• Tales of Xalthia

    Chapter 25: Royal Proposal



    Tsuki and his companions have finally made it to the Trade City of Velika which lies on the continent of Ersheath. Upon arriving in the port, they were greeted by the knights of Esseand with hostility, demanding to know who they were and why they were there. Displeased by their rude welcome, Tsuki returned the rudeness back at the knights. Before the situation became worse, Ramza had interrupted them, changing the attitudes of the Esseand knights like a switch on a wall.

    After Ramza had explained their situation, things between the two groups settled down enough to drop hostilities between them. On Ramza's request, the knights of Esseand escorted Tsuki and his companions to request an audience with King Raiku who was coincidentally in Velika for a meeting with government officials and advisers. The meeting was being held in Velika's main headquarters which was in the center of the busy city. As they made their way through the city, they noticed the huge crowd of people throughout the entire city. Every single street and alleyway was packed full of people. The crowds of Eresseas couldn't even compare to Velika. Eresseas looked like a small town in comparison. There was a vast amount of travelers, townspeople, merchants and soldiers around every turn they make.

    After about thirty minutes of walking through the city, they reached Velika's headquarters in the center of the city. The headquarters was a massive ten-story building that towered over the smaller buildings around the city. Still being escorted by the knights, they were guided through the building to the roof of the building that was only accessible by the king and government officials of Ersheath. On the roof, there was a circular building in the center of the roof with a garden that surrounded the building. Inside the building was a conference room that's used during official meetings with the government officials of Ersheath. Officials from every city and town meet here once every month to discuss private matters of concern. Once they arrived, the knights that were escorting Tsuki's group stopped by the door.

    The knight from the port stopped in front of the door of the circular building then faced the group behind him. "Wait one moment" he said. He then turned back around and walked into the building and was inside for several moments before coming back out. "Alright, His Majesty will see you. Mind your manners" he said. He then stepped aside and held the doors open.

    Tsuki and his companions walked into the conference room when they were granted an audience with King Raiku. When they stepped inside, the knight closed the doors behind them. The conference room had a similar look and feel to a war room. A massive rectangle-shaped table was in the center of the room with about fifteen people including King Raiku himself sitting at the seats. They all were staring at Tsuki and his group in silence. They approached the table and then bowed to the people that were sitting at the table. King Raiku was sitting at th e far end of the table in royal attire so it was easy to tell who the king was.

    After an awkward moment of silence, Ramza decided to speak up. "Your Majesty, I've returned from Cayhill. Pardon our sudden intrusion if we're interrupting something important" he said. He didn't like acting so formal because it made him feel awkward but if their mission was dependent on earning Raiku's favor, he had no choice but to deal with it.

    King Raiku was silent for a moment as Ramza came into the room and acted all formal. After a moment, he busted out laughing in a deep voice. "My friend, formal talk really doesn't suit you. It makes you look stiff. Welcome home" he said. He then examined Tsuki and the others who were still bowing behind Ramza. Since Tsuki and Cheria were dressed in normal attire, he couldn't tell that Tsuki was a knight and Chera was a princess. "This is quite the party you've brought with you, my friend. So, what's going on? You know that I'm a very busy man, so I haven't had time lately to hold audiences with people" he said.

    Ramza stood up and cleared his throat. He didn't know how or where to start talking. "Well, it's very complicated. I think it'll be better if someone else explains things" he said. He then turned around and looked at Tsuki, nodding at him.

    Tsuki looked at Ramza and nodded then looked up at King Raiku, stilling bowing down. He was used to dealing with royalty but since he's in a different kingdom, he had to be careful of his words and attitude which makes him anxious. He took a moment to gather his thoughts and took a deep breath before speaking. "Greetings, Your Majesty. My name is Tsuki Himura. As our companion, Ramza has said, it's a complicated story so I'm asking you to listen to what we have to say. I know that you are busy right now but what we have to say is crucial to everyone's survival. I ask that you and all of the government officials in this room listen to our words" he said.

    Raiku looked over at Tsuki and listened to him. "We received word from Ramza a few days ago that he was coming here with a group of people with news of utmost importance that concerns all the nations, so we gathered all the officials of Ersheath here to listen to what you folks have to say. You may all rise and give us this news that's so crucial for us to know" he said.

    Tsuki nodded and stood up. He was starting to feel more anxious now that all eyes in the room focused on them. He took another deep breath to calm himself down. "I serve under the royal family of Eresseas on the continent of Cayhill as one of their elite guards known as the Royal Eight. We've come here to your presence with extreme urgency" he said.

    Raiku stroked his beard and listened to Tsuki as he spoke. "An envoy of Eresseas? I've been good friends with King Taichi and Queen Emma for a long time now and they know that sending envoys from a neutral kingdom is risky" he said.

