Conversations instantly died out. The guests around them rushed to move away from Peter and the knight behind him. Chairs scratched against the surface. Yet Gerald appeared to stay calm, he hadn't moved an inch from where he was sitting.
"Where do you think you're goin'?" A female voice said behind Peter.
"Uh... What?" Peter said.
"I 'sked. Where. You're. Goin'? Answer, now." The knight grabbed the sword harder.
"To one of the tables? I thought the feast had started." Peter let out a chuckle.
"You take me for a fool! Why were you movin' towards Lord 'tsa!?" The sword dug deeper into Peter's throat, drawing blood.
"Hey, no need to be so rough. Let's talk this one out okay?" Peter's voice cracked a little.
Someone stepped closer.
"If you continue to act, you won't see the end of this feast." The knight said.
"W-what are you doing in the presence of King Gerald?" A duke opposed.
"Shut up, he's clearly suspicious." The knight hissed.
"Now you..." Before she could finish her sentence, a footstep arose behind the crowd.
"Mother." A figure spoke, in a harsh tone.
The knight froze.
The figure stepped forward closer to them.
"Ariel?" Peter looked between Ariel and the knight, or rather her sword. "She's your mom?"
The knight removed the sword from Peter's throat.
"I missed you!" The knight appeared beside Ariel in a blink of an eye. She put her arm around Ariel's throat.
She was wearing a black, full plated armor with the Sun house's crest on her chest. She had blonde hair and deep brown eyes.
"You were gone for too long! Don't make me worried 'bout you 'llright?" The knight said, with a big smile on her face.
Peter rubbed off the blood on his throat.
"Not now, mother." Ariel grabbed her arm, freed himself then slammed her to the ground.
The knight laughed it off.
"You never change, huh?" She said.
The silence stretched.
"Ariel, care to explain?" Peter asked.
"Uh, yeah. She's my mother, Vixel Sun, the current house head. She's also Lord Atsa's guard" Ariel scratched his head.
So she doesn't work for Gerald? That's a relief. Peter thought.
Vixel shifted her eyes to Peter. "You still didn't tell me 'bout your intentions." Vixel rose on her feet in an instant. "Speak."
"I was just going to a table." Peter uttered.
Vixel pointed her longsword to Peter's throat.
"I never saw you 'round here. You don't have a last name and you smell of somethin' weird, like a poison." She narrowed her eyes. Then she turned to Ariel. "Actually you smell like him too."
Her voice lowered. "If you two have 'nything planned for 'tsa, I'll kill both of you right now."
How does she smell the assassin's poison!? What kind of nose does she have? Peter thought, he took a step back.
Ariel's eyes darted around.
I can't talk about the poison if I do I expose us for going to the Archival Treasury. He thought.
"No 'nswer huh?" Vixel said, she rose her longsword. The guests ran away from the sword's tip.
"It's from the Crimson Forest. We went for a quest, remember?" Ariel sighed.
Vixel froze, her eyes widened with realization. "Oh." She sheathed her sword back.
Her eyes turned to Peter. "So this twig went with you?"
Twig!? Peter thought and frowned.
"You didn't teach him 'nything, did you!?" Vixel's hand slammed Ariel's right shoulder.
The impact jolted through Ariel's shoulder, making him lose balance. He missed a few steps, then straightened his back and found balance.
Vixel rose an eyebrow. "I don't remember you being this weak. Did somethin' happen?"
"No, I'm fine. You're interrupting the feast." Ariel said, groaning against the pain.
"Oh yeah." Vixel moved towards the crowd. They moved away as she closed in. She grabbed a wine glass from the table and raised it. "Let's continue this feast!"
The crowd involuntarily raised their wine glasses.
"Mother, that's not your glass..."
"Who cares? Grab yourself one as well." She slammed her hand to Ariel's back with a grin on her face.
She pulled a chair close to Gerald and sat on it. Ariel sat next to her, closer to Gerald.
In a blink of an eye she dug into the food, almost half of what was on the table was gone.
Peter sighed. Focus on the mission.
His eyes turned to Ariel, he was sweating harder. Peter walked towards Atsa in a quickened pace.
