The newest royal guard: Chapter 1 (standard:fantasy, 1535 words)
Author: Zephyr	Added: Aug 01 2001	Views/Reads: 2876/2059	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
Jesyan of Ainlous learns to fit in with the royal guard, and has love troubles with Jacuri, an attendant to the queen. About the quiet before the storm of the traitor Atharks and the neighboring country of Kheld.

Click here to read the first 75 lines of the story

The man seemed understanding enough.  "My name is Garig." he quipped,
eying Jesyan all the while.  "I'm a married man of course, and have 
children of my own.  How well do you know her?"  The man had an ugly 
scar across his bare forearm, and was short though very muscular.  his 
dark brown hair was cut short as were most of the guards, and his sun 
tanned face reminded jesyan of boiled leather.  But he was genuine 
enough. 

Jesyan felt at ease as the man seemed to sympathise with him.  "Well, I
met her four days ago.  Haven't had the chance to get to know her very 
well at all, yet."  Garig mouth widened in a smile, and he began 
explaining how he'd met his wife, and how he thought you should treat a 
woman generally. 

The two guards spoke for most of their ten minutes of sparring, tossing
lazy jabs at one another all the while.  On finding that Jesyan was far 
away from family and had only begun as a guard a tenday before, the 
older guard invited him to eat with his family for the evening.  The 
young man agreed without coaxing, eager for food made by a woman with 
care instead of the hard food the cooks had been serving. 

Garig's quarters were only one level below the surface of the palace,
and the area still had fresh air.  Arriving at the door, Jesyan could 
see that even the hallway was swept in the area of the door.  He 
wondered offhandedly if it would be even more clean of the inside. 

Garig showed him in and invited him to sit at the table as his wife
served the food.  She was a beautiful lady, with black hair and green 
eyes.  Her features were strikingly familiar.  There were normally four 
seats at the table, though a fifth had been added for Jesyan.  "Come 
out and lets eat, children" Garig called from the table. 

Walking in from another room, a familiar voice said "I still can't
believe you tripped him..."  Jacuri inhaled abruptly when she saw 
Jesyan sitting next to her chair.  Jesyan's face reddened slightly, and 
his jaw opened and closed once.  After their eyes met, both turned to 
Garig with accusing looks.  The middle aged man's laughter filled the 
room, and his wife watched with a naughty grin as the two exchanged 
brief salutations. 

"How are you doing?" he said, thinking hard on what he'd said about
Jacuri to her father earlier in the day. 

"Good.  How was practice today?"  Jacuri asked as she sat down beside
him.  She quickly overcame her initial shock. 

"It was alright."  He felt like a trapped rabbit.  Garig couldn't stop
smiling as the meal continued.  He and his wife helped keep a fairly 
steady stream of conversation going as the stomachs filled.  But Jesyan 
was having an awful time trying to be sociable. 

After the meal everyone managed to dissappear, leaving the two alone at
the table.  Jacuri was a good talker, as always, and Jesyan began to 
feel more comfortable as they talked alone.  She said "You know what I 
like to do?  I like to walk in the morning sun along the upper walls of 
the castle and watch the mist rise from the hills outside the city."  
Jesyan thought about it.  It really wasn't all that wonderful. 

"Oh yeah."  He grunted, missing the queue completely.  "I had sentry
duty on the upper walls six days past.  It's really... nice to see 
that." Jesyan wondered why he didn't see her there.  "I used to go on 
horseback to a ridge near my house near Ainlous and watch the sun rise 
from there." 

After several more minutes of small talk, Jesyan asked to be excused and
left for his bunk to think things through.  Arriving there Jesyan sat 
down and figured that things had gone fairly well.  He cursed himself 
for not being able think of anything clever to say during dinner. 

Thinking things through, Jesyan decided that he needed to find something
for them to do alone together, so that he could spend more time with 
her.  He remembered that she'd said how she liked to walk along the 
walls in the mornings.  He realized all at once that she'd offered him 
the perfect way to spend time with her.  He mouthed his reply to her 
offer in his mind.  He'd been so stupid!  Now what? 

The next morning found Jesyan walking the parapets.  He wanted to meet
all the guards, after all.  Hear the latest gossip.  He went back and 
forth and up and down, until the last of the mist was gone from the 
hills near the city.  Jacuri didn't come. 


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