I watch as Carla continues to pull on her magic. After a few seconds, I am surprised when there is no change to the boy’s face.

Carla continues for a moment, before she lowers her hands in resignation. “Whoever did this to you was a mage of considerable power. Do either of you remember anything?”

The older sister responds “The last thing I remember is a carriage coming down the road towards us. After that, everything is hazy.”

I walk away from the children, it is better if I let Carla handle the situation.

“Well, Let’s hope that not all of our nights end up like this one.” Dean says from behind me.

“Hmm.” Is my only response.

After that, the rest of the Royal Guards decide to call it a night and walk home. I stay a few feet behind them and Carla drops back to walk with me. “Why would someone do that to those kids?”

I answer while keeping my expression as natural as possible “People will do truly scary things for their own greed, or their own amusement.”

“Still… It’s just horrible.”

I look at Carla for a moment. “Yeah, I suppose it is.”

Our conversation puts me in a bad mood. I stay quiet after that, lost in some nearly forgotten memories.

“That’s it for me. See you later Damien, Carla, Jake, Twins.” Dean nods to each of us as he says our names. Then he turns around and walks away.

The others say their goodbyes before walking off.

The rest of my night is uneventful until I am woken up at sunrise by the maids.

I stumble out of my bed and take care of my morning routine.

The maid I had met yesterday directs me towards where Captain Durno was gathering his troops.

It isn’t a far walk to the compound the maid directed me to. I step into the formation of Royal Guards waiting there.

A few moments later, Captain Durno enters the compound. He is a lithe man of forty or so winters. He examines us carefully, I copy the other guards and keep my face as emotionless as possible.

“Recruit Damien. Please step forward.” The Captain commands. I do as he says and the captain studies me carefully. “Welcome to the Royal Guards Damien, you may step back in line.”

I do as he says and Captain Durno spins around before walking to a spot where we can all see him.

“The night shift will be getting off in a few minutes. At that time, I will have all of you walk over and replace them.” Captain Durno’s voice booms over the group of ten or so Royal Guards. “Our duty is to protect the Dallen family. Each of you will be assigned a family member to watch over. You will be relieved at sunset. And Damien,” Captain Durno singles me out.

“Yes sir?”

“You will be paired with Officer Tiron. Do everything he does and listen to his every word.” Captain Durno then proceeds to assign each of us a family member to protect before dismissing us.

Tiron is a short man who has seen quite a few winters judging by his appearance. His beard and short hair have already turned grey from age, but he walks up to me spry as ever.

“Follow me Damien.” Tiron says curtly, but I don’t mind. I had gotten used to abrasive personalities a long time ago, Tiron wasn’t nearly as bad as some of the people I’d grown up knowing.

Tiron leads me outside of the compound and towards a large tower. “The man we will be guarding is Hector Dermon. Your job as my subordinate is to shadow Lord Dermon at all times. You are not allowed to leave his side, no matter the reason. If he goes to the crapper, you follow him. Understand?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good.” Tiron leads me up the stairs of the tower and greets a Royal Guard resting outside a large door.

The Royal Guard salutes us and walks down the stairway. I assume he is one of the Royal Guards we were sent to replace.

We both enter the room to find a Royal Guard standing next to a man of forty or so winters. The man whom I assume to be Lord Dermon brings his brown eyes up from the book he was focused on, Lord Dermon brushes his raven black hair away from his eyes and gives both of us a once over before turning back to his book.

“My Lord.” Tiron says, bowing to Lord Dermon.

I follow Tiron’s lead.

We get up from our bow and salute the other Royal Guard as he leaves the room.

Lord Dermon doesn’t respond as he continues to read, I look at Tiron in order to find out what it is we should be doing. Tiron keeps his focus on Lord Dermon, waiting for some kind of signal.

Eventually Lord Dermon turns his attention back towards us. “Yes? What do you need?”

Tiron doesn’t blink, in spite of the apparent rudeness of the noble. “My name is Tiron and this is my junior, Damien. We will be in charge of your safety for the next twelve hours. Is there anything we need to know in order to protect you?”

Lord Dermon thinks for a moment before responding, “No, There is nothing you need to know at this time, Just don’t bother me while I am working and everything should be fine.” After saying that, he promptly returns to his book.

Tiron gives a slight bow and I do the same. “Damien.”

“Yes, sir?”

“I will be outside the door, you are to stay in this room and keep an eye on Lord Dermon.” Tiron orders me, leaving the room shortly thereafter.

I stand there for a moment, stunned at the amount of trust put into me. They barely knew me, yet they didn’t mind leaving me alone in a room with an obviously important man.

“So your name is Damien?” Lord Dermon says, gaining my attention.

“Yes, My Lord.” I respond, surprised.

Lord Dermon sets the book down. “Tell me Damien. What is a child like you doing with the Royal Guard? You must be what? Fourteen? Fifteen?

“Sixteen, My Lord.”

