"So, how did the Accolade goes?"
The beautiful blonde girl was clad in a stunning formal royal dress. The attire was a simple white, but silks adored her arms, while gem decorations sparkled at the ends of her gown, creating a beautiful yet simple image. She was looking at a man in shining knight armor as she asked her question.
She was surrounded by a few assistants trying to prepare her for the big event, for when the groom came into the room.
The said groom, however, was taken by surprise by her unexpected question.
"What do you mean by how the Accolade goes...? Look at you… you are stunning. You should not worry about the accolade and just focus on the wedding."
Unexpectedly, the girl was still persistent about the matter.
"What needs to be concerned about the wedding? Everything has already been prepared, there is nothing else I need to do. To be honest, I really wish I could just come to see the accolade."
The man and the girl were none other than Arthur Pendragon and Princess Gwenneth, who would officially take the title of Logress Queen after the marriage that would be held in a few hours.
The white dress design she was currently wearing was similar to the past royal weddings Arthur had attended, but he still found himself dumbstruck by her beauty. Even before this marriage, she had always been a radiant force of good. Right now, the dress only enhanced that aspect of her even more.
Arthur took a deep breath and told everyone to quickly leave the room, including Sir Yvain, who was instructed to protect her. Hearing the order from their king, the knight and attendants all quickly left the room without a word.
At the moment, Gwen was surprised to see the expression on Arthur's face. She remembered he had always been groomed from early on in his life to become the perfect king, so she only saw the sure and confident disposition he always displayed. But now, the man was different. The current ruler of Logress had shown such a rarely seen expression - somber.
"What is it, Arthur? Tell me."
Arthur stared at her and let out another sigh.
"I am sorry, Gwen. The truth is, I have been sending a bird letter to a certain someone in hopes he would come to explain the situation." He said dejectedly. "But it seems he couldn't make it."
Gwen was stunned silent by his words. She turned her face away and played with her silky hair, trying to look as calm as she could. However, there was no hiding for her apparent feelings, as her trembling bottom lip betrayed her.
"Then… He is not coming…" She muttered. "It's alright."
Arthur, who obviously noticed her reaction, opened his mouth again in the attempt of consoling her.
"I am pretty sure he's just too far away. Probably the bird couldn't reach him." He said. "I'm sure it's not that he doesn't want to come."
"Arthur, but… why... would you do that?"
Arthur didn't answer her question, instead he moved a step closer and closed his eyes. His eyelids were slightly trembling, while his hands were faintly shaking, as if trying to steel himself, steeling his resolve to ask what he was always curious about.
"I never really had a chance to know what happened between you two." He muttered. "Now that we are about to be married, shouldn't I have the right to know? I don't really want to intrude into the matter between the two of you, but you two are the most amazing people I know, and I really don't wish to ruin anything without knowing."
Upon hearing the answer, Gwen placed the ivory hairbrush she used to play with her hair on the dresser table, turned around to face Arthur and said.
"I am sorry Arthur… The truth is, I love him, and I know that you know it."
Arthur nodded his head at her words. "Yes… I know that. Then why? Why did you do this?"
"I… I am not the right person for him. And I know I can't think about this while the kingdom is in crisis… I just can't."
Arthur went silent for a while. That particular struggle was something he knew really well as a ruler of his own kingdom. Gwen took the time to approach him and said.
"I apologize, Arthur, this is who I am. I cannot help it nor can I change it. If you do not wish to continue this wedding, I understand, but you need to consider how important this is for the kingdom."
"Gwen, I do not want to force you to do something you don't want to do. You don't have to marry me in order to help me and the kingdom. I'm sure there are other ways."
"No. Marrying you will be the best way for me to help the kingdom, to ensure the safety of my people."
Arthur took a deep breath and let out another sigh. He had met many stubborn and strong-willed ambassadors, but the girl in front of him was by far one of the most stubborn people he had ever encountered.
"Alright. Let's get married." He then smiled and said, "Marrying you will make me the most lucky man in the whole 7 kingdoms."
"I'll see you in a few hours then." He said before turning around and leaving.
Seeing the man leave, a feeling of strange worry emerged from her heart. She took a deep breath and calmed herself, most likely it was the stress of the wedding messing with her head.
Arthur left Gwen to do her final preparation, while he went toward the fort-like building, the secret place where the golden knights usually meet. It was the place where Excalibur was kept.
When he arrived all the golden knights and the 10 new silver knights had already gathered.
There were 36 golden knights gathering, as some were still on duty like Sir Yvain who protected Gwen and Sir Gawain, who he sent to the North.
Other than that, there were 5 selected silver knights, who would be promoted to become golden knights today.
It pained him that for two consecutive years now, many golden knights had died or retired, either thanks to the war or due to incidents within the land. This was an apparent sight, as these days he almost could not recognize half the golden knights in this room.
Arthur thought he really needed to spend some time getting to know these new golden knights.
Just like when Emery was attending his own ceremony, the three knight commanders led the whole event and later on, they all went downstairs to the secret room where the sword of the divine was.
One by one, the 5 selected silver knights took their chance to drink the small vial of [Divine Water] and took hold of the sword, receiving the blessing of the divine.
The event finally ended. The knight commander Agrival the Wise stepped up and was about to close the ceremony,
"Dear Brother of the Knight of Divine Order I welcome…. urrgghh "
The speech was abruptly stopped by blood dripping on his chest
All eyes were stunned to see a sword pierce the Sir Agrival through his chest from the back.
Arthur was so shocked when he saw who the culprit was. The sword belonged to none other than knight commander Sir Aewin of the Aegis.
"What is the meaning of this? Have you gone mad!!" shouted Uther, who stood close to him, only to be swung by the same sword which stabbed Agrival.
Arthur was about to save his father, when suddenly multiple sounds of footsteps came from the door. There, two dozen silver knights were ready with their arrows nocked on their bows!
Arthur recognized them to be Maleagant's men. He was so angry and screamed toward his men when he heard another golden knight being attacked by the other golden knight next to him.
It was a complete chaos, the golden knights fighting among each other.
Maleagant look at Arthur with a cruel smile and said,
"Archers, shoot!"