Honda had never in his life, even when he was just a lowly page, ever been treated this bad. He'd barely been here two days and he had already done most of the jobs he used to make fun of Otogi for having to do. Then there were the 'magic accidents'. Fireballs that were so close that they singed his clothes, lightning bolts that just miss him, but close enough that he felt the heat, scare him nearly to death and nearly make him wet himself; then there are the giant water puddles big enough to make him fall in to his knees and then hearing others say they wish the puddle were bigger. But bigger meant there was a greater risk he might fall in wrong or something and drown and then deal with King Mahaado's wrath. He could swear he could hear fear in their voices when they mentioned King Mahaado's wrath. But he knew and had dealt with both Master King Gozaburo and King Seto Kaiba's wrath and he couldn't believe King Mahaado was any worse than that of the late Master King Gozaburo who had an extremely violent temper. He felt he could handle anything King Mahaado had to offer.

Of course despite everything they did, he didn't just sit around and do nothing against them. Everything they dished out he returned 10 fold! So needless to say he was at major odds with the whole army.

When King Kaiba had first told him of being transferred to King Mahaado's Army in the Star Kingdom the entire way there he dreamed of what it'd be like. King Mahaado's assistant Dylan would tell everyone of all his great accomplishments and they would all be in awe of it. Then the head knight would smile and gladly hand the reins of control of the Knights over to him. Everyone would cheer. Then they'd take him to the biggest, best room in the place and apologize it wasn't bigger and better. Then they'd show him around the kingdom and soon everyone in the castle would have heard of him and they would all be bowing down and waiting on him hand and foot.

Even when the others laughed at him and told him he was dreaming that no one would accept him. Especially with them all being powerful magic users. He blew them off thinking they were just jealous. Then when he got here he was shocked that Dylan never said a word one about his accomplishments. Just yesterday he showed up to check on him. After telling him of all the horrible jobs he'd been forced to do he asked him one of the big things that bugged him

Flashback

"I demand to know why you never told these guys about all my great accomplishments?"

Dylan raised an eyebrow, "I never told them because it wasn't important but if it means that much to you we shall tell them now. But I'm telling you now. It won't change a thing. You have this delusion in your head that people are just going to bow down and worship you. When you got your awards did anyone bow down or show you any kind of respect, they weren't already giving you for your rank?"

"Well…a few did…mostly newbie's who hadn't been there long… but…"

"But you think these guys will suddenly change their attitude towards you if they know?"

Honda stood up straight with a big smile on his face, "Of course they will. I have all the best and highest honors one could get in just about any country!"

"True, almost any country. You would never achieve those same awards here without the use of magic. You still dream of making it into the knights of the round. I'm telling you, no matter what you do or try, even if the king were in danger and you were to somehow save his life. It still wouldn't change your status! You might receive an award and praise for it, but once it's over it's over! Just like the awards you have already received, once the dust settled the only one still harping on it was you, still demanding to be praised for it."

Seeing it not deterring Honda, any he went and just to make him happy he told everyone ALL about everything he did. Unfortunately for Honda, Dylan wasn't in a mood to give in to Honda's need for praise only. So Dylan did tell them all about his great accomplishments which only earned him some raised eyebrows of disbelief, while others yawned from boredom and others rolled their eyes not caring about all the things he accomplished or to some allegedly accomplished.

The down side which quickly made Honda pale and tried to distract him from telling, was that Dylan then told them of all his other accomplishments. From the ones that made him lose his knighthood, to the one that got him demoted and then ultimately to the one that in one sense of the word got him fired by sending him here. Then he had overheard Honda telling the Draglor Knights of what he dreamed would happen when coming here.

Unfortunately the praise and recognition that Honda so desperately sought came not in the form of pats on the back and kind words and being made an equal, and given what he felt was his rightful place as a knight! No, instead he got laughter and name calling from the knights and guards pointing out the same things the ones in Draglor did. That he was delusional. That they'd always use him as their personal servant and to do all the jobs they themselves don't want to do!

Trip leader of the knights then thought of something. "Wait, does the Master know of all this?"

Dylan rolled his eyes, "What do you think the King of Draglor told me all of this in private? Don't be stupid, I simply heard all this at the same time he was telling King Mahaado."

Chovance, leader of the guards, frowned and asked, "But knowing his hatred for the King of Draglor's younger brother, despite the fact the boy had only recently come to be living there, why would the Master take the chance and allow him here?"

"Chovance has a point. If this guy hates change when it comes to children then what happens when Young Prince David gets older and starts walking and then running. The Queen, if not the king, will insist on the same sort of measures being taken here as well."

"Not to mention if the Queen is blessed with any more children. Security will have to be tightened even more so. If this guy starts causing trouble we may all catch hell from the king!" Hasan, second in command of the Knights said.

"Also there's the matter of Young Prince David's health. I've heard it's improved significantly. But what if the Doctor's are wrong? What if he's always a bit sickly? Who's to say this guy won't get annoyed and hit him or 'accidentally on purpose' lock him in a room somewhere or who knows what?!" Kayiki, second in command to the guards, replied.

"Wait…What are you guys talking about? I've heard the king hates children. He won't even socialize with his nieces and nephews." Honda said.

Everyone looked at him like he'd grown a second head. Honda had only heard talk and rumors about King Mahaado but had also heard similar talks and rumors about King Kujaku.

