Bodanen: Cobalt War

Chapter 6: Talk of the Town

As they walked down the main street toward the capital's centre, Siegfried was made aware of how far from home he indeed was. The streets were lined with tall, connected buildings of white stone. There were shops of every imaginable variety; there were food stalls, speciality shops for different arts, technology and appliance stores, bookstores, and even more he couldn't recognize. Above the street level, the buildings soared above them, apartments making the bulk of the space. While he used to think that Burkhart was busy, he now knew that he could not have been further from the truth. As he walked the streets of Alyd with Boris, he could only stare in awe at what lay before him. Coexisting peacefully were all the races of Bodanen; Humans, Elves, Angels, Demons, Fairies, Therians, Merfolk, and Giants, all going about their business; buying, selling, trading, talking, singing and living their lives. He could even have sworn that he saw some Sintezoi and a few of the ancient races walking amongst the crowd. As they walked on, unbeknownst to Siegfried, Boris and he became the topic of many conversations that morning, for they did make for the odd pairing. Siegfried wore simple, loose-fitting clothes like a farmer, but that wasn't what drew people to stare. What caught people's attention was that he was clearly covered head to toe in bandages and wraps to help heal the many wounds he had received the week prior. Another attention grabber was the fact that the young man was openly carrying a blade at his waist within the capital, something that not even the most hardened and daring criminals would dream of attempting. The war had made weapons a rare sight in the big cities, even on soldiers. Walking at his side was the equally bizarre picture of Boris, an Angel with a head of blonde hair in a military cut, soft blue eyes, and a very muscular build. He stood a head taller than his companion, covered in more bandages than his fellow, but also wearing the dented, charred, sliced, and broken remains of armor over his clothes that were similar to Siegfried's. He carried his sword proudly on his back, and even though the remains of armour he wore were, in fact, the army issued, openly carrying arms was still odd to the onlookers. For the chatting citizens, the pair was very much out of place.

"We truly make for the spectacle, do we not?" Boris chuckled toward his new friend, seeing all the whispering, pointing and staring. "It is as if they have never seen warriors return victorious before."

"Huh? What are you talking about, Bor?" Siegfried looked around inquisitively, not noticing the attention they were receiving. Unable to see what Boris was talking about, Sieg changed the subject. "Whatever. Anyway, Bor, who we seeing again? We won't actually be meeting the king, right? You may be a sergeant, but I'm just some farmer. No way some king'll want to talk to me. It's just going to be some official or a lesser noble to pat our backs and send us on our way, right?"

"Goodness, no. His Royal Majesty King Thaddeus Golau IX asked for our presence personally. The message I received bore his royal seal upon it. No, I am certain that the king himself wants to thank us for our deeds at Burkhart personally."

Siegfried could only stare at his friend with a mixed look of confusion, amazement, and embarrassment as Boris seemed to glow brighter than usual at the prospect of meeting the king. "Well, whoever we meet with, I hope this'll be quick. I just want to know the Boss' burden to get on to it and track Father down. What about you Bor, you still up for joining in the hunt?"

"How can you be so casual about this? We are about to meet the king of the Great Kingdom of Ax-on!" Stopping in his tracks, Boris continued, "And he is not just some king, he is your king. You are a citizen of this kingdom, the same as myself. You must shape up before we are granted an audience."

"Huh? I don't even know if I am a citizen of Ax-on. I don't know where I was born, and the earliest memories I do have are of travelling in merchant carts. For all I know, I could've been born in Raaksha. I mean, it doesn't really matter to me; one royal is the same as the next. I'm a farmer; it's not like they would normally even give me the time of day." Siegfried nonchalantly shrugged off his friend's criticism and started to walk again. "We were stuck in the cottage for a good week, but we were both out cold for most of it, so we didn't get to talk much, but yeah, I'm an orphan. I don't know where I'm from, but it never really bothered me, so no big deal...just a heads up."