"You enjoying your bacon, Miles?" Sonic's voice asked in an inquisitive but kindly manner...

The question caused the small fox to shoot up from the table with shock, not expecting to be asked questions this early and looking frantically around to find Sonic; rubbing his tired eyes slightly as he realised the hedgehog was right next to him...

"Yeah...Yeah, sorry I just...Rough night's sleep that's all." The fox yawned, taking a small sip of water from the cup next to him...The refreshing liquid brightening him up a tad,

"Oh, really? What was going on? Tossing and turning again? Late night reading?" His mentor responded, tilting his head while his emerald eyes bore into him...However Miles didn't look back at the Hedgehog...Instead his gaze danced around the Banquet Hall, gazing upon the numerous new figures that had been brought along with House Prower's Delegation...Most of them were knights, each of them from different walks of life who had by some margin been brought under the service of Lord Amadeus Prower.

However, his gaze on rested upon them for a split second as they were no different than the rest of the militia and castle staff whom they were eating, drinking, talking and joking with...No; his eyes rested upon the more notable members of the delegation...The first of whom was Sir Leoncour, unlike the rest of the folk in the hall, he stood against the wall behind the head table, one great hand resting on the hilt of his longsword...

The 'knight's' gaze rested across the halls; his expression impossible to tell under the great helm he wore, its shape weathered and coated in numerous small dents and scratches that showed it's wear and tear over its years of service and the same could be said for the rest of his armour and his heraldry...However, the fox immediately turned his gaze when he saw the Knight's head snap and stare directly towards him, like a babe being stared down upon by a dark god...The rapid motion terrifying the fox...

Seeing that staring at Leoncour would end badly, he switched his gaze to try and spot out some other figure amongst the crowd, his eyes fixing on the head table...His eyes first fell upon Sir Samuel Prower, the eldest son of Amadeus who was in the midst of a conversation with Prince Elias...A frown plastered upon his face; however, Miles didn't particularly know why...He was sitting beside the heir to the throne of Acorn! He should be doing the opposite!

Then his eyes fell upon Lord Amadeus's daughter, Lady Holly Prower...She was sat beside Princess Sally Acorn and unlike her older brother, she had wide and merry grin plastered on her face, her laughter reverberating off of the walls of the hall...Signalling to him her good nature and merry outlook on life...Her jolly demeanour also rubbing off on the Acorn Princess as she seemed to be roaring with laughter as well...

Then his eyes fell upon the head of the family himself, Lord Amadeus Prower...Miles felt ever so small, staring at such an... Imposing figure, even people such as Baron Robotnik and King Nigel himself didn't make him feel so...so...Cold...It as like there was an aura surrounding him that seemed to smother any kind of warmth and joy from whomever looked at him...Like a murderer strangling his unfortunate victim...His face seemed cold, unnervingly calm and filled with some kind of invisible malevolence as his eyes wondered around the banquet hall...His eyes filled with a chilling amount of...He didn't know how to describe it...All he knew was that he could feel the weight of the stare in his very bones.

"What are you staring at?" Sonic asked curiously, trying to follow the fox's gaze.

"Oh! Oh, uh...Nothing, I just sorta zoned out." The fox quickly responded, not wanting Sir Sonic to realise he had been staring at their guest.

The hedgehog's brows furrowed slightly as he heard the fox's response...Not seeming to really buy it ...However, he didn't seem to want to push further into the fox's private affairs, instead he only looked away from him for split second and said,

"Huh, you see that, Miles? Seems that you've caught Lord Prower's attention."

Miles turned to him confused, he was momentarily about to ask what on earth he was talking about...However, then he saw it...For when he turned his head around to look at Lord Amadeus once again and this time...He was met by the arguably even more petrifying sight of him staring right at him...And his expression couldn't be any more different...

He looked as pale as a sheet and in his eyes, he saw...Horror, a kind of horror that he had never seen from anyone else in his entire life...Lord Amadeus was usually known for his calm and rather serious demeanour, yet this was not the Lord Amadeus he had read about; it was more like a man being faced with the ghosts of his past...And it seemed more chilling than anything he had ever seen in his short life...

However, the moment came to end when he saw King Nigel notice the Lord's...Change in demeanour, causing him to turn and begin to talk with the King, occasionally shooting glances towards the fox, however he wasn't sure if they were malevolent gazes or not...

Why in Chaos's name was he staring at me like that?" He murmured to himself, curious as to what would incite the Lord into shooting such a... surprising look at him, there was certainly nothing about him that was particularly out of the ordinary bar from his tails...But even then, he had never seen anyone give such an extreme reaction to them...There was a reason behind Lord Prower's shock and he wanted to know what it was...

