What was Meant to Be
Chapter: 5
Too Fast of a Recovery
Of all the people to stay up late at night, Lavitz was the one to do it. Even though he was dedicated to his job…sometimes he was "too dedicated", if there ever was such a thing. At this exact moment, Lavitz was in a deep sleep within his quarters. Normally, he would go home to sleep, just so that he could make sure that his mother was doing well, but this time, he was too fatigued to even take a step down the stairs.
Not too far from where Lavitz was residing at, was Serafino. He seemed to be searching for someone in particular. He turned the corner and entered Lavitz's room. His face lit up and he smiled a toothy smile. The young red headed knight walked up to the sleeping knight and began to bang on his armor. Yes, Lavitz slept in his armor…only because he was too tired to take it off before he went to bed. Serafino banged on the green clad knight's armor again. This time Lavitz swatted at Serafino and then rolled over only to fall off of the bed. Lavitz was finally awake. "What do you want?" Lavitz asks sleepily. Serafino smiles and then helps the fallen knight up. "You have to see this!" He states. He pulls Lavitz out of his room and up the stairs. It was hard for Lavitz to run well in armor, but the fact that he was sleepy made it worse. Serafino continued to pull Lavitz along behind him. "Where are we going?" Lavitz asks. Serafino doesn't answer; instead he pulls the knight into the throne room. "What's there to see here, Sera?" Lavitz then asks. Serafino points up at an angle. Lavitz follows the red head's finger and notices the unexpected. Albert, who was supposed to be in bed, was sitting on the throne. He looked better than he did yesterday, but not a hundred percent. "Sire!" Lavitz voiced. "You're not supposed to be up there. I suggest that you return to your proper chamber and get more rest." Albert chuckles and stands. "I'm fine Lavitz, don't worry about me! I have one small mission for you today." Albert states. Minister Noish interrupts before Albert could say another word. "I wouldn't actually call it small, My Lord. He IS traveling to Hoax after all."
"You are correct….Anyways." Albert clears his throat. "You, Lavitz, are to help Sir Kaiser and his forces protect the fortress from the Sandora Army. Dart will accompany you. I've already spoken with him. " Lavitz was surprised. Why Albert would risk his now delicate mind talking to the person to whom he had despised was unknown and yet weird to him. "B-but sire!" Lavitz stumbled over his words. " You need to be monitored carefully…and how would it be possible in my absence? " Albert's expression changed. "I need no monitoring…I'm no child Lavitz. I am twenty-six years old and the King of Bale…I think I can take care of myself."
Minister Noish walks down the stairs and stands beside Lavitz. "Don't worry, Lavitz." Minister Noish spoke softly. "His Majesty is in good hands. I'll make sure that the other knights look after him carefully." Lavitz gave a sigh of relief, but then he realized something. "Wait…His Majesty just stated that he spoke to Dart. Knowing what happened…How could you let him speak to him?" the knight questions. Minister Noish couldn't answer; instead he makes his way back up the stairs and took his position beside the throne.
"Hurry and move out, Lavitz. There's no time to waste." Albert commands. Lavitz bowed and made his way out of the castle.
Before Lavitz could take a step outside, Serafino grabbed his shoulder. Lavitz stopped and looked back at the red headed knight. "Don't worry." Serafino begins. "I'll give His Majesty all of the attention that I can give. I'll take your place temporarily!" Lavitz smiled and then continued out of the castle. "Good luck, my friend…" Serafino muttered as he watched his friend leave Indels Castle.
Lavitz could see his friends in the distance. He carefully made his way down the many steps of the castle. Once he stepped foot on the ground he rejoined Dart and Shana and made his way to the entrance of the town. Even though Lavitz was glad to be back with his friends, the air about him and Dart made the mood seem heavy and hard to cope with. Shana observed the two as they made their way through the town. "Um…Dart, could you please remind me of where we are going?" Shana asks, trying to break the silence. Dart looked over at Shana and smiled. "We're going to Hoax… We have to help the knighthood defend the fortress from imperial Sandora." Shana smiled in return. She expected Lavitz to give his input but it seemed as if the young knight was caught up in thought. "Lavitz, are you ok?" She couldn't help but to ask, though her question resulted in silence. Lavitz sighed and picked up the pace as he left Bale. Dart and Shana glanced at each other and then hurried behind Lavitz.
