//------------------------------// // The Knights // Story: Pony POV Series Origins: Queen Majesty // by Alex Warlorn //------------------------------// Majesty and Aria were walking through the streets of Amrun after their visit to the town’s library, when suddenly Aria pointed over to the side, looking very excited. “Majesty, look over there! I heard that they were coming to Amrun, but I didn’t know it was today!” Majesty looked at where Aria was pointing, there seemed to be a crowd forming around one of the main streets of Amrun, and it seemed like some kind of entourage was going through the main street and the crowd was gathering to look. “Come on Majesty, let’s go see them!” Aria exclaimed as she ran over to the crowd. Majesty looked at Aria run, and decided to follow her, her curiosity getting the better of her. Aria was already in the crowd when Majesty cached up to the young elf. “See who?” Majesty asked as she cached up to Aria. “Over there, look!” replied Aria, pointing. Walking down the main street was a group of elven knights, wearing expertly crafted weapon and armor. The way they looked and handled themselves made them look completely regal. Majesty noticed that their armors was decorated with an image that she had seen before, the image on the armor of the elves looked like the image of the statue of Vandria Gilmadrith, the elven goddess of Justice. All the elves that had gathered around the street were looking in awe and amazement at them, and it was quite a crowd by now. If the elven knights noticed them, they didn’t show or acknowledged it. “Who are they Aria?” asked Majesty. “They are the knights of the Order of Vandria Gilmadrith. They are the greatest brotherhood among elves in Arghayth,” replied Aria. Majesty already knew that the Land of Arghayth was were Amrun, and perhaps other surviving elvish towns, was located, but this was the first time she had heard about this 'Order of Vandria Gilmadrith’. “Why are they so important?” asked the white unicorn. “It happened a before I was born,” replied Aria, “but every elf knows. After the Dark One razed the cities of the elves and forced elvenkind to flee in secrecy, society was near collapse. Government was absent and rule of law was nowhere to be found. Fear and uncertainty was a constant, since nobody knew what the future had in store for them. But the Order of Vandria Gilmadrith, founded long before the raids happened, managed to restore order and every elf obeyed the law once again as they applied their Code of Justice, keeping order among elves, and allowing for new towns and cities to be established, saving elven kind from total disaster. And now the Order of Vandria Gilmadrith does what they have always done since they were founded; wander the land to uphold the will of the goddess with their Code of Justice.” “I see,” replied Majesty. "How exactly did they survive? Given what they said about the 'Dark Lord' at the library, it seems odd they would have escaped him." Her elven attendant shrugged. "That I cannot say, it was before my time and things were so chaotic it is a wonder anything was recorded of it at all." "I can see how that would make sense..." the unicorn replied as she watched the knights pass by. “they seem to be heading towards the house of the Duke.” “Hmm, yes it seems like it,” replied Aria as she also noticed where the knights were heading, “We better get to the household." Majesty nodded as she and Aria walked towards the Duke's house through a different side street to use one of the side entrances. They figured that the main entrance was going to be busy greeting the knights of the Order of Vandria Gilmadrith. Some time later, at the Duke’s home, the knight of the Order were in the audience room, as they had requested to meet with the Duke himself, which the Duke immediately granted. The Duke was accompanied by Pelilasson, the head of the town’s Rangers, and Badhor First Spellcaster. The majority of the knights were waiting elsewhere in the household for the meeting to be concluded, and only three were at the meeting. One was wearing a very fancy looking armor with several patterns carved all over it, the second one had an armor not as fancy, but still with some patterns carved on it but not as many as the first one. The third one had a plain looking armor with nothing to distinguish it, but all three armors were decorated with the image of the goddess of Justice, Vandria Gilmadrith. Their armor did not seem exactly new, having slight dents and cracks, and looked to have been fitted. “Greetings, I am Arhael, Duke of Amrun. These are Badhor and Pelialsson,” said the Duke, “to what does my town owe the honor of your visit?” The first knight, the one with