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ลำดับตอนที่ #6 : Chapter 5: The Council Applications (การรับสมัครชิงตำแหน่ง)
CHAPTER FIVE: THE COUNCIL APPLICATIONS
The meeting room fell to a complete silence with the door’s closing, as Miss Ramsel, Head Professor of Knight Fortress, stepped up to the front.
“First of all; Everyone, welcome back to Knight Fortress. Now that you’re in your second year, I hope you would all set a good example for your juniors. This year, we’ll probably be studying harder, and taking up more responsibility in the fortress. So manage your time well, and turn to each other in the face of trouble. As for me, I will always be happier than anything to encourage you on. Now, as time is limited, Mathilda, do start with your announcements.”
A smattering of applause, with a few whistles thrown in, followed Miss Ramsel’s brief speech, led by either Creed Thunder or Felin Debereaux, spicing up the meeting and sending the professor smiling widely with pure joy. Nevertheless, she quickly held up her hands for silence.
Meanwhile, the two generals chatted among themselves on the chairs set up for them far to the back of the room, sparing the spectacle no attention, seeing as it is an internal meeting of the Second-Years. The Prince of Kanoval still retained his emotionless, impenetrable calm expression, whereas Princess Mathilda was sporting a throbbing headache with the unruly chimps of Knight Fortress.
Once the hubbub died down, Mathilda finally walked forth and began matter-of-factly.
“There are several activities we must join this year, so I’ve divided up the work with Kalo. I’ll talk about the part I’m in charge of first, then I’ll have Kalo talk about his. This year, I’m responsible for the Royal Chess Tournament.”
The word could unsurprisingly stir up chatter amongst the listeners again, seeing as they have lost most regretfully last year. Mathilda raised her hand for peace, and resumed willfully when her request was heeded.
“We’ll plan better this year, so victory will be ours!”
Another round of cheers erupted to her pledge, then calming as Mathilda raised her hand once more.
“Victory, however, can never be won without cooperation from all of us.” Mathilda phrased each word carefully, her green eyes setting upon each of her comrades, before stopping at the one man holding the key to victory.
“Especially you, Felin Debereaux.”
Felin sprang up swiftly as all eyes in the room focused on him, gave a graceful bow, then surfaced with what he thought was a cool smirk.
“Fear not, tis a true man’s duty to cooperate with a beautiful princess.”
Wolf whistles sounded in agreement from the surrounding knights, save for Kil who was deep red in the face, rocking back and forth stifling his laughter, and the Prince of Kanoval, who looked weirded out as he gave a stern glare to the girl claiming so boldly to be a true man.
“Well, don’t forget to keep your word, then.” Mathilda cut short the din before it could wreck the whole meeting, and Felin promised willfully.
“A true man stands by his promise!”
As Mathilda moved on with the talk, scheduling strategy meetings for the tournament, Kil leaned in and whispered to the rascal who had so casually put his man dignity on the line.
“You for real this time?”
“Looking for trouble? Seriously?” Felin whispered back with a laugh, totally unfettered.
“But you said—”
“Aw, c’mon! You know I’m not a man anymore. Don’t be daft.”
“Alright. Next, as most of us probably know; our Grand Marshal, Sir Travis Phillippy, the Warrior of Baramos, one of the three Paladins and two of the Twelve Guardians, graduated last year. So the Knight Fortress Council is now open for new applications.”
A hubbub rose to interrupt Mathilda again at this point, and, forgetting herself, she habitually slammed her fist on the table for attention.
“The application form is over here. I’ll hand it out later. The rule is everyone must apply. Select one position you want, then hand it in to me by the end of this month. Details about the responsibility and authority of each position comes with the forms I’m handing out. Read it well and fill in your form. Alright, any questions?”
Silence fell momentarily, before the din resumed after the forms had all been handed out. Mathilda, clearly suffering from a headache by now, banged the table loudly again for order.
“If anyone has questions, ask me, not yourselves!”
At that, several hands shot up to the sky.
