Lokenth fell to his knees and bowed his head.
"Your Grace!" he declared. He had never had an audience with royalty before and the experience was overwhelming. "Your Majesty!"
He met the king's gaze with his own, boldly and hotly before breaking away. It was like looking into the face of the moon; bright against the dark night sky, shining in the black, his eyes like glimmering chips of ice, his hair like swirling wind and rain around them.
He had practiced, in his mind's eye, what to say. But now that the moment of truth had really come at last - had really come - he felt at a loss for words and had to compose himself. "If it please your kingliness. I am Lokenth, recently arrived on the shores of your wondrous Realm."
No, no. Why did I say that? he reprimanded himself immediately. Of course he couldn't care less about your name or when you arrived or how. Think, think, damn you, bastard! He pushed on. "I offer to you my loyalty, life and service! 'Tis true, I am of common birth, but I have uncommon skills. I can find and destroy the undead, and the wild beasts of the land. I can mingle with the common people and inquire after foreign nobles or adventurers. I can scout your lands, I can carry messages and write them."
As he spoke, he remembered some of what he had planned to say, and it flowed through him now like a hot river of wine-soaked wind. His head throbbed. "My King, if it please you, I can serve the realm! Even now, there are many adventurers in the realm, some foreign-born and some local. They all hunt for the monsters and undead, to gain the bounty rewards that your lords have set. But they do so individually, on their own time, disorganized. In my humble opinion this needs not be so. It is inefficient! Duplication of efforts, coverage with gaps, blind spots! What if, (pardon your kingliness!) they were to be organized and marshalled, under the command of you and your own men, to serve the realm...?"
He let the question stand. He'd intended to say more, and better, but he was doing well enough not to stammer and stutter before the cold gaze of King Jenred.