    One of the officials that was sitting next to Raiku looked over at him. "A knight from another nation? Your Majesty, are you sure we can trust their words?" the man asked.

    Raiku looked over to the man next to him and nodded. "Yes. We've never once had problems with Eresseas and I know the royal family very well. Still, they should know that sending envoys here poses a risk to their neutrality" he said. He then looked over at Tsuki. "What's the reason of them sending you here? Taichi knows this well so he wouldn't send envoys to another kingdom unless the situation calls for it" he said.

    Tsuki nodded. "It's as you said, he knows the risk and wouldn't send one unless the situation calls for it. However, they didn't send us. We were forced to seek you out. It's about Menorion. They've seized control of Eresseas and the rest of Cayhill" he said with a heavy tone of voice.

    Raiku and the officials haven't heard about the recent events that have taken place in Cayhill over the past few days. Hearing about this news shocked the officials in the room including Raiku himself. "What!? How!? What about Taichi and Emma?" he asked, worried about his old friends.

    Tsuki shook his head. "We don't know. They stayed in Eresseas to fight off the Menorion, giving us a chance to escape. Menorion came in contact with a power that was supposedly sealed away known as Dark Arcanum. They summoned beings known as Shades which easily overpowered Eresseas' knights and defenses. We were far outnumbered. Not only that, but it turned out that the Royal Eight was compromised. Just as the name states, eight people make up the elite guard. Two of them turned out to be traitors...spies of Menorion while the other five went missing prior to the invasion" he said.

    Raiku sat back in his chair and folded his arms. He then fell into thought, trying to come to terms with this shocking news. "So, Menorion is starting to begin their move. This is a problem because it's much earlier than what we had anticipated. It would make sense to occupy Cayhill first since it would make it easier for them to launch attacks against other kingdoms. We knew this would happen so we were planning on sending some of our troops to Cayhill to fight back against Menorion but it seems that they made their move much earlier than what we had originally thought" he said.

    Tsuki closed his eyes for a moment and cleared his throat. "All hope isn't lost, however. Even though we fled from Eresseas, we escaped with Princess Cheria" he said. He then turned around and faced Cheria who was standing behind him.

    Raiku looked at the girl Tsuki and turned to face. It took him a few moments to realize who she was. He hasn't seen Cheria since she was five years old, so he wouldn't know what she would look like currently. "So, this is Cheria, huh?" he asked. He then stood up from his chair and walked up to her to examine her more closely. "I didn't even recognize you. You've grown into a beautiful young lady. I haven't seen you since you were five years old" he said.

    Cheria looked up at the king and bowed to him once more. "Thank you for your kindness. I didn't know you were friends with my parents" she said. Since she hasn't seen Raiku since she was very young, she didn't remember him at all.

    Raiku smiled at her and nodded. "They're old friends of mine from back in the day. We used to get together and go on crazy adventures. At least, until we each became kings and queens of our respective kingdoms" he said. He then placed his hand on her shoulder. "I wouldn't worry about those two. They can take care of themselves. It'll take more than that to take them out. You have no idea how devastating those two can be when they fight together as a pair" he said. He then looked at the others for a moment and turned around afterwards, facing the officials of Ersheath. "We can reclaim Eresseas from Menorion. It'll just take a little time" he said.

    Elle shook her head, sighing at his response. She's had a history with Raiku so she needed to be careful with what she says. After all, he did order Ramza to bring her to justice for what she did. "I'm afraid it's not simple. They've put up a veil of darkness around the capital and as long as that veil is up, we can't get anywhere near there" she said.

    Raiku looked over at Elle and despite her not wearing her Shadow Knight armor on, he immediately recognized her voice. When he realized who she was, he had a displeased look on his face as he looked over at Ramza. "Well, if it isn't the Shadow Knight. You sure got guts showing your face around here again. I could of sworn I assigned you the task of bringing her to justice, Ramza. Instead, I see you traveling with her. Mind explaining things?" he asked.

    Ramza sighed heavily. He knew this would happen if he found out that Elle was the Shadow Knight. "It's a long story. One you probably won't believe at first. You see..." he said. He then began explaining who Elle was and why he never brought her to justice and abandoned the mission that was given to him.

    The explanation didn't take too long but everything he said seemed unbelievable to the officials of Ersheath. They thought that they were making up some kind of story. Everyone did their best to try and make the explanation more reasonable and less outrageous. If they were to reclaim Cayhill, they would need the Relics of each kingdom and in order to do that, they would need to gain the trust of the royal family and the top officials.

