The first thing I saw as I woke in the early morning light was a familiar face right in front of mine, peering down at me, smiling as I opened my eyes.
"Sooo?" Cruril questioned, obviously very serious about the whole 'tell you in the morning' thing. I groaned, still tired and not feeling at all rested from the day before. Pushing the intruding face away, I sat up, placing my fingers on my forehead.
"Do you really want to know?"
"Yes, yes, I'm really curious!" He was practically jumping up and down at this point. I rolled my eyes, the faintest smile finding it's way onto my face.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes stop teasing and tell me!" I grinned at him, finding his excitement amusing. Be prepared to be disappointed.
"I might be promoted." Cruril's eyes momentarily lit up, but quickly dulled.
"Oh! Yeah.. that's not as cool as what I was expecting."
"What were you expecting?"
"I'm not gonna tell the likes of you." He crossed his arms and pouted in an over dramatic, sassy manner. I rolled my eyes with a smile, standing to dress.
"How much time do we have until we have to leave?" I asked while pulling off my night shirt, quickly slipping on my uniform's shirt as to minimize the time in which I was shirtless.
"Mm.. a few minutes, a bit more time than yesterday." Cruril, who was already dressed, sat on the edge of my bed, kicking his legs back and forth. He's always been an early riser.
"Good, I'm exhausted," I stated, finishing up the changing process. I sat next to Cruril, stretching my arms in front of me. He in turn, regarded my with a smile. How can ne constantly be so happy? That would exhaust me.
"So how was talking with the King anyway? Was he as rude and intimidating as ever?"
"Yeah it wasn't fun. I was really glad to get out of there."
"I bet!" He laughed, knowing the struggle of confronting the King. Today, I decided, I would try to tolerate Cruril's presence. "So the rumors were true? The Captian's retiring?"
"I guess so. Apparently moi et l'autre candidates have a week before the next official captain is chosen."
"Other candidates? Do you know who they are?"
"No clue. I wasn't exactly given extensive information."
"Hmm." He hummed, closing his eyes and draping his arms over his head.
We sat and talked for what seemed like a very short amount of time, but in truth wasn't. Another guard who shared the sleeping chamber had to remind us of our duties. That was likely detrimental to my chances of becoming captain.
We got up, ceasing our conversation as we exited the room, walking down the hall at a brisk pace. It would seem as if we would make it just in time for attendance, so we didn't bother with speaking. We ended making it just in time, our skidded stopping as we ran the last length bemusing the Captain.
The Captain was a rather quiet fellow, but was very loyal to the King. He was the captain for as long as I could remember, which is a long time, to my knowledge. His name was Ezlel Tork, and as far as I knew, he had worked for the King almost his entire life, supporting his every cause without question. If anyone didn't hate the King, it was him, his right hand man. A coveted position, even for a person so vile.The Captain got so many privlages, it was almost, in my opinion, unfair. His own room, better meals, he got to laugh at us while taking attedance, and not to mention he got even the slightest sliver of respect of the King. To my knowledge, respect was something everyone wanted. Ezlel was a lucky bastard indeed.
I sighed, moving my shoulders as to ease some of the stiffness in my upper back. I was determined to preform well today, to make up for my near tardiness. It was just a few hours until the guards would be changed, and I could take a break, and eat something. How I envied the guards who got to walk around all day. Standing up strait and looking alert, I prepared myself for a long few hours of nothing.
I was inwardly groaning by the first hour. I absolutely hated being a guard with every fiber of my being. Two more hours. Two. My feet already ached, my back hurt and I really just wanted to sit down.
My eyes flicked about, checking to see if anyone was watching me. Everyone was focused. Exept for me, of course. As it should be. I let my grey-blue eyes wander, rolling past the walls of this retched place, over the roofs of the upper class houses, nearer to the castle, where the rich resided, past the quaint cottages of the poor and less well-of, and to the woodland beyond, where I longed to be. Or so I imagined. In truth, I could hardly see over the tall stone brick walls. The last time I had seen the kingdom eyond was when I was very small, so naturally I wouldn't remember it much. Most of what I knew came from stories from other guards, or passing merchants who had time for a tale.
As it turned out, my day dreaming only lasted a few short minutes. Well, that really passed the time. I began to think about the halfling from the previous day, trying to distract myself from my aching feet. What was his name? Despite his name, it was rather obvious he was of the lower class, so it was no wonder he was stealing. Wait, why did I sound like I was supporting him? He was stealing from the castle. No matter how bad of a person the King was, I still had to remain loyal to him, by choice or not. Besides, it wasn't like he was killing inoccent people or anything. Thieves were bad. This much I had decided.
Then why had he not killed me? Why did he act as if I was fimiliar, and why did he have that picture? He couldn't be good and be a thief, it didn't work that way. He was an enemy of mine. I would slay him upon our next encounter, learn from my mistakes and not be caught off guard. I would be brave.
But, for now, I would wait. Until break, that is. Food and a chair were the most important things to me at that moment.
A/N: Yeah sorry it's short, despite all of the time it took. If it's any consolation, I typed it all in one sitting. I'm trying to decide if I should have a pov change next chapter, or wait until 5. It's necessary, though, as everyone needs to learn to love the characters as much as I do. It's my duty as author to break your hearts. I have a lot planned out for future chapters, I just need to stall until those and get the characters as dear to you as possible, so they're as mentally straining as it can be. Yes, do I enjoy being evil.