“Ugh. Stop calling me ‘my lord’ I hate it.” He says, an indescribable emotion appearing on his face for a moment.

“Yes... sir.”

Lord Dermon sighs, “So tell me, why are you with the Royal Guard? A supposedly elite group.”

“Because I chose to be, sir.” I respond.

He takes a long look at me. “That isn’t much of an answer.”

I shrug.

Lord Dermon looks at the book he had been reading, lost in thought.

After him not talking for a few minutes, I turn my attention away from him and start inspecting the room.

“Do you think this Empire is a nation that stands for good?” Dermon asks suddenly.

“I don’t think Good nor evil exist. Horrible men can do acts of great kindness, just as men of justice can perform terrible acts. However, this Empire is better than some other nations that come to mind, sir.” My voice got softer as I spoke.

Lord Dermon looks at me with a long stare, as I have noticed he is prone to do. “That is a very insightful thing for you to say… Come, I have need of the library.” He grabs a coat and worn down hat.

I open the door to let Tiron know where we are going, he nods and gives me the formation we will walk in.

We leave immediately after that.

A light rain pours down on us as we walk across the palace grounds. Occasionally a servant or guard crosses our path.

We arrive at the library, meeting a servant who dries us off with a towel. Lord Dermon doesn’t give the servant a second thought and continues on into one of the grandest buildings I have ever seen.

I tear my gaze away from the building and continue my lookout.

Lord Dermon spends his time looking at various books in the section dedicated to law. We spend an hour there as he gets more and more annoyed with the books.

A loud shout disturbs the silence of the library. I look at Tiron as he looks back at me. He nods in the direction of the shout, causing me to quietly unsheathe my sword and knife as I walk towards the sound.

The dreadful sound of steel on steel reaches my ears as I round the corner.

I pause for a moment, quickly taking in the scene. One Royal Guard stands fighting another Royal Guard and two cloaked figures. The first Royal Guard is standing over a young woman wearing a rich dress on the floor, he is fighting with his all, obviously trying to protect her.

Next to the young lady lies another Royal Guard, run through by the likely traitor guard, who is working with the two cloaked men.

Before my eyes, one of the cloaked men distracts the Royal guard enough with a cut to the arm, for the traitor to run him through.

In the next few seconds as one of the cloaked men turns towards me, I consider my options. I can try to take on three highly trained men by myself, or I can hide behind this shelf before they see me.

I am about to hide, when my gaze goes towards the young lady on the ground. She is still breathing.

Sighing at my own idiocy, I pull out two throwing knives and throw them at the hooded figures.

One of them strikes true, killing one of the cloaked men by hitting him in the throat. The other one is lucky and instinctually dodges my throwing knife. It leaves a nasty cut on his arm, causing him to curse.

I hold my sword and Kuriman Dagger readily, yelling as I run towards them. The yell is partly used to intimidate them, but I am mostly using it to alert anyone else in the Library to the commotion.

Both of my enemies hold fast as I yell at them, raising their swords in preparation to meet me.

I roll under the swing of the cloaked man, landing on my feet in front of the traitor Royal Guard. He slashes at me with his sword.

I redirect his sword with my dagger, landing a nasty slice on his arm with my sword, as he twists out of the way of my attack.

I jump to the side, dodging the attack of the hooded man from behind me.

They both back away, gaining some distance from me. I smile as they realize that I am now standing in-between them and the young lady.

“If you ask nicely, I will happily let you two run away. I have no desire to fight a former brother.” I say seriously, my stance becoming a little more relaxed.

The traitor guard laughs, before starting in a gravelly voice. “You don’t know what you have gotten yourself into, new recruit. I’ll tell you what, if you get on your knees and beg to me, I might let you live with simply a knockout spell.”

“I liked my idea better.” I say, throwing a dagger at the traitor as a distraction, while I step in to fight the cloaked man.

The cloaked man steps away from me, dodging my sword by centimeters.

I smile, activating the enchantment on my sword. My sword extends those few centimeters, leaving a deep cut along his belly. We both know what that kind of cut means. He is going to die unless he is brought to a healer.

The cloaked man falls to the floor with a grunt of pain, while the traitor guard attacks me, raining a series of ferocious blows on me, forcing me to back up.

I curse as one of his blows finally lands, leaving a deep cut along my arm.

He smiles at his blow, a berserk state overcoming him as his blows increase in speed and strength.

Small curses come from my mouth as shallow cuts start to appear on my arms and chest.

I know this can’t continue. At this rate, he will kill me. So I roll backwards, creating some space.

Once I am outside of his sword range, I pull my throwing daggers out, throwing them at him one by one. He roars as one of my daggers slices his face. He runs at me, causing me to smile, I swing my sword at him, but he stops mid run.

My sword should have missed, but my bloodthirsty smile stays on my face as I activate the enchantment on my sword.

I watch as it extends, cutting through his throat with ease.

