Nights in winter forced the sun to depart under horizon of the hills sooner in the day than other time of the year, and this night was no exception. The grandfather clock of Alexandria had barely struck 6 o'clock when the sun began descending in the sky. Many townsfolk greeted the sight, for it meant a hard day's work was over. Children often scampered onto the roofs of their homes to watch the cascading light slowly flitter away behind the mountains to the west. The castle standing next to the town had no exception, as children of nobles would often crowd around the balcony to watch the beautiful sight.
Finally the cook and his assistants managed to clear out the crowd inside the grand dining room. Tonight was a momentous occasion, and he had had the foresight to eliminate any possible intrusion. The cook, a severely obese pig-type human morph, gleefully clasped his pudgy hands together and shouted for the cooking to being. The kitchen helpers were waiting to hear the signal, and upon doing so dashed to perform their respective chores.
At that moment a face peered out the main doors to the castle. He was a young man, probably in his late teens or very early twenties, and was dressed in somewhat strange clothes compared to those that usually roamed in the castle. Dressed in a green vest over a solid white undershirt and blue sweatpants, a huge belt swung at his side, barely done, and there were large, dark green cufflinks attached to each of his arms. Even more striking was the white tail that swung from behind him and the messily combed blond hair that hung from his head. These made him instantly recognizable to every citizen of Alexandria, though there was another reason for that as well.
"King Zidane! Please stay in the castle! It is improper for one attending such an incredible event such as this to be seen outside the castle walls."
Zidane turned to see a small man dressed in chain mail armor running up to him. Just another one of the foot soldiers, Zidane thought to himself. This kid must be really young, or he wouldn't be following the book nearly his hard. The king tried to think of an eloquent way to tell the knight to mind his own business. Finally he began speaking.
"You know what? You're right. I shouldn't be seen before the feast. I suppose I should get dressed for the event now too, don't you think?"
The guard stood nervously, unsure how to address the most powerful man in the world. "Well...It might be a good idea, yes."
"Very good." Zidane clasped his hands together. "Run up to the servant's quarters and tell them I'll be up to my room shortly."
"Yes, my liege!" The guard quickly gave the Alexandrian salute and hurried up the steps. As soon as he was out of sight Zidane put his hands on the doorknob, but then turned away. Nah, he thought to himself. No sense in getting the guy in trouble.
Instead he walked through one of the many hallways and found himself staring at several paintings hung before a set of steps. Set in the center of them was a paining of the King and Queen at their marriage two years ago. Next to that was a self-portrait of each member of the royal family. Besides those were two paintings that were hung before the wedding had taken place. One was of the former queen, Queen Garnet's mother Brahne, whose painting Garnet had insisted stay on the wall. On the other side was a painting of Garnet while she had still been a Princess, at a small eleven years old. It was the Garnet's favorite portrait of herself.
Zidane turned to the other side of the room and chuckled again upon seeing what was hung on the long stretch. Shortly after the eight friends had returned from stopping Kuja's scheme to destroy all life, Eiko had suggested that rather than have "some dumb old artist guy" do a picture of them all, they should each draw themselves in a giant mural. Somehow she had talked the rest of them into doing it, and eventually even Amarant got into the drawing spirit. Scattered along the wall were bad self-portraits, the worst of which being Steiner and Quina, who admitted having little artistic talent. The best turned out to be Freya's, who had managed a near-perfect reflection of herself. Also of interest was the drawing Vivi had made, a picture of himself that looked pretty good for a nine year-old. Of course, Zidane preferred the stance he was in, hugging Garnet, particularly since it was her idea to draw them that way. Zidane sighed. It was hard to believe that in such a short time he would be seeing them all again.
He turned and started walking to his room, where he ran into one of his knights. This particular knight was of strong build and stood about a foot taller than his king. He was dressed head-to-toe in steel-plated armor, and a huge sword was slung on his back. He had a blank, stony look on his face, but upon seeing who he ran into his eyes widened and he scrambled to get in his proper position to salute.
"Sire, please forgive me! I had no..."
Zidane groaned. He had been king for over two years and one of his best friends still couldn't stop calling him "Sire". "Steiner, will you knock it off!? I hate being that, especially by you."
Steiner bowed. "But King Zidane, it is only proper to do so." He spoke.
Zidane sighed again. "I know, but it's not like there's people watching us right now. I don't call you "Lord Steiner" even though you are. Just try to stop once everyone gets here, all right?"
Steiner nodded quickly. "I shall try, Ki...Zidane." He managed to catch himself mid-way through the word.
"Good. Now, who's here?"
"Ummm..." Steiner thought for a moment. "I believe presently only Master Vivi is here. The others should be arriving shortly. Is there anything else?"
"Actually, yes. Do you know if Regent Cid and Lady Hilda will be attending?"
"Nay, they apologized, but they will not be able to come. Lady Eiko will be, though." Steiner remembered the messenger's words exactly.
Zidane nodded. "All right,
then. Well, I'm going to go get ready. I think you should too, Steiner."
"I
am already prepared."
The king looked at him curiously. "You're going to eat dinner in your suit of armor?" He asked.
"I will not partake in the eating. I shall resume my role as bodyguard to Queen Garnet. Lady Beatrix will be doing to same for you."
For the third time in five minutes, Zidane sighed. "Come on, Steiner. You two have got to eat! All our friends are coming! They don't want to see you decked out in a giant piece of metal."
Steiner stayed silent for several seconds. "What is your order, sir?"
"My order is this: If either you or Lady Beatrix decide not to sit down with the rest of us when the meal starts, you shall both be relinquished from your duties." Zidane saw the look of pure shock mount on the knight's face, and he couldn't keep the smile off his face. He turned and walked away, but stopped after a few seconds to see Steiner still standing in shock. He grinned.
"We're all counting on you, Rusty." He grinned.
Upon hearing the king's former nickname for him, Steiner snapped back to reality and stared at Zidane. Steiner smiled, shook his head, and took a detour from his patrol into his room.