    After Tsuki and the others finished explaining things to Raiku and the other officials still in the room, the room fell silent for several moments. It sounded like a fairy tale. After the several moments of silence, Raiku eventually nodded at them. "It's almost too good to be true. If I were to hear it without on Ramzas' behalf, I would of dismissed it immediately. However, Ramza is a trusted friend with a high credibility so I'll believe your story for now" he said. He then walked back to his chair on the far side of the room and sat back down, resting his arms on the table. "So, this veil of darkness you mentioned...if we can't penetrate it, how do we break it down? It's got to have some kind of weakness" he said.

    Tsuki fell silent for a moment before answering his question. He knew that the answer he would give him will be very difficult. "That's where things get complicated. According to Elle, we need the six Key Relics that are passed down in the royal families of each kingdom" he said.

    Raiku didn't expect that the things that they need to take down the barrier were the national treasures of the kingdoms. "So, in order to bring it down, you need our Frost Gem" he said. He then sighed heavily and rubbed his forehead. "You're right, that does complicate things. You're talking about us lending you our national treasure. A treasure that's guarded with the lives of our knights and citizens. Unfortunately, that's not something we can do very lightly. If the citizens found out that we loaned our national treasure to a group of foreigners, especially if they are foreigners who work for another kingdom, it would case a major uproar" he said.

    Tsuki rubbed the back of his head and sighed. "Yeah, we expected an answer like that. It's not easy to simply hand over something that people of a kingdom cherish" he said. They needed to do something to earn the kingdom's trust. If they can't, then another war like the War of Mana will take place.

    Ramza shook his head for a moment. "Your Majesty, I understand how big of a request we have, but you must understand our situation. This is much bigger than Cayhill. This will soon become a worldwide problem and I know for a fact that no one wants to have another global war!. Isn't there something we can do?" he asked.

    Raiku stroked his beard and fell into thought for a moment. He understood their situation but it has to consider the people of Ersheath. "There is one way to earn the peoples' trust. Help out our citizens in our time of need. With the growing tensions from our neighboring kingdom, Nargelond, the people have been restless as of late. Not only that, there's also a mysterious group of people going around our lands, causing panic and even committing acts of murder, abduction and human sacrifice. There are a lot of problems that we are facing right now. Do what you can to gain the peoples' trust. If you've managed to make a name for yourselves, then we'll be glad to loan you our Frost Gem in order for you guys to reclaim your lost kindgom" he said.

    Tsuki listened to his suggestion and nodded. Gaining the trust among the citizens may not only benefit them but could also help with uniting the kingdoms when this whole mess is resolved. However, such a task would take time and it wouldn't be easy to accomplish. "That sounds like our best option right now. It might take a while, but we have no choice" he said.

    Raiku clapped his hands together when Tsuki had agreed with his suggestion. He was overjoyed to know that they would help out because they need all the help they can get. "Great! You folks are welcome to the castle in Esseand if you ever need guidance around our lands. With that said, we'll go back to the capital together. You're all welcome to stay the night when we return. Tomorrow, I'll point you guys to where you can start off" he said.

    Tsuki bowed to the king after he offered a place for them to stay for the night. "Thank you for your generosity, Your Majesty. We'll take you up on your offer then" he said.

    Raiku stood up from his chair once more and looked out the window behind him. "Well, with all that's happened today, I think we should call it a day. It's about time I return to Essead and inform my ministers about what we discussed" he said. He then turned back around and walked back up to Tsuki's group. "Since we're all going in the same direction, we can leave if you guys are ready. Consider it an apology for the rather rude welcome you received from my knights earlier" he said.

    Tsuki nodded at him. "That sounds like a plan. It would be better to travel as a group rather than separately. Besides Ramza, we know nothing about this continent so we can learn more about this place when we arrive in Esseand" He then looked at his companions and nodded. "As for us, we're ready to go when you are" he said.

    Raiku grew a grin on his face. Not only would this help lead them in the right direction, but it would give him the opportunity to witness foreign combat skills. "Wonderful! Well then, if you would all follow me. Our carriage awaits us" he said. He then walked through the doors of the conference room, walking back out onto the roof of Velika's headquarters.

    Tsuki and his companions followed Raiku out of the room. They followed him through the massive building to the bottom floor once more. When they reached the bottom floor, they walked towards the front exit where a carriage was waiting for them outside. The carriage was accompanied by three knights of Esseand. With no time to waste, they entered the carriage and got comfy since they would be there for a while. After several minutes, the carriage, along with the three knights, took off down the streets of Velika. They had about a five hour ride before they would reach Esseand, which was southwest of Velika. During that time, they took the opportunity to talk some more and get to know each other better since they would be working together for quite a while.

    To be continued...