Rise of the Inquisition (Arc 1-3)

Chapter 30: Reunions

Paladin kicked the carriage door open, and immediately he jumped out of the carriage, seeking relief from the headache that was Ava. Upon the opening of the carriage, the carriage was parked next to a stone brick building with the dome similar to that of the designs of the Ancient Greeks.

"We had in depth conversations while on our first trip to the Capital City Archer! By the end of our conversations it was made very clear that we were interested in each other!"

Lady Athena and Ashley exited the carriage behind Paladin. While Ava was ranting, Archer had both of his hands on his ears.

"What's that? I'm sorry, I can't hear you!"

As Arryn left the carriage, she quickly slammed the door behind her. Trapping both Ava and Archer inside, blocking out all the noise and disturbance they were creating. Paladin picked himself off the ground, dusting off all the dirt that he collected. Highclere walked down the steps of the driver's seat perch, and walked over to the four of them.

"Lady Athena, my assumption is that I'll be staying with the carriage?" asked Highclere, Lady Athena nodded her head.

"Your assumption is correct Highclere. Somebody will need to stand guard over the carriage while the rest of us are in a meeting with the King." said Lady Athena, Paladin tilted his head while looking at Lady Athena. Confused, on why a carriage would need to be guarded.

"Why are you having a carriage be guarded? Shouldn't you be having more protection for yourself?" asked Paladin, Lady Athena shook her head.

"It would be embarrassing for me if the carriage was stolen. I'm not worried about myself, as I'm no pushover." said Lady Athena, Paladin wasn't convinced, scratching his chin with his right hand. But, he wasn't in the mood to argue or debate anyone. Ava opened the carriage door, and slammed it behind her. Walking down the steps, she went to stand next to Lady Athena.

"Are we ready to leave?" she asked, Lady Athena nodded.

"Yes, follow me everyone." replied Lady Athena.

The group of Ava, Lady Athena, Ashley, and Arryn proceeded to walk away from Paladin. Towards the stone road that lead to King's Hall. The four of them assumed that Paladin would be joining them, but as they walked away, Ashley quickly noticed that Paladin was still standing by the carriage. Ashley then stopped and looked back on him.

"Paladin, aren't you coming?" she asked, as she stopped the others stopped aswell. They all looked back on Paladin. Paladin shook his head, he was thinking about Archer and how it would likely be better if Ava and Archer were far away from each other in the meeting. Neither of the two seemed to be getting along with each other right now.

"I'm going to wait for Archer, I need to speak with him about a few things. You guys go

Ahead," Paladin said, he waved them off.

"Are you sure? Do you even know how to enter King's Hall?" she asked, Paladin brought his hand to his face. He tapped his index finger on his lips, thinking about how to enter King's Hall.

"Yup, I'm pretty confident in saying that I know where King's Hall is," replied Paladin. All four of them gave Paladin looks of confusion.

"Okay...." Ashley turned her head back towards the direction of King's Hall. "See you at the meeting then," she said, the group proceeded to follow her.

As they closed out of sight, Paladin sighed. He looked over at Highclere, he was smoking a cigar from his mouth.

"Hey Delta, are you awake?"

Delta appeared on Paladin's shoulder, he yawned and rubbed both of his eyes as the sun was blaring down on him, it was a bright day

"Yes, I am awake."