A Knight's Story

[SkySong278]

Alex was still humming when the queen came out of her room and they walked downstairs together to the garden. She was encountered by a few maids who smiled at her in a friendly way and others that glared at her with looks of jealousy on their faces due to her engagement ring. She ignored the glares while chatting with the queen. The latter asked her when the date was going to be but she had to tell her that she didn’t know that yet and would tell her as soon as she knew. Just before they went outside, she selected an older maid to pour them drinks as well as to get them some snacks and the maid nodded and did so while they got comfortable in the chairs that were set up outside.

 

~-~-

 

Cody heard Avery and quickened his pace to where he and David were training, seeing the latter forcefully kiss the former while restraining his wrists. This made him angry so he went right up to them and punched David in an attempt to free Avery. “Don’t you ever touch her like that and kiss her again. The next time she tells you to stop you stop or I’ll train her myself,” he said angrily while watching the lad stagger. “Sorry dear for being late,” he said over his shoulder to Avery before having his attention go back to being on David.

 

((I have no idea why auto correct made “to” into “Toro” *facepalm* ))

Edited March 13, 2018 by SkySong278

[AroaraAngelwolf]

The king and zane joined them later Zane standing by as the king had tea with his wife. Zane smiled at Alex and started walking around remaining close by as he casually dead headed flowers and pulled off dead or dying leaves. He let the two royals chat about their son's academic scores and other things on there minds.

 

----

 

Avery clutched his dress the bodice having been ripped when Cody punched David. David snarled at him. "What the hell!? " He said clutching his bloodied nose.

[SkySong278]

Alex smiled back at Zane when he walked outside with the king and then excused herself from the sitting area to join him in dead heading the flowers and the other plants around them. “Would you like to go riding later this evening after we get off of work?” she asked him before putting the dead leaves and flowers in a pile off to the side of the garden. “If you have other plans with your mom I understand and we can go at another time instead.”

 

~-~-

 

“I’m her boyfriend and I’m here to tell you to focus more on her training than trying to get her to fall for you,” Cody said in reply to David’s question with crossed arms and a glare. “I’ll be here from now on to watch the training to make sure something along the lines of what had happened earlier doesn’t happen again.”

Edited March 19, 2018 by SkySong278

[AroaraAngelwolf]

"I would love to. Toro has been getting antsy. Been a while since I had a nice long ride. " He moved towards the king as a servant approached. "Mom has business to attend to. She has a wedding dress for a lesser noble to finish and the woman is a nightmare, insisting that only my mom touches the dress and that no man can see it, not even me despite the fact I live there. "

 

 

 

------

 

David was staring at Avery who held his torn dress. "You're a..... You're a guy!" He said wide eyed looking more shocked then he did when Cody came out of nowhere. 

 

[SkySong278]

“Okay and I think Spot is as well. I think I last rode him after recovering from being injured but I haven’t rode him or visited him since then,” Alex said in reply as she followed after Zane to the king and queen. “That’s really odd that not even you can see the dress because usually it’s the bride’s groom that can’t see it,” she said just before standing near the queen and then studying the servant closely afterward to try to determine if he was a threat or not.

 

~-~-

 

Cody swore under his breath when he heard David exclaim what he did before knocking him out. “Let’s get you home quickly in case someone heard him,” he said before holding out his hand for Avery to take. He didn’t want him to get any unnecessary attention with some other blabbermouth that could cause trouble later.

Edited March 14, 2021 by SkySong278

[AroaraAngelwolf]

 "Yes, I know but she insists that it can't be covered and that I can't see it because 'i might have ideas for my boring brutish woman that somehow charmed me into loving her' -her words not mine- and I have to go through the sewing room to get to the kitchen. I'm the one who cooks for everyone. It's sooo annoying!" He rolled his eyes. The servant was just a messenger and told the king he was needed in a meeting in fifteen minutes on the other side of the castle. "Unfortunately that means we have to leave now. I'll see you soon my love." He said stealing a kiss from Alex as the king said his apologies to his wife and did the same before the two men left. 

 

---

 

Avery took his hand after wrapping his cloak around himself and retrieving his dagger from his teacher's belt, rushing away from the scene. "This is bad! Really bad! David is  talkative when drunk, there's no way he'd keep it a secret, I'm done for! I'd be ridiculed and you'll be ostracized if you help me, you'll lose your job if it comes out you're courting a male in drag!" He hissed while running unable to stop his tears, he slowed down in an alley and started to sob. "I tried to push him away! He ruined my favorite dress, and possibly my life, and I'm dragging you down with me, this is absolutely atrocious! "

[SkySong278]

“Hm maybe I should have a talk with this crazy woman and it sounds like it,” Alex said in reply to everything he said before she heard what the messenger said about the king needing to be in a meeting. She sighed when she heard what Zane said next before a kiss was stolen from her and then watched as both him and the king headed back inside the castle. “Want to go back inside as well or walk around out here?” she asked the queen after the former two were gone.

