Chương 52: Book 2; Chapter 51; In a spotlight (1)

Anniet was trying her best to keep up with Rainee.

"You are late," she pointed out.

"When everyone is waiting just for you, you cannot be late," Rainee said. This logic didn't make any sense to Anniet, but again, what does she know? No one ever waited just for her. Well, when her patients would be waiting for her arrival, no matter how fast she tried to be, she was always told she was late. But maybe it is not the same.

"I won't be able to stay in School now?" she asked.

"No," was the short answer.

"Do I then sign up for King's Army?"

"You are already signed up for King's services."

"To do what?"

"Don't know yet."

"It was you who signed me up…"

"For King, not for myself."

"So what should I do now?" Anniet asked in a bit stressed voice, following Rainee through the front door and nearly bumping into her. But it wasn't Rainee who was standing and waiting for her. Or maybe waiting not for her. As truly, this majestic Lady General, donned in a uniform so bright that even the midday light seemed a bit dull against it, and who was being saluted by all those soldiers filling the golden square, could not be waiting for her...

Throughout all of today's events, Anniet completely forgot that this door led to the very epicentre of today's events. She didn't forget that there had to be a recruiting ceremony, but she definitely forgot about where she was and where this door would take her. Every single person attending was looking now at Rainee, no matter where they were – in the Central square, in the seats of the amphitheatre, or standing behind the seats. Even those on a raised podium were looking at them.

Anniet felt like they were looking at them, not just at Rainee, and was getting smaller and smaller from the weight of these few thousand pairs of eyes.

"You sit down, relax, and enjoy the show." Anniet heard Rainee's voice next to her. Once Rainee spoke, all the spectators exploded in loud shouts and a thunderstorm of applause. When she walked out, everyone around fell into a deadly silence, as if seeing their beloved hero again would have taken their breath away. And when Rainee spoke, her voice could be heard all across the place, loud and clear.

With her words, this breath was returned to the people's lungs and now they were using it with all their might, shouting and cheering. Nobody knew who these words were addressed to, and Anniet herself wasn't sure any more either.

As a confirmation of who they were addressed to, Anniet felt Rainee's hand on her shoulder, and when she turned her head, she met Rainee's eyes, which were looking at her with the same warmth and encouragement as always, from the same smiling face that belonged to her friend, not to some unknown legendary character. When Rainee moved, she was surrounded by these strange shades of shimmering colours that were somehow engulfing her.

The cape across her shoulders truly looked like a part of her and was emitting more of these colours than any other part of the uniform. However, if Anniet had to choose only one colour to describe this armour, she would have to say white. The word "light" would describe it better, but there was no such colour as light. Now she understood why this uniform was called an armour.

Rainee's clothes consisted of many scales overlapping each other; one could say resembling dragon scales, just in minuscule size, and also assembling into a few larger pieces that were overlapping again, as if they were large scales made out of tiny scales. Just these large pieces didn't look like scales any more, but more like naturally assembled pieces of human-made armour. All this could be seen only at such close proximity.

If Anniet were standing a few steps away, she was sure that Rainee's clothes would look like they were made from regular material. Anyway, it suited Rainee nicely, and she did look truly glamorous in it. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. But no matter how glamorous her outfit was, she still looked the same as her best friend and teacher, just dressed in this strange outfit.

"See," Rainee smiled at her, "I told you – only a name. Don't pay too much attention to those names. Let's find you a seat. You don't want to miss any of this show; it might amuse you to see it for the first time." Rainee spoke in her regular voice, but despite all this tremendous noise around, Anniet could hear her very clearly, as if they both were in some separate bubble not affected by the surroundings.

A distant, long-forgotten memory came back to Anniet, how on the very first day they met, she promised herself never again to mix up Rainee with some unearthly mysterious being, as she was only a person, no matter how many strange abilities she had. She was glad that this memory popped out because it was so true, and she made this promise once more, despite these extraordinarily strange surroundings. But what should she do now? It was easy for Rainee to say that she should go and find a seat.