"Huh...I never noticed this before kid but...You and Lord Amadeus kinda look alike.." Sonic murmured to himself...However his comment wasn't heard by the fox, he was instead focussed on the Lord...Even when he wasn't looking directly at him...What he had seen had ignited his curiosity...And rendered him oblivious to the world around him.

...

The rest of the banquet seemingly went in without any major problems or unexpected events, there was still good food and conversation as always...However Miles couldn't help but think about that...That gaze, that Lord Amadeus had given to him...The horror in his eyes upon seeing him was so...Bizarre...Many accounts from folk who had personally met him had described him as a cold being with ice in his veins in place of blood...And yet he was able to break that nigh impenetrable demeanour with just his own appearance...it made absolutely no sense...

He stood up and exited the Banquet Hall alongside the rest of those who had been in the chamber...Hoping to hit the library alongside Cream so he could keep an eye on her and make sure she was alright as well as learn more about the workings of the country, it's history, culture and everything in between...

However, as he walked through the hallway leading to the banquet hall...He suddenly felt a foot step on the back of his tail, sending him tumbling to the floor like a sack of bricks...
"Ow!" He yelped, feeling the sharp, stinging pain in the trodden-on tail and he turned to look up at the person who had done it; expecting to see the sneering or laughing face of someone who had done it on purpose...And yet his expectations were defied when he turned around and gazed into a pair of eyes the same shade of blue as his own!

"Oh my! I am so sorry kid...I didn't mean to do that I swear!" Holly Prower exclaimed, helping the smaller fox to his feet and gently brushing him off with one hand...Her eyes were bright with concern and her face twisted in worry as she looked at him,

"I didn't hurt you, did I?"

"Oh no, not at all my Lady...Apologies for walking in your way."
"No, no! It was my fault Mr?..."

"It's Miles Lady Prower."

"Miles?..."

"Nothing really...Just Miles...I don't have any family of my own." Said Miles, his ears and tails drooping slightly with sadness...Feeling a small stinging pain in his heart as he was reminded of how lonely he really was...However he was not expecting Holly's reaction as she suddenly pulled him into a rather warm and tender hug,

"Oh, you poor thing! That's horrible, what happened to your family?"
"I...I don't know, I never knew them. I spent almost my entire life out on the streets of Mobotropolis as a Street Urchin...he only reason I'm here is because Sir Sonic took me n as his Squire."

Holly Prower gasped and her face seemed to twist with an unprecedented amount of anger that Miles was not expecting from such a seemingly jovial and caring person,

"You mean you were abandoned on the streets by your family? What kind of monster would so willingly abandon a child like that?! I'm so sorry to hear about that Miles...I'm happy that you have been able to find a better life here under the care of Sir Sonic...Say, I'm heading down to the Castle Courtyards with my brother to watch him and the knight's spar in a bit. Would you like to come with me? It'd be nice having somebody ne to talk to."

Miles was taken aback by the request; he had certainly not been expecting to be asked to come down with the older fox...It was certainly unusual and he was intending to go to the library with Cream...But yet there was this little nagging voice in the back of his mind urging him to go with the vixen...A voice that Miles knew as his own sub-conscious...And so happily (although rather meekly) he nodded his head and smiled,

"I'd love to! Ummm...When do you want me to be there?"

"Oh, I'm going there right now; I may as well get there early so that I can find a good place to watch before other people take them all up! Now come on Miles, we don't want to be late!" She merrily said in response, grabbing the fox's hand and dragging him along with her.

...

Samuel Prower grunted as he felt Sir Sonic's blade clash with his own, the hedgehog was a lot stronger and faster than he appeared...He had known of the skill and speed of the knight for a long time, however he at the very least thought he could keep up with Princess Sally's body guard...

Sir Sonic broke the blade lock with a boot to the Prower's stomach, causing him to stumble back...And seeing his opportunity he thrusted his sword at the fox's chest, hoping to bring an end to the duel...However, Samuel was still no slouch with a broadsword and was able to turn the sword aside with the flat of his blade.

Hoping to pressure the hedgehog and utilise his rather considerable strength, he set upon the hedgehog a wild flurry of blows, hoping to power through the hedgehog's defence and create an opening in his guard...Like cracking a particularly hard nut with a sledgehammer...

