A King's Legacy Ch. 04

A King's Legacy

Chapter 4: A Fractured Message

Aster was not exactly enjoying his time alone. He was completely cut off from the world around him, unable to see anything, unable to hear anything, unable to feel anything. His emotions ran rampant with his imagination. He would die soon, and never even know it. Would his consciousness just slowly slip away? Was he already bleeding out at this very moment? What if he was already dead, but was just trapped here forever alone like this? What if this was the afterworld? How long had he even been here? He had no way of knowing, there were no sunrises or moonlight where he was. No light at all to guide such thoughts through the darkness of his true isolation. Just him. Just his rambling mind. He incessantly went over the trial in his head, again and again. Was his father truly safe? Did he... Did he have to do it himself? Was he ordered to kill him? Would it really be better for anyone else if he didn't? Aster was starting to breakdown and lose himself, his doubt and anxiety spun a deadly web of fear that further entangled the boy in this place. He wanted to scream, but it would do no use. There was no way for him to hear it... There was no way for anybody to hear it... And suddenly there was a light, as the spell was finally released.

Aster recovered from the state with a heavy jolt, his senses rushed back to him. He barely managed to catch himself on unsteady arms as he fell forward, gasping to draw in a breath, to know he was still alive. He could see! He could feel the cold stone beneath his hands! Aster never thought he'd be so grateful to know texture beneath his touch. With another gasp of realization after getting over the initial shock of returning to his body, the boy shot his head forward, trying to piece together what had happened while he was... Away. His vision was met with Prince Tyfin standing less than a meter before him. The young lion made eye contact with the human and held it steadily for a moment before he spoke to him in a calm and clear tone.

"Aster Venatus, you are hereby cleared of all charges brought against you today. Furthermore, as the crown prince of Alora, and the deciding vote in this matter, I hereby lift ALL restrictions placed upon you and your family by my father, King Alocer Tonitrus, and grant you full citizenship of this country. You may live your life in the open as you see fit." Aster couldn't even fathom what the prince was saying, regardless, the young lion only continued. "I give you my full authorization to continue taking The Selection should you desire so. I wish you luck in your endeavors, in whatever you may decide to do with this freedom you've fought well to obtain... However, just as every warrior here had sworn a life oath to me just moments ago, you too must swear your fealty to this kingdom. Aster Venatus, raise your right hand before me."

Aster was shell-shocked. The boy could only drop his head and stare at the stone beneath him in his disbelief. His mind raced to make sense of what he had just heard. A mere moment ago, he had all but given up on life, yet now... Reality clicked into place for the human, and he obeyed his Prince's request by holding his right palm up for the lion, returning to a proper kneel when doing so. Prince Tyfin took a hold of his hand, and pressed his thumb to the human's wrist before he began speaking in a far louder voice this time. Aster could feel a tingling sensation where the claw pressed into his skin.

"Aster Venatus, do you swear by your life to never take up arms against this kingdom? To only serve as a protector to her people, or as a peaceful citizen thereof. Should you further pursue a life of combat, will you raise your weapon when she calls for your aid? Will you yield your body, your mind, and your spirit to Alora for the longevity of both your king and country?"

Aster scrambled to respond, perhaps a bit too enthusiastically.

"YES SIR!" The prince let out a small sigh of relief, and pressed the claw of his thumb into the flesh of the boy's wrist, drawing forth a small stream of blood. Aster felt a searing pain for just a moment as the blood formed into a circular rune, and burned it's likeness into his skin. This was a life oath, a personalized mark every soldier of Alora bore before they could consider themselves a soldier. This was an unbreakable promise in this world, yet one the boy was overjoyed to finally make.

"Rise Aster Venatus, and rest well for your battles ahead. You are dismissed by this court. Take leave with your father, but hear this... You have a long road of changing both the minds, and the hearts of our people before you. Remember the resolve you showed on this day as you make that journey."

