The King's Guard

Chapter 79

It was late afternoon. Reyna adjusted her stance opposite Kael, her wooden blades ready.

“Again,” she said. “And this time, stop thinking.”

Kael exhaled slowly. “That’s your advice?”

“It’s the best kind. You overthink the Rift. You always try to control it before it happens.”

“That’s the point of control.”

“No,” she said, circling him. “It’s the point of fear. Let it move first, then guide it.”

He grimaced. “Sounds dangerous.”

“It is.” She lunged.

Their practice blades met with a crack that echoed. Kael parried, felt the energy of the Rift hum beneath his skin. Time trembled: one breath too fast, another too slow. He tried to ride it, to let the pulse spread through his arms.

Reyna pressed harder. “You’re stalling.”

“I’m learning.”

“You’re hesitating.” She struck again, quick as a blink.

He blocked, barely. The hum slipped from him, a shimmer in the air, distorting her outline. For a heartbeat she was in two places, then only one again. He stumbled, panting.

Reyna lowered her blade. “Better. You touched it.”

“It touched me,” Kael muttered.

“Same thing.”

They rested a moment, leaning on their weapons. The hall was mostly empty now, the echoes fading. Kael glanced at his hands, fine cracks of blue light along his palms.

“I still can’t hold it,” he said. “It slips.”

“Then hold it less. You keep trying to cage it. Try listening.”

“To what?”

“The silence before it breaks.” She smirked at his look. “You’ll understand.”

He shook his head. “You make everything sound like poetry.”

“Because you make everything sound like a complaint.”

From the doorway, someone clapped once.

Jared leaned against the frame, arms folded. “Touching lesson. Do you charge tuition, Reyna, or is he a special case?”

Reyna didn’t look at him. “You need something?”

“Just checking what keeps our prodigy busy while the rest of us run drills.”

Kael turned. “We’ve been training since morning.”

“So I heard.” Jared walked closer, boots scuffing against the stone. “Word is, you’re the Commander’s favourite project now.”

Kael’s jaw tightened. “Word travels fast.”

“It always does when someone wants it to.”

Reyna stepped between them. “We’re done for the day.”

“Good,” Jared said. “Wouldn’t want him collapsing under all that praise.”

Kael set his blade down carefully. “You done?”

Jared smiled thinly. “Hardly started.”

Reyna’s tone cooled. “You can leave, Jared.”

He stared at Kael a beat longer, then turned on his heel and left, the echo of his boots stretching long after.

Later, under the dim light of the barracks, Kael sat cross-legged, tracing faint lines of energy across his fingers. Reyna dropped beside him, handing over a cup of water.

“You didn’t punch him,” she said. “Progress.”

“I considered it.”

“Don’t. That’s what he wants.”

“He’s been worse lately.”

“He’s jealous.” She said it plainly.

Kael frowned. “Of what?”

“You. Darius trusts you. The others look up to you. Even Archon keeps watching you, though he won’t say why.”

“That’s not worth envy.”

“To him it is.” She nudged his shoulder. “He’s used to being the loudest one in the room. You make more noise without speaking.”

Kael half-smiled. “That sounds like another insult disguised as advice.”

“Think of it as truth.”

He leaned back against the wall. “I don’t want this attention.”

“You don’t get to choose it.”

Outside, rain began to fall, light but steady, tapping the roof. They listened to it without talking for a while.

Reyna finally said, “You’re improving. The Rift responds faster.”

“I can hold focus for a few seconds. Then everything splits.”

“That’s longer than before.”

He nodded. “It still feels wrong.”

“Because you’re used to limits.”

“I’m used to rules.”

“Rules,” she said softly, “are for people who don’t see beyond them.”

He looked at her, and she met his eyes briefly before standing. “Same time tomorrow.”

The next morning, Jared arrived early at the field. He watched from a shadowed alcove as Kael and Reyna moved through synchronised drills. Their rhythm was tight, effortless. She called out adjustments, and Kael followed without argument.

From where Jared stood, it looked too easy.

When Kael stumbled, Reyna caught his wrist, steadying him. Their laughter carried across the hall.

Jared’s grip on the railing tightened until his knuckles whitened.

