There were probably seven or eight of them, all walking down the stairs like god’s gift to man. They were wrapped in golds and whites, their very beings hard to even properly look at.
It was clear that for a lot of them that wasn’t a matter of their own power, though, but instead a fact of the materials they wore and maybe the blessings of the Goddess they served.
They all stopped about three steps from the bottom, spreading themselves out across two steps. It was only Captain Terran who stood at the helm.
"Today we welcome a knight into the fold," Captain Terran said with a booming voice. "The fight against the Fog of Chaos has long been arduous, and soon-to-be Sir Temolt has taken great strides as the vanguard of our moving party ever forward toward the pursuit of true peace. For that, the Goddess has chosen to reward him with rank and honor."
Captain Terran swept a piercing gaze over the crowd before his eyes landed on Grey.
At this point, it was hard to ignore the man since he was the only one speaking. Grey could only bury his urge to stick one of his tooth daggers down the man’s throat and meet his gaze.
His mind, though, was inundated with images of him repeatedly stabbing that bastard. It was a small cope, but it was all he had.
"The cost of pushing back against the Fog of Chaos so that these new young heroes of our city might have the chance to prove themselves has proven effective."
’The cost?’ Grey held onto those words. It sounded like the slow descent of the Fog of Chaos wasn’t a matter of timing or coincidence, but instead the result of an investment on the city’s part that was being slowly whittled away at.
In that case, did that mean that there would be a slight sheen of the Fog everywhere from now on? Or was it because of his outpost that it would be more limited now?
’Damn, I did all that for them and they’re just giving me a little knight title? Assholes.’
Very soon Grey would be learning that he should be careful what he asked for.
"It is with great hope and respect that I introduce to you, Sir Grey Temolt."
Joaquin walked down the rest of the stairs and made his way to face Grey. A light and accommodating smile was on his face, almost as though he truly cared for him.
He reached down and unclipped the velvet rope, stepping aside to let Grey through.
Grey’s gaze flickered and he looked around. Obviously, quite a number of people were looking at him as well, but he was actually looking for Baron Giyoto.
The old man had gone forward without them, and now he didn’t seem to be in any obvious location. It wouldn’t make sense for him to make use of Grey now, so something was almost certainly wrong.
If the Baron was going to betray him, it wouldn’t be now, it would be later. He wouldn’t gain anything right now as far as Grey could tell.
After a moment of making things pleasantly awkward, Grey stepped through the threshold and walked toward the stairs, stopping at the bottom.
Joaquin continued his walk up and took his place by the Holy Knights.
A howl of an unsheathing blade filled the air and the fluttering wings of doves soared from above.
Captain Terran cleanly pulled his weapon free and then looked down from the third step toward Grey.
"Kneel."
Grey raised an eyebrow.
He had seen enough TV shows to know the drill. You kneel, the sword taps your shoulders, and then voila, you were minted like some glazed duck.
That tone carried something else, though. It was like the difference between laughing with somebody and then laughing at somebody. It was plainly obvious to anyone not only on some spectrum what the difference was.
And Grey didn’t like it one bit.
Captain Terran seemed patient at first, or maybe he just lagged in his response because he didn’t really think that anyone could actually refuse, regardless of what his tone was.
Unlike what Grey assumed, the highest rank of noble in the city was just Baron. But to the Church, that was already more than high enough. The weight of the title spoke for itself.
And now, every high noble of the city had been brought here, they stood beneath the shimmering lights of the Church Palace, and everyone was waiting for Grey to do what everyone else who had gained this honor had done.
Grey, though, was a different sort of stubborn. And, as his granddad liked to say, he had had hair on his balls since he was a toddler.
Plus... he really... really didn’t like this guy.
Grey looked past Captain Terran and Joaquin before his gaze landed on a kindly old man who looked like he had a foot in the grave. Honestly, Grey had no idea how he even managed to stand tall wearing all that heavy armor, but here he was.
"Can he do it instead. I really don’t like you."
Captain Terran’s face stiffened. Several eyes in the crowd widened along with Grey’s words.
Grey figured the situation was probably more complicated than what it seemed. There was definitely something smelly afoot, and if he was going to get screwed over anyway, he preferred not to do it with his head lowered to an asshole.
Plus, he bet that a command sent down by the Goddess wasn’t easily erased just because he was a bit abrasive. He also bet that it certainly wasn’t in Captain Terran’s purview to decide that.
"I’d prefer someone with a better... reputation." Grey finished, his gaze landing back on the captain.
His words were purposely vague, but they didn’t come from nowhere. In fact, he was relying on the words that Silva had spoken earlier. Since the silver fox butler wanted to be cute about what information he did and didn’t give out, Grey would just use what information he did give in ways he probably could have never guessed.
He’d like to see how the Baron cleaned up that mess. By now, it was already too late to scrub Grey’s connection with him. After all, they had arrived with the Baron’s very representation.
"Are you refusing the Goddess’ favor?" Captain Terran asked coldly.
"I’m refusing yo—."
Before Grey could finish his words, Captain Terran’s blade flashed in gold, descending from above like a guillotine’s execution.