the most elaborated armor, took off his helmet, revealing the face of an old male elf with hard face features, as soon as he did so, the other two took off their helmets, the one with the less elaborated armor was also a male elf but younger. The third knight, with the most plain armor, was a female elf, and was the youngest of the three. “My name is Michanar, Captain of the Order of Vandria Gilmadrith for this region of the Land of Arghayth,” said the oldest of the elves, “This is Hadlathon, my second in command,” he said gesturing to the younger male elf, “and this is Eluneth, she is just a soldier for now, since she has only been our student for a short time, but has been assigned as my bodyguard for today.” The other two elves bowed their head acknowledging Michanar’s introduction. Michanar then turned back to look at the Duke, “I have been ordered to come here by the main council of the Order because the Order has heard that this town has recently come into possession of several books and scrolls of a coven of witches, that were also spawn of Lilith.” The Duke nodded, “Yes, that’s right.” Badhor stepped into the conversation, “All of the magical experts in Amrun are studying them, we are learning a great deal of information on how the magic of the witches work.” “Very well, the Order would like to have several copies made of them, as faithful to the originals as possible to be taken and distributed to the Order and study them as well. Several of the Order’s best Scribes have come with us to this town for that very purpose. We would need them to have unrestricted access to every paper, scroll and parchment that your Rangers were able to take from those vile witches,” explained Michanar. The Duke nodded, “I see. It would be an honor to have the Order make copies for themselves. I will make the necessary arrangements with our library to allow your Scribes full access to everything they need. However, there is one thing I must clarify. It wasn’t my Rangers the ones that got those books and scrolls from the witches.” Michanar raised an eyebrow, “Oh? Then who did?” Pelialsson walked over to a window and opened it. “You can see her outside, at the garden.” Curiosity getting the better of him, Michanar walked over to the window to look outside. Majesty was standing at the Duke's gardens, her head low as she ate the grass. “A unicorn?” exclaimed a surprised Michanar. “Yes, she is a wild unicorn but lost her herd at the hands of the witches. We helped her to avenge them, and in return she brought back all the scrolls and books she could find at the coven,” explained Pelialsson. “Now she’s staying here as a guest of the Duke. She is welcome to eat at the table with the rest of us, and she has done so in some occasions, but she has stated before that she prefers eating the grass of the gardens.” Michanar shook off his surprise, “I see... That is indeed remarkable. Would it be possible for me to talk to her as well?” “I wouldn’t have a problem with that, but, of course, you would have to ask her yourself,” replied Duke Arhael. Michanar turned to look at his second in command. “Hadlathon go get the Scribes, get them ready to go to the Library while the Duke does the arrangements.” Hadlathon bowed his head and walked out of the room. Michanar then turned to look at Eluneth. “You come with me, I’m interested in this wild unicorn.” Eluneth bowed her head. “As you say.” Michanar turned to look at the Duke. “By your leave, Duke,” then he and Eluneth proceeded to leave the room and walk towards the Duke's gardens. Majesty noticed them right away and stopped eating the grass to look up at the two incoming knights. “Can I help you?” asked the white unicorn. “I am Captain Michanar, and this is Eluneth, we are knights of the Order of Vandria Gilmadrith,” said the older elf. “Yes, I recall seeing your party as they walked down the town’s main street,” replied Majesty. “I came here to talk to you because I heard you were the one that defeated the coven of witches that had raided this town and killed some of the spellcasters at the magic academy,” said Michanar. “Yes, I did,” replied Majesty politely. “But I also heard that you are a wild unicorn. I was curious, why would a unicorn living in the wild meddle in the affairs of elves?” asked Michanar. Elueth looked confused at Michanar, both having heard the Duke's answer. Majesty looked to a side remaining quiet for a minute and finally answered. “A group of witches from that coven had killed my entire herd, I would have killed them all even if the elves hadn’t asked me,” replied Majesty. “Ah, I see,” exclaimed Michanar, then he turned his head to look at Eluneth, “You see Eluneth, even if there are no one around, Vandria