Sol's Shine and the Kingdom of Metal

Chapter 11 Stone On The Hill

 The three kingdoms that were visiting the Kingdom of Metal rented out an entire inn to stay in before they could go see King Balmer as requested. They all needed the time to rest up and prepare after just restlessly traveling in caravans and watching an all out brawl. Sol sat in the inn's dining hall at one of the round table's stationed in the corner of the room with Brook, Crystal, and Lilac. They were at a complete loss for how they were going to deal with Krissy or how they were going to handle meeting King Balmer for the first time. Although, Sol took one look at Brook and saw his mind was in a different world. Brook Vancott looked at the menu in his wings, practically drooling over the options they had. "So I think I might be able to answer that question of yours from earlier Sol. The stuff they have on here sounds so good!" Brook exclaimed, showing his gluttony yet again. "You haven't even tried it yet... and you don't know what it looks like." Crystal told him. "Not yet, but one smell from that kitchen over there and I can already tell that it's going to be G-O-O-D, good!"

"Speaking of smells..." Brook laid his menu down for a second to give Sol a little grin. "You got to remember our deal bud. 100 gold." Brook pinched and rubbed the edges of his winged feathers, similar to how someone would pinch and rub their fingers when receiving a greedy payment. "I'll get to that later, man. My mind is still focused on King Balmer, Krissy, and Amon." Sol said to him. "We'll have to meet up with the king soon. I hope you two are prepared." Crystal warned them. "How can I be? What do we even say? Krissy is going to be there so things are pretty much bound to not go well." Sol responded.

"Well maybe you won't have to say anything. We already know how Krissy feels about you and Lilac right now so it's good to know that much before heading into it all." Crystal said. Upon mentioning her name, Crystal turned to Lilac who sat silently, looking down at the table. "Lilac?" Crystal tried to get her attention. "Uh.. y-yeah?" Lilac looked up to Crystal. "You know what I'm saying right? I think it may be best that you sit this one out." Crystal told her. Lilac nodded her head. "You're right." She agreed with her, almost having her mind in another world as well. "Well I don't think Lilac is allowed to attend anyway. The only guards they're going to have there are the ones from this kingdom. Other than that, it's just the wielders of the ancient weapons and royalty that are allowed in to meet the king." Brook said. Sol tried to sound reassuring. "See? One less thing to worry about right?" "Right." Lilac sounded hesitant.

It was thanks to Lilac's awkward silence that gave the rise of their attention to some commotion happening near the entrance of the inn. Sol and Lilac looked over their own shoulders to get a good look at what it was all about. "We told you! This inn had been rented out by very important people! Go somewhere else!" The orc soldier pushed another common orc to the ground. His friend tried helping him up. "Please! There's a few people we know that are staying here right now. It's the truth." Don did his best to explain himself to the soldier. "We really need to speak with them." Ron got back on his feet, explaining their urgency.

They all got up from their seats and moved towards the inn's entrance to confront the two orcs. "We'll handle this. Step back." Crystal told the guards. "But these two are complete strangers. We can't just let you-" "You will. We actually know these two 'strangers' so if you don't mind, step aside before I report you for interfering with royal business." Crystal told them off with a rough and harsh voice. The guards nodded and stepped back. "Let's take this outside." Crystal told them.

As they stepped away from prying eyes and went behind the inn's backside, they were ready for what Ron and Don had to say. "So uh... how have you guys been holding up?" That was Sol's best attempt at breaking the ice with these two. Ron and Don looked at each other as if they were trying to think about which one of them was going to speak first. Then Don gestured to Ron to say something and he obliged. "We... know things haven't been on the best terms with you and Krissy lately." He said. "We'd figure this would be a good time to talk about that before you guys meet the king and all." Don said.