Aster replied with an energetic "Yes Sir!" Before he felt his father laying his large red cloak over his exposed shoulders and torso. Aster was always a bit ashamed of his furless body, something the knight had been considerate of even then. Jagón placed his hands on his son's shoulders, and hurriedly rose with the boy, ushering him quickly to the back exit of the platform where the pair left the sight of the remaining beastmen. Some of them were emotionless, some were visibly angry, and some even bore a soft smile as the duo left that place, A place where only moments ago, they had prepared to part from each other for the final time. They had survived. Somehow.

King Alocer silently walked over to his son as the knight left with his boy. He stopped before his young cub, and made a single comment his way.

"I pray by the gods that you made the right decision today, my son. For your own sake." The younger lion closed his eyes and bowed his head a bit before responding quietly.

"As do I, father. As do I."

Aster was walking behind his father through a sloped tunnel as they left the king's platform, the very father that hadn't looked him in the eye even once since their reunion. Suddenly, a thunder of roars and protest assaulted his ears as the stadium reacted to the prince's proclamation, when they learned the human had not only been freed, but was also allowed to compete. Aster stopped in his tracks, and looked over his shoulder with a twinge of hurt buried within himself. He understood what the prince was referencing when he spoke of the road to changing minds, but even still, the weight of such blind hatred pushed down heavily on his heart. When the boy did turn back around, his father Jagón was finally staring at him with a mixture of fatigue, sorrow, and relief all forged into one very tired looking panther. The knight stood silently as he stared down into his son's eyes.

"I make one request of you my son. I will honor your decision no matter your answer." The great knight, the right hand to the king, and the boy's very own father did something unthinkable then, and knelt before his son. Before a human. To say Aster was uncomfortable was quite the understatement. The great knight persevered anyway.

"Drop out of The Selection and return home with me. I almost lost you today, and I am terrified I will lose you for certain to their hatred... I... I cannot shield you anymore, my son... Not from an entire world... But perhaps here, from yourself at least, from your foolish gamble, I can protect you. I can try... I can beg this of you, my son. You are not safe here." Aster felt lower than the tone his father had just spoken in as he heavily lingered on every word. He had obtained his freedom after all these years... Was serving in the army his true desire? Or was The Selection only a means to an end? Aster steeled his thoughts, and softly answered his father when he had made his choice.

"I cannot." The panther stood, clenched both his fists and his jaw, turned around sharply, and started walking towards the exit with his son trailing behind. Even as he escorted Aster back to his inn, as they passed by such gawking stares and the looks of astonishment from the beastmen in the streets, the boy heard not a single sound more from his father on that day.

Aster was met by Javis at the entrance to the inn. His father remained silent even still, even as he turned and walked away from the pair. Javis placed a reassuring hand at the small of the boy's back as he watched his father leave, never casting another glance back towards him as he faded from view.

The pair returned to their room after, and Javis had Aster lie down on the bed so he could begin healing his injuries from the battle with the tiger. The boy told the Antelope everything he could remember about the unbelievable events which had transpired that day, even how everything had made him feel. The buck only listened patiently on as the boy recounted his story, reassuring him when his fears and worry were made known. Javis understood the true nature behind Jagón's request and his actions in the tunnel, but didn't find it his place to elaborate at that time. Aster needed rest now. He had chosen to fight on. So instead, the buck finished his treatment, and started to gently run his hands through his young master's hair, petting him over and over as the boy grew tired from his efforts that day. This was an old trick he'd been using to get the boy to sleep since before the human could even crawl, but the buck felt a sadness from the motion instead of the usual peaceful sensation it brought upon him. Maybe somewhere in his soul, his instincts just knew that it was going to be the last time he would get to do it.

Stahl was deep in thought as he laid in bed, gazing at the ceiling on the final morning of The Selection. Who could really blame him, he'd received more than he bargained for witnessing the final part of that trial. Stahl had heard secrets that shattered any reasonable expectations he had. He knew everything, who the human really was, what that shield really was. He learned of Aster's past, his upbringing, and his heritage... Secrets the boy was forbidden from knowing about himself. And worse yet, the wolf had realized he was the only one there that day that could ever even tell Aster the truth now. The only one who wasn't physically present to have their life oath modified to prevent ever openly discussing what that council had revealed amongst themselves... To prevent Aster from ever finding out where he came from... That Aster Venatus was undoubtedly and indisputably the heir of the final human king to fall in King Alocer's war, King Calium, as well as the sole inheritor of the legendary bloodskill known as The Peacekeeper's Shield. Aster was a royal. Aster was born to be a king among humans. A king to only corpses and grave markers now...

