While he was looking around, Tadrinus noticed a man standing on one of the upper balconies. The man looked unremarkable, but for some reason, Tadrinus couldn't look away until the man walked away.
     

Eventually, they made it to the center and were starting to line up when the man appeared at one of the doors, moving through others and making a beeline to Tadrinus. When he stood in front of Tadrinus, he gave a quick nod and pointed behind him, "You have to follow me. Right this minute."
     

"Um..." Tadrinus didn't know what to do. They were here to meet the king, to be, and now this random guard was ordering him around.
     

"You don’t have a choice; even if you wanted to argue about it, I would out rank you." The man said, grabbing his arm and starting to walk without waiting for a yes. Tadrinus had no choice but to follow, the man was correct. He was only a recruit, and from what he could tell of the man’s uniform. The few moments he saw it up close showed it was a unique outfit, but he couldn’t tell how.
     

They walked through a few halls before the man stopped in front of a pair of fancy-looking doors. He let go of Tadrinus's arm and turned to give him a once over.
     

When his sight landed on Tadrinus's hair, he snickered then reached out to move it, setting it in a way Tadrinus preferred but couldn't have because of knight regulation. When he saw Tadrinus's frown, he dropped his hands. "That was wrong of me, but it's important for it to be this way. You don’t need to understand."
     

That only made Tadrinus's frown deepen. 
     

The man didn't give him time to say anything before turning to the door and knocking on it. Another man opened the door slightly, wearing a similar-colored uniform. Now that Tadrinus had a moment, he noticed they both had gems on the right side of their chest. The guard that had dragged him here had one, and the one that opened the door had three. “I saw him in the group of recruits, so I brought him to meet her,” one gem pointed to Tadrinus. “Get her out here so we can start fixing things.”
   

Three gem looked at Tadrinus before muttering, “finally.” He closed the door, and Tadrinus could hear some movement behind it. Tadrinus looked to one gem, but he just stared at the door. Soon, there was stomping, and the doors flew open. Standing there in a mess was the princess. It had been a few years since he had last seen her in person. That first time, she had only been six, it had been eight years since then, and he wondered if her reaction was because she remembered him. 
     

She looked Tadrinus over before throwing herself at him, tears in her eyes “I’m so sorry!”
     

Tadrinus’s eyes went wide as he patted his hand on her back, “um…” he looked to one gem before looking down at her. “It’s okay?” he wondered if had done something because if she remembered the last time they met, she wouldn’t be apologizing.
     

She shook her head. “It isn’t. The other two were back right away, but then you were gone for a week, and I didn’t know if you would ever be back.”
     

“Amalane…” one gem said, moving closer. “We tried to tell you that the uniform was in the treasury again.”
     

She shook her head again. “That doesn’t mean he will be back.”
     

“I also told you that this happened before with Kynlemol.”
     

She opened her mouth to say something, still hugging Tadrinus, when he spoke up “Um…” that made the two look at him. 
     

That seemed to snap Amalane out of whatever she was thinking about as she pulled away from him. She still had tears in her eyes, but she had a small smile on her face. “sorry…I just…” she shook her head and gave a small curtsy. “It’s nice to meet you. Lawlinon,” she waved at one gem, “will show you to my brother and explain your job.”
     

“Um…”
     

“I haven’t told him anything. I felt it was better for you to see him.” Lawlinon said with a frown.