Chapter Twelve

The next day, they returned to Archades as husband and wife. There was going to be a gathering later that day, where Ashelynn would be introduced to the people of Archades. Vayne assured her that she would not have to give a speech. She had to wear her wedding gown and veil again, though the veil would not be covering her face this time. She held Vayne's hand as they walked out on a balcony overlooking the city square. She had to concentrate on smiling, as she was too nervous to do much else. She cast a glance at Vayne and saw that he had a slight smile on his face. He caught her looking at him and smiled at her in encouragement. As she looked over the crowd of people gathered, she couldn't help but feel nervous. Would they accept her? One of the Judges stepped forward, and after the people had quieted down, he said,

"Citizens of Archadia, may I present to you Lord Vayne Solidor and the newest member of House Solidor, his wife, Lady Ashelynn Solidor." Ashelynn continued smiling but her grip on Vayne's hand tightened. The people erupted into cheers. Ashelynn let out a breath she didn't realize she had been holding, in relief.

"His Excellency wishes to see both of you in his study." A servant told them as they stepped back inside the palace.

"Thank you." Ashelynn replied. The servant bowed, then left to continue his duties. Vayne led her to the Emperor's study. As they stepped through the doorway, they could see the six judge magisters already in there.

"Please forgive me for not being present during the presentation. I was attending to an urgent matter." The Emperor said, smiling at them. "As a member of House Solidor, Lady Ashelynn, you will always be accompanied by a judge or a judge magister whenever you leave the palace. As you will be entrusting your life to them, I assumed you might wish to know who is charged with protecting you. Rather than having you meet all the judges though, I have decided to only introduce to you the six judge magisters. Unless they are all otherwise occupied, one of these six will be with you."

"Judge Ghis." The judge magister stepped forward. His armor was gold, white and red and his helmet had one horn protruding straight out on each side of his head. He removed his helmet. He was an older man, with curled gray hair.

"Judge Bergan." Bergan's helmet had a crown shape around the back. He removed his helmet, showing a middle-aged man with slicked back blondish colored hair.

"Judge Zecht." His helmet had two flat half ring shapes on each side of forehead. Removing his helmet revealed a man who looked to be in his thirties, though his head was bald and he had a full white beard.

"Judge Zargabaath." Zargabaath's helmet had red markings and a horn that hung down facing forward and came to a sharp point at the end on each side of his head. He was an older man with short grey hair.

"Judge Drace." Her helmet had an orb shaped knob protruding from each side of her head. Her armor had more of a curved shape than the armor of her male counterparts. She removed her helmet revealing short brown hair and brown eyes.

"Judge Gabranth." His helmet also had horns protruding from the sides, but they came down, then curved back up into sharp tips. He removed his helmet, and Ashelynn stared in surprise. He looked like one of the Dalmascan knights. Having visited her uncle, King Raminas, many times with her father she had seen a knight there with Gabranth's face. The same blond hair, the same facial features. Her shock must have shown, because Gabranth looked concerned and asked,

"Is something wrong, My Lady?"

"I apologize. You resemble one of the Dalmascan knights. Please forgive my disrespect."

"There is no need for an apology. I have a twin brother who serves King Raminas." She noticed his face hardened when he said that and his eyes grew intense.

"Vayne, I wish to speak with you privately." The Emperor said. Ashelynn followed the Judges out of the room. They went on their way to whatever duties they needed to perform. Ashelynn needed to change her outfit, but had no idea where to go. As she looked around, she noticed that Gabranth had turned around from wherever he was headed, and was walking back towards her.

"Is there somewhere you wish to go, My Lady?"

"I wish to return to my quarters, but I haven't a clue on how to reach them from here. This palace is so large it would be easy to lose your way." She said, embarrassed by the fact that she was lost, though it was understandable to be so.

"It is fairly easy to lose your way at first. Within a few weeks you should be able to find your way around easily. But it can take months to explore the whole palace. This way." He said, motioning down a hallway. She took the arm he offered and let him lead her down the hallway toward the rooms that her and Vayne shared.

Please review. Finally got this chapter uploaded. The next chapter should be out in the next few days. Fingers crossed. Enjoy!