The Palace Guard (MxM)

II

Muffled shouting filled the air.

It was evident that there was a commotion of some sort happening in the throne room.

Perhaps a new guard or a guard of a different kingdom would be more alert or worried, but Nikkol, along with all the other guards, were completely at ease, or at as much ease as they could be while on duty.

Shouting was normal.

At least when it came to the prince.

Prince Setial was quite the character, as could be attested to by anyone who worked in the castle. He was loud and easily angered, taking what he wanted when he wanted and if anyone tried to stop him he'd make their lives miserable. This included his parents, the now deceased Queen and the King, who seemed to constantly end up on the receiving end of the prince's rage.

Those not in the royal family, Nikkol included, thought the prince was a spoiled, uncontrollable brat and believed that he shouldn't have so much freedom and power. Nobody ever said this to him though.

It wasn't like he was a horrible prince. In princely matters he actually excelled. He held himself like royalty and could be diplomatic. He was incredibly smart when it came to matters dealing with other kingdoms or their own, or so Nikkol heard. Personal problems were a different matter. When a problem like that came up, he was known to get loud and violent, just like Nikkol was sure he was being now.

He didn't even know what the problem was today. He didn't care to know. It seemed like every other day the prince stormed into the throne room and yelled at his father. He was quite dramatic.

And it always ended with the prince pushing the door open violently and storming off to his room. Nikkol happened to end up on the side of the throne room that he had to pass to get there. Nikkol was just happy that he was far enough away from the King's study to not hear anything from there, because he was sure the prince did the same there too but that much yelling might give the guard a headache.

It was always one of the more interesting points of Nikkol's day when the prince stormed past. He wasn't allowed to move his eyes unless there was danger, so he only got to look at him for a second before he was out of view. It was funny to him, seeing someone so powerful, so angry, going to his room because he was upset.

Prince Setial's voice rose. It was louder than usual, showing that whatever he was upset about it was a bigger deal to him than normal.

Normally, if Nikkol strained his ears, he would've been able to hear what words the prince was saying, it always being loud enough to barely make out, but usually chose against it because it never was of anything Nikkol found that interesting and it caused his ears and head to hurt after some time, but with the extra elevation, the words were clearer than usual.

"Just because this outsider happens to be-"

"Enough!"

Nikkol resisted the strong urge to flinch where he stood. The prince was always yelling, but the King had never yelled back. Well, until now. Now Nikkol was very interested. Unfortunately, their voices had quieted down again after the King's outburst to the point where he couldn't hear if he tried. And he tried.

Without warning, the door was flung open. Based on how loud the sound was, it was evident that the person responsible for it was the prince. Loud footsteps came down the hall, but he wasn't going as fast as normal, almost like he was waiting for something... or looking for something.

Nikkol only realized this when Prince Setial came into his view, eyes scanning the guard critically, anger still on his face. Nikkol really wanted to look back at him in confusion, but his eyes stayed straight, trained directly ahead, which just so happened to be the prince's face.