KING OF BEASTS (Hiatus)

Dawn came to Rivea, another day, and yet it was not just another day. Ares had sent forth a message that morning to check whether Orndu and Orazuta were capable of making their way to the capitol.

Confirmation had returned fairly quickly, the wolf rider nodding their head.

"Looks like breakfast will be lovely," Ares said to Lana.

"What do you have planned?" She asked.

"I plan to give out certain rights to the pair, before any others.

"Zika wished to speak with you as well," Lana said, motioning her head to the Reptai woman who was nearby. She had been sent as part of the scouting force around the nearby area, checking for any more drakes or any other threats.

"How is your wound?" she asked.

"It's fine," Ares shrugged. "It has yet to ache as harshly as it had before." He dared not tell her his true thought, however. He was afraid that it would come back, stronger and harsher, and he would be too weak to resist it. Even now he still had little strength, he was but an everyday man. Even his phoenix abilities did not reveal themselves, far too busy with trying to keep him alive. Those Silent were quite the issue.

Ares sent for the tailors, making sure they had prepared the powder for him to use. He had asked them for another item as well, one that had been saved for himself, though would be used for another.

Riveans stepped out towards breakfast, with a few others here or there. The rhinofolk and buffalofolk had caused no issues, and had increased the power of Rivea by a fair amount. With all the refugees, immigrants and the citizens of Rivea, he was certain there were close to ten thousand, about Rivea's hay day not so long ago.

"Ares-kin," called a familiar voice. It was Jin, who was motioning his head for the King. Ares approached, wondering what the issue was.

"There's a few of those horned ones that are causing some issues," he said, leading Ares to the nearby farms. There he could see a few rhinofolk, digging out the earth in order for them to create more farms to feed their rapidly growing populace.

"What's the problem?" Ares asked.

"It's time for breakfast, but they'll work through it and lunch. Sometimes they'll skip evening meals, eating by themselves."

Ares nodded his head. Part of being Rivean meant that you should eat with your community.

Ares approached a few of the rhinofolk, the six of them that were still hard at work.

"Good morning," Ares called out.

They turned when they heard his voice, slightly shocked that the King had come to see them. A few threw glances at one another, but a young brave woman stepped up.

"Is there something we could help you with?" The rhinofolk asked.

"I see you're busy working," Ares said.

"That's right. Working hard for Rivea, as expected of us."

"I can't say I'm disappointed. You've done good work, and I thank you for that."

"Oh your thanks at greatly appreciated, my King, though we do it for the good of the people."

Ares smiled. "I am afraid I need to tell you off," he said. "Firstly, it's Ares-kin, I don't need my ego to be any bigger. The Consul is also to be referred to as such, as well as of anyone with importance."

"We're mighty sorry about that, uh, Ares-kin."

"Secondly, it's time for breakfast. If you are given permission to work through breakfast, you can continue to do your work, but I hear you haven't been given permission."

"Oh it's just that we aren't so hungry, we're good and eager for work."

"I can understand that, but part of being Rivean is to eat with your neighbours, your people. If you choose to keep to yourself, some people might get the wrong idea."

The rhinofolk threw glances between one another again. "We didn't mean that," she said.

"I know. Breakfast and dinner are when important announcements are made too, so you don't want to miss out." Ares motioned with his head. "Especially not today. If you want to be great warriors of Rivea, you don't want to miss today."

The rhinofolk relented, placing down their tools as they followed Ares, keeping an eye out on his White Cloaks.

Ares took his place near Lana and Rori. People were already dancing and playing music before breakfast was even served. Not too long later, the people began to eat. Ares had taken a single bite in order to start the process of allowing everyone to eat, but he did not continue.

"You're not eating?" Lana asked.

"No, I don't want to get my hands dirty, and I want to eat with Orndu and Orazuta when they come."

"You should eat a little," Lana said as she brought a price of fruit up to his lips.

