The Kingdom of Noitcif

Chapter Twenty-Six - Extra Guards

  The man with the wolf mask stared at his previous king, narrowed his eyes, and handed Espen over to another guard while he turned his back.

  "Lysander, why?" Espen asked in a whisper.

  The guard holding his shoulder tried to move him into another room, but the young king stood his ground.

  "Why did you betray us? Lysander... I trusted you."

  The duke didn't respond, and remained standing with his back towards Espen, his now unkempt dark brown hair resting upon his shoulders, and his hands - still decorated in rings - clasped tightly behind his back.

  "Aww, how sweet," one of the other guards laughed. He had light brown hair that was nearly standing on end, and was twirling a ring of keys in his fingertips. "Lysander betrayed you, little king? Your fatherly figure abandoned you and left you all alone?"

  "Be quiet, Jinx," the former duke snapped, inclining his head ever so slightly to the spiky-haired guard.

  But Jinx didn't keep quiet.

  "Do you want to know why your mentor betrayed you, Your Highness? He left you because he knew your puny little kingdom couldn't offer him the riches and power he can attain here – in mighty Ytilaer!"

  The guard in charge of holding Espen at bay was again trying to drag him into a room off to the side.

  Somehow, Espen managed to struggle and mostly stand his ground as he pleaded over his shoulder, "But Lysander... you were a duke. A duke with a life of luxury and riches at your disposal. Wasn't that power and riches enough?"

  Lysander snorted, and turned to face the teen.

  Espen was finally allowed by his guard to stay put.

  "What you do not understand, good king, is that, soon – very soon – your kingdom will be nothing but a pile of rubble and ash, and Ytilaer will have more power and control than you could ever dream of. If I was still duke of Noitcif at that time, well... I would not be very well off after all, would I? But now..."

  Espen blinked back tears as he stared at his former mentor's menacing gaze. Lysander finished his sentence in silence.

  Suddenly, the door at the far end of the hall slammed open, and three stately looking guards entered. All three of them were quite tall, but as they approached, Espen noticed that their uniforms were somewhat ill-fitted.

  "Who are you?" Lysander exclaimed, his attention suddenly turned towards the newcomers.

  The three of them gave an awkward bow, causing the former duke to scoff at them.

  "Guards do not bow to fellow guards, apprentices," he snarled. "At least, I am going to assume that you are apprentices due to your sloppy protocol and loaner uniforms. No one bows to another except to the emperor. Now what do you want?"

  "We have been assigned by the emperor to assist you in escorting the boy to the dungeons, Sir," the tallest of the guards explained, stepping forward.

  Lysander raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

  "I would have thought the emperor would have picked some more polished guards than the lot of you to take care of the king," Jinx spoke up from behind Espen.

  "Oh, the emperor only wanted us to observe; precisely because we are apprentices and in need of training, Sir," another of the guards explained.