“Creed!” Mathilda called out one of them. Creed obligingly stood up, gave her a grin then asked.
“About the available positions, can we select Grand Marshal as well?”
The room fell so silent a pin drop could be heard; even the two generals stopped conversing then turned to see the young lad, while Miss Ramsel smiled broadly, and Mathilda glared unblinkingly at him.
“You are such a—” Mathilda began furiously, but was cut short by a cough from far behind them.
“Miss Ramsel, could you please allow me to take it from here? As Rowen and I are directly in charge of this.”
Said Right-wing General Thinos. He was a tall, burly man with caramel colored skin and short hair of the same color reaching his nape. His willful, serious and open personality contrasted with that of Prince Rowen, who was sitting beside him; A ruler and a warrior.
Felin studied the man moving up front. Thinos Tildol was rumored to be the greatest warrior of Knight Fortress, but if the Prince Rowen he knew from the journey into Demos was not only a ruler but also has an excellent warrior within him, how great a ruler would this warrior-like man be as well?
“Let’s just say I’m giving you more details. As important positions in the council are vacant, we need replacements, and the golden rule in Knight Fortress—as we all know, is skill—So if you’re confident of your skill, and brave enough to shoulder the responsibility, then do apply. Any position will be fine, but I’m afraid there aren't many to select from, anyway; there’s Grand Marshal, two Generals—be sure to state clearly whether left or right—four Justices, three Paladins and twelve Guardians.”
“Two Generals?” Felin blurted out amid the silence, calling all eyes to him. Looking sheepish, he stood up then asked properly, “But aren’t those your positions? They're not vacant yet.”
“And don’t you think we might want to try running for Grand Marshal as well?” Thinos replied grinningly, “We’d be in for real trouble if either I or Rowen becomes Grand Marshal, and we have no General candidate to fill in. Besides, don’t forget there might be someone among you guys who might be fitter to be Generals than the two of us.”
Having no comebacks for that, Felin sniggered lamely and sat back down right away.
“So, I believe we’re all crystal clear? But remember, you can only select one position to contend for. And it is mandatory for everyone to apply. Don’t think you’ll never get to be what you want, or that you’ll always lose, because no one knows what will happen. Think of it as a good opportunity to train yourself. The heart of Knight Fortress is the sword, and the sword of Knight Fortress must always be whetted to remain sharp.”
Thinos stated, glancing around the room, before asking finally.
“Any more questions?” Seeing there is no more querying voices, Thinos ended his speech and returned to his seat, giving the helm back to Mathilda.
“Right, so everyone’s all clear? Hand in the applications within this month. Mind that if you don’t, I’ll fill it in for you as I see fit.”
Mathilda reminded, and that sent the knights discussing amongst themselves again. Trying and failing to call back their attention, Mathilda passed the baton to Kalo, walking off to sit with their classmates in the front row.
Kalo stepped up to the front, cold blue eyes sweeping over his friends, and the hubbub gradually ebbed away until it died down completely.
“I’m in charge of the Heart of Kingship course.”
“What?”
Several voices rose in unison to the announcement, while several other knights glared at him with bulging eyes. Kalo remained calm, simply sending his stern blue eyes over to silent the impending chatter before it started.
“There will be no instructor overseeing this course; this is a fieldwork subject conducted alongside the Sixth-Years’ Heart of Citizenship course.”
The prologue left the knights silent with curiosity, as documents detailing the course are handed out.
“We will be divided into groups of three, working together all through the semester as we go on field trips under the supervision of Sixth-Year seniors. You can see the group members and corresponding seniors on the sheet I’ve handed out.”
Kalo explained with a clear, powerful voice. He spoke quite slowly, punctuating at just the right places, making his speech pleasant for the ear. His sharp blue eyes glided over his friends as he detailed the coursework they will be assigned this year.
He’d probably never know what everyone is thinking.
What a posing dork.
...was the first mental comment from Felin for the Ice Prince, as he tried with much difficulty to keep the smile from bursting out of his heart.
