The Castle Guard

06:Castle Gates

Darien woke up to the sound of steps beside him Erska stood wearing full polished body armor gleaming even in that dim lighting, staring down at him expressionless “Wake up!” She mouthed “Its dawn” and with that she left incredibly she didn’t make any sound as she did. He was is the same position as the previous night his hands felt numb and the pain was slowly rising the small bottle Dracenstark gave him lay beside him, cursing himself he rose to a sitting position and slowly removed the blood smeared white cloths on his hands silently biting at the pain “gods!” he exclaimed removing the last of the white cloths. His right hand where the mercenary had cut looked worse while his left hand was more or less the same but less bloody he used his fingers to uncork the small bottle to avoid disturbing the cuts then poured its brown contents on his left hand then using his left hand awkwardly holding the small bottle with his fingers finished it on the right hand. Darien felt a cold sensation on both hands the brown fluid spread on the cuts; it seemed to drown the pain until it was but a pinch far away. He then went to his own small make shift bathroom to get ready, Erska was absent when he came out another figure sat by the dungeon doors facing the rising stairs he had a smaller build compared to Erska instead of armor he wore guard garbs similar to Darien with a helmet covering his hair, the garb had a large golden royal seal at its centre showing allegiance to the royal family, unlike Darien the garb looked worn out compared to the black tight-ish trouser he wore, they looked expensive something a castle guard couldn’t possibly afford. Darien feeling unsure decided to approach first he didn’t want to start another meaningless fight.

The guard didn’t seem to notice or rather just ignored Darien he had his sword sheathed beside him leaning against the wall, despite that he was ready for a fight in fact he was ready for one

‘Come now little guard take out your little sword to play!’ he mentally said egging Darien to fight him hoping to satisfy his blood thirsty mood with a valid reason ‘He attacked me.’ He would explain ‘I just defended myself’ in most cases he wouldn’t need a reason but he’d been warned expressly not to harm the woman knight and the other guard by the mage noble who was paying him handsomely ‘He’s no fun’ he pouted

Darien approached quietly needing all his will power not to reach for his sword, the guy despite having a small demeanor had an air about him that felt dangerous it reminded him of the mercenary from the day before.

Darien saw the sword beside him leaning on the wall ‘Careless!’ He thought knowing if it came to a fight he would have the upper hand. The “guard” had light honey colored skin with sunken sharp dark brown eyes, black eye lashes and brows, medium size nose, low cheek bones that accentuated his gruff demeanor, he pretended not to see Darien standing in front of him keeping his eyes down fiddling a pebble in his hand.

“How are you and what are you doing down here?” Darien exclaimed in an authoritative tone the guard kept quiet focusing on the pebble seeming unaware of the question. Darien felt anger starting to boil within him. “What are you doing here?” he asked again seriously tempted to raise his sword, the guy raised his face his expression a pure steely glare towards Darien his hand slipped out on his side ready to take his sword.

The air simmered with tension as Darien and the other guard glared at each other both contemplating an attack on one another

“Valerian!” A voice came from behind them Erska stood on the steps with an amused expression she wanted to see what would happen next ‘But alas such pleasure is denied for me.’ She sighed inwardly disappointed. “He has also been assigned to join us” she finished; as she went down the stairs towards them both men stared at her. Valerian looked disappointed while Darien regained his composure feeling relieved without showing it giving Valerian a last fiery glare which was met by an equally if not worse cold glare then walked up the stairs without so much as a glance at Erska wanting to show his displeasure not that she cared.

When Darien reached the first floor he spotted twilight grey light of dawn from outside through the small windows the sun had started to rise increasing his pace hoping he’d reach the entrance outside before Dracenstark, he doubted the mage would tolerate any tardiness. Darien felt chills running down his spine as he passed by the small prison cells; images from the previous day came swirling back like a black scary storm. He swerved through the halls going towards the main entrance into the castle Dracenstark didn’t specify the place to meet so he figured it would be the first to look.

The Castle doors were large at 9 feet tall and five feet wide made entirely of wood opened at dawn and closed at dusk, though occasionally left open at night if there was a banquet or any other royal party, this was due to their heaviness requiring at least two people to open both of them wide. They on being opened lead to a large drawbridge leading to even larger main gates, two metal chains connected the bridge to the castle on either side strong enough to lift the bridge in case of a siege from beyond fortifying the castle and everyone inside from the enemy that is assuming they couldn’t overpower the several other entrances breaking them down and killing servants ‘as long as the royals were safe’. The sun was just beyond the horizon as Darien reached the main castle doors, for a man staying underground for so long being bombarded with fresh morning air felt really nice like he was breathing for the first time in months.

He searched for the mage sighing when he didn’t see him, the mage didn’t seem like someone to be kept waiting and Darien felt a little giddy “I have magic!” he exclaimed in a low voice not wanting to look like a mad man in case someone heard him. ‘The mage probably wants to make me his apprentice, no more dungeon darkness duty for me! That’s why there are other guards assigned to replace me.’ He thought excitedly ‘this will help me pay the debt even faster, seeing as the number of mages is low I will see my family soon’ he pictured his mother hugging him tight her eyes all teary ‘Coming back home as a mage! We’d have a better life from then on.’

“You’re late!”

Darien snapped back to reality the mage stood beside him in a dark purple long sleeved long coat with golden lining on its sides and at its wrists, reaching the knees then arching downwards in the back, underneath he wore a black shirt with breeches that outlined his legs. The mage had a flat irritated expression which made Darien uneasy

‘I got here before you!’ Darien wanted to say but instead held his tongue he did not want to upset the mage on the first day of his apprenticeship

“Apologies my lord, I did not see you there” Dracenstark waved his hand in dismissal his expression however remained the same.

“Come this way” he led Darien over the bridge towards the massive metal gates, the guards opened them wide as soon as Dracenstark was in sight not that he needed that much space all nobles had the same privilege. Dracenstark waved indicating the guards to stop not wanting to cause unnecessary noise and passed through the partially opened gates Darien trailing close behind him.

Up in the tower were the king’s chambers were located King Walren’s eyes followed Dracenstark and Darien as they left the castle gates still in his white night shirt, queen Garda lay quietly snoring on their bed. He stood at the window looking closely, his forehead twisted in a wrinkle feeling annoyed; he hadn’t slept since the day before.