The King's Guard

Chapter 55

The summons came before dawn. Princess Vashti insisted the market visit continue, this time with Princess Alana in tow again. Kael’s squad was ordered to guard them once more.

Reyna laced her gauntlets tighter than usual. “Yesterday wasn’t a walk. Today won’t be either.”

Kyna checked the straps on her bow, eyes sharp. “The way those men moved: trained, not pickpockets. If they show again, it won’t be coincidence.”

Jared smirked. “Maybe the armed men were just shopping. For scarves.”

Reyna gave him a withering look. “Scarves with steel edges?”

Kael said flatly, “Men like that don’t shop.”

“True,” Jared drawled. “But at least they had good taste. All eyes on our princesses, not us. Can’t blame them.”

Reyna’s hand twitched toward her dagger. “Keep talking like that and I’ll make sure they’re looking at you instead.”

Kael cut across before it escalated. “Stay sharp. Jokes won’t matter if someone draws steel in a crowd.”

Darius appeared in the doorway. “Enough chatter. Orders are clear. Escort the princesses. Keep your formation. Don’t assume yesterday was a one-off.”

Reyna asked, “What about extra support?”

“You won’t get any. That’s why I picked you.” His gaze held Kael’s a beat longer than necessary. “Make it count.”

The city was brighter that morning, the drizzle lifted. Crowds packed the market square early, colours sharper, voices louder. The fountain sparkled in the centre, coin offerings flashing under the water.

Princess Vashti laughed as she stepped forward. “See? No danger. Just life.”

Reyna muttered, “Life turns quickly.”

Jared, walking a half-step behind, grinned. “And you always sound like a funeral bell. Gods forbid someone enjoy themselves.”

“Better a bell than a corpse,” Reyna shot back.

Kyna cut in softly, eyes scanning the street. “Both of you, keep your voices low. People are already staring.”

Princess Alana walked beside Kael this time. “You don’t trust calm, do you?”

“No.”

“Then what do you see?”

He scanned rooftops, alleys, the flow of feet. “Too many places to hide. Too much noise.”

Jared leaned forward, smirking. “Translation: he doesn’t know how to shop.”

Kael didn’t look at him. “Translation: one distraction is all it takes.”

“Maybe that’s what safety is,” Princess Alana said, thoughtful. “Too much to notice one thing.”

“Or everything to cover one thing.”

She looked at him sideways. “You think like a blade, always looking for where it cuts.”

“That’s my role.”

They stopped at a jeweller’s stall again. Princess Vashti lifted a bracelet. “Pretty, isn’t it?”

Reyna kept her eyes on the crowd. “Highness, don’t linger.”

“Oh, relax…” She cut off as a child bumped into her, nearly toppling the tray. The merchant swore.

Kael caught the child’s arm, steadying him. The boy’s wide eyes flickered to the satchel slung across his chest. It was way too heavy for a child.

Kael’s pulse jumped. “Reyna.”

She moved instantly, hand on her hilt. “What is it?”

“Bag. Wrong weight.”

Jared raised an eyebrow, smirking faintly. “What, afraid he’s smuggling gems?”

Kael’s voice sharpened. “Not gems.”

Princess Alana frowned, stepping closer. “What do you mean?”

“Back,” Kael ordered, eyes never leaving the boy.

Kyna caught on, moving between the princesses and the crowd. “Something’s wrong.”

The merchant growled, “Thieving brat, I’ll…”

“Shut up,” Reyna snapped, steel half-drawn. “Kael?”

“Too heavy.” Kael muttered. “Satchel’s wrong.”

The boy’s gaze darted between them, wild, desperate. His knuckles whitened around the strap.

“Don’t move,” Kael said, voice low but firm. “Set the bag down.”

The child yanked free and bolted.

Kael shouted, “Down!”

The explosion ripped the air. Fire tore through the stalls, smoke and screams rising in a single violent rush. The fountain square became chaos.

Reyna dragged the Princess Vashti down behind a stone cart. Kyna pulled the Princess Alana close, shielding her with her own body. Jared coughed, eyes wild. “Saints…what…?”

“Ambush!” Kael snapped, scanning. Masked figures surged from the smoke, blades drawn, rushing toward the royals.

Reyna barked, “Form line! Keep them back!”

Jared swore, drawing his dagger. “I told you this market smelled wrong…”

“Less talking, more stabbing!” Reyna cut him off, stepping forward, steel raised.

Kael met the first attacker head-on. Steel clashed, sparks flying. The man snarled behind his mask, pushing hard. Kael parried, countered low, drove his elbow into the man’s ribs. He crumpled.

Another lunged for Princess Alana. Kael darted in, blade flashing, blocking the strike inches from her cloak.

