Palette stood at attention, grinning like a fool; all the while, he was fighting the desire to bounce around in elation. After thirteen years, at the age of twenty-one, he was finally qualified to join the ranks of the royal guard! No more of that silly apprentice stuff or stableboy duties, he would now be able to reside in the castle alongside the kingdom's royalty as he trained to become a full-fledged knight!

He took a deep breath to calm himself; he had to be mature now. Since he was officially becoming a knight, people would eventually come to rely on him as a symbol of strength and justice.

He had been initially disappointed when, rather than a full suit of armor, he was presented with a mail coif and shirt, white undershirt, black arm bracers, pants, and a belt, white leather gloves and boots, and a white and red tabard bearing the royal coat of arms; it looked nothing like the armor the knight from thirteen years ago wore. Once it was explained that all knights started out this way and he would receive custom-made armor after he proved himself capable of handling the additional weight and responsibility, he donned the outfit happily; this was just his first big step toward full knighthood.

He stood in the throne room with the crowd of monsters and humans that had passed muster alongside him, awaiting the knighting ceremony. On each side of the group were the common folk who had come to witness the proceedings. Palette could just barely make out his mom and stepdad holding his toddler stepsister in the crowd, waving with proud smiles on their faces; he smiled back, limiting himself to a confident nod.

A trumpet sounded, directing everyone's attention to a rabbit monster in a trim red suit coat beside a large set of double doors, "Presenting Queen Leofe, Lady Elise, and Lord Goth!"

The doors opened and three figures stepped through; Palette was mildly surprised the king was absent from the procession. Despite rumors that the king had taken ill, he had assumed it was either nonsense due to the lack of evidence or not serious enough to warrant action. Part of him wondered if Goth and Elise were handling the situation okay; he didn't want to be rude, but maybe he could figure out a way to ask them later?

The queen led the procession in a sleek red and gold gown with long flowing sleeves that nearly touched the floor and a golden crown upon her skull. Elise wore a purple dress with layered sleeves belling at her wrists, a bodice with deeper purple and white embroidery, and a matching headdress with a golden circlet and small links draped around the back; it was definitely a more elegant look compared to the cute puffy dress she had worn last time they saw each other. Goth's outfit had changed from their youth as well; the ankle-length boots of their childhood were now replaced by a black knee-length pair with a matching vest beneath a hoodless white and red embroidered long jacket secured by a gold clasp. The only remnants from the old outfit were the red scarf around their neck, the gold bands on their upper arms, and the matching circlet around their skull.

Both of his friends looked so grown up and dignified; it was hard to believe they were younger than him.

Palette was pulled from his thoughts as names were read out from a list, calling each apprentice forward to be knighted personally by the queen. For now, he had to focus on the ceremony; greetings could come afterward.

It seemed the list went in order of their last name... Palette would have to wait for quite some time. Time ticked on with a maddening slowness; the crowd around him dwindled as each knighted soldier went to stand behind the royal family.

"Roller."

Taking a breath to quell the nervous and excited energy, the skeleton strode forward with determination, bending onto one knee before Queen Leofe as he'd seen from everyone before him. She cleared her throat, performing the memorized speech, "Do you pledge to uphold the honor of the crown, to fight for the sake of justice, and to protect the royal family and its reign to your dying day?"

"I do, Your Highness. I swear to defend you and your family with my life," he proclaimed, glancing toward Goth and Elise with a smile. The prince had a strange look on his face, as if trying to puzzle something out, while the princess blinked at him.

Stifling the urge to laugh at their reactions, Palette stood once the queen had placed the tip of her sword against both shoulders, officially decreeing him a member of the kingdom's royal guard, and moved to take his place alongside the other newly initiated guards.

As the last of the recruits were knighted and the ceremony drew to a close, Palette managed to extricate himself from the crowd and make his way toward Goth.

Figuring it would be poor form to use his friend's childhood nickname, Palette called out, "Lord Goth!"

The small skeleton turned, staring for a second before responding, "A good day to you; do you require something of me?"

Palette laughed, "You still talk like an adult; then again, I guess we are adults now." He was a little disappointed his friend didn't recognize him, but he chalked it up to them being so young and having only met once. Regardless, he continued, "No, I don't need anything; I just wanted to say hello and ask how you've been. It's been forever since we last saw each other; we don't get a lot of news about what's going on inside the castle down in the village and you never visited the flower field again after that day."

"Still? Forever? That day? Whatever are you talking about? When have... we...," the prince questioned, trailing off as he stared at the knight's starry green and yellow eye lights for a moment. Something changed in his expression as he whispered, "... Palette?"

The taller skeleton gave a sweeping bow and looked up with a wide grin as he replied, "At your service, my prince."

Goth's face instantly lit up, seemingly torn between throwing himself into Palette for a hug and maintaining decorum. Eventually, he settled for gasping out, "It's wonderful to see you! It's been... gods, thirteen years? I can assume by your presence this is the path you've chosen for yourself?"

"Heh, I missed you too," the knight chuckled, warmed immensely by Goth's exuberance, "yeah, I decided I wanted to get stronger, so here I am. What about you? Is it still hard learning to become king or have you gotten a handle on things?"

All at once, Goth's posture wilted and his eye light dimmed as he laid a hand over his left wrist, "Ah... that's..."

Palette's face fell in concern, "What's wrong? Did I say something bad?"

"No, " the prince assured him, their facial features pinching as they admitted, "The truth is... I'm no longer eligible to succeed my father for the throne."

***

Word Count: 1,192