A/N: Okay so wow I wrote this in the summer between 8th and 9th grade and it's bad. I'm a sophomore now. I can write much better than this. I might give it some attention if I have the free time? Just... take this with a grain of salt.
"Good morning, sleepy head, it's time to wake up!" I felt a pair of fairly large hands nudge me, exerting a groan from myself. Morning already? I felt like I just went to sleep... "Come on, Jame, you're going to be yelled at if you aren't on time." Another nudge, rougher this time. I rolled over, draping an arm over my closed eyes, shielding them further from the aggressive early morning sunlight. "That's not good enough."
"Cruril... let me sleep, please?" Cruril pried my arm from my face, grinning at my reaction to having my eyes being burnt out of their fucking sockets.
"Nope. Now get up and get dressed." He pulled me into an upward position, the sheets falling into my lap. He followed this action by placing his hand on his hips in a sassy manner, sticking his tongue out slightly. I regarded him with a stoic visage. It was too early to put up with him...
"Fine... but I'm not going to let you stand there and watch me change, you pervert." Smirking, Cruril spun around and left me to my privacy, which I fully took advantage of. It wasn't often I had even a second of peace and quiet with this joker around.
My name is Jamian, and I'm a guard of the once great king of our quaint kingdom. I've recently turned eighteen, and I have to put up with this monotonous lifestyle for pretty much the rest of my life. Today would be another hum-drum one, I could tell. How I longed for excitement, for action, for adventure. I pulled on the well-fitting uniform all guards wore, placing the accompanying hat awkwardly atop my head as I gazed into the small mirror that rested on the frame of my bed, ajusting it around my small antlers, trying to get it to stay in place. Did I mention I'm a faun? Most of the time I give up on hats. Giving my outfit one more check, tugging and pulling here and there, making sure everything was in line, I departed, regretfully meeting up with Cruril as I walked to our assigned area,
"No hat again today, eh?" Cruril stated, regarding the hat clutched tightly in my hands. "You need holes cut in it or something; you're gonna keep getting yelled at if you don't wear it."
"I know, you don't have to remind me," I replied bitterly. I was constantly being scolded for "having an improper uniform." As aforesaid, I had kinda given up on hats.
I hated being a guard. Sadly, I had little to no choice in the matter. My parents "died in a carriage accident" when I was little, but I knew that was a lie. First of all, what would my parents be doing in a carriage? If I was so young, why wasn't I with them? Second, our king is bat-shit insane. Seriously evil. It was no secret to me that it was he that killed my parents, not some strange, defective carriage. And thus, I'm stuck working for him until one of us dies. Even if it was him first, I would of likely had to serve the next king, too. Besides, at this rate, Cruril's going to kill me first. Sometimes I feel like the king killed my parents so I would be stuck here working for him, with this at my side. Truly a fate worse than death.
"Well you don't have to be rude about it." Cruril crossed his arms in mock anger, glancing at me. Man, he really gets under my skin. I rolled my eyes, trying to ignore him as we walked, earning me a playful shove. "Don't be grumpy, silly, you know what I do to grumpy people." He winked. What a creep.
"Fuck off.." I muttered under my breath, drawing a grin from the perv at my side.
"You've lucked out this time, Jame, it looks like we're here." He stopped momentarily, placing his hands on his hips. Already here? Thank god...
"Don't call me Jame, I've told you not to."
"Well even if you have, too bad, I'm not going to stop!" He laughed his infuriating laugh while walking over to his assigned spot. Why did I even begin to tolerate him?
Pushing Cruril out of my mind, I too stood in my designated spot, staring blankly as I waited for the Captain of the Guard to pass by for the attendance and uniform check. I honestly found it rather silly. There were rumors of the Captain retiring soon, which raised a single question. Who would be the next captain? This, of course, led to heavy competition among us guards. Who wouldn't want to be Captain of the Guard?
I tried once again to balance my hat upon my head, despite the fact that I kept telling myself to just give up. Maybe I had a chance at being captain? My own chamber... that would be a dream come true. The current captain passed in the midst of my struggling with my hat, and I could feel his prying eyes watch me. I could of sworn I heard him laugh at me as he walked away. It wasn't my fault the hats didn't work for me!
The day passed without much excitement, as predicted. As per usual. How monotonous. A merchant requesting audience for who knows what reason here and there, with the occasional begging peasant sprinkled about. The social classes in our "fine" kingdom were very heavy, and many lived in poverty while the upper classes rolled in gold. I honestly was against this, despite my upbringing. Or perhaps not. I had spent much of my childhood under the strict rule of the king, his tyranny affecting me directly. There were few children in the castle, and thus I was not treated as an equal to anyone. The king had some grudge against children, I guess, as we had to eat scraps and share a small room more equivalent to a closet. And I wonder why I'm bitter.
I stretched my arms as I made my way back to my shared sleeping quarters, tired after a long day of nothing. I was half way down the long hall, which was sparsely populated with vaguely familiar faces, when I thought I saw something dart about out of the corner of my eye. I turned, seeing nothing. I wrote it off as a mouse or something of the sort. I was honestly too tired and lazy to deal with a rodent right now. Turning back around, I continued back down the hall, absent-mindedly waving to acquaintances.
"Hey, Jame, wait up!" I heard a painfully familiar voice call from behind me, and soon felt a hand land roughly on my shoulder. Great, him again.
"What do you want, Cruril?" I turned to regard him, though the action pained me.
"Don't worry, I'm not here to bother you," wow what a surprise. "I'm delivering a message. The king has requested audience with you."
"The king? Requesting me?"
"Hey I'm just playing messenger, I don't know anything more than you do."
"If you say so." I shrugged him off my shoulder and turned around, heading for the king's chamber, wondering why I of all people would be wanted by the king.
A/N: And thus ends the first chapter. Next chapter, Jamian will see what the king wants, and we'll meet the other main character! Half of this was written at three in the morning, so excuse anything that doesn't make sense, please! Constructive criticism is welcomed.
