The group slowed considerably while I was trying to get a good look at the King.

  I knew very little about him. From the books I had read, his name was King Marcus Ashivar. I knew from my texts—although usually just known as the capital—the city itself is named after the royal family name, Ashivar.

  “What is with all the guards?” I whispered.

  Jen pulled out a piece of paper and wrote.

  ‘Say nothing for now, Trev.

  They are almost certainly listening, even from this distance.

  Let Hari speak, and we’ll go from there.’

  I just nodded. Lily didn’t miss a beat, still right next to Sable. Next to her, out of the brazier, was a very large Crisplet, matching the height of Lily.

  Despite what must have been hundreds of people in front of us, with rows of guards, and clearly robed individuals both on the walls and in the groups of guards, as we got close the tension got thicker as all eyes were firmly locked onto us. The only person who didn’t have a fierce, grim look was the King himself, who looked to be having a joke with an older man next to him.

  Finally, when we had made it close enough, Hari said only, “Stay close, stay together.”

  The man in the red armour stepped forward. The King.

  “Come, come, don’t mind this lot!” a booming voice called out.

  There was an undeniable authority in his voice, and despite the distance between us, it carried without issue. The tone was almost jovial, which didn’t match the scene in front of us, with hundreds of people staring at us with stony expressions.

  I could feel Lily was likewise flaring up her own presence in response to the reception.

  With every step we took, the moment grew more tense. Moving forward, a group of four, including the King himself, was walking towards us. In the end, we stopped halfway, where Hari and Milo dismounted, causing us all to follow suit.

  I could now see the King clearly. He looked to be no older than Hari, despite knowing he should be much older. He had a large, bushy red beard. His armour was crimson red that shone in the sun, like it was absorbing the light and blasting it back out.

  Flanking him were two men. One was a warrior of sorts in full armour, shined to a polished finish, that I only recognised as Liam when he was much closer due to the helmet he was wearing. Next to him stood a lady with the same red hair as the King, wearing a brilliant white and purple robe, holding the most intricate wooden staff I had ever seen.

  It looked to be carved of wood, with veins of moving fire throughout. Once she got close enough, I also noticed her eyes were red like fire as well.

  Finally, there was a well-dressed man, who looked to be aged and whispering to the King, but other than that he looked unremarkable compared to the rest.

  As we came within feet of the King, Hari and Milo knelt, causing the others to follow suit, leaving only myself, Darren and George standing before we caught on.

  Lily and Crisplet did not budge, standing proud. In fact, Crisplet only amplified his appearance now, adopting the rolling flames that appeared in the staff into his own form.

  The booming voice of the King spoke again.

  “Enough of that. We invited you as guests; please rise,” he said.

  Hari froze up in indecision. The rest of us, however, rose as Hari finally got back to his feet.

  “Thank you, Your Majesty…” Hari said, a shake in his voice.

  “Come, let’s speak without formality. I’m here to meet the boy I have heard so much about, and by what I’m seeing there is no mistaking which one it is,” the King said, approaching us.

  “Please, Your Grace, be careful. We don’t know the beast’s temperament,” I heard the old man hiss.

  The comment, clearly heard by Lily, made her flare up the pressure with anger.

  “Gerald, you’re not here to be rude. You’re here to advise,” the King said back.

  Hari found his voice. “I’m sorry, Your Majesty. Please let me introduce ourselves. My name is Hari Lind. We are the Polite Company, with Milo Bestington, Jennifer Lyrea, and Liane. Finally, our newest companion, Trevor.” He gestured to each of us.

  “And we’re just escorting our friends Micca Carlye, and her two guards, Darren and George.” Again, gesturing to them.

  “Finally, Trevor’s companions, Lily and Crisplet. Both are more than capable of understanding and communicating,” Hari said, making eye contact with Gerald.

  “Yes, yes, we’ve heard the rumours! The boy who has met not just one but several of this world’s most powerful creatures, including our very own sacred Phoenix, which we now know to be called Alira. But yes, this stick in the mud next to me is my adviser, Gerald. Captain Liam you have met, and finally my daughter, Princess Kathrine Ashivar,” the King said with a beaming smile.

  Speaking directly to me now, the King approached, completely unfazed by the pressure of Lily or Crisplet.

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  I whispered to them both, “It’s okay, we’re just talking.”

  “Now, with introductions out of the way, it’s an absolute pleasure to meet you and your fine companions. I wish to welcome you all to my wonderful city. I have personally organised accommodation for you that Liam and Kathrine will escort you to, and I wanted to personally invite you and your party to dine with me this evening,” he said.

  I saw the subtle nod from Jen to my side, as I really wasn’t sure what to say or do in this situation. “Of course, we’d love to.”

  “Fantastic! I am very excited to discuss your journey so far and figure out which of these rumours are true and which have been exaggerated, but just by your presence here today, I can feel the power of the Shadow Cat. If anything has been sold short, it’s incredible,” he said, looking to Lily now.

  Turning around, “Gerald, bring the carriages here. And Liam, have your men look after the horses. Please escort our guests.”

  My mind raced, and although it may have been speaking out of place, “Excuse me, you’re not sending Micca and my friends somewhere else, are you? They are with us until they find homes here.”

  Micca’s eyes opened wide, looking at me, but said nothing.