Ares turned peach, throwing a look at the thousand plus Riveans that were having breakfast. Yet he couldn't deny Lana her little pleasures, and so allowed her to feed him. She sat beside him until their arms were touching.

Runar eventually appeared too, riding on the shoulders of Torak. He eventually sat down nearby, and Runar crawled over to her father.

"Deddee!" she said, not quite calling him daddy, but not far off. Ares perked up and then lifted her up.

"It's daddy," he said, excitedly. "Daddy."

"Teti."

"Close," Ares said with a smile. He then showered her face with kisses as she then tried to do the same to his face, mostly just getting her saliva everywhere. Ares summing some water and shot it at his face before drying off with a cloth he summoned, before letting Runar sit on his lap. He gently shook his leg got her now and again to soothe her as she leaned against his stomach, but seeing Lana, she crawled over for her own breakfast.

"How are my twins?" Ares asked.

"They're as well as normal," Torak replied. "They babble often to one another, it's only a matter of time they actually start making sense."

Ares smiled. He would need to spend more time with them as well. He then saw Emerli approaching nearby, and he was reminded of a certain task.

"Rori-kin, we will need a pair of White Cloaks for Emerli. She is my sister, and therefore part of the royal family. Eventually she'll have a pair of blues. I want any of those that have looked after my children to look after her, that way I know they'll be trustworthy."

"Are there any you have in mind, Lana-kin? You are closest to Emerli."

Lana greeted Emerli and shuffled over so she could sit between Ares and her.

“I don’t believe she wants any,” Lana said, judging Emerli’s face.

“Me neither,” Ares said. “Though it isn’t a question of wants, it’s a question of need.”

“There is no danger to Emerli here.”

“There is, I assure you. Emerli is only here because I stepped in front of a mass of lightning to protect her. I won’t always be here to do that, and so we’ll need to find some great warriors who will do such a thing.” Ares recalled the first time he had met Xan, and how painful the greeting had been.

“Was this before or after you were cursed,” she quipped.

“I think after. Hence why it was a painful affair.”

Lana narrowed her eyes before a wolffolk came up to Ares, saluting the King. Ares threw a look to Lana to see if she wanted to continue the conversation, but she returned to her food.

“Yes?” Ares said, looking towards the wolffolk.

“Orndu will arrive soon,” he said.

“Please send a message to the tailors for the basin and the powder,” Ares said.

The wolffolk left quickly, returning not too long after. The tailor had brought the basin over, and Orndu appeared not long after, with Orazuta in tow.

Ares stood and then clapped his hands once, causing the drums to heighten and then stop. With the hundreds upon hundreds of eyes on him, Ares could feel the slow burn of embarrassment. Even now he was not yet used to the eyes on him.

“It’s good to see you’re doing better,” Ares said, approaching the pair and then shaking their forearms, as gently as he could.

Orazuta was looking about, his eyes filled with some sense of awe. He could spy the various warriors donned within their White Cloaks.

“You have some even here?” he asked.

“They are an elite guard,” Ares said. “They are everywhere they need to be.”

Orazuta’s eyes flashed with intrigue, and Ares could tell that the man wanted to test himself against them, for he had that look about him.

“Since you’re here Orazuta, why don’t we fetch you something to drink.” Ares said as he walked alongside Orazuta to the shrine, the eyes still piercing his back. He stopped at the shrine, nodding a head towards Saykkera.

“A dragon…” Orazuta whispered.

“Careful,” Ares said. “She is far more powerful than Orndu, so don’t even think about it.” Yet the word did not deter him it seemed. “This is one of Rivee’s shrines, it was gifted to us to guard by Rivee, so was my title and so.” Ares turned to face him.

