The road to the Order was surprisingly empty - Calen had a feeling that the growing death zone around the temple might have scared off most of the corrupted beasts in the area.
It didn’t take long before they saw the Order’s headquarters on the horizon - and Calen thought one thing when he saw it:
’That’s a huge ass castle...’
Even from a distance it was clear the fortress was clearly bigger than you would expect from its population of around two thousand. It was so large that Calen was convinced it must have been built before the invasion - unfortunately he didn’t know what the castle was called, but he was sure Cassian would.
When they got closer he could truly appreciate the scale - the area surrounded by walls was as big as Greenheart, if not bigger.
The gates opened by themselves when they approached them - it seemed like every city they found has a way of detecting invisible travelers. It made sense of course, after all few people travelled without any protection now.
Once they were inside the heavy portcullis closed behind them, trapping them - for better or worse.
They were greeted by two men clad in plate armour - one was quite old, with bald head and greying beard, but still impressive build, which was only accentuated by his masterfully crafted armour.
The other was a teenager, with bright blonde hair and a comically serious expression - he was most likely a squire as his equipment was nowhere near as good.
"Welcome to the Order travelers." The older man greeted them. "I’m commander Harold, and this is my squire Ben. I assume you’re the group Sylara told us about?"
"That’s correct sir." Calen nodded. "We’re grateful for your hospitality."
"The pleasure is all ours, it’s not often that we get to host such important people as Flamebearer." Harold smiled. "Speaking of your group, I thought there were only four of you?"
It seems Alfred was right - although thankfully the knight seemed more curious than suspicious.
"There are in fact only for of us - the lad we’re travelling with is from Mountainfall, he wants to join the Order."
"Lady Sylara didn’t mention him."
"He came up to us right before we left and asked to come, he has no parents and Stlara gave her blessings to the boy."
The older knight studied disguised Alfred for a bit before shrugging.
"We’ll take the boy, the Order always needs more men." He turned to his squire. "Ben, get this kid a room and give him a shirt tour of the castle, I’ll organise his training later - and get him out of that cheap armour."
"Right away sir." The squire nodded and motion at Alfred to follow him. "Come on, we have to set you up."
They soon disappeared from view and Harold addressed the group again:
"I’m going to show you to the rooms where you’ll be staying." He started moving towards the castle. "If you could come with me please."
" You’ll be staying in these four rooms. I apologise that you won’t be able to meet with the round table today, most of the elders are terribly busy because of the Blightborn forces remaining in the area." Harold bower slightly.
"No worries sir, but I did want to ask about that - how come you’re just standing here without any illusions hiding you, and the Serakhiin don’t attack you?"
"That’s because we made them understand it’s pointless." The knight grinned. "Our castle was under siege from them a few times, but unlike Mountainfall which withstood their sieges and then ran away, we sent the Blightborn packing each time."
"So you repelled their attacks until they gave up? Why is the round table worried about their army now then?"
"Our scouts reported that someone new is in charge of the army, and we’re suspecting they might be foolish enough to attack, now that they lost track of their original target."
"I see, thank you for answering my questions, you must have more important things to attend to so well let you go."
"It was no problem young man, but I am needed elsewhere now, so you’ll have to excuse me." Harold bowed once more. "Goodnight."
Alfred felt a tad strange being introduced to his own home by a boy half his age, but he made sure to nod along and throw in a few simple questions when appropriate.
"How long ago did you join the Order?" He casually asked.
"Around two months ago." Ben answered.
"Were you born in the fortress or are you a recruit like me?"
"I was born in Greenheart, if you must know."
"An outsider who became a squire to a commander in just two months? You must be very talented."
Alfred was only partially trying to butter him up, it was clear that the boy must have done something right considering his position - not every trainee became a squire, much less to a commander.
"Sir Harold simply appreciated my dedication and perseverance." The squire tried to appear indifferent, but it was clear he was pleased by the compliment.
’I doubt that’s the real reason, but it does sound like an excuse Harold would come up with.’
Now that he got the boy’s favour, he wanted to test the waters by talking about his master.
"I’ve heard that the Order went through a change of leadership recently."
Ben stopped for a moment and looked at him with narrowed eyes, but then resumed walking.
"I suppose I can tell you about it since you’re going to be one of us soon" The squire’s voice fell to a whisper. "Some time ago Lord Arthur returned from his battle trial and accused our previous leader of treason. The Adults wouldn’t tell me what exactly transpired, but the round table pronounced sir Nickolas guilty, and threw him into a dungeon."
’the adults - right, he’s only a kid, he wouldn’t know what actually happened, and other won’t tell him even the twisted version of events.’
"You haven’t heard anything about it?"
"No, for some reason everyone seems hesitant to even mention it."
This investigation would prove difficult if no one was willing to talk about what happened.