Chapter Eighteen: An Audience With The King

(Hershel's POV)

Flying on a wyvern was so much different from walking. The rushing wind kept us cool, we didn't have to do hardly anything, and I could actually see the palace getting closer.

So overall, riding the wyvern was much better than having to walk through the desert. But for whatever reason, Omofrisit seemed to be less than pleased. Eh, he's probably just a little crabby because he hasn't eaten today.

"Hey, Omofrisit. How long do you think it'll be before we get there?" I asked.

"I don't know, why don't you ask your new wyvern buddy." Omofrisit said with a sneer.

Yeah, he definitely needs something to eat.

I decided it would be best not to bother Omofrisit for the rest of the ride, and apparently Frey had the same idea, because he didn't say anything the rest of the time either.

We landed outside the palace and were immediately surrounded by a group of Dark Mages led by none other than Validar.

"Greetings, Hershel. I'm surprised to see you alive after what happened at the palace of the Exalt." Validar said. "And it's always a…pleasure…to see you, Omofrisit." Disdain clear in his voice.

"Of course, Validar." Omofrisit said with an evil grin.

The tension between the two of them was so thick, you could practically see it. The two of them continued their stare down for a while longer before Validar brought his attention back to me as if nothing had ever happened.

"So, I assume you're here to request an audience with the king, correct?" Validar asked me.

"Oh, uh, yeah, if it's alright, I would love to speak with the king." I said as we dismounted the wyvern.

"Good, I was hoping you would say that. I already made an appointment for you, anticipating your arrival. Come this way please."

Validar turned away and walked through the main gate of the palace. I gave a fleeting thought for the wyvern before I followed behind him. I quickly noticed that the Dark Mages were a little too close behind us and in addition to the Dark Mages, I could see some archers atop the ramparts surrounding the palace. Needless to say, I didn't get the most welcoming feeling from this place.

Validar guided us through the halls of the palace, which were much more luxurious than those of the Feroxi palace, until at last, we reached the throne room.

The first thing I noticed was the man sitting upon the throne. I had barely even seen the man and I could already tell that he wasn't quite right in the head. At the moment, he seemed to be lounging on his throne with an extremely bored expression on his face. But who knew how he would act as soon as he spotted us.

"Your majesty, the guests of honor have arrived." Validar said with a bow.

The king stood up from his throne, an excited expression now on his face

"Really? You three are really the ones who killed the Exalt? BWAH HA HA HA! I would slay you where you stand for taking that opportunity from me, but I'm just so happy! BWAH HA HA!" He said, a look of mad glee on his face.

The man is as mad as a hatter, why did we ever think it was a good idea to come here?!

"Hah…ahah ha…hoo. Oh, that was the best laugh I've had in ages. I don't care who you are or where you're from, but I do believe a reward of some kind is on order. For killing the Exalt and for making me laugh." The king said.

A reward? I can see we're going to get along just fine.

"Milord." Omofrisit began. "For our reward, might we make a few requests?"

"Go ahead, I'm in a good mood today." Gangrel said.

"First: we need somewhere to stay, long term."

"You're always welcome here, just as long as you can give me excruciating detail as to how the Exalt met her end." Gangrel said, nearly losing his composure once again.

"Thank you. Second: I would ask that our wyvern be taken care of for as long as we're staying here.

"Sure thing. We'll feed the useless soldiers and servants to him."

"And my third and final request: I would like to have an area set aside for my personal research and I would like a large amount of resources to work with."

"Well, I'm not sure what exactly all of that entails, but if you'd like, I can give you Validar's job."

Validar looked at Gangrel with complete shock on his face.

"B-but sire! I've served you for many, many years. And I am undoubtedly the most accomplished sorcerer in the land!" Validar said.

"I would beg to differ." Omofrisit said, shooting a glare at Validar.

"Oooh! This is getting exciting!" Gangrel said. "And I know just the way to resolve this: A FIGHT TO THE DEATH! GYA HAHAHA!

"You both have fifteen minutes- No, scratch that, TEN minutes to prepare. And the battlefield will be right here in the throne room, where I can watch the whole thing comfortably! The ten minutes start…NOW!"

Omofrisit immediately rushed over to me and Frey.

"Omofrisit, are you sure you can beat him?" I asked, shooting a quick glance over at Validar who seemed to be meditating.

"I'm positive. But I need you two to do some things for me. Okay?"

"Absolutely. What do you need from us?" Frey said.

"Hershel, I need you to entertain the king if he starts to get bored during the battle."

"Wha? Why me? Why can't Frey do it?" I asked.

"Because I can rely on Frey more than I can rely on you. Which brings me to what I need from you, Frey. I'm certain I can beat this guy, but I've thought the same about others and still lost. So I need you to keep yourself hidden, but always stay within striking distance of Validar, and if things start to go bad, I want you to kill him." Omofrisit said.

"No problem, you just give me a signal, and put a sword clean through him." Frey said with absolute confidence.

"Oh…you can't trust me?...okay then….if anybody needs me…which they won't…..I'll be over here…" I could feel some major depression coming on as I walked over to the king's throne.

A/N: Here's the next chapter, and out pretty soon after the last one. Um, I don't really have anything else to say about this chapter. But please remember to read and review. And as always: Thanks for Reading!