“Let’s walk around out here for a few minutes before going back inside,” the queen said before getting up and Alex nodded before getting up as well and then walking around with her afterward.

 

~-~-

 

Cody followed after him before hearing everything that was said in between sobs. “Maybe we can actually go to Zane’s place to see if a seamstress can mend your dress while you stay behind the partition and then maybe Alex can talk to him. She can get quite scary when she’s persuasive with stuff,” he suggested when Avery was done talking. “I won’t get fired. My boss is the trainer Zane, Alex, and I had while at the castle and he was accepting of her after he heard her situation so I’m sure it would be the same to you and won’t fire me for the way you are.”

Edited June 20, 2018 by SkySong278

[AroaraAngelwolf]

Zane sighed heavily. "Yet another meeting sir?" He asked flatly, clearly not looking forward to another dull meeting with more nobility when just had to put in their two bits about his bride and throw his father's trial in his face. It hasn't happened yet, the evidence against his father kept coming in and the king had a entire desk piled with complaints, information, and grievances against his father. Zane and his mother where the first ones to come forward, yet the nobility never missed the opportunity to gossip about how he stripped in front of everyone to incriminate his father for abuse. Some would offer condolences, others would ridicule him for how he handled things, and the remaining few would whisper about how he's just like his father planning on getting him executed for the money. These comments stung the worst, and he didn't want to hear any of the other comments either, especially when they're about belittling his bride.  "Captain Jefferson would be there along with the higher ranking guards." The king said softly stopping in the hallway. "You don't have to attend my boy. Simply stay until he enters then you can leave. I'm sure my wife would like to have another for company. I'll stay with the captain until you come back to me. Okay?" He asked softly. Zane let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. "Yes sir. That sounds nice. Thank you sir." He replied as they continued to the meeting hall. 

 

 

----------

 

"She- what I meant was- You-. okay." Avery replied trying to gather his thoughts. "We have to go back and get him, I know a place we can keep him until Alex gets off. " He pulled out a set of keys. "I ment the parents of said kids wouldn't let you teach them. They can be very persuasive too and scary when they come in groups. " He said adjusting his cloak to cover himself. "Near Zane's house, there's a store house with an animal cage in it. It belongs to the mage I work for now. She won't mind if I use it for this."

[SkySong278]

“So how did he propose?” Gertrude asked into the companionable silence that had fallen between them while they walked. “Well it started with a double date with my sister and her boyfriend at a Spanish restaurant that Zane knows the owner of. The owner’s daughter is apparently a fan of mine so I gave her an autograph and then the waiter came out with our food and some Champaign and that’s when he proposed. After the extra drink came out, he dropped to a knee, held the ring out, and asked me if I’d be his wife. Of course I said yes,” Alex said in reply with a happy smile as she looked at the flowers.

 

~-~-

 

“Oh and I’m sure I can persuade them to let me continue teaching them. I’ve been very good with teaching them and the parents have seen me do that when they come to pick them up and they’ve been really impressed with what I’ve taught them so far. Okay and what place is that? Okay and what would the cage be used for?” Cody said and asked in reply to everything that Avery said but the last question he asked was with a confused look and a tilted head to the side.

Edited April 27, 2019 by SkySong278

[AroaraAngelwolf]

Zane left the king once they entered the meeting room. The captain was among the early guests so he dismissed himself, jogging back to the garden and hearing the tail end of the conversation. "I think my ears are burning." He chuckled and bowed to the queen. "Your husband has excused me from being present at the meeting due to the captain and most of the guard being there. May I accompany you until I'm needed once more?" He asked. The queen smiled. "Of course dear! As long as you don't mind us ladies chatting on about paintings and dresses." Zane snorted a laugh. "I live above a dress shop. I'm sure I could handle a conversation about clothing." He said with a smile. Taking a position where it was a reversed triangle, covering their backs yet leaving some distance so they can have some privacy while talking. 

 

 

---

 

"Magical creatures for studying." Avery approached the now waking David, taking his dagger and hitting his temple with the hilt knocking him out cold. He then lifted him like a sack of flour and carried him a short distance through back allies to a large brick building with  an iron door that looked like it had no handle or lock. He pricked his finger, drew a few runes, and muttered a spell. A soft glow the same color of his eyes illuminated the door and the steel disappeared. He walked inside. 