Gilmadrith will find a way to deliver justice onto the wicked.” “The wisdom of the goddess knows no bounds.” replied Eluneth solemnly. “I have heard that this order you belong to has justice in high regard,” said Majesty. Michanar turned to look at Majesty. “Yes. We are the tools for the goddess. Her will is our law, her truth is our code.” “Then maybe you can help me with something, what exactly does ‘justice’ means? I understand that what I did to those witches was in the name of revenge... but was it just?” asked the unicorn to the knight. “Hmm, Eluneth please give us some privacy, I wish to speak alone to this unicorn,” said Michanar. Eluneth nodded and walked away from them, so she could still see them but far enough to be out of earshot from them. “Well, you see... do you a name?” asked Michanar. “Majesty.” “Well, you see Majesty, what you did might seem like revenge, but it was the work of the goddess. Those witches were wicked beings that killed and pillaged, and so they deserved to die. What you did was justice, your body was a mere tool for the will of Vandria Gilmadrith.” explained Michanar. “I was?” Majesty blinked in confusion. “Yes, you see Majesty, the gods gave us mortals a lot of great gifts, but among them was the curse of freedom of choice. Mortals are not noble enough on their own that, between choosing good and evil, will chose good on their own. With freedom, mortals will always choose evil. Mortals need someone that forces them to be good. And that’s what we do, we take away some of their freedom, so they bow to the will of the goddess, to us. It might sound cruel to some, but we are just saving them from themselves.” explained Michanar. “Oh... I do suppose it makes sense in a way,” replied Majesty, understanding Michanar’s point but not totally convinced. “Freedom and free reason will lead masses into such a maze, and confront them with such amazing events and insoluble mysteries, that some of them, unruly and ferocious, will exterminate themselves. Others, unruly but feeble will destroy each other,” continued Michanar, “That is why the goddess gave us her will, her justice, her law, so we can stay in control of our wild desires. In the name of what is good thousands might follow the ideals of justice, but what about those millions that will not be strong enough to forgo mortal temptations for the sake of what is good? That’s when we must act, that’s why the will of the goddess must be applied without a doubt, law must be upheld at any cost, the code is absolute.” “What is this code, exactly?” asked Majesty. “The code of the Order, the will of the goddess. It is a strict code, several pages long, which every knight of the Order is made to follow and memorize. I can’t really go into more details, since the code is strictly only to be known to members of the Order,” explained Michanar. “I understand...Just to ask, how did your Order survive the Dark Lord's assault? From what I have heard of him, he does not seem like one who would simply 'miss' an entire Order of protectors and all their knowledge." The Knight merely looked down slightly. "We did suffer heavy losses to him, including many important members, but that was not enough to snuff us out, Miss Majesty." "I see. Thank you for your time,” said Majesty. “My pleasure, Majesty. By your leave,” said Michanar, he walked over to where Eluneth was waiting for him, and the two exited the gardens to meet back with the other knights of the Order. Majesty was left alone again with her thoughts. Was law justice, or is justice and law two separate things? Is law something to be followed for the sake of the common good, or something that must be followed because it was feared? Michanar’s methods did sound kind of extreme, and cruel, but then again, cruelty might be necessary in order to protect others. Was it? Nature was cruel. Majesty realized that all this time she has been in Amrun she had several conversations with several elves, and today even a couple of humans, all about what made up their civilization, trying to understand what having a civilization actually meant, but she never had actually sat down with anyone and just... talked. Not about laws, or justice, or government, but about simple things, like the events of that day. Except her first day in Amrun, when Feanor and Black Anvil invited her to drink with them. Again Majesty found herself thinking about Black Anvil and how they had parted ways in a not so friendly manner for the second time that day. Finally, she decided that she would just go back and apologize to him about how she had treated him. While she still believed that she hadn’t been completely wrong in what she had said then, she was sure that Black