Vixel petted Ariel's head.
"It's time I tell you 'bout the First Sun!" She said.
"Who doesn't know him?" Ariel moved Vixel's hand away.
"Not that dumbass, his story. I'll tell it whether you want it or not!"
A weary expression covered Ariel's face.
"Long long, really long time ago. Before Varsians even stepped their foot onto this island. Two brothers named 'stra and Sol led their people." She started.
"On ships they found this island. One brother held the pen the other held the sword. Together they found the Varsian Kingdom. But one day while fightin' with Ursians Sol died." She gave dramatic sigh.
"It's said that the red flowers on the Crimson Forest 're his blood, screaming for vengeance." She made her hand into a fist.
"So, what should I get from this?" Ariel yawned.
"I don't know, my dad told me the story exact same way." She laughed. "Think of it as a mom-son bonding time!"
****
Atsa hadn't moved from where Peter spotted him. Green robes he wore had a square pattern. His blonde hair spilled from his blindfold.
"You are Atsa right?" Peter spoke. Counts all around Atsa snapped their gaze at him.
"Yes, I am. What is your wish, distinguished gentleman?" He spoke in a soothing voice, but didn't turn to Peter.
"Uhh, Maid Jane wanted to give this to you." Peter handed the letter.
Atsa faintly smiled. He grazed his fingers over the letter then chuckled lightly. "Well, you will have to read this to me."
Peter froze for a second.
"Oh, right." He took the letter back and opened it. His eyes went over the letter, then he narrowed his eyes.
"Are you sure?" He said.
Counts whispered to each other.
"Now that you said it... I am not sure. Let us go to somewhere that they can not hear us." Atsa rose from his chair, and walked towards Peter.
"Balcony of the hall should do." He said.
Both of them walked towards the balcony in silence. Peter's footsteps dissolved beneath the loudness of the feast. Atsa's long robes dragged against the ground. He didn't seem bothered about it. Before they realized, the balcony's door appeared before them.
Opening the door, they stepped in. The people's bantering was muffled and barely recognizable from there. Moonlight grazed over their skin, like a little silver sun. Winds caressed their hair.
Peter looked around. For a moment he could've sworn he felt the gaze of King Gerald on him.
"Well, gentleman. When are you going to read the letter?" Atsa's robes flapped against the wind.
The letter is written like a Ursian epic. Peter thought, he felt calmer and focused on how the letter was written.
Peter cleared his throat. "As the cold sun reached its place, the winds blow into the unforeseeable distances, and the sea reconnects with land. Your heart belongs to me, just like them, ever-recurring and unstoppable. Thence my heart shall belong to you. -Jane."
Silence stretched between them. Peter stared at Atsa's face. Atsa's mouth slightly opened.
"You read it well." Atsa said with a subtle smirk on his face. "Are you perhaps a poet?"
"Uh, no I wander around and write down stories." Peter answered.
"I see." Atsa said.
The distant laughters and banters of the feast returned. Atsa turned to the wind.
"I just can not see Jane accepting a failed royal like me." Atsa said, mostly to himself.
The wind swayed his hair in random directions.
"What do you mean?" Peter asked.
"I am blind, that is why court would never accepted me. I can not do my work alone let alone handle a kingdom." Atsa chuckled bitterly. "Marrying me will bring nothing."
Peter shifted his gaze away. What should I do? I'm not good with this.
"Oh, sorry. It must have been weird for you. I will talk to Jane myself. Can you hand me the letter, please?"
Peter handed the letter.
"Thank you. You are free to go." Atsa said.
Peter walked towards the balconies' door and stepped into the Great Hall. He glanced towards Atsa, he was standing against the wind with a calm expression on his face. The first star of the Ariel star constellation gleamed at the horizon, six stars arranged to form a bowl. Peter shook his head and turned back to the feast.
Now the flower.
Peter scanned the room, looking for possible ways to exit. His stomach dropped. Jane was leaning against the wall next to the balconies.
"You scared me!" He whispered.
"Good job." She said. "You did your part, now it's my turn to help."
"Not now, I can feel a few people staring directly at me." Peter moved away from Jane.