Knighted By Night

As they were picking the last of the goodies from the table, Tony felt something warm rest on his shoulder. He looked back with his mouth stuffed guiltily with sweet leaves and saw a large scaled Iggy covered in scars. He was so tall that Tony had to tilt his head up to see his face.

"The queen is ready for you," the Iggy said solemnly, like he was delivering the most important news of his life. Tony fought to swallow his mouthful and coughed slightly before replying.

"I guess we'll follow you? We don't know where her court thing is," he said awkwardly. The stoic Iggy seemed unmoved, only nodding in understanding. "Guys, we're going," Tony called to the two Cryos who were scraping the last of the meat from the bone. With surprising amenability they both toddled over to where Tony and the Iggy were waiting. 

"Are we going to see the queen?" Drift asked, buzzing with excitement. Brook seemed more reserved, looking the Iggy up and down, eyes lingering on the scars. On a silent agreement, the three outsiders began to follow the Iggy as he led them across the clearing.

"You've gotta be the head of the guard or something," Drift butted in where her brother feared to tread, "You look tough as hell." To their surprise the Iggy chuckled and shook his head.

"No leaders in our guard, surface dweller, we're all equal among our contemporaries," he told her kindly and the Cryo nodded.

"Sounds cool, what's your name?" she asked, coming up close to him to walk by his side instead of behind him like the others were.

"I'm Guerrilla," he said simply.

"I'm Drift, that's Brook, he's my brother, and that's Tony!" she informed him enthusiastically. If Guerilla was put off by her chattering he didn't let it show, simply nodding along as Drift told him about her home.

"She's always like this after a good meal," Brook whispered to Tony. 

"Maybe it'll be charming to the queen too," the Pachy winced.

When they entered a large metal building they had expected to see the queen sitting in front of them and waiting for their arrival. Instead, there was a set of thick steel doors that Guerilla had to knock on for them to open. As they swung inwards, the throne room was revealed, most notably the tall wooden chair with a large tapestry covered in tridents draped over it. Too big to actually sit in the throne, Queen Rhys stood in front of it, facing them directly as they entered. 

"You may approach," she said, quite redundantly as the three outsiders hadn't heeded court protocol and had just approached anyway. "Tell me your names." The three looked between themselves, unsure of who should go first but Tony, being the oldest, decided to speak up.

"I'm Tony, from the Dead City on Isla Kela," he introduced himself formally, bowing his head and feeling accomplished when the queen looked pleased.

"I'm Drift, from the Kela Highlands," the greener Cryo introduced herself, copying Tony in hopes of pleasing the queen too.

"I'm Brook, from the Kela Highlands too, we're siblings," Brook elaborated quickly, also dipping his head.

"Tony, Drift and Brook, on behalf of the Atlanteans I thank you for your assistance in the spreading of our lifeblood, our plants," Queen Rhys began. She didn't raise her voice but it still carried across the entire room, filling it with her silken, deep tone. She looked behind her and the surface dwellers peeked around to see who she was looking at. Standing to her side, just behind the throne, Korppi and Talos were standing next to each other. Talos was as stonefaced as usual but Korppi looked gleeful, clearly delighted her proteges were being honoured with an audience with the queen.

“As an acting Knight to the court of Atlantis, I testify that I have witnessed the alleged deeds of these outsiders and sponsor their admission into the court as full fledged members,” Talos said stoically. 

“As an acting Knight to the court of Atlantis, I testify that I have witnessed the alleged deeds of these outsiders and second the suggestion of my brother in arms to admit them to the court,” Korppi said, her voice serious but the grin on her face nearly split it in two. Queen Rhys nodded and looked back to the three outsiders.

"As a reward, I would wish to see you join us," the queen continued, "You would become active members of the court and join our family, to protect and serve Atlantis and to be protected in return by your fellow court members." The three outsiders stayed silent, the offer hanging heavily in the air between them. It was fairly clear to each other from their conversations that none of them wanted to entangle themselves further in the efforts of Atlantis to take over the islands. Not only were they wary of the methods the dome-dwellers were using, they were cautious of how other islanders would react. If they were seen with the Atlanteans would they become targets for attack once the migration to the surface began? It wasn't likely that some of the more ruthless predators would show them any mercy if they felt their territory was being threatened. 

"It's a very generous offer but I don't think any of us are built for life in the dome," Tony said, trying to buy some time to think of a polite way of turning down someone with several armed guards. 

"No need to worry about that, we will all be moving to the surface soon," the queen reassured them.

"But, you've got so much down here, why would anyone need to move?" Drift asked. Brook shot her a panicked look, terrified that she had offended the queen. Instead a melancholic look passed over the abyssal Iguanodon's face.

"Our home is no longer safe," she said slowly, "the dome is cracking and we cannot stop it. Soon, Atlantis will flood and anything that stays here will die." The court was silent as a graveyard, one could hear a pin drop in the huge room.

"We can join you." The voice was sudden and startling in the quiet, and both Cryos turned in surprise to Tony. "We'll help you settle on the islands, but we don't want to get violent."

"We might not have a choice," Rhys warned, "we're aware that not everyone is happy with our plans, but it is our only way to survive." Tony gave the Cryos juveniles a hard look, trying to somehow communicate silently that this was their best option to influence the safe integration. 

"Yeah, we'll join," Drift said in a quiet voice. Brook didn't say anything, but he stepped up when Rhys beckoned them forward.

"In that case, I hereby grant you the rank of Knight in the court of Atlantis, we're delighted to have you."