All seats were on the other side of this enormously big, golden square field with all these neatly lined soldiers. Luckily, King's podium was moved a good deal away to the right and wasn't next to this entrance any more, as it would be incredibly uncomfortable to walk out from the doors straight under the eyes of the King. Anniet was trying to locate a safe route so that she could sneak out of the situation she had put herself into, when soldiers in front of them moved in unison, creating a wide passage.

"Come," Rainee encouraged her to walk through it. Seeing that Anniet didn't dare to do so, she gave her a little nudge.

"It is the same people watching us now who have seen us walking together countless times. Wouldn't it be more strange for me to walk on my own? Think that we have come to the class, and I will go to my desk, while you will go to join the other students." These words were said in such a natural way and brought so much understanding with them that it was difficult to resist. Rainee stepped forward, and Anniet did the same, marvelling at her own courage.

They walked through this human-made corridor to the middle of the square, where the path was separated into two. The passage forward was leading to the spectators' seats, where the first rows were mainly occupied by children and seemed pretty jammed, but somehow they all shifted to the sides, creating space for one more bum to be placed. The passage to the right was leading directly to King's stage, where King was sitting in his throne-like chair, and two of his generals were standing on his right side.

Rainee pointed Anniet to the seat made for her and waited until she safely reached it. Even before she turned around, the passage that she had just taken was closed as if it had never even existed. All dazed, Anniet sat down just in time to see Rainee wink before turning away and walking towards King.

The next moment, the noise around, which seemed to be at its highest peak already, increased several times, as a large dark shadow dropped from the sky right behind Rainee, taking the shape of a young man dressed in a black, casual suit, and only a cape of a General over his shoulders, as black as the darkest night, revealed that he was occupying this highest position. However, the crowd didn't need any introduction to who it was and got completely berserk seeing these two long-lost generals together again.

"It's only a name, it's only a name, it's only a name…" - Anniet was chanting to herself while watching Anthony walking behind Rainee. Well, it didn't work. It wasn't only a name. Even if it was, then which one name? He had so many! It took King a long time to mention them all. Still, Rainee said it was only names. She trusted her, so why does it not work? The headmaster taught her yesterday how to overcome this fear, too. She did say that this fear is a lie, just like any other.

That she has to let it go, just like any other fear. But how is she supposed to do it? Anniet was certain that the headmaster told her the way to do it, but she just couldn't remember it. By now, Rainee and Anthony walked up the last few steps leading to that raised stage where King and two other generals were waiting for them. Prince Angus and Prince Ragnar. Pink General and General Ragnar or Sleeping Dragon.

Well, this sleeping prince wasn't that sleepy today, as without any consideration about etiquette, he left his position as soon as Rainee got up those steps and grabbed her in his bear-like hug, lifting her from the ground and swinging her around a few times before putting her back down again. Rainee didn't look either offended or surprised by such a greeting. If anything, she seemed very happy to be greeted like this and smiled at him all the time. She even ruffled his hair in response.

After letting go of Rainee, this young general turned towards Anthony. Here he wasn't greeted with the same warm smiles. If anything, Anthony's posture and facial expression were so cold that he gave the impression of the most unapproachable person in the world. But Prince Ragnar must be a very brave person, as he didn't pay any attention to all this unwelcome greeting and rewarded Anthony with the same strong and welcoming embrace.

It was evident that he was trying to lift him from the ground too, but with no success, as if Anthony would be weighing a few tons and would not be just too heavy but even unmovable like a mountain itself. Prince Ragnar was taller and more muscular than Anthony and would neither give up nor get upset about such a cold shoulder.

When everyone, including Prince Ragnar himself, was fully convinced that he would fail in lifting Dark General, suddenly this strange force of gravity let go of its grip, and Anthony was lifted and swung around like a feather. It made General Ragnar so happy that his joy could be felt even at this distance. By now, Rainee walked towards the King, who was sitting in his chair with his hand supporting his chin and watching this complete disorder among his highest-ranked generals.

Rainee greeted him, slightly inclining her head, and King smiled, acknowledging this greeting. That was all the greeting King received from his long-lost generals. Rainee stood next to Prince Angus, who took her by the hand and never let go while standing together. Dark General, who finally got released from Prince Ragnar's grip, didn't spare King a single look, but just stood next to Rainee. With that, order on King's stage was restored, and the recruiting ceremony could be begun.