Chapter 11 - Beginning the Search

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Working as a guard in the palace sucked just as much as Darrel remembered.

Maybe more.

He spent his first few days with a group of nineteen other new recruits, training in the yard just outside the guard barracks. Under the careful watch of the trainer, he spent his morning hours running, climbing, sword fighting, and practicing standing at attention. After a quick lunch break, he fought with magic, learning both to attack, and to defend with nothing but his wits and magical energy. Then he was given a small evening meal and sent back to the barracks to rest.

Darrel didn't remember his initial training to be so intense. Empress Tyla must have really changed things up to make sure palace security was at its best. When he asked about leaving palace grounds to go into the city, he was told guards were only permitted to leave the palace once every two weeks, and only for a twenty-four hour period, at most.

So much for hitting up a local bar at the end of his shifts and drowning his sorrows in a tankard of ale.

It was probably for the best that he couldn't leave, though, because it meant he had more opportunities to hunt for the Phantom.

He always waited until well after dark to start his search. Even exhausted from a full day's worth of training, he made sure to only pretend to be asleep when lights out was finally called for the night. His bunkmates crashed hard, completely spent from the day. Luckily, Darrel didn't have to wait long for them all to fall asleep so he could sneak out unnoticed.

A separate patrol wandered the palace halls after dark. But Darrel remembered most of their posts, and easily avoided detection. He slipped from shadow to shadow like the thief he'd once been, refamiliarizing himself with the palace's layout and hunting for any other shadow that moved like he did.

But day after day, he failed to find even a trace of the Phantom.

After a week of practice, his trainer felt he was ready for service. He was given a uniform - one Darrel immediately wanted to burn, as it itched something fierce - and told to stand guard in one of the main corridors.

Guarding the halls was one of the most boring positions he could serve. It required him to stand at attention for multiple hours, without moving, and stare at a wall.

But it also afforded him the opportunity to listen to the gossip that passed him by.

Most of it was useless. "Did you hear about Lord Prin's affair?" "I swear, the staff in this palace are the slowest they've ever been." "Sunrise Park is absolutely gorgeous this time of year, you must see it!" Darrel fought the urge to roll his eyes.

It wasn't until late into the afternoon that he heard anything interesting. "It gave me a terrible fright," an elegantly dressed older gentleman muttered in a low tone to his comrade across the hall. "I've never seen anything like it. It was like a shadow in human form."

Darrel focused his attention on the conversation, ignoring everything else around him.

"Are you sure you weren't just seeing your own shadow?" the man's companion, dressed in equal pompous elegance asked with a snort.

"I know my own shadow, and it was far behind me," the first promised. A wild fear danced in his eyes. "It was only for a moment, crossing the hall in front of me, but it was real. I'm sure of it."

The second man narrowed his eyes. "You've been sampling the hallucinogens again."

"No! Well, yes. But that's irrelevant. I didn't have any last night. It wasn't a fever dream."

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