Chapter Text
Queen Valerin smiled as Ballister softly closed the door. "Is everything alright your highness?"
"Everything is wonderful. How could it not be? Oh, my dear boy, you're going to be a knight!" She beamed at him. "I won't keep you long, I know you still need to finish getting ready. But I wanted to congratulate you and let you know how proud I am of you. And to give you this." She picked up a bundle of clothes from the bench behind her. She offered it to the young man, and he slowly unwrapped the cloth to reveal a sword.
A beautiful sword, made of dark metal with a blue shine and silver accents. An elegant, swooping B was engraved in at the base of the sword, and lined with tiny sapphires and rubies.
"Oh." Ballister reached out to touch the sword reverently. "It's- it's too much, I can't accept this."
"You can. And you will." Valerin said, resting her hands on top of his. "You don't have to use it for the ceremony, and you don't have to stop using your old one, but I want you to have this. A new sword for the start of your new life."
"Not use it for the ceremony- your highness how could I not use it for the ceremony! It would be a crime not to use." Ballister gasped.
Valerin smiled. "I'm glad. I must go now. I will see you Sir Boldheart."
Ballister bowed as she swept out of the room. He clutched the sword to his chest, a small smile working its way onto his face.
"Bal!" Ambrosius' voice came from down the hall, "Bal, come on!" Hurried footsteps drew near and Ballister shook himself out of his stupor.
"Coming!"
"It's a nice sword," Ambrosius said softly, so as to not draw attention from the others, as he helped Ballister put on his pauldrons.
The sword in question was resting in Ambrosius' side sheath, to keep it safe while its owner got into his armor.
Before Ballister would respond, Todd draped himself over his shoulder and Ballister let out a silent sigh as the egoistical knight laughed at him and squished his face. He rested his hand on Ambrosius' chest to stop him from lashing out. "My sword?" he asked, gently. Ambrosius relaxed a little as if the reminder of the Queen's gift was more comforting to him than it was to Ballister. And honestly, Ballister thought as he strapped it to his waist, it might be. The doubt and criticisms that followed Ballister bother the blonde just as much as it did him.
Ambrosius extended a hand to take the sword that the squire was offering and shook his head when the young man reached for Ballister's, though he let Ballister be the one to speak. "Oh, no. Sorry. I received a new blade earlier today, and I will be using that. But thank you." The squire frowned but nodded and put the blade away as the knights filed out of the room. With a heavy breath, Ballister looked at his boyfriend. "You ready?"
"I was born ready," Ambrosius said in a horrible impersonation of Todd that made the dark-haired man snort. They bumped shoulders as they hurried to get into formation.
The director walked elegantly down the lines, looking as serene as she always did. Her soft but firm words of "they will see who you really are" comforted Ballister. and gave him hope that he wouldn't botch the ceremony.
Ballister couldn't remember much of the actual ceremony, which was a bit of a shame because it was the biggest day of his life. But he knew he'd made it through without messing anything up or tripping over his feet, and that people had cheered.
People had cheered for him!
He felt giddy remembering it. Well, giddier, because he'd been riding high for the last several hours since the Queen had officially declared him Sir Ballister Boldheart. Not even the endless interviews he'd gone through afterwards had lessened his joy, though that might have been because Ambrosius had refused to let him do them alone. He had also, much to Ballister’s embarrassment, held nothing back when it came to praising him on live TV. So much so that Ballister had been sure he was mere moments away from blurting out that Ballister was an amazing boyfriend as well as at the top of their class. He hadn't, thankfully, though they had been asked if they were close friends.
Ballister had beaten Ambrosius to the answer on that one. "Yes. Best friends. We have been for years, right Amber?"
"Yep!" He popped the 'p' sound at the end. "And hopefully, we will be for many more." The interviewer laughed along with Ballister and started to ask another question when the golden knight cut him off. "Bal. Bal. I need you to tell me we're going to be best friends. Like, until we die. I need to hear you say it."
"Why?" Ballister asked, confused. "I mean, obviously we will be, but how could you doubt that?"
"I didn't." Ambrosius beamed. "I just love hearing you say it."
"You are, single-handedly, the most ridiculous man I have ever met, you know that?"
"You love me for it."
The interviewer coughed to clear his throat, and the knights returned their attention to him, both blushing a little at the lapses in their public personas.
After several more hours, and many more interviews and questions Ballister was glad the night was over. All he wanted now was to curl up with Ambrosius, have something warm and soothing for his throat, which had started to get sore from all the talking, and sleep. He pulled open his locker and something thudded to the ground. Then it started glowing. "Everyone! Cover, now!" He yelled, grabbing the nearest knight, Todd apparently, and threw him backward. The weapon, a laser? sword? didn't matter, whatever it was went off, and sent a strong blast right where Ballister had been standing a moment before.
After the light died, the knights were frozen in place for several minutes, until someone Ballister didn't know stood up. "I'd ask if that was someone's idea of a prank, but that looked far far too powerful to count as one. That- that was meant to kill."
"Agreed." Ballister nodded as he too stood.
Ambrosius appeared at his side a moment later, checking him over. "Are you hurt?"
"No."
"Good." His voice turned cold. "Now who put that thing in Bal's locker?"
No one said anything.
"Hiding will not help the situation." the descendant of Gloreth growled.
"It wasn't any of us," Todd spoke up. "We might hate the guy, but none of us would kill him."
Ambrosius' fist tightened, and Ballister knew if he didn't stop him, his boyfriend would start throwing punches.
"We need to tell the Director and the Queen what happened." He said, projecting his voice. "If this was an assassination attempt"
"What else could it be?" Ambrosius asked.
Ballister ignored him and kept talking. "Then her highness might also be in danger. And whoever the culprit is managed to get far enough into the building to be a major concern."
Ambrosius took and deep breath and nodded. "We'll figure out who did this. And we'll do it before anyone gets hurt."