The Call to War

Chapter 7

Arthur was sleeping in his room on the floating castle, Sylvie curled up on a pillow beside him. The sun was shining brightly through the window, when suddenly the door swung opened and several maids walked in.

"Good morning general, we are here to help you get ready," one of the maids said with a kind voice.

"Five more minutes," Arthur groaned as he rolled over.

"I don't think so!" A more burly but feminine voice replied.

The blanket over Arthur was then ripped off of him.

"Hey!" Arthur shouted as he sat up in bed.

"Orders from Commander Virion. He said you aren't exactly a morning person, so we are to get you moving and ready for the ceremony, whether you cooperate or not," said the woman with the burly voice with her arms crossed.

Arthur glared at this maid as he sized her up. Her voice definitely matched her appearance, as she looked like she'd be more suited as an adventure if she were a mage. She was nearly a foot taller than the other maids, with a body that would make a male dwarf drool with lust at the sight of her. Her arms were bigger around than Arthur's head, with a build of a male professional wrestler. The look on her face was stern and authoritative, reminding Arthur of a strict school teacher that was about to hit him with a ruler.

"I'd like to take a shower first, so how about some privacy," Arthur replied, more so telling than asking, as he decided this was not a battle worth fighting.

"Very well," she said with a nod. "We'll be back in ten minutes, whether you're decent or not," She turned to walk away, but stopped. "One more thing." She took a wooden box from one of the other maids and placed it on the bed. "A gift from the commander."

Arthur walked over and opened it, revealing a set of clothes, a white tunic and black pants. Instantly he recognized clothes were made of the same material as the ones Tess gave him before their Summer Break, which were now torn to shreds from his training with the Asura.

"Thank you."

The maids bowed slightly and left his room. Arthur dropped the white tunic on the bed and dragged his feet to the shower. Due to the last few days he was completely mentally exhausted, to a point that not even a good night's sleep helped. Starting with learning that his parents were leaving the castle to join war with the Twin Horns, and leaving Ellie with him, then the meeting with two retainers, where they basically demanded Dicathen's unconditional surrender. Then came his and Tess' first real fight since they became a couple. Tess had learned of Director Goodsky, her former mentor's death, and Arthur said several things that even he admitted he could have said more tactfully. That resulted in them not speaking for the last two days. Arthur had tried to speak with her, to apologize and try and fix things, but she was somehow able to completely hide from him. If not for her grandfather assuring him that she was still there, he would have thought she left the castle.

Arthur took his shower and as he pulled the black pants out of the box he looked over at Sylvie laying on his pillow.

"Don't worry Arthur, I'm awake," Sylvie commented without moving.

"I figured, I was just noticing how lazy of a dragon you're becoming," Arthur teased as he pulled up his pants.

Sylvie opened one eye and glared at him, causing Arthur to laugh. Just then, before Arthur could even put his tunic on, the door opened and the maids started pouring in.

"Well at least you're halfway decent," the burly maid commented.

But Arthur wasn't paying her any attention as he pulled his tunic over his head, he was paying more attention to the suit of armour being rolled in on a cart.