"Father, your daughter will leave now." Weylyn murmured in a low tone.
Grand Duke Raego Kalver nodded as he placed a hand on the shoulders of both his children, conveying the words he could not say through his gaze.
"We understand, father can be rest assured, we will not disappoint the expectations of House Kalver." Rehan promised solemnly.
"Good... you have your father's complete trust. The journey is long and tiring, an early start is for the best. Go on ahead." Grand Duke Raego Kalver permitted.
Weylyn let her gaze rove over the rest of her clansmen who nodded their support.
Weylyn took a step back and bowed low once more before she stood up straight and turned around.
"Reconvene at the Imperial City?" Rehan asked as both their processions would be taking different routes.
"I will come to you...be safe." Weylyn said, passing him a small smile before she strode up to the carriage prepared for her.
"There is an Imperial mount sent by the Emperor...if you would prefer to ride." The Lord Knight said, watching Weylyn with a sad gaze.
Weylyn felt it was rather rare to see any other expression than a chilling cold look on the face of the Lord Knight of Kinouri.
Being the highest ranked knight in the Empire's knightdom, surpassed only by the Imperial Blood Knights,
The 6ft2 hulk of a man was an unrivalled warrior, renowned across the empire for his strength and skill and of course, his ever cold disposition that made the dashing young man look rather terrifying.
Lord Knight Jilon had been a dear friend of Ronan and there had come a time in Weylyn's training that her brother Ronan had sought the aid of Lord Knight Jilon to teach her his method of swordsmanship.
Lord Knight Jilon knew clearly, just how much Ronan had doted on Weylyn and how much Weylyn looked up to her brother Ronan Kalver.
The Lord Knight himself held great respect for Ronan Kalver and so with or without the bidding of the Emperor, he had decided he would escort Weylyn Kalver in person.
"I...no, the carriage will do." Weylyn declined,
At this point, she knew the people of the Dukedom of Kalver would be out on the streets to bid her farewell, she just did not want to deal with that or anything else for that matter.
Weylyn knew she would need all the strength she could muster for her arrival at the Imperial City,
Especially if she was to stand before the Emperor and take the Knight's oath and somehow restrain herself from running him through.
Just the mere thought of the Emperor filled Weylyn's heart with rage and Weylyn took in a deep, shaky breath to calm herself.
The Lord Knight's gaze softened and he nodded in understanding as he stepped aside for Weylyn to climb into the carriage while he strode over to his horse.
On the Lord Knight's command, the procession moved out and Weylyn pulled aside the curtain of her carriage, catching a final glimpse of her father's smile.
'Ro... this is what you wanted for me right?... This is what I wanted too, but not like this... not without you.' Weylyn thought, her heart constricting in pain.
Weylyn heaved a quiet sigh as she leaned her head against the cold wood of the carriage, her eyes fluttering closed.
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Three days later....
_____________________
"The Imperial City is in sight." The voice of the Lord Knight reached Weylyn.
Weylyn pulled aside the curtain of her carriage and glanced outside, sure enough, a short distance ahead of them,
The Imperial Citadel of Thurian, the capital city of the Kinouri Empire loomed ahead of them in all it's imposing and noble glory.
It had been three days since they departed the Kalver Dukedom, set for the imperial city and Weylyn was positively exhausted.
A sight of the prosperous and bustling city would have been one of excitement to anyone, but for Weylyn, it only filled her heart with despair.
The last time Weylyn had been to the Imperial City was precisely four months ago when she had received the Imperial Decree to lead the elite calvary warriors of House Kalver to meet Ronan and the Emperor.
She had come with a heart filled with excitement as it had been months since she had last seen her brother Ronan,
A mission alongside him meant she would get to spend time in his company which Weylyn had greatly looked forward to.
If only she had known then that it would be the mission that would claim her brother's life...
Now, approaching this very city, Weylyn felt she would much rather be anywhere else but here, yet of all places she could be, she knew this was where Ronan would want her to be... and so she had come.
The Lord Knight rode up to the carriage window and Weylyn moved her attention to him.
"We will arrive the Imperial Palace in a short while, the knighting ceremony will attract all knights of the Imperial Knightdom and many squires are to be knighted today."
"Amongst those to be knighted, the new Knight Kalver holds the attention of the entire Empire, thousands of people await to see you,"
"It is a silly notion indeed, but this will be your official entrance into the knightdom and with the prestige attached to the Kalver name, the people would expect to see you arrive in a regal and imposing manner."
"Are you willing to let it be seen that you have arrived in a carriage?" The Lord Knight asked in his usual monotone.
Weylyn knew the Lord Knight was not saying these words because he agreed with such sentiments, but his meaning was clear.
The Knightdom was dominated by the male gender and although women were not considered any less than men in the Kinouri Empire,
The Knightdom was the most powerful and the most noble order in the Empire and for one to become a knight, one had to be born with the warrior mark and exhibit exceptional battle expertise.
As one of the few females in the knightdom and the only female attaining the highest rank as Gold Ranked Knight of the Order of Imperial Knights and representive of an entire Dukedom,
Many would be of the opinion that her rank was not earned by her own efforts but due to her noble bloodline.
Which was not entirely a lie, for the twenty one dukedoms of the Kinouri Empire, each put forward a Gold Ranked Knight as representative in the Order of Imperial Knights,
Although there could be as many silver ranked and bronze ranked knights from each Dukedom as were qualified to join the Imperial Knightdom.
Amongst the Gold Ranked Knights, the Knight of Kalver was still of the highest rank as the Duke of Kalver was one amongst the only two Grand Dukes of the Kinouri Empire.
As a warrior of the Kalver Dukedom, she was to be entered as a Silver Ranked Knight upon her coming of age, however with Ronan's passing,
She had immediately assumed his position as representative of the Kalver Dukedom on the Imperial order which was made up of only twenty one Gold Ranked Knights representing each Dukedom.
This meant, Weylyn would be entering the knightdom as a Gold Ranked Knight without having to go through the usual process of ascending ranks.
All this was ultimately due to her noble bloodline and so Weylyn felt whatever sentiments laid against her would not be entirely unfounded,
However she understood what the Lord Knight meant, although this was normal for all twenty one representatives of the Dukedoms, as the only female in the Imperial order, the prejudice against her would be greater,
And they would not miss the chance to pick out the fact that she had arrived in a carriage like a noble lady would.