  The King just laughed. “No, dear boy, we’re not separating you. We’ve done enough research to know these are your friends and not just a job for the adventurers’ guild, but I would like to talk to you, and by extension your party, alone tonight.”

  I nodded. I was just worried that they would be left without direction in the capital.

  In the distance, I saw two very large carriages coming forward that looked to be so intricately designed, with fine wooden carvings out of a deep red wood, with gold trimmings, pulled by four horses each.

  “We will take you to the residence first, and let you get cleaned up. Travelling on the road can be difficult. Would you like us to take the wagon?” the King asked, looking at the wagon.

  “Um, I can store it?” I said, not thinking, before realising I don’t know what skills of mine to keep secret. Obviously, I knew the buffs were to be kept secret; I had been told explicitly.

  “Of course you can!” the King responded, clearly misunderstanding what I meant.

  A nod from Hari, however, showed that I would be okay to do this.

  “I mean I can store it away right now,” I said sheepishly, as Milo had already moved to unhook the horses.

  The King just looked at me oddly, watching as Milo was unhooking the horses, but didn’t say anything more.

  I didn’t remove the barrels this time, believing it was the horses attached that was causing the issues, and once Milo had them free with Hari’s assistance, I reached out, storing the wagon, which disappeared before everyone’s eyes.

  “Useful skill,” I heard the King say.

  Ten guards were coming with the two large carriages, which were now pulling up, and after some orders from the King, the guards took all the horses as we separated into the two carriages.

  They were large enough to probably fit everyone in a single one. However, things were complicated as Lily and Crisplet would not leave my side. When I entered the carriage behind the King, both Lily and Crisplet entered as well, taking up a large portion of the room.

  In the end, it was the King, Gerald, who just looked grim at the situation, Lily, Crisplet, and Liane, in one, despite the look of alarm in Hari’s eyes with everyone else travelling in the other.

  Even when I asked Crisplet to shrink down a little, I got a single spark shot at me.

  “They are very protective of you,” the King said with a chuckle.

  I was surprised when Liane spoke up. “It’s not surprising. He’s had a Lord try to kidnap him into slavery, a Lord ask for his execution, and a group of adventurers tried to murder him, while his friends growing up were on a death march to the south with one of them being killed, and the other on the verge of death.”

  As she spoke, the jovial look on the King’s face faded more and more. By the time she was finished, there were looks of disappointment and anger.

  “I see. These are all things we had not heard of at the time. Well, we have discovered the death march now, and the city of Portland has been taken over by my guards as we regain order and discover how deep the rot goes. We also discovered some debt servitude after finding the Lord of Dunhearth had been misrepresenting his taxes,” Marcus said.

  Seemingly deep in thought, there was a long pause.

  “We did not hear about a Lord attempting to execute you, however. If I may ask, who was that?” he asked, and his curiosity seemed to be genuine.

  Liane spoke again, seemingly far more confident in these enclosed spaces than in the open prior. “Lord Felix of Boltron, and here is the paperwork that the Lord in Dunhearth tried to trap Trevor with.” She said, pulling out the paperwork Simon had signed, and handing it over.

  The King’s eyes widened. “You paid for this nonsense? Three gold for the orphanage—that’s ridiculous! Gerald, see to it they are refunded, and this Simon person is found. Also, look into this Lord in Boltron. I want auditors there as soon as possible.”

  Gerald just nodded.

  “I understand these are only words, and my actions will speak louder. However, I apologise deeply for how you’ve been treated, and I wish to right at least some of these wrongs,” the King said, looking me in the eye.

  “I suppose the easiest thing is to ask if anyone has actually treated you well?” he said with a cold laugh.

  “I mean, Lady Greyrock wasn’t bad?” I said, looking at Liane.

  “Her husband, however, didn’t want you to enter the city,” Liane said.

  There was a silence that fell over the carriage as I looked out the window. As we passed through the city, it was hard to make everything out as both sides were flanked with guards, and large crowds had gathered to watch the carriages move.

  We pulled through two more sections of wall, moving to an inner area of the city. The conversation had mostly ground to a halt with the King explaining the sections as we passed: from the general population, the merchants and business owners, then the nobles.

  Liane was incredibly blunt, saying, “It’s the poor, the middle class, and the wealthy.”

  Gerald spoke up for the first time at that. “No, that’s not right. We offer everyone the chance to work, and no one should be left homeless.”

  Liane looked at him coldly. “You’re speaking to two people who have been through your orphan system. You’re doing us no favours by leading us to slaughter.”

  The King once again frowned but said nothing, just looking at Gerald and causing him to go silent as well.

  Eventually, we turned off the road and appeared to be heading through a gate. I noticed most of the guards had now dropped back, giving me a clearer view outside the windows.

  We were approaching a mansion. It must have been even larger than the manor in Dunhearth, with gardens that looked immaculate.

  Marcus finally spoke. “Well, I hoped to have a friendlier start, but this is to be expected when you’ve been treated the way you have been. But in my first step to make amends, this property is yours.”

  “Uh, thank you. I don’t know how long we’ll be staying, but we’ll take good care of it,” I said.

  “No, you misunderstand me, Trevor. This is yours. You own it,” he said, opening the door to the carriage that had just come to a halt.

  I sat there stunned.

  Owned it?