The next five days passed in relative uneventfulness in the vicinity around the Monteraynian castle, as all the excitement of that one fateful day made even the worst frustrations of ordinary life pale in comparison. The floorboards in the knights' dining hall had been ripped out in two sections, as their red stains were both unsightly and unclean. Hardly a sight any man wished to see while eating his meal.

Princess Kate spent those six days in an upset state of mind, lamenting how she'd had a very suitable candidate right in her grasp, and then she'd cast him out. Perhaps it was incredibly selfish of her to view Andre's departure from that angle, rather than consider his inevitable grief over the loss of father and friend, but Kate could hardly help how she felt. She also wondered many a time if it were insensitive of her to care far less about Alden and Juan's deaths than her own mere loss of a potential partner, but again, nobody could see her thoughts and hidden tears, much less have the right to reprimand her for them.

As for the bodies, both had been wrapped and placed in coffins. And while Juan's had been transported to the Feliz manor for the family to do as they wished with it, the knights stood guard over Alden's until Tom Holt could arrive and be part of the funeral proceedings.

And in the meantime, Kate had gone to the remaining High Council members on Manfred's behalf to inquire what arrangements could be made for his officiation ceremony. After some debate, they said they couldn't hold any sort of event of that sort in good conscience until Alden's body had found its final resting place. Though Kate found that to be an unnecessary delay based in superstition, she reluctantly let that be the end of the matter. That would have to be yet another event waiting for Tom Holt's arrival.

In the early morning on the sixth day, Tom arrived on the castle grounds, accompanied by his niece, Bella Holt. Despite the numbness she'd felt in her heart ever since Andre left, Kate gave the ex-knight a warm welcome.

Not an hour later, Alden Holt's funeral commenced. The Holt clan alone comprised almost a quarter of the attendees, with his numerous sons and daughters and their own children present. Some of the grandchildren even had little ones of their own. Additionally, nearly the entire knightly order presented themselves, as did King Maxwell himself and a plethora of various individuals. Even Juan Feliz's older brother made a brief appearance to pay respects, though he swiftly departed when a trio of young knights began giving him dirty looks and whispering to each other.

After a public prayer led by King Maxwell, asking for God's blessing on Alden's departed soul, three eulogies were given. First was Alden's oldest son, who praised his father for the wisdom he'd instilled in his children, and that with a manner that was both mild and firm. He declared that he could never ask for a better father. Following him was a knight who wasn't a member of the High Council, but appeared he would have fit right in with them due to his ancient features and hoarse voice. He gave a tearful speech of how Alden had been his best friend since their teenage years and had been a faithful companion until the day of his death. With a voice breaking up with emotion, he told a few tales of their adventures together, ending with a remark that though he regretted his friend's passing, he now looked forward to reuniting in the clouds.

And to Kate's surprise, Tom Holt also rose to offer a eulogy. It had been a secret to no one that he and his grandfather had coexisted in the knightly order years ago only with a high degree of tension, and their disagreements had been plenty in number. Kate had strongly suspected that upon Tom's departure, they had mutually disowned one another, but yet here he was now.

Tom delivered his speech carefully, utilizing long pauses to emphasize his points as he went. The through line of his eulogy was that though perhaps Alden hadn't been a perfect man (and no one was), he was a man who always followed his conscience. His resolute dedication to righteousness, Tom said, was his greatest strength, and an admirable trait everybody would do well to emulate. Tom concluded with at statement that though he and Alden had always had their differences, he'd been a good man.

To Kate, the rest of the proceedings went by almost in a blur. Two of Alden's sons inserted a pair of ornamented poles into rings on the sides of the coffin and used them to hoist it over their shoulders. Then they led a somber procession to the burial site not far off, where they lowered the casket into a hole and covered it.

After offering another prayer for Alden's soul, the official ceremony ended. Though some individuals left, the majority of the attendees remained together to share memories or comfort one another over the loss.

Princess Kate threaded her way through the crowd, dispersing condolences as she went. Soon enough, she came upon a squarish boulder where Tom had seated himself and stared thoughtfully into the distance with folded hands. She approached with a comforting smile and laid a hand on his shoulder.

"I hope you're feeling alright?" Kate asked with a curious expression. "I understand the difficulty of getting through something like this."

Tom slowly nodded and glanced up at her with a sigh. "I am saddened, to be sure, but as terrible as this sounds, I had a sense his time would soon come. It's as if I'd begun processing the news before I received it. With his age...you know."

"I understand." Kate said softly, "As you said, he may not have been perfect, but we shall miss him."

"Nobody's perfect, your highness. I wouldn't hesitate to recognize his blunders, but I do extend to him the understanding that he had no ill intent." A long pause intervened before Tom spoke again. "Now I can't help but wonder how the future of the knightly order will unfold in his absence."

"Me too. The thought has occurred to me here and there that perhaps we should use this tragedy as a lesson, like a lantern illuminating the path forward."

"I assume you speak of reforms and the like?"

Kate nodded vigorously. "Manfred told me that Sir Feliz mentioned something of purposefully causing division in the High Council to render them ineffective. Did you witness such things in your time with the knights?"

"Oh, definitely. Almost every time it came time for a decision to be made, my grandfather planted himself on one side of the issue, and Sir Feliz would take a stance on the other. Both men were too persuasive for their own good, and nearly every time, the vote would be split exactly in half. Hence their endless debates and frequent inaction."

"We can't let that continue; that much is sure. How would you suggest we remedy that?"

"My first thought is to simply increase the size of the High Council. The likelihood of a larger group being split into perfect halves is far less, though I suppose voting could be lengthened in that way too. A greater number of votes could result in more time spent on that process." Tom smoothed his grizzly beard with a rough hand. "There is another option I can think of, but I'm not trying to be overly revolutionary."

