Avalyne Empire Stories

8th Story - Verdia

Just how the hell did the Imperial Order turn into this?

I grimaced as I looked around the ragtag group of knights scrambling to don their armor. Ever since Padraig was demoted to captain, the order has slowly degenerated into something I could no longer be proud to call myself a part of. I don't know who the hell thought it was a good idea to make that idiot Keith the new commander, but I doubt that was a choice the emperor himself made.

After all, Lady Scarlet would've most certainly intervened through Princess Gwenhwyfar had the emperor himself been mulling over the decision. Her eyes and ears in the imperial palace were second to none, after all.

Which means it had to be an internal decision, huh? I shook my head, sighing as the knights finally finished armoring up. Had this been more than just a drill, we probably would've been overrun before they could even prepare to engage the enemy. That said, I was long ready while they were still attempting to affix the straps on their breastplates, so I suppose I could've held off an attack on my own while these fools readied themselves.

"Everyone, form up at the courtyard and prepare to escort the princess. She'll be riding her personal carriage to Avalyne Academy." I commanded.

"Yes, ma'am!" My soldiers chorused, rushing to the exit before stopping in their tracks just several paces shy of it.

"W-Wait! Uh... Captain Verdia, we don't know where the courtyard is..." One of my men said, looking at me expectantly. I could only stare back with a cold, hard gaze of pure disappointment. I could barely believe my ears, and had Padraig still been the commander of the order, I might've thought this fool was just pulling my leg.

"You... You've been here for weeks as Princess Gwenhwyfar's personal guard, no less! You mean to tell me that you haven't even memorized the Imperial Academy's layout!?" I thundered. It was improper of me to shout, especially while we were still inside the Imperial Academy, but I simply couldn't hold back my rage. Just what the hell were these knights thinking!?

It was not only standard procedure to learn the layout of any structure your charge might be entering, but also something even a squire was taught to do. As imperial knights, my soldiers should have memorized the academy's entire floor plan even before they arrived. Yet here we were, weeks after being assigned to our posts, and they hadn't even memorized where the courtyard was!? It was insanity. Pure, unadulterated insanity.

"All of you fall in behind me! You should all be fucking ashamed," I spoke in a more measured tone as I made my way to the exit ahead of my men. Though I had carefully mastered my anger, my voice still seethed with palpable rage. "Even the orphan who Captain Padraig knighted before leaving the order would have been better prepared than you lot. In fact, I doubt the ten of you together could best her in a duel."

A few of the knights shot me dark looks while others looked suitably stricken with shame. I'm not sure why Keith thought it would be a good idea to assign fresh graduates of the Imperial Academy as the princess' guards, but their lack of experience was really showing. After all, they were senior knights only in name at this point.

The clinking of steel echoed through the academy, my boots falling against the marbled floor harder than they should. On our way to the courtyard, we passed several nobles who shot us curious glances, unused to seeing so many imperial knights marching through the halls without the princess at our side. To be completely honest, I wasn't entirely sure what the purpose of Princess Gwenhwyfar's visit to Avalyne Academy was in the first place.

Of course, I knew the first semester's preliminary inspection was the official reason, but there was no need for the princess herself to attend such a rudimentary survey. Such things were better left to lesser nobility and knights. Granted, the princess' visit to the academy wasn't something I had been worrying about until now. Originally, I had expected some level of competency from my knights which would make such a visit practically risk-free, but now that I was cursed with the knowledge of their utter lack of ability, a seed of doubt was quickly beginning to sprout in my heart.