Anvil didn’t deserve to be treated the way she did. After talking with the elf rangers guarding the palace’s gates, to let them know she was going out, Majesty walked down one of the streets of Amrun in the direction of Feanor’s blacksmith shop, where Black Anvil worked. She didn’t really need anyone to guide her since it wasn’t the first time she went there. A while later, as Majesty was almost at Feanor’s, she stopped as she started to get a headache, it came out of nowhere. She placed her right hoof on her forehead and closed her eyes as the headache got worse... and then it happened. She saw it like if she was actually there, even if her eyes were closed tightly she could see it clearly. It was the inside of Feanor’s blacksmith shop, Black Anvil was alone, then a figure stepped out of the shadows holding a big hammer, the figure walked towards Black Anvil who had his back turned from it, the figure raised the hammer up just as Black Anvil turned around, too late to do anything to prevent the figure from hitting his head hard, and breaking the pony’s skull. Black Anvil’s body dropped on the floor, lifeless as the figure could be clearly seen now... it was Feanor! Just as quickly, the daydream (or was it a day-nightmare?) images in Majesty’s head were gone and her headache with them. But she couldn’t shake off the feeling that something was wrong, she started to gallop towards the blacksmith shop. Majesty reached the door of the shop, and quickly opened it, without even going over the threshold, her eyes opened wide when she saw the scene inside. Majesty opened the door just in time to see Feanor hit Black Anvil on the head with his hammer. Just like her vision, Black Anvil’s fell on the floor, lifeless as a puddle of blood, his blood, was starting to form around his head. Above him, Feanor was standing holding a big hammer. “Nooooo!” Majesty screamed. Feanor quickly turned around and ran away through the back of the shop, dropping the hammer on the floor before he did so. Majesty was just about enter, when Eluneth suddenly stepped next to her, in full armor regalia minus the helmet. “What happened? Why did you scream?” she exclaimed, then she saw the dead black pony on the floor of the blacksmith shop, “By the Goddess! Don’t enter, this is now a crime scene and we mustn’t get anything contaminated until the investigative mages arrive!” Eluneth turned to look at Majesty. “Did you see who did it? Or something else that might help? Anything at all?” It took a moment for Majesty to reply, her mind going a thousand directions at once, “I... it looked like Feanor hit Black Anvil with a hammer, but...” “Black Anvil was the pony’s name?” asked Eluneth before Majesty continued. “Yes,” replied Majesty, feeling strangely numb. “And who is Feanor then?” asked Eluneth. “The blacksmith who runs this shop, Black Anvil worked for him,” replied Majesty. “Huh?” She noticed someone behind her and turned around. Eluneth turned around too. “What happened here? Majesty? Is that the armor of the knights of the Holy Order of Vandria Gilmadrith?” Feanor said, he was standing right behind them. “Feanor!” exclaimed Majesty. Eluneth looked at Majesty in surprise, “Feanor? You mean he’s the one that...” “What is going on here?” exclaimed Feanor then he saw what was behind Majesty and Eluneth, inside his shop. “Black Anvil! What happened with him!?” Eluneth unsheathed her sword and pointed it at Feanor, “By the authority of the Order of Vandria Gilmadrith, I hereby arrest you in the name of the Goddess, for the murder of the pony known as Black Anvil!” A while later, several members of the knight of the Order arrived to investigate the scene, some were making a perimeter while others questioned possible witnesses. Others, wearing magicians’ robes, were inspecting the crime scene using magic spells to analyze any possible clue, one of them was drawing the contour of Black Anvil’s dead body with chalk on the floor. Two tents had been set up around the crime scene, one was for the investigative wizards to work in, analyzing evidence that they found and collecting it, the other one was set up for interrogations, Feanor had been escorted inside by two knights of the Order, and they hadn’t come out yet. There were some of the town’s Ranger guards, but they stayed away from the crime scene and didn’t interfere in any way with what the knights of the Order were doing, they were there mostly as crowd control. "This is our town, our watch," one Ranger, Galan, protested. "Justice has no boundaries," replied the knight calmly. Inspecting everything was Michanar himself. One one side of the perimeter, Eluneth had taken Majesty aside to talk to her alone. “I can’t believe Black Anvil