Chapter 927: ’My’ Queen

"Right this way, Sentinel." The green haired woman said, pointing into a room adjoining the grand hallway.

I smiled at her and entered the room. The room was filled with mirrors and fabrics. After a quick gander, the door shut behind me. The green haired woman then spoke. "Lord Sentinel, if you could remove your clothes? We will begin taking your measurements so we can find you a comfortable fit.

"No problem, does that include underwear?" I asked for clarification.

"That would be best." The woman said professionally.

I shrugged my shoulders softly before removing my clothes one by one.

Once my knees were in the breeze, the green haired woman extended her ams out either side of her. I copied her, knowing what she was asking and just stood there while she gathered some measuring devices and did her job.

I began to idly look around the room before a voice startled me.

"Eleni. You are staring. Don’t be rude and do your job."

Eleni, who was measuring my bottom half, suddenly gasped and bowed to the figure behind me. "Forgive me, your grace."

I looked down at Eleni as she looked up at me, she was blushing. I had a vague idea at what she might have been staring at. ’Very cute.’

My thoughts were distracted though as Elaine walked deeper into the room and grabbed my encased left arm.

"Apollo, what is this?" She asked.

"My armour." I replied honestly.

"I am not comfortable with you having armour on during a meal, can you please remove it?" Elaine asked.

I grimaced at the question.

"Is that a problem?" She inquired further.

"Um, kind of... I can remove it, but my armour is unique, it stores itself within the gaps between my atoms. And something happened during the war and lets just say removing it now is more than uncomfortable."

"I see... I don’t wish to make you uncomfortable, but since you can remove it, please do... It’s not for me or the king. But for the safety of my children, please understand?"

I sighed, she was being nice about it after all. Turning to the two Handmaidens I asked, "Can you two give me space for a moment?"

"No problem, we are done anyway." The green haired one spoke and moved away to do her thing.

I then stretched out and limbered myself up before initiating standby mode.

This process used to be much easier. But since devouring that worm my armour has gotten much bigger in the biomass department. It didn’t just encase my epidermis and muscles. In some points it had gotten in the gaps between my bones as well as an anchor.

I could have done the easier way and simply activated my armour then walked out of it, but I doubted anyone in the palace would be appreciative of my alien looking armour. I doubted even more the queen would like me suddenly encasing myself so option two it was.

Activating Standby mode my armour began to pour off my arm and began forming a cube on the floor.

At first Elaine thought Apollo was just being possessive of his gear. It appeared to just be a metal manica after all. She watched as the armour began to pour off his arm, almost like a liquid and coalesced into a cube onto the floor.

She thought it would be over in a few seconds, but as the minutes passed on she was shocked by how large the cube was getting. It only stopped by the time it was almost a third of the height of the sentinel and just as wide.

Looking at the fleshy-metallic cube was making her uneasy, especially the purple orbs on the top of it. "Goodness. All that was in your arm? How?"

"Alien tech... I know it is genetic science. But I am not even close to this level."

Elaine frowned for a moment before attempting to push the cube.

It did not budge.

"How much does it weigh?" She asked, curiously.

"A few tonnes. I don’t have an exact number."

The queen turned to me and blinked in a stupor. "I’m sorry? Did you say tonnes?"

"I did."

She looked me up and down, lingering on the down for a moment before returning to my eyeline. "How do you manage to walk around without breaking the floor with each step? You literally weigh tonnes when your armour is within you."

"I have Gyrokinesis. A Psionic control over gravity. With it I can adjust my own gravity without thinking at this point to make me ’lighter.’ That way I don’t, as you said, break the floor with each step."

Elaine raised an eyebrow. "You have such control of your powers? I am very impressed. Most Psionic individuals cannot use their powers passively."

I shrugged my shoulders. "It’s not a big deal. The planet I grew up on had an extremely strong gravitational pull. I had to use my powers or my bones would have broken and my insides squished."

"You have had your powers since you were a child?" Elaine asked, surprised.

’Shit.’ I thought to myself. It wasn’t exactly a super secret, I had told a few people I have had powers since I was a child, fewer still since I was a baby. But it’s not something I wanted actively known.

Still I sighed and shrugged my shoulders, the cat was out of the bag. "Yes, but don’t tell anyone, your grace. I don’t want more eyes on me than there already are now that I am a Sentinel."

Elaine smirked hearing that. ’He is surprisingly innocent.’

"Very well, your secret is safe with me and my maidens. Speaking of. Torr, are you nearly done? We can’t have our good lord sentinel in his birthday suit all day long can we? Though with his build I think some would like that."

Elaine then locked eyes with Eleni, whose face suddenly burned with embarrassment and looked away.

...

"So? What do you think?" Elaine asked me as I looked at myself in the mirror.

The toga was a bit tight despite the taking of measurements. Sigismund had the potential to balloon up to my size quite easily, but I had a more muscular physique than he did. As such, quite a lot of my muscles were on display. My right pectoral and the majority of my right side of my torso was exposed, but I think it made it look rather cool.

"I like it... Though I feel a bit exposed down below." I admitted as it only reached just above my knees.

"Yes, I had a feeling you would..." Elaine paused for a moment before snapping too. "You can put your underwear back on, that is more than fine."

I sighed out in relief and did just that. Once we were ready to go, I pointed at my armour and asked, "Do I just leave that here?"

Elaine nodded her head. "Yes, if you are worrying about it being stolen, then you have forgotten where you are. It will be here waiting for you once the meal has concluded." Elaine then extended her arm out towards me.

"Now come, escort your queen through the halls."

I moved towards her and allowed her to wrap her arms around my left. I then smiled as we began to make our way towards the dining room, but internally I was frowning, pouting.

’Your not ’My’ queen. You are a queen. My queen is beyond equal and infinitely beautiful... Great, now my mood has slightly soured.’

...

Elaine glanced out of the corner of her eye towards Apollo. His face seemed deep in contemplation. An actual nice change of pace. Usually when accompanied by male nobles in private, the male gaze took over. Even the best of them couldn’t help glancing at the queen.

Apollo though? Nothing. She realised halfway through talking earlier that her nipples had been accidentally visible during her stola, but not a glance? She was impressed and perhaps a little disappointed?

She shook that thought aside though. She was not the type of woman that was jealous when a man looked at someone equally beautiful but not at her. If anything, this interaction had reset the balance of her opinion of the young Archon-cum-Sentinel.

She smiled at that thought. She could forgive herself for her past thoughts. Her original thoughts about the man seemed true. A good, honest man. Warm, considerate and surprisingly gentle for a man built like a tree.

Her thoughts lingered back to when she first saw him at her party. Hailey had been staring at him and her instincts kicked him. She couldn’t believe she thought he was a part of some plot.

The more she has learnt about him through her own sources and just by being in his presence. He was surprisingly simple, yet absurdly powerful. He even passed her little stubbornness test. He didn’t want to, yet he parted with his armour. Even more showing his true character.

She turned to him fully now and he turned to her, smiling. Genuinely. It was not a noble’s forced smile, but a real one. She found herself smiling back. As she did, for some inexplicable reason, her memory suddenly flashed a memory into her brain.

Of him and Kathrine Hyllus after the party had come to an end...

Before she could blush she looked ahead and exclaimed.

"Ah, look! We are here. I don’t know about you Sentinel Lambdason, but I am starving."