Chapter 271: Stealing the Show (1/2)

”Do you think something may have happened to him?” Prince Johnathan asked once they'd been waiting close to a half hour for the Dragonknight's arrival. So far, the acting Prime Minister, who'd taken over after the previous one had vanished mysteriously, was delaying things with a lengthy speech. However, the crowd was already growing restless. If something didn't change soon, it could lead to a riot.

The four members of the royal family were sitting in evenly spaced thrones on the raised dais. As none of them had been crowned yet, it was improper for any of them to take precedence of the others. They were placed at the very rear of the performance section of the Stadia Almira, the massive open-air building that dominated the south eastern portion of the New City. It was mainly used for major shows, sporting events, martial arts tournaments, religious festivals and ceremonies, and the occasional high profile duel. It also doubled as the city's venue of choice when performing public ceremonies.

In front of them, and a little lower down the dais, the Ministers and other major government officials were seated in rows. A podium enchanted with voice enhancement was placed slightly in front of them, and it was from here that the acting Prime Minister was giving his speech. Beyond him on the stadium's floor were additional rows of seats set aside for those individuals whose contributions were deemed sufficient to be personally rewarded by the crown. Finally, in the rising tiers of spectator seats was the audience. While it was unclear exactly how many people were in attendance today, the stadium supposedly had a capacity of nearly 90 thousand. From the looks of it, they were close to filling it.

Mattew shrugged idly. ”Hard to say for certain, but I would be surprised. It's more likely that he ended up enjoying the festivities a bit too much last night, and failed to get up in time.”

”He's not that unreliable.” Andrea broke in with a grumble, ”I'm sure he has his reasons for being late. That is, if he's even still coming…”

Nathaniel chuckled, ”It might be better if he didn't show up. Just think of all the money we'd be saving if we didn't have to reward him.”

”Nathan!” Johnathan scolded.

”What? You know I'm right. Between the reconstruction and supporting the sudden influx of the Tenundian refugees, we hardly have enough gold in the treasury as it is. Preparing a proper reward for the Dragonknight will practically bankrupt us. Especially since he doesn't want any territory, which is the one thing we have in abundance.” He shot back.

The First Prince frowned disapprovingly. ”It's not honorable to be this concerned about money. As soon as we get everything back in order, the money will start flowing in again, no need to be worried. Until then, I'm sure we can scare up the funds somewhere.”

Nathaniel gave his brother a disbelieving look. ”This is exactly why I didn't want you to be king! What has honor to do with being financially secure? If we don't take steps to prevent the systematic hemorrhaging of money out of our treasury, we'll be broke within weeks. Once we are no longer able to pay our soldiers, how long do you think it will be before they rebel? Or even worse, desert to the service of some major lord who thinks they can do a better job ruling this country?”

”Brothers, please.” Matthew interrupted. ”This is supposed to be a celebration. Not to mention the fact that we are in the public eye at the moment. We can figure out our financial situation later, behind closed doors. For the record, though, I feel that there is some merit to what Nathan is saying.”

Johnathan sighed, and then smiled. ”Perhaps I've been taking our treasury for granted. Once we've finished here, would you all do me the favor of joining me to discuss our finances with the Minister of the Treasury? I'm sure that between the four of us, we can come up with some solution.”

”Hmph. Yeah, I suppose I'll have to.” Nathaniel grumbled. ”You won't even know the right questions to ask.”

He was about to say something else when a roar erupted from the crowd, quickly drowning everything else out.

Descending from the sky were three humanoid figures. It didn't take much guessing to determine their identities, so few were surprised when the Dragonknight and his two companions landed in the middle of the awardees. By this point, the cheering had grown to a deafening roar.

Looking sheepish and a little embarrassed, Mike waved at the crowd, bringing their energy to a fever pitch. Judging by his resulting grimace, this was contrary to his intentions, and only by making a lowering motion with his hand was he able to gradually bring the audience back under control.

After a few moments, the stadium quieted down to the point of near silence. Tens of thousands of eyes were gathered on the Dragonknight as he opened his mouth and began to speak.

”Sorry about being late, I kinda overslept…”

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[Well, that could have gone better.] Mike thought once he was finally in his seat, Tal and Sera to his right. It had taken a little bit more time than he'd anticipated, but the ceremony was now finally underway.

The bearded man who'd been standing at the podium when they landed had been replaced by Prince Johnathan. The popular royal heir, judging from the way the crowd cheered once he was introduced, made a short speech thanking the people for their support during these trying times, and swearing to continue to defend the country from all hostile invaders. He then segued into recognizing the achievements of certain individuals, and the role they played in halting and eventually defeating both invasions.

[He's pretty good at this. Definitely knows how to play the crowd. While it takes a lot to be a good ruler, he at least has the public appearance part locked down.] Mike thought idly as he let the words wash over him.

Between the heat of the afternoon sun, and the comfortable chair he was sitting in, it was getting hard not to feel a bit drowsy. Quite naturally, his mind began to drift as he started planning all the things he would need to get accomplished in the next few days. Honestly, he felt like he didn't even have enough time to properly say goodbye to everyone he'd met, let alone with all the loose ends that had cropped up during his time in Almirn. Hell, he still had a few library books he needed to take back.

[Hopefully they are still in my bag somewhere. While they would probably forgive me for it at this point, I dread the idea of pissing off those librarians. Especially since I have every intention of visiting the highest levels of the restricted section now that they have no reason to bar my entry.]

He was so deeply lost in thought that when he heard his name being called, it took a second for him to remember that he was supposed to go up on stage to receive his rewards. After a brief hesitation, he swiftly stood and marched over to stand next the Prince as calmly and naturally as he could manage.

”Once again, may I present the Hero of Almir, Michael Rasmussen, also known as the Dragonknight Erasmus.” Johnathan started jubilantly, waiting until the cheering had quieted down a bit to resume. ”Listing this man's many accomplishments would take longer than we have time for today, and I am sure that most of you are already quite familiar with them. So, I will summarize by saying that without him, this country would have ended in a wave of bloodshed and death. The Kingdom of Almir owes him a great debt, one that we may never be able to fully repay, but we will attempt to honor his efforts to the best of our abilities.”