The Mark Of A Sword (Slash III)

Zayn awkwardly sits in the tall, strange man's office.

After attempting to fix her mistakes (again, and which also seems pretty never-ending), Zayn, Amur, and Chase were taken by a (really nice) carriage to the capitol, a place that the three of them--although definitely in awe--also dreaded to go, mainly because Zayn shouldn't be near any capitols--what-so-ever-but of course, she fails. Again.

The really tall man (he at least has to be 195 centimeters, like holy crap he's huge) with heavy black chains adorning his wrist takes Zayn alone to his office (without, of course, Amur almost biting his arm off, refusing to leave a "young lady" alone with a "giant sky scraper of a demon."). At least Zayn doesn't need a mother to go into protective mode, she has Amur.

So now, Zayn sits here, by herself, nervously staring at the tall man, calmly sitting across from her, siping from his white and gold tea cup as he places it back down at his really huge desk--and--jeez--those are a lot of papers--.

"So you said your name is Zayn, correct?" The man asked, raising a dark, thin eyebrow. Zayn swallows, really taking all of this man in and--wow--he's handsome--with his beautiful green eyes, his deep, brown skin, his curly, short jet black hair--short enough for Zayn to notice the small pieces of jewelry pierced into his ears like diamonds. His slanted eyes, the small mole near his plump lips, his slim nose and structured face--holy crap, if this guy wasn't a knight, Zayn would definitely think he'd be some famous actor in one of those really popular theatre plays-.

"Oh, yes!" Zayn said, quickly nodding her head, snapping out of her thoughts, feeling her cheeks heat her caramel brown skin, "yes, t-that's my name."

"Well now that you're here, let's do some housekeeping," The man said, sitting up straighter and folding his arms on his desk and wow—his voice is so deep—holy mother of-, "First off, uh-my name is Jeremiah, and I am captain of the Black Fawne division-."

"Wow," Zayn said, nodding her head excitedly, "I really like your uniform!"

The man--Jeremiah—snorts, a small smile shining through is usual stone, serious face.

"Well if you chose to stay here," Jeremiah said, "I'll have one prepared for you."

"Oh my Gods that'll be amazing-wait, stay-um," Zayn said, raising a hand, "could you maybe explain to me what's going on-uh-yeah, can we start with that first?"

"Right," Jeremiah said, letting out a soft sigh, "well, oh awakened hero of Excalibur-."

"Oh right!" Zayn said, pointing to her arm, "why is everyone making a big deal--it's just a spear?"

Jeremiah smiles, but his eye definitely twitched.

"Excalibur is the holy weapon that can fight against any God and those chosen who carry God names, which aren't many," Jeremiah said, "It's one of the most powerful God items that can destroy a world or help save it, so of course we'd want to keep you on our side."

"We?" Zayn said, looking up, realizing that the tall woman--the one with short red hair and warm eyes--placed a hot tea cup in front of Zayn, nodding her head while Zayn whispers a soft word of gratitude. 

"The royal family, the kingdom--we have one of the best knight divisions in the world--and if any war comes to be, Excalibur fighting besides us would be a great card," Jeremiah said, "but I won't force you to join my knights-."

"You won't?" Zayn asked, "why wouldn't you do that?"

"Believe me," Jeremiah said pouring himself another cup of tea, "you're so going to be hunt down and stalked until you either get forced to join a knightage, die, or live in never-ending hiding. Once Excalibur is in your hand--the world knows--the holy clergy knows, the royal family knows--you can't escape-."

"O-oh," Zayn said, sliding in her seat dejectedly.

"But I'll mention to the prince that if you join us, I'll keep an eye on you and make sure your okay throughout everything," Jeremiah said, clearing his throat, "it's not easy being so young with so much attention, so I'll take care of everything, starting with your training and your hero initiation ceremony-."

"T-training?" Zayn asked, almost dropping her tea cup, "c-ceremony?"

"You have Excalibur, and you're strong," Jeremiah said, "but you lack a lot of control. You almost destroyed a whole town less than an hour ago so, I think training you and getting you ready to fight properly is a great step."

"R-right?" Zayn said, "a-and the ceremony?"

"You are a national treasure now, believe it or not," Jeremiah said, taking another sip of his tea cup, "I'd like to hold it off until you've finish some training and-."

"Maybe not that," Zayn said. "The ceremony, I mean."

"I can't not do it," Jeremiah said, "kind of can't avoid that-."

"I can at least keep the helmet on, r-right." Zayn said, pointing to her face, "I have this crazy scar on my face--pretty shy about it--so I'd like to not-."

"Whatever you want," Jeremiah shrugs, standing up, "You're call on what you want to wear."

Zayn, surprised, follows Jeremiah's lead and stands up with him.

"I'll have a room for you and...you're interesting friends," Jeremiah looks away, avoiding Zayn's confused eyes, "I doubt there going to leave without you, so I'll handle them later."

"Oh! They're my guardians!" Zayn jumps, happily chatting away, "Amur is sooo pretty! And she does amazing magic a-and Chase is so awesome at the cool knives thing-and—well—I guess they'll tell you all about that! But uh-thank you for your kindness and everything? And I'm excited to work with you, sir? Yeah, that sounds right!"

Jeremiah rubs the back of his head, rolling his eyes and letting out a huff of air.

"Yeah, seems like those two may also be pretty good candidates," Jeremiah said, sharing a quick glance with Clarke, who's outside Jeremiah's door, shooting him a big thumbs up, "but we'll pass your uniform later once we measure you, and we'll start some basic training tomorrow. Clarke--she'll guide you to your new room. Is that alright?"

Zayn blinks, opens her mouth, closes it, and smiles, nodding her head excitedly. 

"Yessir!" She said.

"C-Captain," Jeremiah said, "really, I'm not that old. Captain, please."

"Right, sir-Captain!" Zayn said, smiling up at the taller man. Jeremiah sighs and rolls his eyes, offering a hand to Zayn, who excitedly may have missed said hand, because she rushes over to give Jeremiah a big hug, excitedly giggling and jumping around, totally not causing the earth to quake.

"Z-Zayn," Jeremiah stutters out, "watch your strength-!"

"Oh, right!" Zayn said, turning away and heading to the door, "thank you so, so much Captain!"

Zayn rushes out the room, excitedly waving to Clarke and sliding out the door, standing by to excitedly be guided to her room. Jeremiah, confused and abashed, plops down on his chair, rubbing a hand on his face.

"She's cute, isn't she! Even without a face," Clarke chuckles, winking as Jeremiah waves her off to do her task. 

Jeremiah taps his desk, eyeing his ballpoint pen, rubbing the back of his neck, doing anything he can to stay focus, his attention anywhere but his paperwork, and his face feels a little warmer than usual, but he isn't sure why.