[SkySong278]

Alex turned when she heard Zane’s voice and didn’t hide the surprised look she had on it because she hadn’t expected to see him again so soon. She was about to ask him why he was there but then he said the reason and she understood. “Her majesty had asked how you proposed and I told her,” she said in reply to what he had said earlier regarding his ears burning before she heard what the queen said about what they were going to talk about. “Only if you tune out the part about my wedding dress because I want to keep it a secret until the big day when you’ll see it,” she said in reply to the last statement he said about him being able to handle a conversation about clothing. She then blew him a kiss when they started to walk again before starting a conversation on what their favorite paintings were.

 

~-~-

 

“Ah okay,” Cody said in reply before watching as Avery knocked David out cold again and then carried him towards the shed that the former had spoken about earlier. He followed him and then watched curiously as he opened the building with a spell before following him inside afterward. “Should I go to the castle to get Alex or get a messenger to do that and is that okay to do now or wait until later to do that instead?” he asked a few minutes later.

Edited June 20, 2018 by SkySong278

[AroaraAngelwolf]

"I won't my dear, just don't get crazy like that noble woman and not allow your brother to see it either." He chuckled and tuned out their conversation by humming softly mentally naming all the flowers they passed. 

 

-----

 

"Later." He grunted once more saying a spell and bars on the large cage with no door disappeared on one side. He set David down on some hay, walked out and knocked in a pattern on the bars. They reappeared, trapping David inside. "There. Now let's go get my dress fixed." He said. "Alex is working, and I don't want to leave the queen alone especially after that attempt on her life. This will hold him. If he manages to get out of the cage, there's no way to open the door without magic and his eyes show he doesn't know it.  If he had golden eyes..." He tapped his cheek under the now brighter gold eye, the other one navy blue now speckled with gold. "But he doesn't. Their just brown." He said walking out of the warehouse and muttered a word making the door reappear. 

Edited March 27, 2018 by AroaraAngelwolf

[SkySong278]

“I won't,” Alex said in reply with a smile before starting to mention the design that she had in mind for her dress as soon as she heard him start humming. Then when she was done, she started a conversation about how pretty the flowers were and if they had been a gift from the king to signal to Zane that they were done talking about what he couldn’t overhear.

 

~-~-

 

“Okay,” Cody said in reply before watching as Avery did everything that he did in order to lock David up before hearing the rest of what he said. “That’s true but there are also other guards there that also take turns outside the queen’s door,” he said before following him out and heading with him towards the sewing shop that Zane lived above after the former had said a magic word to get the door to the warehouse to reappear.

Edited January 31, 2023 by SkySong278

[AroaraAngelwolf]

"They were a wedding gift, well some of them. The rest were gifts from my father." She replied with a smile. " he'd send me flowers every year on my birthday, my anniversary and my coordination anniversary. He breeds flowers now, having retired from the throne, handing it over to my brother in law. He's quite proud of his flowers and knows I love to garden." She smiled brightly. "So that's why the perennials had such an unusual color, and the calla lillies had more than one pedal...." Zane piped up from behind them. 

 

----

 

Zane's mother was tidying up the shop for closing time when the two came up. She unlocked the door and let them inside. "Hello Cody and Avery! So lovely to see you both! Zane and Alex are still at work but you can wait here until they-oh my, Avery! What happened to your dress?!" She exclaimed once Avery shed his cloak inside the storefront. She was the only one other than Cody's dad, Zane, and his own family who knew about his secret. The top part of his bodice was ripped to the princess waistline on the right side of the beautiful lilac and white lace dress. Avery started to cry again retelling the story until the point where they came here to get it fixed. "Oh honey... hush now. I can't fix it right away, but I believe I have the dress you ordered for the mage's galla in a month almost finished. You can wear it until Alex comes and let's you barrow some of her clothes. " 

[SkySong278]

“They’re all very pretty,” Alex said in reply before hearing what Zane said. She nodded in agreement before asking curiously, “Are there any hydrangeas here? They’re one of my favorite flowers especially the light blue color as well as the purple.”

 

~-~-

 

Cody followed Avery inside and smiled in greeting to Zane’s mom after she had unlocked the door for them and had greeted them. “Mage’s gala?” he asked Avery curiously before looking around at the clothes that were on display.

[AroaraAngelwolf]

I got the red riding hood one up. Sky and me 1x1 is the title.))

