Chapter 21: Promotion
David took a few days to stay at home, he had to recover from his injuries, and he wanted to use that time to figure out a situation for the kids. So, he started to do research on all the orphanages in the capital, and to his dismay, he found out that all the orphanages in the area, except for the vampire exclusive one, were full to capacity.
"Maybe this is how they ended up on the streets in the first place?" David said aloud, frustrated. From the other side of the room Alice speaks up.
"It's definitely possible, even I didn't realize we had so many orphans in the capital." She said without looking up as she was handling her own work.
"Speaking of," David said with a slightly annoyed grin. "What are you doing at my house?"
"It's the duty of the lord to ensure that their retainers are well taken care of." She responded quickly as if she had been expecting this question. "As you are my knight, I have to ensure that your recovery is being properly handled." She said as she stamped a document. In fact, it had not just been today, but every day since the raid on the embassy she has been coming over early in the morning and doing all her work at his house. Not that he strictly minded, he enjoyed her company greatly, and it certainly helped to break up the monotony of being stuck in the house every day. But it had become a bit too routine. So much so that Sebastian had brought in a spare desk to David's study so she could handle her work there as well. All of that was well and good, but his "friend" seemed to care less about his injury and seemed to just be using it as an excuse to play with the kids, which she did regularly. Not only that but she had also eaten her meals at his house as well.
"I'm sure the king probably isn't too happy that the princess is at a commoner's house all the time." David said with a sigh. It's not like he wants to kick her out, far from it, he just wanted her to think of her position.
"Ha! I doubt father cares where I'm spending my time so long as I complete my work." She said with a quick laugh. "He's far too busy of a man to worry over such trivial matters. Besides, I'm currently staying by my knight's side, so all is well!" She said with a cheeky grin. He knew that there was no winning against her when she was like this, so he decided to drop the topic.
"So, did you find out if the orphanage would make an exception?" David said changing the topic.
"Well..." Alice begins putting down her pen. "As it stands, they said they would make an exception only if they obliged by the standards the other kids live under."
"And, what does that mean?" David said, confused.
"Who knows? I bet that they just said that to discourage us from bringing them, of course they would gladly take Derek but the other two are human so naturally they are reluctant." Alice said with a sigh. It had always occurred to him just how progressive Alice was, especially being the princess, not only was she friends with a human commoner with no family history, but she also seemed to have no discrimination against other humans. When she talked about the hesitancy of the caretakers of the orphanage, it just reminded him of the gap in sensibilities.
"Hey David, you know rather than an orphanage you know you could..." Alice trails off not wanting to thrust such a big responsibility on to his lap.
"I know what you want to say." David said as he looked at his hands. "I'm not ready for something like that, I finally got my own life together, got a job, a home, but I'm far too busy to be a large part of their lives." He pauses.
"But I think, most of all, I'm just not ready to be a father." David said as he balls his hands into a fist. Alice understood, if David did not feel like he was ready to become a father to these kids then she could not force him into it, it did make her sad though.
"Well anyway I think we need to go talk to the orphanage director with the kids before we make a final decision." Alice said changing gears so that the issue is dropped.
"Yeah I think we could do that today; I'll get the kids ready." David said as he stood up and left the room to find the kids and Sebastian.
"I think you would make a fine father, you idiot." Alice said quietly when David left the room.
The meeting took about 2 hours, it dragged on solely because the director seemed hesitant to take the kids in. Perhaps he would have outright denied them if Alice, the princess, had not come along and vouched for Mabel and Josh, but he certainly took his time to give in. At the end of it all David turned to the kids and asked for their opinions.
"So, what do you think of this place?" David said as he knelt next to all three kids.
"I like it!" Derek said triumphantly as if he had built the building himself.
"I think it will be good here, the others seem nice like Derek and the beds look warm." Mabel said, giving an analytical response unlike Derek. Josh, like normal, remains quiet, but unlike when he first met him, he no longer hides behind Mabel, though he does avert his gaze.
"So then are you okay staying here?" David said as he began to have second thoughts about all this. Despite what he had said earlier to Alice, and despite him generally not really being great with children, he had found that the house full of the sound of children laughing and playing brightened the home up. If they left, he would certainly miss them, regardless of how little time they had actually been together. Mabel looks at the other two kids and then nods.
"I think we will be fine here!" She smiles brightly. David rubs her head a little and then stands up, ready to walk away when he feels one of the kids hug him.
"Thank you, mister." He heard from behind him, when he turned around to look, he saw Josh clinging to him and realized that he was the one who spoke to him. Mabel then grabbed his hand and led him off into the hall.
"You know," Derek said, his arms still crossed. "When I first met'cha, I thought you were going to be nothing but trouble, but I see now that I was wrong about you!" Derek said with a toothy grin, his hand held out for a handshake.
