The King's Guard

Chapter 28

The Academy’s first major exam was never quiet. Even before dawn, the north field buzzed with recruits adjusting straps, checking buckles, testing edges. Instructors including Archon, Ember, and Drax stood in loose lines along the ridge, eyes sharp and arms folded. Kyna was retained in the squad making them four, as opposed to three.

Reyna moved to where their squad had gathered. “We stick to the plan,” she said, voice low but firm. “We find the flag, we hold position until we know the terrain, then we move as one.”

Jared rolled his shoulders, smirking. “Or we take it before anyone else has the chance to sniff it out.”

Kael gave him a steady look. “Or we run into every blade in the field.”

“Better that than hiding behind bushes all morning,” Jared said.

Kyna adjusted the strap on her vambrace. “It’s called reconnaissance. Not hiding.”

Jared scoffed. “Sounds a lot like hiding to me.”

“It sounds like surviving,” Kyna shot back.

Reyna’s voice cut through them. “Enough. The exam isn’t scored on style points.”

The horn sounded before the argument could grow legs. A ripple of movement surged across the open ground as squads broke from the starting line. Reyna took the left flank, Kael the point, Kyna the rear, and Jared—true to habit—pushed further forward than ordered. The dew-slick grass clung to boots and shins, slowing anyone who didn’t watch their footing.

“Two rival squads heading for the centre,” Kael said, scanning ahead. “Let them clash first.”

“That’s slow,” Jared replied.

“It’s safer,” Reyna countered.

“Safe doesn’t win flags.” Jared’s weight shifted forward, signalling he was about to go.

Reyna narrowed her eyes. “Don’t you—”

He bolted.

Kyna hissed through her teeth. “Unbelievable.”

Kael muttered under his breath, “One day, I’ll let him learn the hard way.”

Reyna was already moving. “We can’t let him get surrounded. Move!”

They sprinted after him, weaving between low barriers and scattered cover. Jared was cutting through the first squad like he’d trained for nothing else, blade flashing in short arcs.

Kael shouted over the clash of steel, “You’re going to burn out before the second wave!”

“Then I’ll burn bright,” Jared grinned, parrying a strike.

The second squad closed in from his blind side. Kael dropped into the gap, deflecting a spear thrust that would have taken Jared’s shoulder.

“Fall back!” Kael barked.

“Not without the flag,” Jared snapped, eyes fixed on a small rise ahead where the top of a pole just peeked above the grass.

Kyna skidded into position, intercepting an attacker. “You’re going to get us all penned in!”

“Stop talking and move!” Jared broke for the rise, but a recruit from the other squad slammed into him, dragging him down into the mud.

Kael yanked him up, both of them splattered. The flag was already moving—another squad had seized it and slipped into the treeline.

Reyna’s voice was tight. “After them.”

They pushed into the trees, the ground uneven and slick underfoot. The flag carrier’s trail was thin—a single bent branch here, a churn of mud there. Jared pushed hard, forcing them into skirmishes with other squads they might have avoided. Each clash drained their time.

“This is wasting us,” Kyna muttered after the third fight.

“Tell him,” Kael said without looking back.

By the time they broke into a clearing, the horn blew the end of the trial. No flag in sight.

The scoreboard near the ridge confirmed what they already knew—last place.

Darius was waiting beyond the gates, arms folded, expression unreadable. “Explain,” he said.

Reyna spoke first. “We had a plan. Jared ignored it.”

“I adapted,” Jared said, unbothered. “Waiting wouldn’t win us anything.”

“It also didn’t win us the flag,” Kael replied.

“You’d rather hide all day?” Jared’s lip curled.

“I’d rather we win,” Kael said.

Jared stepped closer, just enough to make it a challenge. “You call skulking behind trees a win? I call it cowardice.”

Kael met his gaze without flinching. “And I call charging blind into fights we didn’t need to take stupidity.”

“Better stupid and alive than cautious and dead.” Jared’s smile was all teeth. “Not that you’d know the difference—you’ve never had to lead.”

“I’ve led,” Kael said evenly. “Just not people who treat orders like suggestions.”

Kyna shifted, glancing between them. “Both of you—”

“Quiet, Kyna,” Jared cut in, his eyes still locked on Kael. “You want to follow him into the bushes, be my guest. But I don’t take lessons from boys still writing in their journals at night.”

Kael’s jaw tightened. “At least I’m not writing my own epitaph mid-mission.”

“Enough,” Darius cut across them. “You lost because you refused to work together. You want to survive out there? Learn to listen. Until then, you’re just names waiting to be crossed off.”

The walk back to the barracks was short, but silence made it feel longer. Gear clattered onto bunks as they filed in. Reyna unbuckled her bracers with sharp, efficient movements. “You realise you cost us the exam,” she said to Jared.

He leaned against his bunk post, casual in posture if not in tone. “No. Your slow-moving plan did. I tried to win.”

Kyna snorted. “Tried being the key word.”

“Better than standing around waiting to be picked off,” Jared shot back.

“That ‘standing around’ was called waiting for the right moment,” Kyna said. “Not charging in blind like a wild boar.”

Jared’s gaze slid to Kael. “What about you, pretty boy? Going to take their side?”

Kael met his stare without blinking. “I’m taking the side that knows the difference between initiative and recklessness.”

“Recklessness?” Jared’s voice edged sharper. “If I hadn’t pushed, we’d still be crawling through the mud looking for a twig to follow.”

“And maybe we’d have found the flag without burning half our time on pointless fights,” Kael said.

Jared’s jaw worked, but the smirk returned like armour. “Maybe next time you’ll keep up.”

“Maybe next time you’ll slow down long enough to think,” Kyna muttered, tossing her bracers onto her bunk.

Kael didn’t answer.

Reyna stayed behind when Kyna left for the mess. “You handled yourself well out there,” she said.

“That’s generous for a last-place finish,” Kael replied.

“You weren’t the reason for it.”

“Doesn’t matter. The score’s the same.”

“It matters to me,” Reyna said. She glanced toward the door Jared had gone through. “But it won’t matter to him until he fails on his own.”

“Or until someone makes him listen,” Kael said.

“That someone isn’t me,” Reyna replied, heading out.

Later, Darius called Kael to his quarters. The older man leaned against the edge of his desk. “You’ve got a temper when you’re pushed.”

Kael raised an eyebrow. “That why I’m here?”

“That’s why I’m warning you—don’t let him see it. Jared feeds on it. Give him that, he’ll take the squad down with him.”

Kael crossed his arms. “So I’m just supposed to stand there and let him drag us all into the mud?”

“You’re supposed to be smarter than him,” Darius said evenly. “The moment you bite back, he’s already won. You think you’re fighting him. You’re not—you’re playing his game.”

Kael’s jaw tightened. “And if the game’s worth playing?”

“Then change the rules,” Darius said. “Learn the difference between winning the match and winning the game. One makes you feel good for a night. The other keeps you alive for the rest of them.”

Kael nodded once.

In the mess hall, Jared’s voice carried. “...and then I’m two steps from the flag before golden boy here decides we should stop for a picnic…”

Kael walked past without slowing down.

“Not denying it, huh?” Jared called after him.

Kael didn’t turn. “Not worth the breath.”

The scoreboard still hung outside that night, their squad name etched firmly at the bottom. Kael stood there for a long moment before heading back inside. He didn’t bother opening his journal.