Dylan being Mahaado's assistant knew a great deal about other kings. "I believe you are confusing the Master with King Kujaku. King Kujaku would never have even had one child had his court not forced him too. My understanding was he turned out to be one of the rare royal people of the world who not only hates children but expects everyone else too as well. He had 3 children from his first wife but then grew tired of her and cast her and her children out claiming she'd been unfaithful and then married his mistress and had four more children by her. However he had never socialized with them. He keeps them on one floor and only when the queen or his assistant insists will he go to a scheduled appointment and wave at the children. He avoids talking to them if at all possible. Though I've heard he's reconciled with two of his now adult children from his previous marriage, the third having been killed. As for King Mahaado he'd never really been around children much too really have an opinion on them. He'd only met Miss Maura a few times, and they seemed to get along well enough. He certainly didn't hate her. But now he has a child all his own. He is a caring doting father…most of the time. But he does love his son and would fiercely protect him. He even went so far as to invite Miss Maura to live here."

Seeing the words 'NO she's coming here!' written on Honda's face Dylan said, "Don't look so frightened. She's not coming here."

Honda sighed then asked, "What do you mean she's not coming? You just said King Mahaado wanted her."

"That's where you come into the picture. It seems the king's adviser is his older brother and is attached to her. So the king made a trade. You for her."

"What? You….You mean…You mean King Mahaado didn't just hear of all my great accomplishments and want me for his army?"

At that Dylan laughed, "Though the Master was impressed with your accomplishments, he was very disturbed by all the bad things you did. However you intrigued him. You knew little to nothing about him beyond what you've obviously heard through rumors and felt he was your ideal king. After all that he was amused at how enthusiastic you were at meeting him and wanting to worship the ground he walked on based solely on what you've heard of him. This fascinated him enough to overlook your bad points and granted you your desire to be in his army."

Then he turned and looked Honda right in the eye and said, "If you do one thing to hurt or scare or do any of the things you did to King Kaiba's brother or Miss Maura to young Prince David or any future children of the king and queen, No one here will be as kind as they were there. There the guards and secondary Knights in charge from what I heard could do nothing about your behavior. Here any of them has the right to punish you for such a grave offense! Why they don't there I can only assume stems from the previous king, whom I heard wasn't a nice person and the fact that the king's young brother was only recently found after the previous king so cruelly sent him away. So the current king is still learning what rules to put into place."

Then he sighed and said "You'll be lucky if The Master doesn't learn of your doing something. As if you did, he won't be as kind as King Kaiba did in sending you here. And No, he won't kill you either. But most likely if he doesn't cast a spell on you of some magnitude of torture; then you may be joining Tanaka in the dungeon cleaning it with a toothbrush. You see he hated the king's horse for his own reasons, like you did King Kaiba's brother. Supposedly the horse accidently stepped on his foot breaking it. It kept him out of the trials for a spot in the knights. From that point on he'd neglect the horse to the point that if the squires hadn't noticed and took care of it, it could have died! Before Queen Diana came the Master most likely would have had him killed. But the queen detests violence so instead he thought about it and agreed not to kill him. He decided that killing him would be giving him the easy way out and would only upset the queen should she learn. Then he thought of exile, but again felt exile was too easy and he wouldn't learn anything. So since then he's been forced to live and clean the dungeon on a regular basis."

Apparently everything Dylan said went over Honda's head as he asked, "Wait you said that the knights aren't permanent positions?"

Dylan sighed seeing everything he just said go by like the wind. "No, the knights must prove themselves once a year. They must prove their loyalty and skill to remain a knight. Their position is in no way secure. And before you get any bright ideas on thinking you'll compete, think again! You're free to compete but the competition has many levels that deal with magic. The ones with the most points in the end go on to the finals. There the competition just gets more fierce and it again all comes down to whose magic is stronger! Eventually it will narrow down to the top 10, then they must fight even harder for their ranking and who is crowned the leader. So you see you won't make it past level 2 without magic. Now I believe you are supposed to be on duty in the tower." With that Dylan waved his hand and Honda found himself in the tower.

"Mph, just you wait and see! I will be a knight just watch me!" Honda screamed.

A guard named Kyo, who was almost as low as Honda but due to having a good level in healing magic and an extra high level in counter magic the king felt he was a good addition to the guards, came up to Dylan. "Excuse me sir, but why did you not tell him about counter magic? Even those without magic within them can eventually learn counter magic if they try."

"If I told him that non magic users can study and learn ways to counteract spells and that this would be a useful skill, and might help him advance in the competition if he learned to do it. He might try and no one here wishes to see him advance. He is here because King Kaiba of Draglor didn't know of any appropriate punishment to fit his crimes and for some odd reason he was enamored with the Master and the Master was amused and brought him here. But it takes someone with dedication, practice and a lot of brain capacity to learn such types of magic and I don't think this guy has the brain capacity to do it."

Then turned threatening towards Kyo and said, "If I or anyone else here finds out you have spoken one word to that guy about any form of magic or if he somehow magically finds his way to the library to read up on magic you will receive the worst of the punishment that will come. After hearing about his attitude towards the King of Draglor's brother, I'm sure no one here wants this guy anywhere near the top ranks. Who knows what kind of trouble he could cause if that were to happen and if he were by some miracle to excel in counter magic it could happen. So if you know what's good for you, you won't say a word and if asked change the subject or something! You might note that the king, though he doesn't like it, does not have a policy against other guards or the knight enacting punishment on subordinates. Which means all their pent up energy in not being able to touch that Honda guy, they could take out on you!"

That sent a fear through Kyo telling him to keep Honda from advancing!