is dead... I didn’t get to apologize to him... and now it's too late,” lamented Majesty. Majesty had a thousand yard stare about her, her legs shaking. Wasn't this precious community supposed to prevent creature from random violence? Black Anvil was dead, dead, just like her entire herd. She could almost hear Death laugh at her. The last words they'd ever said to each other were so vicious, but now, they felt so petty! Now she'd never apologize, now she'd never know if he forgave her, she'd never hear his voice again, she'd never see him smile again. They'd never walk side by side again! Something burned in Majesty's mind, not just Black Anvil's death, but the death of all the possibilities they could have explored together! She'd never hear him drabble on about the finer points of black-smithing, then he'd ask about the forest, he'd learn about the loving herd she once had, and then he'd say how even a herd of two was something or a herd of two ponies and a group of elves. Or they could have worked together to create new armor with his talent and her raw power for ponies and elves! His experience he could have shared with others! And Black Anvil and Majesty could begin a new line of 'elven' ponies. NONE OF THAT WOULD EVER HAPPEN NOW! Ugh! For a moment it felt like her brain had been on fire! The knight put a comforting hand on Majesty's side. “Majesty please, why don’t you just tell me what you saw when you opened the door?” asked Eluneth. “What will happen with Feanor?” asked Majesty back, in a hollow voice. “Don’t worry, he is just being interrogated,” replied Eluneth. “But...” “If you want to help him, it's better if you give me the full story of what you saw,” insisted Eluneth, “You were galloping right before getting to the shop, why is that?” asked the elf. Majesty eyed Eluneth evenly. “Why were you following me?” Eluneth was surprised. “What? What do you mean?” “Your scent. I’ve been smelling it all the way since I left the manor until I arrived to Feanor’s.” replied Majesty. “What? My scent? But how?” asked a surprised Eluneth. “I was born and raised in the wild. My sense of smell and hearing has been trained to perfection in the forest.I picked your scent when we met at the palace gardens. How else would you have shown up right after I opened the door to Feanor’s, or known that I started to gallop right before arriving?” replied Majesty. “So I’ll ask again. Why were you following me?” “Allow me to answer that,” came a familiar voice from their right. Majesty and Eluneth turned their heads to see who had just spoken, it was Captain Michanar who was approaching them calmly. “Eluneth had no choice on it. I ordered her to follow you, Majesty,” explained Michanar. “What? But why did you do that?” asked Majesty. “Well, you should understand our position. As you just said yourself, you are a unicorn born and raised in the wild. You looked for the witches that had killed your herd and killed them in return, you told me this yourself. I even learned later that you didn’t even know the concept of law and order before coming to this town.” “Well, that’s true but...” Majesty started. Michanar didn’t let her finish, “So, I decided that, as a precaution, one of the knights of the Order keep an eye on you in secret, in case you might do something harmful to someone. A reasonable precaution I believe, all things considered.” “... I understand why you did it, but I don’t agree with it,” Majesty was not pleased. “We can argue about this later, now why don’t you please help us with what happened here, and answer Eluneth’s question. Why did you started to gallop before you reached the balcksmith’s shop?” asked Michanar. Majesty remained silent. “Now, Majesty, it is for the best if you give us all the details. Afterall, from what Eluneth told me, all she saw was you opening the door of the shop, you screamed, then she rushed to your side and saw a dead pony inside the shop with a blacksmith’s hammer next to the body. How do we know you didn’t kill him with a magic spell? I am certain you are more than capable.” “You are saying I’m a suspect?” Majesty said in an even tone. “All I am saying is that until all the evidence and testimonies have been gathered, we can’t rule out any possibility.” replied Michanar. "After all, tis odd the killer would return to the scene of the crime moments after leaving it. And you, I may note, have not been crying." "What?" "This Black Anvil, he was a friend yes?" "... Yes he was." "And you saw his death right in front of you you say, and you don't appear to have shed one tear over him. Maybe you weren't that close after all." Majesty's muscles locked. "I... It's been so much... I... I didn't think it would happen again... " "You're