The Majesty of Choice

Pete

It's only a few minutes when, at long last, Gerard sees the castle in all of its grandeur in front of him. Seeing something of myth and legend before him staggers him a little bit. This is Frank's home. This is the place where he became Frank. It looks absolutely nothing like his personality. This is so pristine and boring and clean. Frank isn't very easy to pinpoint. He's strong, but he's not super strong. He's short as all hell, but he's got a lot of heart and spirit that you wouldn't know just by looking at him. He's incredibly brave, and it kind of gives Gerard feelings when he remembers just how heroic he actually is. He's nothing like the Prince Charming that Gerard heard stories about. But he's better. In every way, he is better.

Ray would be proud of him for finding someone who cares so much about him. He's always been supportive of Gerard no matter what it was Gerard decided he wanted to do. He direly misses him.

The castle is guarded by a huge gate with knights stationed out in front of it. There are a few buildings within the walls as well; what appears to be a small servants' quarters and a stable to the other side.

Frank's arrival is definitely a big thing because the guards stand at attention the second they see who it is that's riding on the horse at the front of their parade. Gerard himself is sitting in front of Frank so they might recognize the horse before they even see the Prince. He suddenly feels very uncomfortable being the first thing that the two knights at the gate see of their Prince. Why on earth would the Prince be sharing his horse with someone, especially someone dressed in such poor clothing as Gerard? He's the prince, he's royalty, he doesn't share his horse.

"Your highness," one of the guards says, and Frank suppresses a laugh as he looks at Gerard. Gerard feels him draw circles into his side, away from the view of the guards, as if to comfort him for the fact that someone tried to use Gerard's nickname on Frank.

"Hey fellas," Frank says, which isn't how Gerard would ever in a million years address a knight, but then again, these are Frank's knights.

Sometimes he thinks about how hard training to be a knight would be. He kind of wanted to be one as a kid. He wanted to swing a sword around and fight monsters. They get to wear cool armor and protect the King. But then the King died, and Edgar took over, and Gerard didn't really feel like protecting that guy. Also, you have to have dexterity, strength, and bravery, and Gerard doesn't really have any of those.

There's also the curse. What if some bad guy were to just say "don't kill me?" What would Gerard be able to do? If he was ordered into something inhumane, such as enslaving elves, or cornering Giants away from the rest of the world or killing Ogres. He wouldn't be a good candidate.

Not to mention, the process of becoming a Knight is famously difficult. It used to be that you had to be of noble blood, but that led to a lot of inbreeding, so they stopped that a few hundred years ago. Now it's just the best of the best, and it takes months to officially be knighted, through grueling training that you can all but finish and still be turned away. Hayley was the first girl to ever be knighted, it was written law that no woman ever could. But she was just too good. She was to valuable to turn away. She changed the law through pure persistence. Maybe Gerard could do that.

Gerard does have the utmost respect for Knights, they're serving their Kingdom, he just wouldn't want their job. The ones he's met have been brilliant and kind. Even Ryan and Alex who don't really talk to him at all are very nice to him. But Travie and Hayley are two of the best people Frank could have by his side. He wonders if Frank plans on bringing them with when they search for Brendon.

Gerard has lost himself in thought. The next thing he knows they're entering into the stables beyond the castle gates. He makes a note of the perfect green grass within the gates and sees very intricate flower patters in a small part of the grounds far away before they fully enter into the half-enclosed space.