The young wolf heard a knock, and called out for his father to enter. He was expecting this visit. The older wolf let himself in, and turned to his son as he closed the door. Stahl sat up on the bed as his father spoke.

"I imagine I don't have to tell you that you'll need to keep your presence at that trial a secret. You have to pretend you know nothing of that human's truth. Will you promise me that my son? Or do we need to just renew your life oath to cover the matter as well?" The silver wolf gave an inquisitive raise of his brow as he spoke down to his son. The younger wolf sighed and reassured his father he had grasped how sensitive the matter and the information was. The older canine nodded in acceptance of that answer, considering the matter resolved, and quickly changed the subject to something more embarrassing to distract his son.

"So, why do you have that? Trying to get a feel for it's scent?" Byron was pointing at something sitting on a table. Something that belonged to the human, the helm and the staff. Aster hadn't exactly had a chance to recover either after he was revealed, so Stahl had grabbed them for him... Though, he wasn't certain why he did so himself, he was sure it wasn't to catch a whiff as the old wolf had implied. Stahl bantered on for a bit longer with his father that morning before setting out to the arena with his thoughts just a little lighter from the older wolf's efforts. Before FINALLY getting to get a good, up-close look of his weird little friend's face with his own two eyes, eyes that could see him clearly.

Aster was thankful Javis had agreed to come witness the final two rounds since his cover had already been blown. He was more grateful to have an ally stand by him for at least the first few steps into the scary new reality that was his life now. In truth, the human was feeling deathly anxious, knowing what awaited him as he stepped through the entrance of the Selection Grounds. The curses and booing spat down by the audience towards the human as soon as he walked into sight was nothing unexpected for Aster, and yet his chest felt a little tighter still. A few more paces in, and the pair stopped. The teacher gave his student one final reassuring nudge despite the vulgar cries and primal snarls around them, and parted with the boy he'd half raised as he went to find a seat among spectators.

Aster swallowed hard and turned to the entrant seating, feeling smaller than ever now that he was alone. The human kept his sights on the dirt below as he practically fled to the furthest corner, as far away from every other person in that overwhelming arena as possible. Aster couldn't help but to recall his father's final pleading words at that time... They replayed over and over again in his mind, enticing his heart to beat right out of his very chest.

'You are not safe here.'

Stahl watched on in utter disbelief as his weird little friend didn't even acknowledge him... Just... plopped down in the corner, never even glancing his way. The wolf's mind went on quite a rant over the cold shoulder treatment. 'What happened to all that composure and eagerness to socialize from yesterday? Was he just tired? No... Regardless, did his servant not get my message about the staff? The human hadn't brought a spare weapon... How is he planning to fight now? AAHHHH!! This is ridiculous, what is he even doing here like that? It's like he's already getting his ass beat-' The wolf's eyes went wide as he realized his selfish oversight. The human was already being beaten on. He was alone, and a sea of scared and angry voices were inflicting wounds he couldn't block with any shield. Wounds that nobody could block for very long. Stahl believed he had finally figured out why he was so curious about the human. He pitied the creature's circumstance. It was only sympathy, that's all.

The wolf stood, grabbed his and the human's belongings, and walked right up to where the creature was sitting. Most of the yelling closer to the wolf died down a bit as he dropped his swords and the staff on the seating beside the human with a 'Clank.' Aster visibly jumped at the unexpected sound, and the crowd began murmuring amongst themselves as the human warily turned in his seat to meet the imposing gaze of the large gray wolf now towering above him. To most of the spectators watching, it appeared that a noble son of Alora, Stahl Aschefell, was clearly ready to handle the human himself... They weren't completely wrong, but their ruthless voices fell to only hushed whispering and murmurs at last when they witnessed the wolf extend a hand out to the human.