Miles and Holly sat beside each other, watching the duel play out before them with baited breath...Holly felt a strong sense of familial pride wash over her like a tidal wave as she saw her older brother send blow after blow towards the hedgehog...Hoping like him, that it could be enough to break the Hedgehog's guard and allow for a finishing blow ...Rising from her seat she called to him,

"Come on Sam! For House Prower!"

Miles however, smirked as he saw his mentor almost effortlessly dodge, deflect and parry each of the older fox's blows and flip the duel on its head as he went back on the offensive...And although he liked Holly, he couldn't help but find watching the colour drain from her face amusing...It was like her words had given the opposite effect they were intended to bring and he found that deeply funny...Standing up beside her he cheered,

"Come on Sonic! Kick his ass!"

Sonic turned his head to the side and flashed Miles a confident grin before becoming laser focused on the duel once more...And unfortunately for Samuel Prower, while he could conduct himself admirably in the offensive field of duelling...He was far weaker when it came to defence and like a Christmas turkey, his defence was carved apart in a matter of moments...With a quick twirl of Sir Sonic's blade, Samuel's broadsword flew out of his hand and down onto the muddy ground below...The tip of Sonic's sword kissing a carotid artery in his neck.

"I yield..." he glumly stated...Feeling red hot embarrassment as he looked over to see his sister face palming with shame, handing a small handful of golden coins over to the smaller fox next to her who had a rictus grin spread on his face...

"Eh, don't feel too bad about it Prower, you put up more of a fight than a most other folk in the castle...Either way, good fight."

"Yeah...Good fight." Samuel mumbled before walking away and joining his sister and the other fox next to her.

"Wow...Way to defy expectations and get your arse kicked even quicker than I thought." Holly said irritably, hands on hips...

"Hahaha...Very funny Holly, it's not like I was duelling the most skilled knight alive...Either way, who's this kid? Started to chat with people NOT named Sally Acorn, eh?" Sam responded, taking a seat and gesturing to Miles...Who meekly wrapped his tails around himself.

Holly gasped in sarcastic offense, "Why of course! What could have possibly given you that idea...Either way...Sam this is Miles, Sir Sonic's Squire."

The two boys shook hands politely, the older of the pair smiling kindly at him,

"Pleasure to meet you kid, seems that you've got an excellent teacher and... You have two tails?" Sam asked curiously, his eyes locking on the two fluffy appendages wrapped around the younger boy's legs...Miles nodded and sucked in a breath...Awaiting some kind of disgusted insult...However instead he was met by a happy smile and a kind retort of,

"Very nice! Should be easy to spot you out in a crowd then."

Miles chuckled in response, although for a far darker reason than Samuel's joke...

"Yes...VERY easy to spot..." He mumbled to himself, his tails beginning to droop slightly...However the older fox didn't seem to notice, instead his eyes looked back towards the courtyard...One brow furrowing slightly,

"I say...Take a look at this! Leoncour is itching for a fight!" he exclaimed, which incited both Holly and Miles to look at where he was pointing and lo and behold! Sir Leoncour was indeed walking around the grounds looking for an opponent...Each one he approached backing away from him in fear...Apart from one...

"You." The knight said in a booming, deep voice...One armoured finger pointing towards the arrogant, sneering face of Sir Graham Douglas...A large, rotund boar of a knight...

"I would be honoured to Sir Leoncour. I've been itching for a fight for weeks." The boar responded, his tone dripping with vanity and an inflated sense of self-worth...

Sir Leoncour didn't respond however, instead he walked into one of the small duelling rings and turned to face Douglas drawing his blade...And oh what a blade it was too; even by the standards of melee weapons the sword looked brutal and well worn... Its edges serrated as to cause maximum injury with a single blow...It also seemed to be caked a dark brown with dried blood...

Douglas sneered as he drew his own weapon, a one-handed flanged mace and shield and got into a combat stance,

"Come then, I have heard tales of your exploits! I only hope that Prower's attack dog is as good as I have heard." Douglas said once more, mocking the silent knight...

It was Douglas who made the first move, charging at Leoncour and swinging his mace, hoping to smash it into the leg of his opponent, however it was skilfully dodged by Leoncour who responded by kicking the boar back with the very same leg he tried to hit...

However, Douglas was not done yet and once again, he tried to smash his mace into the side of Douglas's head, however his blow was turned aside by Leoncour's blade, all before he smashed his sword's pommel into the boar's face.

The foxes watched with baited breath as they heard Douglas give out a squeal of pain as blood began to rush from his nose, Miles however seemed to be the only one enjoying the show; he found Douglas's pain as karma for his utterly appalling treatment of Cream and so, he wanted to see the boar suffer as much as possible.