David smiles down at him and then shakes his hand.
"I'm glad to have met you all too." David said as he retracts his hand. Derek then runs off to the other two. He will miss them, that was certain, he wishes he could have adopted them, but he just was not ready to be a father, maybe some time, but just not now, not while his life was still settling down. But he knew that if he ever had kids, he would want them to be just like them. He smiles to himself as regret starts to hit him. Perhaps, this doesn't have to be the end of their relationship. He can visit them after all. It was at that moment that David decided to keep visiting them until they were eventually adopted.
He goes back into the director's room and explains that they will be saying, the director looks a little uneasy but agrees. David then pulls out a small bag of coins and hands it to the director.
"I know you get your funding from the state so I'm sure you have enough but..." David said as he put the bag in the director's hands. "If it's not helpful you can just keep it or distribute it to your staff or something, consider it thanks." David knew he was asking a lot of this man, but he didn't seem like a bad guy, nor did it seem like he would mistreat Mabel and Josh, so he felt a way of thanks was appropriate. It felt right.
After they left the orphanage both Alice and David headed back to his home. They spent the rest of the day working and Alice did end up staying over for dinner again, and though the mood was solemn from the lack of kids they still did have a good time. As she was leaving for the night before he went through the door she stopped and turned around.
"Oh, before I leave, I need you to come to the Palace main entrance tomorrow in your formal wear and bring your sword."
"So, just come into work?" David asked, confused at the specificity of the request.
"Just do as I told you, I'll see you tomorrow!" She said as she waves and runs to the carriage waiting outside. David had no idea what she was up to, but he decided it was tomorrow's problem and read for a while before going to bed.
The next day started off with a surprise, he had just arrived at the Palace entrance when he spotted Alice standing there, in a long flowing blue dress, a small silver Tiara sat on her head, and she was wearing a gold necklace with a large sapphire embedded inside it. Not only that, but her hair was done up, makeup had been applied and over all she looked shiny. It was the first time in all the time David had known her that he thought the word...
"Beautiful." He whispers under his breath.
However, it seems that Alice had caught him staring and hit him lightly.
"What are you spacing out for? Today is an important day!" She said with a smile, putting her hand out in front of him daintily. Luckily, she had not heard what he had whispered but he still stood there staring at her, captivated for a moment longer. She raised her eyebrows at him as she gestured to her hand. Regaining his composure, David gently places his hand under hers and escorts her inside. He had no idea what was going on, but for Alice to be all dressed up, it had to be something big. She led the way while he walked with her to a part of the Palace he had never been in. Two massive doors lay in front of him, a pair of guards open the doors and he begins to escort Alice inside. What he sees shocks him.
There was a long red carpet running along the center of the aisle leading up to 2 large golden thrones. The carpet was flanked with knights in armor each holding a sword up in front of their face. The thrones were also works of art, one which was empty and in the other sat...
"The King." David thought as Alice led him down the aisle. He had never seen the king in the entire time he had been in the Palace, Alice always said it was because he was busy and the Palace was massive, but it was still crazy for him to now be in front of the king. He was a large looking man, taller than an average person, but it seemed like every inch of his body had been trained to perfection. His golden hair and beard were well maintained, and his red eyes seemed to stare with interest at David.
As soon as they reached a certain distance from the king, Alice slipped away from David, headed up a few steps and stopped. David had no idea what was going on, but he figured whatever it was he should at least kneel. So, he did. After a few moments of silence Alice begins to speak up.
"Sir David of House Williams. For acts of bravery in times of adversity, and valor shown on the battlefield, the King has awarded you with the rank of Paladin and the Golden Star Medal." Alice said with a regal voice.
"Your sword," she commands David, he unsheathes his sword and offers it to Alice. She takes it into her hand and then continues
"Do you, sir David, swear to continue to serve both myself and the Empire, to protect us from harm, to use both your body and your mind to ensure the glory of the Empire?"
"I swear." David said, trying his best to guess at what he's supposed to say.
"Then, by the authority granted to me by the King," She said as she lightly tapped each of David's shoulders once. "I do hereby proclaim you the rank of Paladin and the privileges that come with it. You shall also be conferred an additional 50 men to your command to utilize as you see fit." David was already in a whirlwind of events happening all at once, and then when he was told he would be given 50 more men he almost fell back in surprise. But this ceremony was as much for him as it was for Alice, he didn't care what others thought of him, but he wouldn't stand for it if they badmouthed her. So, for her sake, he kept his cool. She offers the sword back to him, and David receives it.