a wild unicorn, you admitted you had no concept of laws before you came here. You have means, and opportunity. And some witnesses I've spoken to say you and he were ... having a rather brutal argument last time they saw you together. If you believed he was a threat to your sense of dominance, even as a herd of two, I'd say that counts then as motive." "I didn't kill him." Why was Majesty's vision slightly blurry? Majesty didn’t change the way she was looking at Michanar, but answered nonetheless, “Since I started staying at the Duke’s manor, I started getting weird feelings, like something that was going on felt like I had seen it before. The Spellcaster said that was something called, what did he say it was? De Ha Boo?” “You mean Déjà vu?” asked Eluneth. “Yes, that. He explained that it was just my memory playing tricks on me, that it created the impression that an experience was being recalled. But today, it was different. While I was walking to Feanor’s, I started to have a headache, and when I closed my eyes I could see the inside of Feanor’s shop like if I was actually there. I saw... I saw what looked like Feanor hit Black Anvil on the head with a hammer. That’s why I started to gallop, because I had a feeling that the vision was going to come true,” explained Majesty. “You had a ‘vision’ you say? And we are supposed to believe this?” said a skeptical Michanar. “I don’t care what you believe. That’s what happened,” replied Majesty, “I already told Eluneth what happened after that, I opened the door and I saw Black Anvil being hit on the head with a hammer.” “And the one that hit the pony was Feanor?” said Michanar. “It looked like it. But something didn’t add up,” replied Majesty. “Something didn’t add up? What do you mean?” inquired Michanar. “I couldn’t smell Feanor’s scent inside the shop,” explained Majesty, “It was like if my eyes were telling you one thing and my nose was telling me something different.” "Shouldn't his scent have been all over the shop?" Elueth asked. "Yes, but it wasn't fresh!" Before Michanar could inquire more, one of the wizard criminologists approached them, “Sir Michanar, we have finished doing the magical readings on the hammer found in the crime scene. I suppose you would like to know what we discovered from it.” “I do. Please proceed, Gideon,” said Michanar. “Well, according to the results of the magical readings, the hammer was the murder weapon, there is no doubt about it. Also the blow was delivered with a force and an angle that suggest that whoever did it had the same height and built of the shop’s owner that is being detained at the interrogation tent,” explained the Gideon. “I see. Anything else?” inquired Michanar. “Yes. According to the magical readings, the only living thing that had touched that hammer in the last 24 hours has been the owner of the hammer, the blacksmith in the interrogation tent. There's no trace of unicorn magic on it within the last 24 hours.” “Very well. Thank you, please continue with your investigations.” said Michanar, dismissing the mage. The wizard nodded and left, returning to the crime scene to perform more magical analysis spells. “Well, I believe that completely rules out any involvement from you except as a witness.” said Michanar to Majesty. The white unicorn remained silent. “Now, to clarify your testimony, you SAW the blacksmith, Feanor, hitting the pony, Black Anvil, on the head with the hammer the moment you opened the shop’s door. Is this correct?” Michanar asked to Majesty. “Well, yes, but the scent...” Majesty started to explain, but was interrupted by Michanar. “Excellent then, that’ll be all, thank you.” And with that, Michanar turned around to leave. “Wait!” Majesty called out. “What will happen to Feanor now?” she inquired. Michanar turned his head to the side to look back at Majesty as he went. “Our code states that he be given a trial conducted by members of the Order, where all the testimony and evidence gathered will be used to determine if he is guilty or not. After the trial, if he is found guilty, the sentence will be carried out immediately.” Majesty turned to look at Eluneth. “What sentence is he talking about? What will they do to Feanor if they find him guilty?” asked the unicorn to the young elf. “The code is very strict, if a life is taken, then the price is also a life. If they find Feanor guilty, he will be executed.” replied Eluneth. “What!? No! I already lost a friend... I won’t lose another one!” exclaimed Majesty in worry. She turned around and started galloping away. “Wait! Majesty, what are you going to do?” asked Eluneth as Majesty got further away. “I don’t know,” replied Majesty without stopping. “But I have to do something!”