My Ultimate Sign-in System Made Me Invincible

Chapter 769: Meeting With The King

Clone One stood in the middle of the moonlit street, looking at the royal envoy in white and gold. Behind the envoy, the heads of the six great houses were still on their knees on the black stone, held down by the heavy weight of his presence.

"Alright," Clone One said with an easy nod. "Lead the way."

Before the envoy could turn around, the heavy wooden doors of the Hale estate swung open. Clara stepped out onto the stone path with her dark wool cloak fastened at her throat. Felix followed a step behind her with a tight frown on his face.

"Clara," Clone One said, raising an eyebrow as she walked through the gate. "I thought I told you to stay inside."

"You are a guest of House Hale," Clara said with a calm, steady voice as she stopped beside him in the silver moonlight. "My family offered you shelter under our roof. If the crown calls for you, I will stand beside you when you answer."

Felix let out a sharp breath through his nose and glared at the back of Clone One’s head before he looked at his sister. "Clara, this is the royal palace. If you walk in there with him, the King will see it as House Hale taking his side against the great houses."

"Then let him see it," Clara said without looking back. "Father isn’t here, so I speak for the house tonight."

Felix pressed his lips together, muttered something under his breath and stepped up to stand on her other side. "Fine. If you’re going to get us all killed, I’m not sitting at home waiting for the news."

Clone One looked from Clara to Felix, gave a small shrug and smiled. "Suit yourselves."

He pulled the rest of his Primordial Essence back into his body, and the invisible weight lifted off the street.

All along the street, the fifty guards and dozens of ancient lords shuddered as the pressure left them. Lord Sterling pushed himself up onto one knee with a hand pressed to his chest and stared at Clone One with wide, cautious eyes. None of the nobles reached for their weapons or tried to stand in his path.

Two royal guards in white-and-gold armor stepped over to Lord Mortimer, hauled him to his feet and bound his wrists in heavy silver chains. Mortimer glared at Clone One with his fangs bared in a silent snarl before the guards shoved him forward into line.

The envoy gave Clara a slight bow, then turned and led the group down the wide main avenue toward the center of the city.

The walk to the palace was short. They moved along broad roads paved with smooth black stone and passed tall spires that rose like dark needles into the starless sky. The city stayed dead silent under the four pale moons. Along the edges of the avenue, thin human slaves in gray cloth paused in the doorways of dark buildings. They dropped to their knees and bowed their heads until the royal guards had passed.

Felix walked close to Clone One’s shoulder, and his eyes kept darting to the white-and-gold armor of the escorts.

"Keep your head down when we get inside," Felix whispered with a low, tight voice. "The King almost never grants an audience to anyone, not even the heads of the great houses. And nobody has ever stood in front of his throne without kneeling."

"Good to know," Clone One said, keeping his hands in his pockets.

They reached a huge pair of double doors made of dark metal and inlaid with four silver moons. Four royal guards pushed the heavy doors inward without a sound, and the throne room opened up in front of them.

The hall was vast and cold. Tall pillars of polished black stone lined both sides of a long central aisle that ran to a raised platform at the far end of the room. There were no torches or candles. Pale silver light poured down from high, narrow openings near the ceiling and cast long shadows across the floor.

At the top of the platform, the King sat on a high-backed throne of carved black stone.

He looked older than any vampire Clone One had seen yet, though his pale face was smooth and free of wrinkles. Long silver hair fell straight down over his shoulders, and his deep crimson eyes held the stillness of a frozen lake. He wore a simple robe of black velvet with silver trim, and his hands rested on the arms of the throne.

As Clone One stepped into the hall, a heavy pressure washed down from the throne. It was calm, but far deeper and older than Mortimer’s. This was the strongest vampire in the realm.

The royal envoy and the four guards dropped to one knee at the foot of the aisle. Beside Clone One, Clara and Felix bowed low and sank down onto the cold stone floor. Even Lord Mortimer was forced onto his knees in his silver chains.

Clone One stayed standing. He stopped twenty paces from the throne, kept his hands in his pockets and looked up at the King.

The royal guards along the pillars stiffened at once. Their hands dropped to the hilts of their long swords, and their crimson eyes flashed as they got ready to lunge forward and cut the human down for the insult.

On the throne, the King lifted a single pale finger.

The guards froze and let go of their hilts without a word. The King leaned forward a little and studied Clone One from head to toe with calm curiosity.

"You do not kneel," the King said. He did not raise his voice, yet every word carried through the silent hall. "Not even to the throne."

"It’s a habit," Clone One said. "Where I come from, people don’t kneel much."

The King studied him for a long moment before he spoke again. "Tell me, traveler. Where did you come from? How did you cross a seal that has held for centuries, and what lies beyond the dark?"

Clone One met the King’s gaze. He kept his own nature out of it and described the world outside the seal.

"And the humans in this world you speak of," the King said with a quiet voice. "Are they all as strong as you?"

"Some are weaker, some are stronger," Clone One said. "It’s a big world.

The King leaned back against his throne and rested his chin on his knuckles.

"Lord Mortimer broke the highest law of this realm," the King said, glancing at the chained lord kneeling on the stone floor. "He opened a path through the seal without the consent of the crown, and he hid it from the great houses. He will be punished for his treason."

Mortimer lowered his head and did not dare to speak.

The King’s crimson eyes returned to Clone One. "However, the crossing is open now, and the humans Mortimer brought through are already inside our borders. The crossing now belongs to the crown. And by our laws, every human in this realm must belong to a master."

Clone One’s eyes narrowed, but he stayed relaxed.

"You have strength far beyond any mortal we have ever seen," the King continued. "Stay in this realm. Serve the crown and guard the crossing for my people, and you will never be treated as a slave. I will give you a great house of your own, with lands, wealth and as many servants as you ask for."

The hall went silent. Beside Clone One, Felix didn’t move, and Clara kept her eyes fixed on the floor.

Clone One looked up at the ancient vampire on the throne and let out a short, quiet chuckle.

"No thanks," Clone One said.

The King’s eyes narrowed a fraction. "You refuse?"

"I don’t want a house, and I don’t want servants," Clone One said with a flat, steady voice. "I came here to settle a score and get the people Mortimer locked in his cellar. They’re going home with me, and that door is closing behind us."

For three long seconds, the cold air in the throne room felt as heavy as lead. Then the corners of the King’s pale lips curved up into a small, calm smile.

"No outsider gives orders in my palace," the King said in a soft voice. "You are bold, traveler. Take your rest tonight. We will speak again when you have had time to think about my offer."

He waved one hand toward the tall metal doors. "You may leave."

The King made no move to stop them. He sat back on his throne and watched them turn and walk back down the long aisle.

Outside the palace gates, the three of them walked back toward the east side of the city through the quiet streets under the four pale moons. Neither Clara nor Felix spoke until the dark spires of the palace were far behind them.

"You refused him," Felix said with a hollow voice, staring straight ahead. "You stood in front of the King and told him no."

Clara walked beside Clone One, and her pale face was serious in the moonlight. "My father always told me one thing about the throne, Liam. The King is patient, and he never raises his voice. But he never forgives anyone who refuses him."

Clone One shrugged and kept walking.

When they turned the corner onto the street leading to the Hale estate, all three of them stopped.

Around the low carved walls of the Hale estate, dozens of tall figures stood still in the silver light. They wore spotless white-and-gold armor, and their hands rested on the hilts of long swords as they ringed the entire estate.