Chapter Text
He runs as fast as he can. Guards follow him through the corridors of the Glorodome. After all he sneaked in without a ticket. Luckily for Ballister, there are many people. Soon the guards will loose him in the crowd. He is small, even when compared to other nine years-olds. usually being small is not seen as much of an advantage, but in cases like this it surely is. Even when Ballister is sure the guards are no longer following him, he keeps on running, working his way up the round building.
He has never been inside the Glorodome, but he has seen it often enough on the old television placed in the orphanage. There were many rows of seats along all sides of the arena and with this being THE Knighting Ceremony, all seats would surely be packed. He could imagine kids sitting on their parents' laps just to make room for more visitors. This is the night the next Goldenloin gets knighted after all. Ballister could just hide behind the tribunes and watch the ceremony in between feet and backs, but the boy is too ambitious for that. Because Ballister knows exactly that there is a part of the Glorodome, which is situated right above everyone. There are no seats there, as it is where the cameras and other technical stuff is placed.
That is where Ballister wants to go. He just has to figure out how.
And so he keeps working his way up through the inside. He can hear the ceremony starting through the walls. People are cheering and Ballister can only assume that the knights are starting to come out, riding their way to the podium, where they will meet the Queen. He has watched the Knighting Ceremony every year since he could remember. He knows the procedure like the inside of his pocket and he knows that he doesn't have much more time to loose. At some point, at which he assumes he has climbed enough stairs, he finds a door.
"Access forbidden", it says right above it and so he pulls it open.
Finally he can feel the fresh evening air against his skin. The people in the crowd are like music to his ears. And most importantly: he hears the Queen herself speak. This reminds him, that he has done it. His plan worked out. He has made his dream, of witnessing the Knighting Ceremony, come true. he is about to sit down, as he hears someone speak.
"Hey you!"
Ballister freezes. Maybe he has been too proud of himself too early, maybe he shouldn't have let his guards down so soon. He has surely been caught and would be escorted out in the following moment. But the voice doesn't resemble the one of a guard. It sounds like a kid. He turns around to see a blond boy, around the same age as him, sitting just a platform higher. The boy looks down, smiling.
"Get up here!", he calls out in a friendly tone and points to another, smaller, flight of stairs right next to him. And so Ballister does what he says.
As soon as he arrives, he slumps down next to the boy, on the edge of the platform. He finally feels safe enough to relax a bit. Exhausted from the run just mere minutes prior, he looks down into the arena. He sees bright colors, people waving flags and signs, commoners and nobles, all assembled to witness the event of the year. In the middle he can make out the form of the podium the Queen must stand on and of course the knights in training, waiting to become the next protectors of the kingdom. Even though the view on the live happenings is not quite clear, it's not too bad as there is a big screen, floating right on their level, showcasing the most important happenings. And as if that wasn't enough, Ballister can make out the Gloreth statue from behind the building. He can't believe this is actually happening and so he sits and just let's it happen. The boy is so mesmerised, he does not hear the boy next to him at first. He turns around to see him holding a big bucket of popcorn in his face. Ballister does not know how to respond.
"Just take some. This is too much for me to eat alone." And so Ballister tries it. The melted sugar around the piece of popped corn tastes sweeter than anything Ballister has ever tried. It crunches perfectly, not getting stuck between his teeth. "I am Ambrosius by the way." Ambrosius reaches his hand out. Ballister thinks about lying, after all he does not know him. But the boy seems nice and he gave Ballister some Popcorn, so telling him his name probably wouldn't do any harm.
"My name is Ballister", he introduces himself, hoping the blond boy would hear him.
"Nice to meet you, Ballister", Ambrosius replied, throwing more popcorn in his mouth. Ballister couldn't help but smile. He chose to not question why the other chose the space at the Glorodome and neither did Ambrosius.
And so the two boys sat and enjoyed the event. One after another, the knights would come up to the Queen and be knighted. For each of them the Queen held a short but heartfelt speech, talking about their years spent in training and other personal qualities. The crowd would cheer as the Queen handed the swords back to their rightful owners.
