The Prophecy ( The Replacement Trials #1)

Chapter 4

Aura's POV

"Get all your nervous talk out before we go in or else, they'll think they've sent for the wrong girls."

"I do not talk a lot when I'm nervous." She had started walking again and before we knew what we were doing, we stood in front of the gates, the guards there regarding us like children.

"State your name and business." The one on the left ground out.

"Nimue Balkas and Aura Starzan. We're here by the King's command." I reply, cheerily to oppose the depressed looking guard I was addressing. At the mention of our names they moved their spears and allowed us entry. As we pass by, they track our movements. We're paladins not thieves and yet they act as though we've come to steal the crown jewels.

"They don't look like much. I don't understand why the King thinks that they'll be the ones to win this war." I hear one mutter and I scoff. Nimue nudges me and gives me an annoyed look and I can only assume she's annoyed. Everyone underestimates us because we're young, but at least we're nimble and capable of picking up new skills quickly. Nudging her back, I give her a nod, letting her know I was just as frustrated but that we couldn't attack them because that would be rude.

"Why can't we be civilized boys?" I ask without turning back around. It wasn't like they were going to ever see us again. Should we fail, we'll be dead and if we succeed, that would mean that we would outrank them.

"You weren't supposed to hear that." One of the grumbles and Nimue coughs to cover her laugh. Continuing our walk, holding back our chuckles, I lose all enthusiasm when I make eye contact with the King through the window we're passing by. He raises a hand and beckons us over. Entering through the door that's closest to his meeting room, we scramble down the hallway and knock gently on the door.

"Come in." The King calls from inside his office and my knees shake a little bit. Fear is a normal reaction to someone who is so high in station. He controls the kingdom so it's not like anyone can stop him. Easing the door open, we slip in and stand behind his desk. He spins his chair around and surprisingly he's smiling.

"There's my soldier duo." He states, flickering his eyes between us, making note of the tension our bodies hold. "Please, take a seat. I'm sure you have questions for me."

Sinking into one of the plush chairs in front of us, I wait for Nimue to do the same, but she continues to stand, watching the office warily. I could almost hear her teeth grinding together and I turned back around in my seat to face the man in front of me.

"We'd like to know exactly how dangerous this mission is and how much back up we're going to have." Getting right to the point, his eyes darken as what I'm asking for sinks in and I cower back into the backrest of my chair. I watched as his mouth opened as closed as he worked through the best way to inform us of the severity of this mission. I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked up to see Nimue staring at me.

"What's the matter?" I whisper as the King collects his thoughts. I could've laughed at rendering the ruler of a kingdom speechless, but I knew that if I did, he would kick me of the quest so fast my head would spin.

"Nothing. I'm just uncomfortable here. I don't like being in a building I'm unfamiliar with for longer than I need to be. This is just me reassuring myself that someone's here with me." She whispers back, clenching onto my shoulder as though to make sure I wasn't a ghost. Lifting my hand, I placed it on top of hers and squeezed it back, understanding that she hated me but not enough to ignore the familiarity that we had with each other. Had she been anyone else, more reassurance would've been given on my part, but I had lived with her for four years and I understood that this wasn't a gesture of extending friendship but of comforting herself. She used to do the same thing when she was going through her trauma after Melody's death.