His hand goes to his throat, surprised at the amount of blood pouring from it.

He falls to the floor, gurgling as he lives his last few moments.

My gaze stays on him, morbidly fascinated and disgusted at the same time. I just killed three more men.

I don’t know how I feel about that.

I walk over to the young lady laying on the ground. Picking her up, I lean her upper body against the bookshelf, which is now covered in blood.

Now that I am no longer fighting for my life, I give myself a chance to study her. She has light brown hair which flows down to her waist and a fairy-like face. She looks to be seventeen winters old and is wearing a rich red dress, which has been ripped slightly.

I frown, this will be my first interaction with a pretty girl since I was ten years old. These aren’t exactly the best circumstances to be meeting in either.

I gently slap her, to wake her up.

She groans, turning her head away from my slaps.

“Now isn’t the time to be sleeping M’lady. Wake up.” My slaps increase in force slightly.

“Mmm. What is so imp-“ She opens her blue eyes with irritation, but stops when she sees the blood on my uniform. “W-what happened?” her musical voice rising an octave as she speaks

I had leaned her facing away from the carnage behind her, so she couldn’t see the dead men lying all over the ground.

“I was hoping you could tell me that. What is the last thing you remember, My Lady?” I ask, my voice carefully calm.

She closes her eyes, trying to remember. “I was visiting the library because Blake told me that my father wanted to meet me here. And then, oh god…” She opens her eyes, tears welling up in them. “Blake stabbed him. He killed Hyde.”

I stare at her, unsure how to comfort her. Slowly, I raise my hand and pat her on the head, “It’s okay. I understand that this is hard, but what happened next?”

Tears started to flow down her cheeks, but she kept speaking clearly, “I-I don’t know. Two men showed up and Blake cast some kind of spell to put me to sleep. I remember him and Flare fighting, and oh god. Flare, before the spell knocked me out I saw Flare get run through as well.” She pauses for a moment before whispering, “That’s all that I remember.”

“I’m sorry-“ I am interrupted by the sound of many pairs of running feet.

I hold my sword up in preparation.

Royal Guards flood into the room with weapons drawn. I give a sigh of relief when I see James and Carla, the mages.

A fit middle aged man walks in front of the rest of the group. This must be Captain Coy. “Place your weapons on the floor brother. We mean you no harm.” He says

I consider my options for a moment, before I place my Kuriman dagger and my sword on the floor.

Once I am unarmed, the Royal guards rush in, surrounding the young lady. Two of them move over to me, placing swords against my throat. I don’t move. I just stand there calmly.

“Your highness? Are you ok?” Captain Coy asks the young lady.

She brings herself to her full height, “Yes Captain. I am unharmed.”

“What happened here?” The Captain asks, surveying the scene.

She turns around, finally getting a chance to look at the carnage behind her. She gasps, “Hyde? Flare?” the words come out of her mouth in a whisper. Tears fall from her eyes.

“Your highness, I am sorry to disturb you, but can you please tell us what happened?” Captain Coy says quietly, almost as if he was speaking to a wounded animal, he puts a hand on her shoulder comfortingly.

She takes a deep breath calming herself, then she tells him the same story that she told me, “And then I woke up with this Royal Guard standing over me.”

Captain Coy takes a step back, “A traitor in the Royal Guard, this doesn’t bode well. Why make a move now?” He mutters to himself, before turning to the girl. “We will assign new guards to you at once. For now, I will have James and-”

The woman interrupts him, “Actually Captain, the only person that we know isn’t a traitor is that young Royal Guard over there,” She points a finger at me.

If it wasn’t for my training, I would have laughed.

She continues, “And he has shown his ability, taking down two assassins and a Royal Guard by himself. Captain, I formally request that this man become my personal Guard.”

Captain Coy looks like he is sucking on a lemon, “Your Highness, that wouldn’t be appropriate, he is a new recruit, we barely know anything about him-”

“And we knew everything about Blake, yet he betrayed us.” The girl interrupts him. “Captain.” She continues slowly, “Are you denying a formal request from me?”

I look at the two in surprise as they have a small staring contest, this isn’t what I was expecting. The fact that Captain Coy keeps referring to her as your highness means that she is a member of the royal family. I have only been here a day and I am already being put in one of the highest positions possible for a Royal Guard.

“Very well your highness.” Captain Coy finally says. He turns to me and motions for the guards to lower the swords they have at my throat.

I rub my neck absentmindedly.

“Royal Guard, what is your name, ranking and current mission?” Captain Coy asks me.

“Damien, Recruit and my current mission is the protection of Lord Dermon, Sir.” I answer.

“Recruit, you have been promoted to an officer.” I look at him in shock, my eyes widening slightly. “You can disregard your last mission, your new mission is to protect Princess Maria De Lemor. Third in line for the throne of this empire.” He says the next sentence like an order. “May you do the Royal Guards proud.”

I stare at him in shock. I just got promoted two rankings on my first day.