Ember’s voice cut through the echo. “You plan to stare all day, or join them?”

Jared turned sharply. Ember, arms folded, raised an eyebrow. “You look like you swallowed a nail.”

“Just observing,” Jared said.

“Sure. And I’m a saint.” Ember stepped beside him, watching the pair below. “They make a good team.”

“They make a spectacle.”

“Same thing if it works.”

Jared exhaled slowly. “He’s not ready. He’s just lucky.”

“Luck’s a kind of readiness,” Ember said. “You’d know that if you stopped measuring yourself against him.”

Jared gave a sharp smile. “I’m not measuring. I’m watching him fall.”

Ember studied him for a moment. “You sound like Archon when you talk like that.”

Jared’s eyes flicked to her, then away. “I should get to drills.”

“Do that,” she said quietly.

By evening, fatigue had dulled Kael’s limbs. Reyna was the one still pushing. “Again,” she ordered.

“You said that six times.”

“Seven makes it perfect.”

He rolled his eyes, but reset his stance. “Fine. But if I pass out, it’s your fault.”

“You won’t. You never do.”

They moved. Strike, block, step, spin, until the pattern blurred into instinct. Kael’s concentration narrowed. The Rift flickered again, a tremor at the edge of sight. Time slowed: dust motes hung in the air, Reyna’s movements stretched, graceful and strange.

He breathed through it. The hum steadied.

“Good,” Reyna said, though her voice sounded distant. “Now pull it back.”

He tried. The light cracked around him, threads snapping one by one until he fell to one knee, panting.

Reyna knelt beside him. “Better.”

“I lost it.”

“You ended it,” she corrected. “That’s different.”

He looked up. “Feels the same.”

“It isn’t.” She smiled faintly. “You’re learning the language of it.”

Kael wiped sweat from his brow. “You talk like Darius sometimes.”

“Then you should listen harder.”

Later that night, the squad gathered for their debrief. Drax tossed Kael a flask. “You’re glowing. Either you mastered the Rift or fell in love.”

Kael threw it back. “Neither.”

Reyna smirked. “He’s finally learning control.”

“About time,” Ember said. “The next field test won’t wait for philosophy.”

Jared said nothing, staring into the firepit.

Ember caught it. “You’ve been quiet, Varion.”

“Just listening to the praise chorus,” Jared said flatly.

Drax leaned forward. “You jealous or just bored?”

“Both,” Jared muttered.

Kael’s patience thinned. “If you have something to say, say it.”

Jared met his eyes. “Only that some of us work twice as hard for half the notice.”

Reyna’s voice cut in. “Then work smarter.”

Jared laughed once. “Spoken like someone who never had to fight for a place.”

Ember sighed. “Enough.”

But Jared wasn’t done. “You think this bond of yours makes you untouchable. Wait until Archon decides he’s had enough of Darius’s pet project.”

Kael stood slowly. “You done guessing what Darius thinks?”

“Are you done pretending you’re not his favourite?” Jared shot back.

Reyna stepped between them again, voice sharp. “Stop it. Both of you.”

Kael’s hands clenched, then loosened. He turned away. “We’re finished here.”

He left the circle. Reyna followed a moment later. Behind them, Jared stared into the fire until the flames blurred.

Outside, night air cooled the tension from Kael’s skin. Reyna caught up, walking beside him in silence.

“He’s getting worse,” she said finally.

Kael nodded. “He’ll break something soon.”

“Then we stop him before he does.”

Kael gave a tired smile. “You always make it sound easy.”

“It’s not,” she said. “But it’s possible.”

He looked out at the horizon, faint lights of the city flickering beyond the fields. “Do you think any of this means something? All this training, these missions?”

“It has to,” she said. “Otherwise we’re just weapons waiting to rust.”

He nodded once, quietly.

Reyna’s hand brushed his arm, brief but steady. “Get some rest. Tomorrow, we do it all again.”

He watched her go, the sound of her footsteps fading into the dark.

Behind him, unseen in the upper walkway, Jared leaned on the rail, eyes shadowed. The faint firelight caught the tension in his jaw as he whispered to himself, “Let’s see how long you keep it together.”