The Knight

Chapter Six

Phil was awoken from his deep slumber by his bedsheets being yanked off of him. He groaned as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, ready to fist fight whatever woke him up so early. He watched the culprit stride over to his window and tug the curtains open, allowing the burning sunlight into his bedroom.

Johanna turned around and smiled at him, seemingly unaware of how displeased she made Phil by pulling him out of his peaceful slumber.

"Rise and shine, beautiful! You have an important morning today!" She announced, too chipper for the ungodly hour.

Phil turned to his other side and covered his face with his pillow, desperate to go back to dreamland. Johanna laughed at his childness and pulled the pillow from him.

"Now Phil, you have a meeting with The King today. You don't want to be late, do you?"

Phil sat up in bed, suddenly alert.

"A meeting with King Marcus? I wasn't aware of this."

The girl made her way over to the wooden wardrobe and sifted through the hanging garments. She smiled when she found what she was looking for and handed the simple uniform to Phil.

"I know, I'm sorry for the late notice. King Marcus requested you met with him this morning to brief you on the family's upcoming trip to Auberon. Unfortunately I won't be attending; my wife will be returning from her station in Leviathan that weekend and I'll be picking her up, but I know you'll be able to handle it!" The woman gave a broad smile and a nod before leaving the room, allowing Phil to rush to get ready.

He dressed himself in the uniform Johanna had selected and ran a comb through his thick hair. He left the room with haste and made his way down the hallway in long strides, then tackled the stairs two at a time. Before long, he was standing in front of the heavy wooden door he knows all too well by now.

The two guards positioned at either side of the threshold open the doors smoothly, allowing Phil to wander inside. The King sat at his desk like usual, but looked up from his papers and smiled when Phil walked in.

"Philip, It's good to see you, my boy. Please, take a seat." King Marcus folded his reading glasses as he spoke and tucked them into his coat pocket.

"I could not be more happy with this arrangement, Philip. Not only have I personally observed you following orders with the accuracy and urgency I could have only hoped for, but my sweet Daniel seems pleased as well! He has told me very good things about you."

Phil felt his face heat up. Daniel thought good of him? Not only that, but he spoke well of him to his father?

"Now, I'm sure you've heard that my sons and I will be going on a trip to Auberon next week. Our goal is to secure a better relationship with the monarchy over there, and hopefully form an alliance. In view of the fact that this will be a trip intended for personal expediency regarding a personal bond, we will be staying at Auberon's royal palace. Philip, please review and memorize a map of the castle as well as their security system. I want you to be in the loop. I'm sure nothing will happen but it's better to-"

The sound of the door creaking on it's hinges made King Marcus stop mid-sentence. Phil followed his gaze to see Prince Adrian standing with his normal stiff stance in the doorway. Next to him stood Daniel looking especially beautiful that day. The air in the room seemed lighter when Phil saw him. Daniel flashed a small smile at Phil before walking over to his father's desk and taking a seat. Adrian followed after his brother, taking the seat between him and Phil, which Phil was slightly disappointed about. He wanted to sit next to Daniel.

The King greeted the boys and made his way back to his chair, sitting with a soft sigh.

"Boys, I'm just finishing up my run-down with Philip about our upcoming trip. There's a few things I need to discuss with you both as well. Adrian, during this visit you are to stay by my side. This is going to be an exceptional way for you to observe how making alliances work and I want you to be present and learning at every moment. And as I'm sure you both know, we will be staying at the castle so you need to be on your best behavior. That includes you, Daniel."