Chapter 164: The King’s Words
Alex moved through the last stretch of open ground and into the section where the participants from the Abyss household stood.
The youths already standing there straightened as one.
Every head lowered in the same practiced motion and the formal greeting rose in a single clear voice that carried across their ranks.
"All things fall to the Abyss, the Abyss falls to you."
"We greet The Third Prince, Alexander Abyss!"
Alex stopped in front of them and gave a short nod.
"Raise your heads."
They did as his said.
The respect in each and every one of their eyes was genuine.
Several of the older ones among the group who were meeting him first time after his 10th year’s birthday banquet, which was more than two years ago, looked at him with surprise, because even though they had already heard the reports of his growth, they were now measuring the reality against the rumours they had heard.
Velen reached him a moment later.
The larger man clapped a solid hand onto Alex’s shoulder with enough force to make the contact audible.
"Nephew, you better create a good show out there," Velen said while grinning like always.
"I will be watching every step of it myself, so do not make me regret putting money on you!"
Alex looked up at him.
"Are you always in this much of a boisterous mood, Uncle?"
Velen’s grin only widened.
"Only on the days that matter."
Before Alex could answer, a different pressure moved through the gathering.
The heavy doors of the main structure opened.
A cold and dense weight rolled outward across the open ground, silencing the last residual conversations in a single wave.
King Alessio Von Winterfang walked out at the head of the procession.
Behind him came nearly every household head of significant rank in Winterfang.
Vespera Abyss moved among them with the same quiet composure she always carried in public.
Valeriana Bloodworth walked a measured distance to the side, the red of her hair and the sharper edge of her presence impossible to miss.
Every person in the crowd bowed at once.
"We greet the King of Winterfang!"
The collective voice was louder and more uniform than the earlier Abyss greeting had been.
Alessio’s gaze moved across the assembly without hurry.
"Raise your heads."
The command was obeyed at once, though most heads remained inclined a fraction lower than full upright.
The weight of the king’s presence did not lift simply because permission had been given.
Alessio’s eyes continued their slow sweep across the gathered people.
Everyone present felt the passage of that heavy attention.
There was utter silence now, no one dared to make a noise in front of the King.
When it finished, he gave a single nod.
"I am glad to see all of you youths of Winterfang present here on this important day."
He let the words settle before continuing.
"This will be a monumental day for every youth standing in this gathering."
"You are going to represent not only your household, your guild, or your faction."
"But before any of that, you are going to represent the whole of the Winterfang Kingdom once you are out there in the Proving grounds."
He took a brief pause to let the weight of the statement settled across the ranks of participants.
"The entire empire will be watching you, so I want every one of you to remember that fact when the conditions turn difficult."
"When you are inside the Proving, show the empire the might that the Winterfang name still carries."
"Do not give them any reason to look elsewhere for the standard of this generation."
His voice remained even but the weight behind it increased with each sentence.
"And do not forget that I am watching as well, so make me proud by giving your absolute best from the first moment to the last and let the rest of the empire remember what this kingdom produces when it sends its youth into the field."
"Does everyone understand what I am saying?"
The answer came in a single and immediate roar that rolled across the open ground.
"Yes! Your Majesty!"
Alessio’s expression showed a brief and genuine satisfaction at the unified response from everyone.
The formal part of addressing the participants was nearly finished.
"Good, now get ready, the Hawkilies will be here soon."
His eyes moved across the crowd one final time and lingered and just for a moment it stopped on Alex.
Alex met the look without looking away.
’Oh... dad, are you worried about me? Heh, it makes me want to qualify even more now, now I want to see you smile because of something I did out there.’
He raised one eyebrow in a small and private signal.
Alessio’s gaze shifted away without any visible reaction.
’Heh, still the same.’
The king’s attention moved on.
The formal portion of the address was finished.
Household heads began to disperse into their own sections.
The pressure of so many high ranked signatures eased only slightly.
Then Alex felt another gaze settle on him.
He turned his head.
Valeriana Bloodworth stood at a comfortable distance, her red hair and red eyes catching the light of morning sun.
A dangerous and heavy aura the colour of old blood clung to her presence even when she was not actively releasing it.
The small smile on her face did not reach those eyes.
She was looking directly at him at that moment.
’That is Valeriana Bloodworth... your stepmother in a technical sense.’ Zara’s quite and precise voice came through the bond.
Alex kept his expression neutral while he answered the same way.
’You know, children are often a reflection of their parents, I should be careful of her as well, and considering the relationship of her household with ours, this whole matter takes on an ugly turn.’
’Alex, be careful of all the Bloodworths and every household under their influence once you are inside the Proving and do not try to team with any of them no matter what the situation looks like on the surface.’
’Yes, Zara, you know I am not that stupid, I will be careful around them.’
The warning settled into place beside the earlier ones he had already accepted.
He did not look at Valeriana any longer than necessary, and neither did she.
A different gaze found him a moment later.
Vespera’s.
There was no demand or pressure in it, it only had the quiet and steady reassurance of someone who had already decided he was capable of walking into whatever waited beyond the gates and coming back out again.
The feeling that came through that look was simple and absolute: I believe in you.
Alex felt something in his chest ease by a fraction.
’Well, the rest of the world can go to hell as long as she is here supporting me.’
He held the eye contact for a heartbeat longer, then let his attention return to the open ground and the preparations that were already beginning to move around the edges of the gathering.
The Hawkilies would arrive soon.
After that the Proving would begin in earnest.
And for the first time the entire empire would be watching Alexander Abyss step onto a stage that had never been meant for someone his age.
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End of Chapter 164: The King’s Words
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