*
Serafino sighed. He knew that he had a very important task on his hands. "Hmmmm….What do I do to start it off? Does that mean that I have to take my position in the throne room? Do I have to follow him around and watch him like a hawk? Nah…I don't think I have to go THAT far…" Serafino muttered to himself. The young red head paced back and forth across the hallway. Sir Lucien approached Serafino and tapped him on the shoulder. Serafino leaped forward out of fear and hit the wall in front of him. "Hey, Sera. . . I have a question for you." Lucien asks. Serafino takes a deep breath and states, "No, I do not have that "special thing" that you ordered…yet…It won't come in until next week." Lucien quickly covered Serafino mouth.
"No, and keep quiet about that! People don't need to know about my private affairs…and you are aware what will happen if His Majesty finds out…right?"
Lucien uncovers Serafino's mouth and wipes his hand on his pants.
"Yes, I am aware. So what do you want?"
"Where did the man in the black come from?"
"Say what?"
"The man in the black cloak! He's in the throne room right now…Where did he come from? I heard that he was one of His Majesty's royal advisors…but when did he get into the castle?"
"No one came into the castle today! So I didn't see anyone in black…Hmmmm."
Serafino and Lucien move up the hallway and took the various stairs to get to the uppermost level of the castle. Once they entered the throne room, Serafino glanced up in the direction of the throne. Behind the throne and to the right, was the black robed man. The young knight looked over at his friend and then quickly made his way up the stairs to approach the king. "Your Majesty Albert!" Serafino calls in a stern tone of voice. Albert looks over at Serafino and gives a small smile. "How may I help you Sir Serafino?" He questions. "I want to know who that is." Serafino responds. Albert looks at him with an expression of shock. Albert kept his cool and simply answered Serafino's question. "That is my advisor…He will help me end this accursed war between us and the south." Serafino immediately became displeased. "Does Lavitz know about him?" the red head asks. Albert raises an eyebrow and then chuckles. He looks back at the man in black and requests that he leave the area. The man in black glided down the stairs and left the throne room. Once gone, two knights guarded the entrance to make sure that no one entered nor exited the room.
"Now, why would I need to get Lavitz's permission to have a court advisor assist me with the war?" Albert questions. "We, correction, Lavitz was told to take good care of you…and Lavitz handed that responsibility over to me. We know you can handle affairs well by yourself, but you may be doing something that could potentially harm you…I mean, have you actually looked at the man?! He's dressed in all black and he looks suspicious! He cannot be-" "Enough." Albert interrupted. " I will not stand here and listen to this foolishness." Even though Serafino was trying to help this made the king more and more upset as Serafino tried to explain why he was asking all of these various questions. Serafino was trying to hold onto his composure the best that he could as he replied, "Foolishness?! I'm sorry sire, but this is anything but foolishness! I'm only doing this so I know that you won't end up hurting yourself again! And from what I see…this was but one of many times that you harmed yourself and others." Minister Noish's eyes widened as Serafino said this. "That time when your father died…..You felt cornered as more and more issues arose in the lack of his presence-" Lucien's eyes also widened. How far is he going to go? Now, Serafino's just fighting dirty…but, is he doing this to prove a point, to help His Majesty, or to get under his skin… thought the middle aged knight.
"You didn't know what to do…Where to turn…How to solve these newly found problems...So far as I see it, you wasn't able to handle the first week of being thrown into the position of King yet you took it harder than most people…even for those who's parent had died. You tried to douse out your sorrows by-" Serafino was cut off by a loud slam of Albert's hand onto the arm of his throne. "Shut up!" boomed the king. The once thought to be quiet, calm, cool king was now pissed beyond belief. Serafino had hit that one button that sent the king flying over the edge. The knight knew that he had to be careful. He knew all too well that Albert was in a very fragile state of mind and he didn't need the King to go on another mental breakdown escapade. "Don't delve into my life! I've had my problems!! I've gotten over them!! Go back to you post Sir Almeric and I don't ever want you in my face, much less…in my throne room ever again or you will be severely punished!!!" Albert commanded. Serafino didn't budge. "Did you not hear me?!" Albert asks. "Get over yourself…" Serafino states sternly."