And then came the Highlight of the night. The very last Knight, is a woman with long blonde hair down her back, a part of it tied up in a bun. She rides a white Horse and wore white armor with gold accents. There are golden lions carved into her golden shoulder plates. She looks as if she just came out of a fairytale and if you think about it, she kind of did. Because Annaleen Goldenloin is a direct descendant of Gloreth. Judging by all the illustrations of Gloreth, that Ballister got to see throughout all of his life, he would say that Lady Goldenloin looks exactly how he would imagine Gloreth. Even when compared to the statue of Gloreth, standing tall with her back turned to the arena, they still looked pretty similar. That's when he realizes who else shares some of his looks with the Hero of the Realm.
He points to the big screen in front of them.
"She looks like she could be your mother!", he mentions jokingly to his new-found friend, if he could call him that already. Ambrosius grins with pride.
"That's because she is." Ballister finds himself dumbfounded, the smile on his face getting replaced with a questioned look.
"Are you for real?"
"Why shouldn't I be?"
"Wow."
Ballister takes a moment to realise, how he has been sitting on the top of the Glorodome, sharing a bucket of Popcorn, with someone who is destined to be great. He has just casually met the boy who would represent Gloreth sooner or later. How in the world, did he recognise him sooner? Why did it take him so long?
"That means you are going to be a knight", the dark haired boy exclaims in excitement. Not only has he fulfilled his dream of seeing the Knighting Ceremony, but he has also met Gloreth's descendant. A future Knight! Ambrosius does not seem nearly as excited.
"I guess?", he asks, the pride now completely wiped from his expression. "I am already training to become a squire-" Ballister cuts him off, unable to understand the other's more negative sounding tone.
"Isn't that a good thing? Knights are really awesome after all, I would love to become a knight some day." Ambrosius looks at him in a puzzled gaze, seemingly not knowing how to answer. It takes him a few moments and some bits of Popcorn to get his words together.
"I mean, it is good", the blond finally answers. "I will get to protect the realm. I will get to fight for the people I love. All like my mums." He lets out an annoyed sigh. "But this is all so much. My mums may be happy with me no matter what, but my teachers-" Ambrosius gesticulates his hands before his body, looking almost angry. "-they all have such high expectations of me! I didn't choose to become a knight! I do find it fun sometimes and I have found some friends through this, but the teachers keep making it not fun all over again." He relaxes again and chucks down another few pieces of Popcorn. Ambrosius moves his face back to the screen, where the Queen hands his mother her sword back. The crowd cheers once again, this time the sound is almost overwhelming. The screen shows her walking to stand next to the Queen's recently assigned highest advisor. "The Director is the worst of them all. She always says how proud of me she is, but I don't believe her."
"She always seems so nice in the news", Ballister comments, comparing Ambrosius' words with the smiling woman on the screen. The other boy smiles again.
"Yeah, she is", he replies, moving the Popcorn bucket back to Ballister, who takes a few and eats them instantly. "That's what makes her extra creepy." He laughs and Ballister can't help but laugh with him "So, you say you want to be a knight?" Now it is Ambrosius' turn to ask questions. Ballister nodds in excitement.
"Yes! I want to fight monsters!" He turns his hand into a fist and starts acting as if he is holding a sword. The boy next to him smiles.
"Then why don't you start training with us?" Ballister's smile fades.
"I don't think that's possible. I'm a commoner after all. They don't allow commoners." Ambrosius turns his head to the side. Deep down Ballister hopes, Ambrosius does not mind the fact he's a commoner. He's afraid, that this is what gets him kicked out. What if-
"That's not fair?", the blond boy comments with a voice that sounds outright disappointed. "You seem like a fun friend to have at training." There comes Ballister's smile again.
"It would be an honor to train alongside such a cool guy like you." Ambrosius looks like a personified ray of sunshine as Ballister releases the sentence from his mouth. Ballister takes another handful of Popcorn. The blond boy looks down into the arena to see the crowd slowly leaving their designated seats, before he turns back to his friend. Ballister is now sure, that's what he can call him.
"I need to get down. I promised to meet my mums after the ceremony." The dark haired boy goes silent as he realizes what it means. The day is over. He will now have to sneak back into the orphanage as if none of this has ever happened. The blond on the other hand reaches his hand out. "Let's pinky promise, that we will meet again." Ballister takes turn looking towards Ambrosius' hand and then back up to his face. At first hesitantly, he reaches his hand out, but gains full confidence as he hooks their pinky fingers together. They both smile.
"Pinky promise."
And they keep their promise, whether it was intentional or not. Only a couple months later they would meet again: Ballister hitting a training dummy with his wooden sword and Ambrosius trying to convince the guards not to kick him out right away. They are friends after all.