"Careful, careful, he's not to be harmed and escort him to the round hall," came the voice of Belladona from above. The knights lowered their sharp spears to her word and lifted up Thalric from the ground.

  "Much thanks," said Thalric, sweeping away the dust and dry leaves hanging on his clothes. But then the knight grabbed him by both of his hands.

  "Excuse me," he said, but they showed no heed to his words and lifted him up like a child and went into the great white castle. From there, they entered a corridor, one where nobody was around to see Thalric's struggling display, and only their footsteps could be heard. The ash coloured walls on both sides added an extra coldness and silence to the corridor.

  Thelric hung in there, grasping without much of a mess. Now, he was somewhat numb to these surprises and decided to see what was going to happen to him next.

  Clamp! Clamp! Clamp! Clamp! came the sound of knights' footsteps. Then, Thelric saw another group of knights appear in the far corner of the corridor. They all had at least one lamp in their hands. After a while, they all stood in front of the giant white door placed on the right side of the corridor. It had some sort of art carved into it—art of a giant circle with a few strange marks above it.

  With a push, one of the knights opened the door easily, revealing a giant hall filled with pillars. On all those pillars were words (as Thalric recognized) that he did not had the knowledge to read.

  In the middle of all the pillars was a large round table with thirteen thrones around it. The table and thrones were all made from white rock, just like the material in the white castle walls. Placed in the middle of all those pillars, the round table and thirteen thrones seems to have held their positions for ages, remaining unmove.

  The knights came and went. The ones with lamps in their hands lit them up in numinous colors—some red and blue, others yellow and purple—and hung them on each of the pillars. After they had done their job, the place, which had once been a lonely and gloomy hall, now looked like a magical chamber, with numinous colors surrounding the giant round table.

  While the knights with lamps carried out their task, the knights with Thalric led him toward the round table—only stopping when they reached the field of pillars, never stepping into the area clearly meant for the round table. Once in that position, they placed Thalric on the ground.

  "Others will be arriving soon," they said before turning around and walking away.

  Thalric was too confused to say anything to them. The simple fact that he had been out in the real world, then brought into the white castle and led into a giant hall with colorful surroundings and unknown words, left the little knowledge Thelric had in a state of confusion and perplexity—until he heard a loud sound.

  The sound of the large doors closing.

  Thedor did not move to run, for he was too late—the door had already closed by the time he looked anyway. So, he stood alone in the strange hall, looking around at those wondrous colors and the weird language carved into the giant pillars.

  For the first half hour, he tried to read those languages but failed terribly. Then, he began to wonder what would happen to him now and what had happened to him before. But with little knowledge of what was going on, he had no real understanding of his current situation.

  And while lost in those thoughts, he came close to the large round table—and saw the fearsome carvings on it. As art, they were just random depictions of individuals' heroic deeds, yet Thalric felt an immense sense of respect and pride when he looked at them. So much so that he instinctively took steps back out of reverence.

  "Strange," he said, unable to figure out the action he had taken.

  But he was a cautious guy and knew enough not to get close to the table again. So, he went back to the giant pillars and started the pointless, time-wasting task of trying to read the unknown language—hoping that something would happen soon.

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  And something did happen. When Theador spelled a few words in pillars (in a language he had just made up), suddenly it shook, frightening Theador, and opened a part of the pillar like a secret door. He had heard of the tales where some lucky fellows stumbled upon treasure after saying a keyword in front of giant rocks or statues. He began to wonder whether he was just like them and had stumbled upon some treasure by saying some keyword from things he just mumbled.

  As his thoughts ran wilder, someone stepped out from the piller. Someone wearing a long coat made from the skin of a silver wolf—the head of the wolf rested like a hood over his own. He was tall enough to make Thalric look like an infant and had bulky, flashy muscles exposed to the open air, as he was bare-chested.

  "Who are you?" he asked, looking at the stunned Theodor.

  With a shaky tone, Theodor muttered a few words. "I... I was just hanging... around."

  "Hanging? Oh... here." Saying that, he removed his coat and placed it over Theodor, completely covering the smaller figure with the long cape.

  Too confused to say anything, Theodor stood still with the cape covering him entirely. The large man went and sat on one of those stone thrones around the round table—the same one Theodor had been afraid to approach.

  Then, the two waited for a few moments in silence. The large man closed his eyes after settling into the stone seat. Theodor wanted to say something to him but wasn’t quite sure how to start.

  As he pondered, he heard a sound coming from behind. Another pillar had opened like a door, and a man wearing a long green robe stepped out. He wore a straw hat, and under his robe, Thelric noticed a short curved sword resting against the man's wrist.

  He had a fair height—not as tall as the first man, who had made Thelric look like a child in comparison—but there was a pleasant aura around him. Perhaps it was because of the green color of his robe, similar to tree leaves, that Mordred did not feel oppressed by him.

  He also walked to the round table and—"Oh"—he saw the silver wolf coat but not Thelric underneath it. After looking around, he also removed his robe and placed it on top, adding even more weight for poor Thelric to bear.

  "Ah, excuse me..." He tried to reach out to the slender-looking man, but Thelric saw that he was already seated in a stone throne around the round table.

  "What is going on here? Did they bring me here just to hold their coats?" While Thelric pondered, the large man, who had already been sitting in one of the seats, opened his eyes when the slender man arrived.

  "Kaito, I thought you died a long time ago," said him.

  "It's better to keep a silent presence," said Kaito, calmly sitting in his seat while closing his eyes.

  The two didn't talk much after that, for they did not have much of a common friendship between them. And they didn't have to wait long in silence, as more and more pillars opened, and soon two more people stepped out.

  One was a woman wearing a glamorous red and blue dress that fitted her body perfectly. She had long hair like burning fire, gleaming with bright red and orange mixed colors. The other was a man wearing full knight armor with a long coat. For some reason, he had snow on his coat, and just like what Kaito and Kaelen (the tall man) did, he placed his coat over Thalric, not noticing him under the coats and capes.

  "I thought there were supposed to be seven of us," said the knight, looking at the three sitting around the table.

  "There is, there is. I was a bit late," came the voice of Beladona as she stepped out from another opened pillar.

  "But with you, it's only five. Where are the last two?" said the glamorous lady Riven. She was an extremely popular figure throughout Albion, and her tales of heroic deeds were second only to those of Arthur and his sons. One of those very son of the Legandery Arthur's are also among this group.

  "What nonsense are you talking? There should be six—count again. The little first member arrived here before anyone else," said Beladona, but she did not see Thalric among the figures around the table. "Now, where did he disappear to?"

  It was then that the large man, Kaelen, looked at the pile of coats and robes standing close to a pillar. Without a word, he stood up, walked over to it, and took his coat off, revealing Thalric’s face buried underneath.

  "By the gods, Thalric, who put these things on you?" Beladona said, looking at the others. Kaito and the armored knight peacefully stood up, took their coats, and walked back to their seats.

  "I thought it was just a coat hanger," muttered Kaito to himself while going back to his seat.

  "Lucky fellow didn’t get suffocated under those smelly and sweaty pieces," said Beladona, giving Thalric a light pat on the back and looking into his eyes.

  "Good, good, nothing happened. Now, where's the last...?" while asking She then lifted thalric up like a child and placed him on one of those thrones around the table—in the one close to her.

  "I'm already here," they all heard, and there he was—a man sitting in another seat around the table. Thalric did not see how he came or when he came. But the others showed no confusion about those questions, unlike him.

  "Now, Since all of us are here , let us start the seventeenth round of the round table," said the man in the knight armor.