaning against the table to look across at Livia who gave him a dry stare.

"Y'know, Aerrow, marrying me means you'll have to learn the etiquettes of a prince if ever you are to be crowned king." Livia said, "Or did you forget?"

"I guess I did." Aerrow said with a sheepish grin, while Finn sniggered behind his hand.

"You too, Finn. Your family is of the court as well."

"Yeah, but I've already been king." Finn boasted, puffing out his chest and buffed his nails against his coat. "I've pretty much got all of that royalty stuff down."

"Oh really?" Livia said skeptically, putting her hands on her hips. Aerrow wanted to laugh while Piper just rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"Since you must know," Finn began to say, speaking in a manner of importance. "I am the prophesized Domo of Terra Vapos!"

"Terra Vapos." Livia repeated dryly while Aerrow snickered beside his blonde teammate. "So the Terra's not a myth, huh? Interesting. The people must have been very desperate to make you there Domo."

At that, even Piper and Junko snickered while Stork, looming in the background, smirked.

"Ah, come on Livi! You're still way too harsh! Four years of being dead didn't help you gain a sense of admiration towards my accomplishments." Finn scuffed.

"What accomplishments?" everyone said in unison, even Stork.

"Seriously you guys! Whose side are you on?" Finn exclaimed.

"Well anyhow, we're getting off subject," Piper said, putting everyone back on track to the real matter at hand. "So how did Aerrow propose to you? Was it romantic the way he did it?"

Aerrow felt his cheeks burn from that question, even though it wasn't directed to him. He looked at Livia, wondering what she'd say. Would she tell Piper the exact details or exaggerate a bit like other woman who have been proposed to?

"I don't think taking this entrance will work, the condor might not fit in the caverns below the temple." Livia said, diverting the topic back to the mission. "We'll just have to keep it close by and take the skimmers instead. Also, according to these maps Starling made, there is no actual entrance."

"What do you mean?" Aerrow asked, leaning down to take a look at the map himself.

"You see here, and here, and here," Livia pointed to several points of the temple, "There is no actual 'door', which makes sense since the dynasty of the Dynast King, teleportation crystals were commonly used to travel within buildings."

"Wow, I didn't even know that and I'm supposed to be an expert on crystals." Piper said.

"Well, nowadays teleport crystals are extremely rare, and only small fragments are found. So it's only natural that many would overlook those smaller details of ancient buildings." Livia said.

"Hey, Livia…" Aerrow began but was cut off by Piper's much louder voice.

"So tell me more about what the ancients used to use crystals for, you seem to have a plethora of knowledge about it."

"Glad to know someone here likes to learn." Livia said with a fond smile. Aerrow dropped whatever he was going to say to the Princess and walked over to Stork, checking in on their timing before leaving the bridge. He figured he'd be able to talk to Livia in private before reaching the Dynast King's Temple.

---

Aerrow sat at the desk in his room, aimlessly rotating his ring between his thumb and forefinger, lost in thought. What Livia had said earlier, about the conditions there were to be able to marry her, really got him thinking. If learning the proper, strict etiquette of being King was what it took to marry her, then he was willing to do it.

As a child, he was privately tutored with Livia and few other children, like Finn, who were born to the court, learned the basics of being courtiers. Although with Finn, many of the lessons were lost to him. And of course back then, they were all carefree children, unconcerned with the matters of politics and such. Those lessons came in later years.

As a student at the academy, he learned discipline and hard work. Combat, weaponry, mechanics, maps, crystals, flying skimmers, tactics, stealth, technique, teamwork—all of this was learned through experience.

He did everything, accomplished all of his ambitions but none of his dreams. Fulfilled every promise except for one. He didn't want to marry Livia because of some law that had been decreed by some past ruler, he wanted to marry Livia because he wanted to. And now that they're both of age, he can fulfill his promise to her.

I promise.

Knock. Knock.

The door opened and Aerrow looked up to see who it is and immediately stood up.

"Livia, wh-what are you doing here?" Aerrow asked in a flurry.

"Is it so wrong for me to check in on you?" Livia asked, though Aerrow knew she was teasing him. Just like when they were kids. "You left the bridge without a word, I didn't notice until recently."

"Glad to know I'm missed." Aerrow said sarcastically, though it was in good humor. "Well—anyway, I wanted to talk to you in private earlier, but seeing that you were busy and all I figured it could wait."

"I'm here now, so you can talk to me privately." Livia said.

"Oh—right." Aerrow said as he took in a deep breath to calm himself. "What you said earlier, about what I have to do before I marry you…" He looked straight at Livia, "I'll do it."

"Do what?"

"I'll do whatever it takes to be a good king just so I can marry you!" the determination burned within Aerrow's eyes as Livia stared at him with surprise.

"Aerrow, you don't really have to go through with it, seriously—it's a lot to take in. You'll be overwhelmed with it all." Livia said.

"I don't care." Aerrow said, stepping forward and taking Livia's hands into his, staring deeply into her violet eyes. "I'll do whatever it takes."

Livia sighed in defeat. "Fine, I'll teach you as much as I can. But you'll be sorry."

"I can take it."

"First, we need to make a quick stop."

---

Livia placed a stack after stack of books in front Aerrow who was sitting at the table in the bridge. They had made a stop at Terra Recorda, the largest records hall/library in the Atmos.

"First off," Livia began, clearing her throat while Aerrow stared at the many stacks of books and records. "You cannot escape the politics of your situation—you will be influenced, one way or another. I don't want to see you become a pawn of any one group or purpose any more than you do. You must retain your freedom, for in it lays your true power: the ability to make choices you will be limited, but I believe it's for the best. The difficulty lies in making sure that those powers include you in their deliberations.

"Also, despite your protests, the people of Atmos will have certain expectations of you. They are going to bring you their problems, no matter how petty, and demand that you solve them." Livia leaned forward, her voice deadly serious, "There will be cases where someone's future will rest in your hands…with a word you can send them careening into happiness or misery. You women will seek your opinion on whom they should marry—many will pursue you as a husband—and old men will ask which of their children should receive an inheritance. You must be kind and wise with them all, for they put their trust in you. Don't speak flippantly or without thought, because your words will have impact far beyond what you intend."

Livia leaned back and walked around the table to stand opposite of Aerrow. "The burden of leadership is being responsible with it for the well-being of the people in your charge. I have dealt with it from the day I escaped the battle fields with the caravan, and now you must as well. Be careful. The covenant will try to use you as their puppet to control the Atmos. And don't worry about your youth and inexperience; they will pass soon enough."

"Whoa…" Finn breathed.

"All this stuff is making my head hurt." said Junko.

"Aerrow's doomed." Stork said.

"I had no idea being a member of the court was so difficult." Piper said.

"Hopefully I won't have to repeat myself." Livia said, grabbing one of the books from the pile and setting it in front of Aerrow. "Next we'll cover the history of the Atmosia family, starting with the founder."

Aerrow looked down at the thick book, wondering what he got himself into. A part of him really wanted to just stop right there after hearing the things everyone would be expecting of him. And the towers of books he would have to go through…

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