Albert leaned towards Serafino, his face red with anger. "E-excuse me?!" "You heard me…Get over yourself, Albert." Serafino repeats. Minister Noish wanted to step in and stop before things become even more heated, but something kept him from doing so. "Have you no respect?" Albert questions. " Do you fail to realize who you're talking to?!!!! I am-"
" A poor king who goes completely insane when the one he loves is taken by a mere commoner. Big deal, Albert…Sometimes it happens but you have to get over it. There are others."
"Silence!"
"Why? Is it because I have a point?"
" No you do not, now hold your tongue before you say something that you will regret!"
"HA! Say something that I would regret…I fail to see what I would regret! Look! Lavitz doesn't want you anymore! He has eyes for Dart and Dart alone! Though that may've changed a little it still hasn't affected them much! Just face it, you've been pushed out of the picture and you don't have your little pity party to back you up!!!"
*smack* That was all you heard when Serafino finished his sentence. " He didn't!" Lucien gasps. "Serafino!" Minster Noish moved forward and caught Serafino before he hit the floor. The enraged King Albert had lunged forward and backhanded Serafino across the face with a great force that wasn't known to him. After the damage was done, Albert stared at his hand in confusion and then looked back at Serafino. The red headed knight looked at his king with a sneer on his face. He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and stood up. "So the king has a little fight in him…bravo. Humph, I'll let this subject be…but I hope what I've mentioned help you realize something. I'll continue to do Lavitz's job while he's out so don't push me away just yet, my lord." Serafino states while holding his mouth. The young knight takes his leave. The two knights that guarded the entrance parted and allowing Serafino and Lucien to leave the throne room. "I-I-I can't sit here anymore…I need to rest…I just-" Albert began. "Just head to your room, sire…take a nap and refresh yourself…and you'll be as good as new." Albert stood up and made his way out of the throne room. "I guess, I should've mentioned that he could rest in his original quarters…oh well…I'll tell him later."
"What's wrong with you?!" Lucien yelled. Serafino looks into mirror and took a good look at his injury. "Nothing was wrong…I just thought that I'd help him realize that moping over Lavitz isn't going to get him anywhere, but in the clinic again. He can't run or hide from these things…and hurting himself constantly wasn't going to do any good either…Plus that creepy looking advisor…Obviously, Minister Noish had little knowledge of him. So another point that I tried to establish…That he needs to consult a few people before he does something reckless like bring some criminal looking…thing into the castle." Lucien folds his arms and gives a skeptical look. "Criminal looking thing…nice choice of words, but that's beside the point. There were plenty of alternate ways to approaching this other than pissing the King off. You told me that we needed to treat the King with care not treat him like…I don't know… like an enemy! I swear, the whole time I was in there it felt like some form of interrogation or taunt or a see if Serafino can piss off the king challenge…Something!" Serafino continues to look at his mouth. "The corner of my mouth split apart a little…hmm…a quarter of an inch…that's my guess." Serafino mumbled. Lucien folds his arms and mutters, "We need to be serious." Serafino held a white cloth on the corner of his mouth to suppress the bleeding. "I'm sorry but…wow, that little bastard has one on him!"
"Serafino!!!!"
"I'm sorry…I'm sorry…I respect the king with all my heart…I adore him like none other…Don't kill me Lucien."
"Let's go…You need to get that wound treated…It doesn't seem to be letting up. I thought it was going to get better until you opened your big mouth and made it worse!"
"Ok…Ok…I'm sorry."
Lucien escorted Serafino out of the castle. In the room that Albert resided in, the man in the black was discussing certain matters with the king. "Yes, I will go through with it…I am certain, but now, could you please take your leave…I feel very ill…" Albert states. "Yes, Your Majesty. I shall take my leave…It was a pleasure serving you today." The man in black responds. The black cloaked man left the room, closing and locking the door on it's way out. Albert moved slowly into bed and rested his head on the pillow. " I couldn't have been pushed out of the spotlight…there's no way…" He muttered as he closed his eyes and drifted off into a deep slumber.