Aster had underestimated how terribly cruel people could really be. He had waited his entire life for this day, working away relentlessly in hiding to be able to stand here, just to find that nobody wanted him there. He had finally made it, but there was no place for him here after all... There wasn't a single seat at the table available for a human outside of the same place he's always been... No steady hand close enough to grab onto anymore...

The gear falling on the stone made Aster jump high enough to embarrass himself, the wolf he saw above him when he looked over at the sound was the same one he had been deceiving for the past two days. The noble was undoubtedly angry he had been talking to a disguised human that entire time. That made sense to Aster. Everyone here was angry at him for showing up today, after all.

"Stahl Aschefell, officially." The wolf held his hand out towards Aster. Stahl awkwardly waited for the human to get the gist and take his hand. Aster didn't move, he only stared at him cautiously. The wolf cleared his throat a bit and repeated himself, finally getting a response from the human. Aster rose to his feet, and began reaching his hand for the one outstretched before him. He wavered for a second, hovering just out of grasp before his uncertainty yielded, and he grasped a hold of the large, steady hand thrust before him with his own trembling one.

"A-Aster, Aster Venatus... Sorry about before..." Stahl only looked on at the human before him, absolutely reveling in his opportunity to finally get a close look at his weird little friend for real. Aster was a bit taller than Stahl had previously guessed, standing at exactly 6 feet high with a close knit kind of tone to his musculature. The human had shaggy dark brown fur atop his head, it was longer and smoother than most fur Stahl had seen on beasts, and the length of it was currently tied back into a short bundle behind the creature's neck where it stopped. The foreign beast appeared to have some stubble along his jaw. This led the wolf to believe that hair normally grew there, but the boy had shaved it back for whatever reason before the Selection. Maybe it got in the way? His muzzle, (or at least Stahl believed it was his muzzle,) was short. His snout was a bit on the large side, but the pale lips below it seemed oddly enticing to the wolf. The boy's eyes were a creamy rich brown as well, a color that seemed to trap the very sunlight itself inside of them. There were small golden lines dotted hap hazardously around the boy's pupils, further solidifying the wolf's theory that the human was really a mage who had somehow managed to ensnare a bit of the golden warmth of their very sun behind his irises. Stahl had found himself feeling incredibly at peace by the Aster's features for some reason... Well, aside from one such feature that made Stahl unreasonably angry to look at, much to the wolf's own surprise.

Aster had two pinkish claw marks beginning on the bridge of his nose that extended across his cheek beneath his right eye, and ended right about where his earlobe began. Stahl hadn't heard the story behind that yet, but found himself eager to know it. The human was definitely different looking than any beast or creature the experienced soldier had seen in his time, but he didn't seem nearly as scary as everyone had made him out to be. This was no monster before him. This was just a scared and lonely pup.

"Nice to meet you, the real you I might add..." Stahl let out a sigh of exasperation after a moment of silence as he decided to level with the unsure human a bit. "I hope you don't mind me saying this, Aster, but you need to pull yourself together here."

Aster visibly flinched at the wolf's words, and brought his hand up to cover his face. The wolf noticed he was rubbing the part of his snout between his eyes, seemingly in effort to gather himself for a moment, before dropping his hand and answering.

"Sorry, I know. I let myself get stuck in my head. It's just... a lot... a lot more than I expected." The human finished his statement with a slight nod towards the spectators. Stahl had understood. He couldn't do much about that at the time, but he could at least try to distract the human for a little while with some banter, a trick Stahl hadn't realized he had picked up on from his father.

Aster was more grateful to the wolf for what he had done that day than the canine would ever know. For the next twenty minutes or so, Aster felt the wolf slowly chipping away at his fear. It was still very much present, but for a short moment, the human could manage it solely by the distraction at hand. By finally having someone to talk to in such an alienating world. A short time later, the beginning of the final day of The Selection was signaled by the sound of thunder, and both warriors prepared for their final battles.