“You had done me a great service, throwing your body on the line for me. The Consul and I have decided that it should take someone three months to be adopted into Rivea, though your service and your behaviour has shown that you exemplify the Rivean belief system well enough. As long as you continue to do what is right, to protect those less fortunate than you, and to keep your dignity about you, I would like to formally welcome you to Rivea. Accepting this bowl of water is to accept the oaths that all Riveans have sworn, and though the identity is still yet forming and many of us are still learning about it, as long as you wish to strive towards the best, I’d like for you to accept.” Ares held out the bowl. His ramblings were such, and in some ways, purposeful. They were meant for he and Orazuta.

“I will accept if it means I can fight alongside you,” he said, taking the bowl. He guzzled the water down as though it was the finest ale, before he wiped his mouth. “Now, is it time for food?” Orazuta looked back to the group.

“You may eat, I still have one more matter to attend to.” Ares returned to the people. “Please do welcome Orazuta, man of Rivea.” Ares began to clap, and thankfully a few others joined the moment later, causing there to be a cascade of claps. Ares was sure he would never recover from the embarrassment of being the only one to clap, so he was glad.

“There is one more thing,” Ares said. “The Consul and I have mentioned about the White Cloaks, those that are in training to become the most elite warriors of Rivea. A controversial decision, but that is how Rivea will be. We will adapt and evolve, quickly if we must. I assure you that there will be very few changes in that regard, at least, I hope there won’t be much more.” Ares smiled.

“The Consul and I have spoken about the White Cloaks and what they mean for Rivea, but there will always be a need for a guard with a specific set of tasks, a guard that will have a single focus. One of these guards, dubbed the Yellow Cloaks, or the Gold Cloaks if you’re feeling fancy, will be those specifically designed to accompany the ruler, in this case, me. Some of you may know that I am injured, heavily so. The only reason that any of us that returned, Torak and I, along with Zika and a few others, was because two of our companions had dropped back to deal with the enemy. One of them has been rewarded, for they have become Rivean. To be Rivean is a great reward, I assure you.” Ares grinned wide.

Ares then approached the basin. “So how can I reward a man that is already Rivean? How can I reward Orndu, the Captain of the now defunct Roaring Tridents? He has shown me, multiple times, that he has what it takes to be my guard.” Ares then reached out and summoned some water from his ring, filling the basin up. He used his powers to try and mix the powder with the water, causing it to swirl together until it was a pool of the deepest yellow.

“Before I get to the main event, I’d like to gift Orndu with something. I know he is more than eager to accept the position of a White Cloak, but first there is a need for his shield.” Ares summoned out a particular shield, round, painted white across the face of it with a large blue circle, Rivea’s flag.

“This is a shield, everyone can see that. What you don’t know is that this is the only shield to be painted by a Princess of Rivea, my darling little Runar. This is my most prized possession, and though I would like to keep it, I think it is only fitting that Orndu receives it.”

Then he summoned out a long cloak, of the purest white he had. He revealed it for all to see, even holding it near the White Cloak beside him to show them the difference in colour, for those with the keenest eyes.

Ares dropped to a knee, wincing in pain before he placed the cloak within the water, getting the dye up his arms. “The second gift for Orndu, is one that only he can claim to have. Many of you don’t know that it was Orndu’s father, Orndu, who had come with me to help conquer the mountain. It was his father who had stepped forward to attack Peros, one of the very few to claim so. There are very few people who can claim such a thing, and some of you may not know that Lana also faced Peros as well.” Ares cleared his throat. “Unfortunately, Orndu was not so lucky, and he perished during the bout. Orndu, this Orndu here, has quite the history of protecting me, through his father and himself.” Ares continued to turn and move the cloak around, throwing a glance to the tailor who shook her head.

He stood up, wincing once more in pain. “The dye will need to take some time to set, but once it does, and once the cloak is dry, it will be your cloak. Orndu will claim to be the first Yellow Cloak in my guard, the first warrior to be given a colour, as well as the first, and perhaps last, guard to be given a cloak dyed by my hands.”

Ares stared into Orndu’s eyes. “If you are willing to accept it.”

Orndu nodded his head.

With that, the drumming began, and the people ate and celebrated.