Chapter 55: Two Days

I stepped back inside the house, closing the door behind me, and immediately found three pairs of eyes waiting for me. Sera stood closest to the entrance with her arms loosely folded, Father remained beside the dining table with the newspaper forgotten at his side, and Mother had turned completely in her chair. None of them asked anything at first. They simply watched me, apparently waiting to see whether the expression on my face would answer the question for them.

I couldn’t hold it.

A laugh escaped me, short at first, then growing into something genuine as I walked back toward the dining room. I had spent the last few minutes trying to keep my composure in front of the Twilight Order, but there was no reason to pretend anymore. I looked at the three of them and shook my head, still smiling. "You aren’t going to believe what just happened."

Sera’s eyebrow lifted. "Considering the way you’re smiling, I’m guessing nobody came to arrest you."

"That was actually one of the possibilities I was considering."

Father frowned. "Arrest you?"

I waved a hand. "Forget that part."

"Edmund."

I laughed again. "Fine. The Twilight Order came to tell me that Theodore, Mary, Arthur, and I have been summoned to the King’s Palace on the first of March."

Mother’s expression softened with surprise. "The King’s Palace!?"

I nodded.

"Why?"

"They’re going to knight us."

For several seconds, the room went completely still.

Father stared at me.

Mother stared at me.

Sera’s folded arms slowly dropped to her sides.

"You’re joking," she finally said.

"I’m not."

Father’s face changed first. The sternness disappeared, replaced by something I had rarely seen so openly on him. Pride. He stepped toward me and placed a hand on my shoulder, giving it a firm squeeze as a smile spread across his face.

"My son is becoming a Knight."

Mother stood from her chair almost immediately and came over to me. She touched my arm, her eyes bright with a mixture of disbelief and happiness. "At fifteen..."

I nodded.

"At fifteen," I repeated.

Sera stared at me for another moment before a small smile appeared on her face. "Well. I suppose I should start calling you Sir Edmund."

"Don’t."

She smiled wider.

"I definitely will."

Father laughed, and Mother joined him. The sound filled the dining room so naturally that I found myself laughing along with them, the strange weight that had been sitting on my chest since the Twilight Order arrived finally disappearing.

Father’s hand remained on my shoulder for another moment before he finally pulled it away. "They said all four of you?"

"Yes."

"Theodore, Mary, Arthur, and you?"

"All four."

He nodded slowly, apparently trying to take in the fact that it wasn’t just me.

"Then the academy must be extremely proud.

"They’re apparently the first team in five hundred years where every member advanced."

Mother’s eyes widened. "Five hundred?"

"That’s what they say."

Sera tilted her head. "And they decided to knight you because of that?"

"Apparently."

She studied me for a moment, then smiled. "That’s actually impressive."

I looked at her.

"Actually?"

She shrugged. "Don’t let it go to your head."

"Too late."

Father laughed again, and even Mother couldn’t stop herself from smiling.

I could still remember the Twilight Order member standing outside the house, calmly telling me that four fifteen-year-olds would stand before the King in only a few days. At the time, I’d barely managed to process the words. Now, saying them aloud in front of my family made the whole thing feel even more ridiculous.

I had been worrying about finding a way to earn a thousand pounds not long ago. Now I was apparently going to walk into the King’s Palace and receive a title that people trained for years to obtain.

Mother returned to her seat and looked toward Father, who had begun smiling to himself again.

Father suddenly looked toward Mother. "What date is it today Audrey?"

Mother glanced at the calendar. "The twenty-sixth of February."

Father froze for a moment.

Then his eyes widened.

"The twenty-sixth?"

"Yes."

He looked back at me, and the smile on his face returned even wider than before. "Then we only have two days!"

"Yeah."

"Two days until my son stands before the King and becomes a Knight."

Mother laughed softly, shaking her head. "We have quite a lot to prepare, then."

Father immediately nodded. "Clothes. We need proper clothes."

"I already have clothes."

Sera leaned back in her chair. "I suppose that means I actually have to find something suitable for you to wear."

"I already have clothes."

"Those academy clothes don’t count."

Father laughed. "She’s right."

"They’re perfectly fine."

"They’re academy uniforms," Sera replied. "You’re going to the King’s Palace."

"I’ll survive."

"That isn’t the point."

Mother smiled as she watched the two of us argue. "Let him have at least one good outfit for the occasion."

I looked between them.

"You’ve all decided this without asking me, haven’t you?"

"Yes," Father said immediately.

Sera nodded. "Obviously."

Mother simply smiled.

I couldn’t help laughing again.

The room felt different now. Only a few minutes ago, I had been standing outside the house wondering whether the Twilight Order had come because of Ethan. Now my family was discussing clothes and preparations as though I had somehow become the most important event in the household.

Father picked up his newspaper but didn’t open it.

"Do you know what the reward is?"

I shook my head. "They didn’t say."

"Then you’ll find out at the palace."

Sera leaned forward slightly. "And you’re actually going to stand in front of the King?"

"That’s usually how royal ceremonies work."

She rolled her eyes.

Mother laughed quietly.

I stared at the three of them. Somehow, the fact that it was only two days away made everything feel even more real. There was no distant date to imagine, no long stretch of time between now and then. The ceremony wasn’t some event waiting somewhere in the future anymore. It was already approaching, with every hour bringing it closer.

I pulled out a chair and sat down, reaching for the teapot. I poured myself a cup of black tea while Father was already talking about what needed to be prepared, Mother was considering what I should wear, and Sera was apparently enjoying the opportunity to make my life difficult.

I took a sip of tea.

Two days.

In two days, I was going to become a Knight.