The Four Swords

Chapter 119: The Line Up

I stood in the council chamber by myself for a moment. I missed the peacefulness of the assignments I generally took on in the wilderness. This was not my idea of fun, however delaying the inevitable was clearly not the solution either.

I left the royal wing and proceeded towards the Petitioner's Court. A large crowd was already assembled as I made my way in the back door. I probably should have proceeded to the doorway that led directly behind the dais, but my circuitous route was much more fun. I did not enjoy crowds, but at least I had a few more moments where I did not have to interact with anyone personally. Or so I thought.

"Holden!" A blonde beauty said with a wide smile. "Oh, I'm sorry. I mean Lord Holden. Forgive me." The cheeks of the vivacious woman hinted toward pink, bringing out her deep blue eyes. Her face seemed familiar, but I could not place it. I am not sure who in court would not first know me by my title. Not that I minded. This lovely lady could call me Holden if she desired.

"Hello!" I replied with a bright smile, hoping that might buy me some time to further scour the back of my mind to figure out how I might know this woman.

"I'm sorry for calling you out of your title," the woman apologized again. "I was just so excited to see a familiar face. Father sends me to Petitioner's Court whenever he can spare me from the clock shop to make sure no rules of commerce change. It was just refreshing to see you."

The clock shop. Father. Those sparkling blue eyes. All of these clues fit perfectly into a place as the woman I once knew as 'Young Gella' half heartedly embraced me with one arm. The apprentice that took over the clock shop that my brother lived on top of had a daughter younger than me. As children we would play together whenever my father would bring me to the capital on business. We were fast friends back then, although the years have kept us apart.

"Good to see you too, Gella!" I responded, returning the embrace. "We must catch up sometime!"

"I would like that. After the Petitioner's Court, I am heading back to the shop. We could walk together, if you like?" At the end of her offer her tone raised in pitch, as if she was not sure she should have been so forward with her request.

"I would like that. It would be my pleasure." I offered. I would have to figure out later how I might explain a short break from my babysitting duty to Queen Valerie. Maybe 'Young Gella' was old enough to need a friend more than a babysitter.

Even if I wanted to continue my pleasant conversation with my old friend, I did not have the opportunity. Royal fanfare played by trumpeters quieted the crowd and allowed the official proceedings to commence. Queen Valerie eyed me in the crowd and gave me a pointed look. I needed to move closer to the dais to better present a united front with Lord Jacobson. He happened to situate himself near Princess Alina and Lady Calista.

"I must go." I offered as a goodbye to Gella. I was awful at knowing what to say when duty called. I took confident strides to stand next to the younger Swordsman.

I surveyed the line of petitioners. The line ended shortly after it began. To my surprise, Carrion was not among those standing. Maybe Princess Alina finally got through that thick skull to knock some sense into it.

Somehow that thought made me wonder how my mother was getting along with her two charges. A smile crept onto my face as I remembered the first strike of that wooden spoon to the back of Balor's head. I was positive my mother was doing wonderful, but I could only imagine how the two boys from the clan of Falcon were fairing.

My reminiscing made me only halfway pay attention to the first two petitioners. A short man had a land dispute with his neighbor and a slender woman asked for the theft of some of her shopwares to be investigated. The short line was already dwindling.

Just as I was starting to get my hopes up for an easy day, I saw a very frustrated Carrion join the back of the line. His face was deep red and he seemed to be mumbling something to himself. I just had to start getting my hopes up. At least now I had someone to keep me entertained.

He still wore his formal coat that I saw during the council meeting. He clearly was not comfortable in that amount of fabric since he kept smoothing the fabric with his hands. I, for one, am thankful such coats have long gone out of fashion. I tried one on once in the marketplace while visiting Benate. He was around the corner and did not see me pick up the item to try it on. In a silhouette or shadow that type of coat almost resembles a dress. When Benate rounded the corner looking for me, he was looking the wrong way and bumped into me. He saw my shadow first and started perfusing apologizing to the 'fine lady' he bumped. Needless to say, his laughter fully put me off of the idea of ever owning such a coat.

Surveying the line once more, I saw another surprise. Carrion was not the last one in line any more. Sir John now rounded out the line. Maybe he was a placeholder to mark the end of the line. I had never seen such a technique used before, but there is a first time for everything.

Looking more closely at Sir John, I noticed his eyes were fixed on something. Following their path, I found their mark. Queen Valerie smiled sweetly back toward the man of the clan of Stag. It almost looked as if her smile held back happy tears. I never got such a reaction from following orders.