The rulers are not the only ones that are in front of Siegtyr and Lucon. Beside them respectively is their two children, a young man, and a lady in their teenage years.
At the Emperor's side at his right is a handsome young man, about the same age as Siegtyr. He showed a remarkable resemblance to the Emperor back when he was still in his youth. The man is dressed in a white military gala shirt with a red cape, long black pants, and brown boots. Like his mother, the young man inherited the silver hair color.
At the Empress' side on the left stood the esteemed daughter of the royal family. Like her mother, she also has possessed flowing silver long hair and great beauty. The young lady is dressed in a blue gown, emphasizing her role as nobility and princess of the Holy Bahamuth Empire.
Among the royal court are the various nobles and courtiers who attended this very assembly. Since this was a matter of concern between the Empire's alliance with the Northern Kingdom of Uppsland and by extension, Fjormark, they are required to attend and see through the proceeding. Of course, this is merely seen as a sign of formalities of a sort as they don't want to offend the Emperor and their northern allies. Although the sentiment is shared mostly on the former. Some of the nobles could care less of the Northmen's opinions and saw this event as rather unnecessary in their opinion. After all, the Northmen as what most of them thought are mindless brutes and savages, one that is never caring for this kind of formal event. But for the sake of the Emperor's wishes and to not risk his ire, they have no choice but to comply.
Seeing the respectful way that his new friend is displaying, Siegtyr opted for a simple bow of his head. No way he is going to worship the Emperor and Empress in front of him like that. Such manners are only reserved to the Gods as dictated by his people's tradition and it was remarkably obvious that the Emperor and Empress are humans. As a result, he will never prostrate himself in such an exaggerating way. His pride and honor as a true man of the North simply won't allow it.
Siegtyr's actions no doubt have sparked relentless murmurs and displeasure throughout the whole royal court. Many are tempted to state their minds to the young Northman for his defiance in the open. A simple bow to the head is not enough and the royal family is required to get the respect that they needed as per the Empire's social protocols. Surely the young Northman was taught even the simplest gesture of greeting the Emperor and Empress beforehand is it not?
With the noise circulating around the court, the displeasure on the Emperor's face became apparent for the people to see. As such, he raised his open hand in a gesture to quiet them down.
The clear gesture of hand served its faithful purpose and instantly halted the court's talk of displeasure to the young Thane. The Emperor then turned his full attention to Siegtyr and decided to humor him with a question of his own.
"Tell me, for what reason did you simply bow your head instead of positioning down your knees like your companion Lord Lucon did?"
Siegtyr raised his head in response and told him of view regarding a small piece of information about the social standards of his own people.
"You see, your Majesty, bowing with your knees or for that matter, your head to the ground is a privilege reserved only to the Gods and your Creator maybe. A bow of the head is more than enough to show respect to people or to be more specific, mortals like us who are of a higher social rank. Prostrating oneself to your fellow man is wrong seeing as we are still equal in flesh and blood. I see no God obviously, and thus, my pretty little head is all that you get." Siegtyr said with a smug expression.
The answer no doubt has caused an uproar throughout the whole royal court once more. The murmurs turned even more intense and many this time voiced out their concerns harshly to the young Thane for his atrocious remarks about the Emperor and his defiance to a piece of their social protocol.
The prince simply displayed his displeasure with a scowl while the Empress clenched her fist angrily at what this heathen has said to all of them. Also, the smug expression only served to infuriate her even further. She deduced that the young Northman is clearly enjoying the chaos that he has spurred.
Surprisingly, the same can't be said about the princess. She turned her head away and snickered with her hand covering her mouth. She found the whole situation quite hilarious in all honesty. The royal court is rather stiff and constantly serious in her point of view. It was dull and uneventful every single time. With the arrival of the Northman, she had hope that things would at least shift a livelier turn. Thankfully, her assumptions are not mistaken. She would give every Denarius (Empire Currency in gold coins) in the treasury just to see their baffled faces like this all the time.
"The audacity!!" One of the courtiers, a black-haired man with a mustache spoke his mind. "The lack of manners in our liege is unacceptable!!"
"I agree." Another made his voice heard. "The penalty for such disrespect is a hundred lashings to the back and front."