He’d never seen Kalo all-business like this before, as the three girls of Knight Fortress had always taken the lead no matter on what occasion, and the boys were renowned far and wide for preferring to hide their talent.
What had gotten into Kalo, for him to take up the mantle out of the blue?
Perhaps the answer might be...Rowen.
Felin could remember what Kil told him yesterday, about Prince Rowen searching for Kalo since morning, and the thought had him grinning. No wonder Kalo was so grumpy last night.
Knocking himself out of his hilarious ponderings, Felin could not help but beginning to doubt whether his mental scale of judgment is going awry, when he must helplessly admit that the posing, snooty git before him was undeniably born to be the consummate prince, the way Felin himself could never imitate.
Kalo has within him a rare gift that Felin, Mathilda—and even that great warrior Thinos—has not. Something which was probably the inherent charm of a born leader. A charm he subtly and yet so blatantly exuded even with his cold, unpleasant personality.
So this was why beautiful Princess Renon fell head over heels in love with him.
“There will be no midterm and final test. Fifty percent of the marks will be given by the Sixth Year seniors who oversee each group, and the remaining fifty will be determined by our reports on the topic of The Heart of Kingship.”
“The heart of a king is his queen. So this is a course on courting.”
Felin blurted out. Actually he should do with concluding silently, but as he liked the notion so much his mental voice came out so loud that Kalo stopped talking abruptly. Everyone in the room whirled around to the blabbermouth, who was still grinning mischievously under beaming, sly brown eyes.
“I’d say you gotta have fieldwork for such a course, obviously.”
As though the powerful enchantment had been simply lifted, the silence which had taken hold of the knights for so long dissolved into laughter, and the rowdiness characteristic of the knights resumed.
The meeting-crasher glanced over and met eyes with the meeting-leader. Kalo’s expression remained serene, though his pretty blue eyes were growing stern as he stared at Felin, but the troublemaker simply winked provokingly right back.
“He’s got a point, Kalo. The Heart of Kingship? Can you explain more clearly exactly what it is?” Mathilda asked up matter-of-factly.
“Considering the parallel course the Sixth-Years is taking, the heart of a king is probably his people.” Cybil commented.
“But I’d say the heart of a king is his sword. The sword is the heart of the warrior. The king is the greatest warrior. If not a sword, then what?”
Creed argued. And as the ensuing debate seemed to head into uncontrollable chaos, the sharp sound of a teacup smashing to the floor brought the din to an abrupt halt, as everyone turned to look.
Prince Rowen’s teacup lay in pieces on the floor, but the prince went on chatting with his friend Thinos as if he hadn’t noticed, and Prince Kalo took that brief opening to take the meeting back under his control.
“The heart of kingship must be felt by a king’s heart itself. If you think the heart of a king is his queen, then write of a queen. If you think it is his sword, write of a sword. You can also study from example reports in the library.”
The explanation called all attention back to the host of the meeting once more.
“The highest graded report, by the Head Boy of Citizen Terre, Prince Rome Odyssey of Roman, states that The Heart of Kingship is the Ten Virtues of a King. One more report which is no less praised was written by the Noble Castle Head Boy, Prince Arthur Briston of Zares: The Heart of Kingship Decides the Fate of a Nation.”
Kalo met eyes with each of his classmates in turn before continuing.
“The Heart of Kingship is an open-ended question, one you will use your experience from your field studies to answer. Your report can be any length; it can be as short as one page, or thousands of pages long. The only requirement is that it give acceptable reasons to support your opinion of what constitutes the heart of kingship.”
Kalo paused briefly for breath when he finished, before ending his talk with the staple question.
“Any questions you would like to ask?”
The first hand shot up from Cybil, who has been waiting so long for his chance. After Kalo allowed him to, he spoke politely.
“May I ask who will be grading the reports?”
“The Great Philosopher Lemothy will be grading them himself.” Kalo answered, then turned away to welcome the next question.
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