 

As Zane made a mental note of her favorite flowers, the queen smiled and turned down a maze of pathways to where all colors of the said plant bloomed and even ones that looked speckled or striped. "My father finds these easier to breed so he sends me so many, I often give them away as gifts. " the queen laughed. "When a date is set, you have my permission to gather flowers here for your setting places and bouquets."

 

----

 

"Yes. It's a huge magic celebration where mages gather together to exchange information, share spells, look for scribes and even promising young men and women who could become apprentices. They only come together every ten years, I was invited by the mage I work for. It's an honor to be invited, even royalty can't enter without an invitation. " He flushed. "Um... I'll wear that with my cloak.... mages have different tastes in clothes...."

[SkySong278]

Alex followed her down the pathways and couldn’t help but look awe-filled at how many there were as she listened to everything she said including the last statement. “Really? Thank you ma’am,” she said when she found her voice again to speak.

 

~-~-

 

“Oh so pretty much like a ball except for mages,” Cody said in reply to everything that Avery said before nodding to what he said last. “I’ll just walk around as you change,” he said before doing just that because he didn’t want to be in the way or see the dress if it was supposed to be a surprise.

 

((I found it and followed it. I’ll post my form either tomorrow, Thursday, or Saturday))

Edited January 13, 2019 by SkySong278

[AroaraAngelwolf]

"Now, I don't believe we had a good look at the walkway where all those paintings and sculptures I had sent to me. I don't know what to do with them.... " she says heading back into the castle. 

 

 

--------

 

Avery changed into a dress and wrapped a cloak around him. "I guess you can say that. Only there's no dancing. We dress to represent an element, stone or something that is used to assist in magic. This is a laptis luzi, a powerful stone that my master is known to use. "

[SkySong278]

((very pretty dress ))

 

“Is there a storage area of some sort that we can store them for now?” Alex asked as she followed the queen back inside the castle.

 

~-~-

 

“Oh okay,” Cody said in reply before sitting down in a chair nearby while looking out the window at all the people passing by the shop.

 

((did you see this comment I posted in guide to pet care by a dragon regarding what I could do in here in order to cause/create a bit of drama for Alex?

 

should we ts a bit in a Knight’s Story to after Zane and Alex get off of work and the latter talks to David? I’m also trying to come up with a way that she gets in trouble somehow and Zane goes after her. like her getting kidnapped by bandits or she gets lost

))

Edited April 11, 2018 by SkySong278

[AroaraAngelwolf]

((Yes time skip, I was thinking a quest for Zane and Alex to a cave to investigate the assassins hideout but trigger a trap and get separated.))

 

 

"Not that's nearby no. " she was sighing. "We'll move some stuff to our winter home to make space, I just don't know what..."

 

-----

 

Avery flushed with anger this time. Not even a 'it looks good on you' or something else. Although it showed off his chest area the mages actually didn't care for gender norms and the fact they travel a lot they know girls can have flat chests too.  Avery huffed and tied his cloak around himself hiding the dress entirely. 

[SkySong278]

((okay. want to do that now or wait until we’ve posted one other time or so?))

 

“I can look with you when we get back and maybe together we can decide what to put into storage,” Alex said in reply as she went into the castle with the queen.

 

~-~-

 

“Sorry. It looks good on you,” Cody said when he noticed Avery’s flush of anger out of the corner of his eye and before he covered it completely with his cloak. He scratched his head a bit while being embarrassed, not thinking that he’d make his “girlfriend” mad at him.

Edited February 1, 2023 by SkySong278

[AroaraAngelwolf]

((we can skip now))

 

"Thank you." Avery said curtly. "I'll be studying magic until my sister comes" He said moving to the sewing room.

 

after three long hours of hanging around the Queen, Zane was called back to the King's side, then spent lunch with him, and another two hours going over laws, signing papers and checking the troops before he was dismissed for the day, his night shift replacement taking his place.

[SkySong278]

((okay ))

 

A couple of hours went by after Alex had spent some more time with the queen on what all to move to her and the king’s winter house. She made a list of those items before the queen dismissed her to go on her date with Zane. She left the castle and headed to the sewing shop that was also his and his mom’s home. When she got there, she saw Cody sitting on a bench near the window but didn’t see Avery.

 

~-~-

 

Cody nodded and waited for Alex to get there and when she did, he smiled at her in greeting before seeing that she was looking for her brother.

“I think he’s in the sewing room. He said that he’s going to be studying magic until you got here,” he said before she nodded and went to the room he mentioned.

Edited August 2, 2020 by SkySong278

[AroaraAngelwolf]

i ment when they got off work now mine sounds weird

[SkySong278]

sorry. I edited my previous post.

Edited April 18, 2018 by SkySong278