Kate's eyes widened. "Don't worry about seeming too drastic; perhaps that's precisely what we need."

"Well, in my view, the power structure in the knightly order...it served Monterayne well years ago, but I believe it has since become obsolete. Perhaps a dismantling must happen in order for us to rebuild."

"You've captivated my attention, so please elaborate."

"As it stands, ten men in the High Council holding authority over the hundreds of knights below them has proven more than a little unbalanced. I assert that a more efficient chain of command would consist of one trusted man at the top, with an advisory council below him, and finally at the bottom would be the common knights."

A grin of realization spread across Kate's lips. "Like my father's courtly order!"

Tom smirked. "Just like that. I also believe one downfall of the knights' current state of affairs is that no reliable standard exists for conduct and etiquette. Each man does as he personally believes is best, and even then, the High Council can arbitrarily declare that one knight has stepped out of bounds, despite the fact no line was ever drawn. To a large extent, the morality of the entire order hangs only on the opinions of the ten men in the Council at any one time."

"I can certainly see the downsides to such a system. Indeed, I believe even if we only made those two changes, the Knights of the King's Table should be vastly better off for it."

"I think so too. Having a definitive set of rules any knight can review would also be helpful with trials, because as it stands, again, a prospective knight's chances of passing his trial depends on two things: His surface-level success in the assignment given him, and again, the Council's opinions of his conduct. I have seen perfectly eligible candidates turned away merely for omitting some courtroom protocol or some such, while other reprehensible characters sneak in merely for being charming enough under examination."

"Such a thing should not be." Kate agreed, "Thank you for offering your perspective, Tom. I shall have to speak to my father on this, and I have no doubt he'll gladly implement these reforms. We are indebted to you."

Tom bowed his head. "I may have left my knighthood behind me, but I remain a servant of the crown."

****

Noontime the next day found Manfred perched on the pasture's fence as he nibbled on a carrot and basked in the rays of the cresting sun. The speckled white mare named Fidelity lingered nearby and grazed by the swordsman's feet.

Manfred's face grew more somber when the thought occurred to him that this day marked a week since Andre's lashing out and subsequent vanishing act. He'd expected his friend to storm off from the castle, take a day or two to process his emotions and figure things out, and then return after that to make amends. But clearly, that wouldn't be the case. Worry grew in Manfred's heart as he pondered what could have happened to him.

The notion that Andre had possibly given into his grief and taken his own life occurred to Manfred more than once, but every time it came to his mind, he vigorously dismissed it. Andre could do some drastic things when perturbed, but that wasn't one of them. At least so Manfred hoped. But what if he was wrong?

He caught some movement out of the corner of his eye as he crunched down on another bite of carrot, so he looked up to see Princess Kate coming his way. With a quick smile, he hopped down from the fence and bowed, but with a lighthearted laugh, she gestured for him to rise. Manfred straightened himself, and then, unsure what to do with his hands, he folded them behind his back.

"Good afternoon, your highness. How can I be helpful to you?" he asked, attempting to ignore his hyperactive heart.

"It is actually I who came to be of assistance to you." Kate replied pleasantly, her face radiant with her charismatic grin, "I apologize for the long wait you have been forced to endure to acquire knighthood. You were promised it almost nine days ago now, and it may be a few more before your patience will finally be rewarded."

"It's alright...your highness. There've been much bigger things going on."

"Quite true. See, remember how the other day, I told you that the knights had opted to wait on your initiation ceremony until Sir Alden Holt's funeral had taken place?"

Manfred nodded vigorously. "Yes."

"Well, I spoke with your teacher afterward, and he suggested to me several reforms that must be made in the knightly order, which I subsequently brought before my father. We spoke about it at length, and we soon discovered that after all the changes be ratified, the Knights of the King's Table will be nothing at all like it once was. Hence, my father made the decision to instate a new knightly order in its place."

"Like starting from scratch?"

"Yes, precisely." Kate brushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "And as such, you will be initiated into a new order altogether. I am arranging a meeting to be held in the High Council chamber for the Knights of the King's Table this evening to discuss transitionary matters, and I should like you to attend."

"I mean...if you want me to...alright. Anything I should know?"

Kate gave Manfred a mischievous smirk, which drew a nervous laugh to his own lips. "You will want to dress up some," she said, "for one of Sir Holt's first actions as leader will be to personally knight you."

Manfred's eyes opened wider. "Sir Holt as in...my teacher?"

"Yes, with some coaxing, I persuaded Tom Holt to accept the position."

"But what of the academy?"

"You are rather full of questions." Kate remarked with a giggle, "He has completed the evaluations, so for the time being, his students are being allotted a rest period. He will eventually have to select a man to take his place there, of course, but Halotinian swordsmen are hardly in short supply. But that is beside the point. I have a mission for you, Manfred."

"Oh, yes? What's that?"

The princess reached across the fence and rubbed a hand over Fidelity's snout. "A man should look his best when being inducted into knighthood, so I should like you to head to the capitol and acquire some fine attire. You may ride Fidelity if you like."

Manfred gave Kate a shy smile in return for her beaming grin. "Mission accepted, your highness. Thank you."

"It is my pleasure. Enjoy yourself, and I'll look forward to seeing you finally rewarded for your bravery tonight."

After Kate gave him an awkward hug that she subsequently laughed off, she twirled and headed back to the castle. Manfred watched her with veiled pleasure before letting out a sigh and heading off to the stable for riding gear. 

**** 

A/N: Well, business is being handled, and it seems a new path will be paved! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and if so, please do vote and comment, please and thank you. 😁 

Why am I rushing through this note, you ask? Why, that's because I was the idiot who forgot to update yesterday, so now is hurrying to post the next morning and hopefully make up by making it a triple update. So hopefully I'll see you in the other two chapters!