"Thank you." David said, unsure if he was supposed to speak up again or not. Alice then headed towards the king who had picked up a small red box from the table next to him and took the box from him. She then walked back over to him and opened the box. Inside was a beautifully carved gold star with an intricate lattice on the interior making the shape of an 8 pointed star. In the center a finely cut ruby sat surrounded by the gold. David could only guess how much such a medal must have cost to make, but it would probably be worth way more than he should be given. Alice then walks closer to him, stands him up, and gently pins the medal to his uniform, over his right breast. She then smiles at him in a way he had never seen. The only way he could describe it was as a smile only a princess could have, but he could tell it was genuine, she was happy for him. She then turned back to the king and curtsied, David followed suit with a military salute. She then offers David her hand again and they walk out of the room together.
Once outside and well clear of the throne room, Alice stops, spins around and looks at David with a cheeky grin
"Well?" She asked knowing full well how David was feeling right now.
"What the hell was that?!" David exclaimed, not angrily but surprised.
"It was your promotion ceremony, stupid." Alice said flatly, still teasing him.
"Don't you think that I should be at least told of these things before I enter the room? What if I do something wrong in front of the king?" David said anxiously.
"Eh," Alice shrugs as she turns back around and begins walking down the hall. "It's not like you did anything wrong, you were a little stiff, but you did fine." She said her cheeky grin still on her face.
"Besides, it's not like my father would have cared if you messed up, I told you before he's not the type to sweat the small stuff, in fact the whole event would have been bigger if we had not purposefully toned it down, you noticed that there was no noble audience after all." She said, looking at David.
"Easy for you to say, I was terrified of stepping out of line the whole time."
"Well if you had, I doubt father would have said anything, though I bet he would have had a hardy laugh about it later!" She said with a small laugh of her own.
"Alice!" David complained as she laughed more.
"Okay, okay I'm done teasing you!" She said with a smile.
"Well I'd hope so, I doubt my heart could take much more than what I have today."
"We have one more stop to make then you can head back home to rest, you can head in tomorrow to my office and we can work out the other details then."
"Yes, princess." David said sarcastically as he follows. They arrive at another room that David had never been in and he opens the door and begins to head inside when he sees, sitting at the table in the room, Maria. It was as if a switch was flipped, not a moment before he had opened the door he had a smile on his face and he was joking with Alice, the moment he saw Maria it was as if he turned himself off, he had only a cold blank stare as he looked at Maria. This shocked Alice because while she was aware that when David wasn't around her, he was less expressive and more insular, this was such an extreme it almost scared her.
"It is a pleasure to see you again, Paladin David." She said with a small curtsy before sitting back down. Of course, much like last time he was not mad at her. The fact that she didn't have the guards from house Velma was good. However, his mood was sour at this moment, he had been riding such a high just a moment ago with Alice, seeing her had all at once dropped his mood to the bottom. It was that sudden drop that made him feel even more bitter than normal.
"I wanted to thank you personally for saving my life back there."
"I was just doing my job." David said flatly as he took a seat.
"I understand it was your job, but I still wanted to express my thanks to you." She said with a sweet smile. "Ah, if you have some time, perhaps I could get the maid to bring us some tea or..." She said before David spoke up.
"I'm sorry but I am still recovering from my injuries," He said as he placed his arm on the table. "You probably need my blood since it has been more than a month by now, I'll leave when you are done."
Maria sighed and looked at Alice who had just been watching this whole event occur before her with no idea what she should do. Should she scold David for being too mean to Maria, should she take David's side and allow him to stand by his decision? Should she keep herself out of it and let her two friends figure it out amongst themselves? She had no idea, but she felt like she should do something to help, she had no idea what though. This whole time she had been watching his expression. She could tell that he was sealing off his emotions but not because he was mad, he didn't stare at her with malice, but instead he was looking right through her rather than at her. She had no idea why.
Maria grabbed David's arm and bit in, like usual David remained straight faced throughout the process, however almost immediately he began to feel light-headed. His whole body felt heavy and he was getting tired very fast. Perhaps it was because he was still injured and hadn't fully recovered like he said, but he was feeling the effects much more than usual. He had blamed his injuries as an excuse to get out of the room faster, so even he was surprised how much it was affecting him.
After a very short time it became obvious to even Maria that he was not feeling well so she broke off the drink and let David go. David's head hurt, and his body felt wobbly, it took him some effort to get up and head to the door. Alice looked like she had something she wanted to say, but then decided not to.
"I'll see you tomorrow David." She said instead with a faint smile. David turned to look at her, his expression still blank and nodded. Even if he didn't want to show Alice something so unsightly, more than that he didn't want to give Maria the satisfaction of seeing him smile. So, he chose not to. He walked out with slight difficulty leaving Alice and Maria alone in the room.