Douglas let out a frenzied cry as he started to hammer blow after blow at Leoncour, however Tywin's most trusted weapon peerlessly blocked, dodged and parried each of them...Not even sending any attacks back towards the boar...Like Miles he seemed to be enjoying this too...Especially seeing how Douglas's attacks grew slower and more desperate as he began to tire himself out ...He wanted to humiliate the boar as much as possible.

Douglas cried out in agonising pain once more as he fell to the ground after he missed yet another blow...And he looked up towards Sir Leoncour and he felt alarm flair through his body as he saw him raise his blade, seemingly about to impale him...He raised his arms crying out,

"NO! STOP! PLEASE!"

However, his cries fell on death ears as Leoncour's blade came falling down on the boar's neck...The blade sawed through the veins, arteries, flesh, tendons and vertebrae in Douglas's neck...Blood oozing from the point of entry for the blade...And Douglas's eyes bulged as he stared up...Seeing his murderer give a cold, cruel grin...He didn't have to see it under the helmet...he just knew...And just like that...Was Sir Graham Douglas's life extinguished...

Holly screamed in horror; Samuel angrily called for somebody to stop Sir Leoncour alongside others in the courtyard...But Miles just stared at the corpse with cold, composed eyes...Even as Leoncour ripped his blade from the neck of the freshly expired Sir Douglas, sending blood and ichor spraying in all directions...A handful of knights drew their weapons as they tried to block Leoncour from leaving...However, King Nigel who had been watching the affair merely waved his hand,

"Let him go." The king demanded...And the knights wishing to obey their king...Lowered their weapons and reluctantly stood aside and let Leoncour leave the courtyard...Not suffering as much as a slap on the wrist for the crime he had just committed...

"Unbelievable...I can't believe that Leoncour got away with that..." Samuel whispered in horror, watching as other knights came into the arena and drag the body of Douglas away...The corpse leaving a slick blood trail as it went...

Holly however was too horrified to even speak...Instead she just stared glassy eyed at where Douglas's body once lay...

"He killed him...He killed him..." She murmured weakly...

Samuel reached around to give his sister a comforting side hug, all the while turning to the youngest of the trio,

"Hey Miles, you alright? I understand that stuff like that would come as a shock to someone as young as you."

However, to the shock of the two foxes...Miles spoke in an uncharacteristically sharp and even cruel voice as he responded,

"I'm fine, Douglas was an abusive piece of shit and got what he deserved. He was an embarrassment of a knight and paid the price for being so arrogant."

Samuel and Holly looked at him with horror stitched cross their faces,

"Woah, hey! Calm down kid." Sam said, trying to appeal to Miles's usual good nature.

"Why? Why should I feel bad for Douglas huh? If anything, we should be happy that such a disgrace to the title of knight is gone!" Miles exclaimed, throwing his hands up in defence.

"Well, that may be the case but he still just died! That...Callousness in your tone is beginning to remind me of our father Miles." Holly said wearily...

The younger of the foxes opened his mouth to respond, however...A cold realisation hit him...He was beginning to sound rather hard-hearted...Vicious even...He hated Douglas more than anything but still...He didn't know where that immense satisfaction at seeing him die came from...It...It wasn't like him...Lowering his head he lowly,

"Apologies...I just...I didn't know what came over me there...I'm alright now though, I think..."

He looked up at Sam and Holly, hoping that his explanation would be enough to redeem himself in their eyes...Thankfully, it was as they began to smile in an understanding manner,

"It's quite alright kid, it's natural to have these feelings at times. Hell, Holly turns evil during her monthly pains." Samuel joked, earning him a sharp elbow to the side from his younger sibling.

"Yes...Regardless, don't worry about it Tails...Now, I think we've seen quite enough...blood...for one day...How about we go to the library or something like that..." Holly responded.

Miles nodded, however...There was one part of that sentence he focused on intently...And he voiced a question on it.

"Sounds good but...What did you just call me?"

"Oh...I just thought I'd call you Tails as a silly nickname."

"Tails?!"

"Yeah, because you've got two of them...It doesn't bother you does it Miles?" Holly asked, her tone as well as her face looking rather anxious for his response...

Miles stood there for a moment pondering...He knew it wasn't intended to be an insult...And it was true, he did have two of the furry appendages...And it was certainly
better than anything else he'd be able to come up with...If anything, he rather liked the ring of it...It sounded quite nice and suited him...And so, looking up at the girl and smiling shyly, he said,

"No, it doesn't bother me...I actually quite like it."