User blog:Ihaveawiixboxds/восемь

When Ihawxd finally ventured to exit his room, he was extremely pleased to find the hallway outside quite devoid of Keplers's presence. It was well past noon now, and Ihawxd was beginning to wonder how he would spend the rest of his time in Alemas's castle. He wandered off in search of nothing in particular and soon found himself in a garden that he recognized from his tour. The young man decided to ask one of the gardeners that was trimming a hedge some questions.

"Excuse me, sir..." Ihawxd tapped the man on the shoulder. "Can I ask you some questions?"

"Can't you see I'm working here?" The servant snapped, abruptly turning around. "Well, I guess a short break won't hurt; just make it quick."

"Well, the only reason I'm here was to speak with the king, but I actually haven't gotten to talk to him yet. I was just wondering what sort of process you might have to go through in order to talk to him and where I might be able to find him."

The servant gave Ihawxd directions to the king's throne room and ordered him to wait outside the gate until someone of authority admitted him in. Ihawxd did as he was told and soon arrived at a spacious hallway. Ihawxd had been told that the door to Alemas's throne room would be on his left if he continued down the hallway. Worried that he might not notice it, Ihawxd slowly proceeded down the hallway. The monstrous gate was easily noticed, however. Standing outside of the door to the throne room were two guards, hidden by the way the wall folded back towards the gate. Ihawxd timidly approached the guards and asked for permission to enter. Immediately a shifty man wearing a lengthy trench coat burst through the gates. Two eyes hidden beneath the brim of a fedora matching the coat surveyed Ihawxd.

"Holden, correct?" the man said in a muffled voice that was quite obviously faked.

"Well, that's not my name, but that is where I come from, if that's what you're asking." Ihawxd explained.

"Yes, but your name is too hard to pronounce." the man replied. "You are entitled to one 5 minute conversation with Alemas. After that you may stay in the castle until approximately 10:24 tommorrow morning, after which you shall be executed if ever seen on castle grounds again without adequate permission." the man was now talking in a more natural voice, although he had a strange accent that sounded a bit like Swedish mixed with German."Any questions?"

"No."

"Good. You may enter."

The shifty man pushed open the double doors to reveal an enormous room. There was a red carpet leading up to the silver throne upon which Alemas reclined. Other than that, it was quite devoid of decorations. The extreme height of the ceiling left all visitors feeling belittled, however, and was able to make up for the lack of decoration.

"Ah, it is a pleasure to see you again!" Alemas exclaimed. "Now I don't have much time, I have to hold a vote about how many ponies should be allowed per household, so please be succinct."

"I have come-"

"Kneel before you speak." Alemas commanded. Ihawxd complied.

"I have come before in order to plead for weapons or soldiers, whichever you may be able to provide."

"And why do you need these?" Alemas inquired.

"My town, Holden, has been plagued by pillagers for many months, and we currently have no form of defense whatsoever." Whether or not in response Ihawxd knew not, but the shifty man then approached Alemas and whispered something inaudible in his ear. Alemas nodded and indicated that he wished Ihawxd to continue. "As I was saying, either extra weapons or expendable soldiers would be greatly appreciated."

"Well, we do have a few expendables hanging around this place, but for all I know this could be part of some master plan to drain my army of essential troops and then demolish my kingdom. I do not see, however, how handing you a few rusty swords and spears would hurt much." Alemas pondered. "If it is your wish to seek help from anyone else, I recommend coming back here once you are done, because I don't think you'll have any way to carry about a load of weapons. And no, I'm not willing to lend you a cart."

"I shall indeed be back, then. Thank you very much."

With that, Ihawxd stood up and hastily exited the room.