Chapter Text
Two months, three weeks, and four days. Wait, was it now five days? Five days since Amber was first appointed as Diamant’s second retainer.
It was a whirlwind of emotions that day, with him feeling so awestruck at first for getting this far, then proud of how far he’d come. He remembered being so certain that he would win it all!
And then Jade knocked him off his horse, both literally and metaphorically. He remembered graciously shaking her hand, not wanting to be a sore loser, then immediately running off to find a quiet corner, just to sob at how close he had been to achieving his dream. Almost every noble and knight in that hall had gone to offer their congratulations to Jade, to praise her about how amazing she was, how hard she worked to get this far.
Only one person went to go find him.
One year, seven months, two weeks, three days. Yes, three days since he was first appointed as Diamant’s second retainer.
It was the longest hour of his life that day, sobbing alone near the stables, wishing he could get a rematch, or a do over of the day. Legends said there was some sort of ring that could allow a person to travel through time, but such a ring sounded impossible to find.
A single armored footstep pierces through the quiet of horses eating their feed, and a single man’s pathetic sobs. Knowing it was likely a stable hand, Amber remembered looking up through snotty tears, wiping his eyes and saying, “Sorry, I’ll be on my way soon,” not recognizing the other person in that brief moment.
As his vision refocused, he realized by the handsome red hair and fitted armor that it was no stable boy that came by. No, it was Prince Diamant himself, someone who surely had much better things to do than to check up on a runner up.
But with his caring heart, he offered a handkerchief and a smile, asking, “What are you doing here all alone?”
Two years, four months, one week, two days.
Amber remembered taking that handkerchief from Diamant’s gloved hand, and wiping the tears and mucus from his face in shame. The warmth in Diamant’s expression never changed, watching Amber physically and metaphorically dust himself off before speaking to the crown prince of his country as a humble farm boy who was trying to maintain what little dignity he had.
Amber was never really graceful when it came to speaking with nobles, something that Citrinne had tried to drill into him, Jade, and Lapis in the time since, asking a question that surely would have gotten him in trouble with the other Brodian nobles with how blunt it was.
“Why are you here? I thought you’d be with your champion?” he asked then, and within seconds mentally chided himself for how rude he was, “I mean- My lord. Uh.”
“Don’t worry,” Diamant immediately reassured him, “I wanted to let you know the people from your village have been looking for you. They’re really proud at how far you came, especially since you apparently hardly touched a lance before entering this tournament.”
“Oh, uh, yeah! Turns out holding a lance really isn’t that difficult from holding a scythe. And horses aren’t too far from alpacas, too,” he grinned, trying to explain himself, maybe to vouch for some role as a lower level soldier “A lot of farm people could be soldiers with the proper training.”
Diamant nodded, “Alcryst is looking into that, yes. Apparently another farm girl caught his eye, with skills different to yours. But yes, you’re right that we need to look into hiring more of the common man…”
“Yep, I bet there’s a lot of talent there,” Amber chirped, still trying to keep up a smile despite wanting to go back to crying about his misery. Waving off Diamant, he crosses his arms, rambling to try to make and excuse to leave, “But well, not enough in me, so I’ll probably head back to the farm soon. It’s springtime soon, so that means lots of more baby alpacas to take care of, and lots wool to ship out to the merchants when they start growing out their hair, and…”
Still maintaining his warm, calm smile, Diamant jumped in as soon as he found an opening, asking, “Do you really want to go back?” and pulled out a silver sword he’d kept by his side. Not as fancy as the ornate axe Jade won as prize for winning, but a simple sword with a ‘D’ carved into the hilt.
Three years, five months, six days.
Amber remembered taking that sword, and holding it in his hands. Despite it being made of hard, heavy steel and it being freezing that day, it felt weightless and warm in his hands. The sword itself was hardly usable in that moment, he primarily used a lance to fight, and yet, it felt like the most powerful object he ever had the privilege to hold in his hand.
Prince Diamant was patient, more than anyone had any right to be with him as he let Amber sit with the sword before returning back to the real world, awkwardly holding the sword as he didn’t have a scabbard, at least not yet.
“Nope. I wanna stay here, and protect Brodia,” Amber remembered responding with a determined look, “My village is close to Elusia’s border. I want to fight to protect it, but also everyone else, including you, Prince Diamant.”
“Good answer,” Diamant’s smile grew wider as he began to praise him, “You’re a very capable man, Amber, and you have the heart of a soldier and protector,” he continued on with with the words Amber had imagined him saying so many times, yet never thought would be real, “Would you still like to serve by my side?”
That was the quickest Amber ever uttered in his life up until that point.
Five years, six months, two weeks, six days.
It was half a decade since that day, years spent in Diamant’s service as his retainer, friend, and admirer. Both of them had grown into their roles quite well, and Diamant had just taken the throne: now as King Diamant, and was expected to take a partner soon.
Surely he’d take some noble in his attempt to restore order to how it was before the war had truly taken shape. Maybe one of the other royals, to maintain a partnership between their kingdoms.
Instead, the King had summoned his retainer with a single question and a ring in hand, asking, “Will you remain by my side?”