“Stay down,” he said without looking at her.

She whispered, shaken, “I am.”

“Not very convincing,” Jared muttered, slashing at another who got too close.

Princess Vashti screamed as one masked fighter broke through Reyna’s guard.

“Highness, behind me!” Reyna barked, twisting, too late.

Kael reacted without thought. His blade cut across the man’s chest, deep and final. The body dropped hard onto the stone.

Kael froze only a second: blood pooling fast, the man’s masked face staring lifeless. His first real kill outside training. His hand trembled around the hilt.

Princess Alana’s voice was hushed, horrified. “Kael…”

Reyna’s shout snapped him out. “Kael! Move!”

He swallowed, forced his grip steady, and turned to the next threat.

Jared was swinging wide, reckless. “Too many of them!”

Reyna blocked another strike, snarling, “Then hold the line!”

One of the masked men jeered through the smoke. “Move aside, soldiers. We only want the crowns.”

“Over my corpse,” Jared spat, jamming his dagger forward.

Kyna shoved Princess Alana toward cover. “Stay with me!”

“I can fight…” the Princess began.

“Not today, you can’t,” Kyna barked, slamming her shield up as an arrow cracked against it. “Stay low!”

The attackers pressed harder. Kael stepped forward, intercepting two at once. His blade cut one down; the other slashed his arm before Reyna finished him from the side.

“Kael!” Reyna hissed, glancing at the blood.

“I’m standing,” he gritted out, forcing his sword back into guard.

Princess Vashti cried, “Are we safe?”

“No,” Reyna snapped. “Not yet.”

The fight burned quick and brutal. By the time city guards arrived, smoke still curled above broken stalls, bodies scattered across the cobbles. Blood and spice mingled in the air.

Kael stood breathing hard, sword stained. He stared at the man he’d cut down: the face slack behind the mask. The image stuck, unyielding.

Reyna approached slowly. “You did what you had to.”

Kael didn’t answer.

Kyna crouched beside one of the fallen. “Mercenaries. Paid blades, not zealots.” She glanced up. “Someone wanted this chaos, and wanted it messy.”

Princess Alana, voice trembling but steady, said, “He saved me. Twice.” She looked at Kael. “That man would have cut me down if not for you.”

Kael’s jaw tightened. He still didn’t speak.

Jared limped past, muttering, “Look at him. Another kill and he’s turned to stone.”

Reyna hissed, “Shut up.”

Jared tilted his head, smirking despite the blood on his sleeve. “What? It’s true. Not everyone’s built for it. Some of us swing, some of us break.”

Kyna snapped, “This isn’t the time.”

“Is there ever a good time?” Jared shot back. “Better he learns now.”

Kael’s voice was low, tight. “Say another word.”

Jared raised his hands mockingly. “Calm, calm. Don’t want you slicing friends by mistake.”

Darius met them back at the palace gate, expression cold as the steel at his hip. “Report.”

Reyna handed it over briskly. “Attack at the fountain square. Explosive device planted. Multiple armed assailants. Neutralised. Both Princesses secured.”

“Casualties?”

Kael’s voice cracked for the first time. “One. I killed him.”

Darius’s weighing eyes met his, then he looked away. “That won’t be the last.”

Kael’s jaw tightened. “The message was destroyed in the blast.”

Darius’s gaze darkened. “Then we lost more than time.”

Later, in the medic wing, Kael sat silent while the healer bound his cut. He barely felt it. The dead man’s eyes stayed fixed in memory.

Reyna entered quietly. “You haven’t moved since.”

Kael said nothing.

She sat across from him. “He’d have killed the Princess. You stopped him. That matters.”

“Does it?” His voice was flat. “I killed him. His blood’s still on my hands.”

Reyna leaned forward. “That’s what soldiers do. We kill so others don’t.”

He whispered, “It doesn’t make it lighter.”

“No. It doesn’t.” She didn’t try to soften it. Instead, she sat beside him. Silence stretched.

Jared’s voice cut in from the doorway, loud, mocking. “Sweet scene. Should I fetch flowers to match?”

Reyna snapped, “Get out.”

Jared smirked, eyes on Kael. “He’ll never stop seeing that face, just like what happened the last time. Welcome to the Shadow Corps again, Estaran.”

Kael didn’t move. He just stared ahead.

That night, in his bunk, Kael opened his journal. His hand shook slightly as he wrote:

> Second kill. Explosion. Market. Princess safe. Rebel—or someone wearing rebels. The message: lost.

He paused, then added:

> Blood doesn’t wash. Jared saw it. Reyna sat with me. Don’t know which one weighs more.

He shut the journal. The ink smeared.

The face appeared once again.