The taller boy who had unlocked the door plopped himself down onto the larger bed in the middle of the room as if almost silently declaring himself the leader of the group. With such competition I would have thought this almost unspoken decision would have caused some anger among the boys but instead they all stayed quiet in silent agreement to accept this. The boy glanced over them, his warm hazel eyes drifting over each person in the room.

"Everyone grab a bed," he said suddenly. "Once we're comfortable we can go about introducing ourselves." The boys stared back at him and I waited in heated anticipation to see if they would actually do what he said. Then slowly one by one they each made their way to a bed. Once they were all seated the taller boy smiled. "Alright then, I'll start. I'm Gani! I'm 20 years old and from the northern district of the capital." 

He was from the slums...that's what that meant. Gani continued talking.

"I actually was sent by my mother to work in the palace when I was young. After a few years of scrubbing the nobilities dirty floors I left to try and return to my struggling family members back in the city. I don't know why..." he shrugged. "I guess I thought I could help them. I was wrong. I tried so hard to get out of the palace and look at me now." He chuckled softly, almost to himself. "Here I am, practically fighting my way to get back in there again." There was something calming and natural and...just simply honest about Gani that I hadn't picked up on before. Maybe this was why everyone just silently accepted him as the leader, it just felt right. He just seemed like someone we could trust in this tense filled contest. A kind of older brother that would be looking out for us, even though he had been beside us for only a few fleeting moments. The white tunic we were forced to wear felt tight and itchy on me yet on Gani it looked almost natural. It simply seemed casual, even though it was a little big on him and the sleeves slipped down exposing his shoulders as he draped himself backwards against the bed. His gaze fell to the next boy when he had finished speaking, waiting for him to begin. After a moment the boy suddenly seemed to realize it was his turn to go. He sat up quickly, pulling his knees to his chest on the bed.

"Uh, me name is Khalil," he said in a thick northern accent. His voice was soft, nearly a whisper. "I uh...I'm 17 years old. I come from Hevins. It's uh...simply always been me dream to serve the prince. Y'know...I caught a quick glimpse of him when I was young. It was only a heartbeat really....I probably wouldn't even recognize him now. Yet...he was so radiant and beautiful and I simply knew deep down in me heart I was destined to serve him...." his voice grew quieter now, clearly unsure of what else to say. He began to quickly glance around the room as if looking desperately for a rescue. The rescue in question came from a loud booming voice across the bed from him.

"Ah! I've been to Hevin. It's a lovely place! I could tell from the accent right away. They sell really great wine there, it's cheap too!" The young man who had spoken now scooted forward, a huge grin on his face. "I'm Gener and I'm a nobleman of the house Vestari. I'm 24 and the youngest of 14 brothers which means I don't really need to plan on ever inheriting squat. Luckily I can actually make a name for myself here. Serving prince Mikhos will bring about closer relations between house Vestari and the royal family and be the perfect way to prove our loyalty to the kingdom. Plus," he waggled his eyebrows, "we all know serving the prince as a Kingsman is one of the most prestigious roles a man can receive."

"Wonderful, we have an aristocrat," Khalil mumbled. There was little emotion behind it but from the tone anyone could pick up the obvious prick to it. Gani looked over to the boy on the next bed. This one looked younger than the others and this was confirmed when he spoke. Judging from the pitch of his voice it hadn't even changed yet.

"I'm Munny. I'm from the capital city so this isn't too much of a journey for me." Following his statement he giggled loudly. Gener leaned forward on his bed in an attempt to get a better look at the boy.

"Woah...kid how old are you?" The boy looked vaguely offended and turned up his little freckled nose at the comment.

"Thirteen."

The room exploded into a whirl of voices at the statement.

"He's 13?"

"How the hell did he win his tournament at 13?"

"How is that possible...oh my god I'm scared to be in the same room as this kid-"

"That's enough!" The voice came from Gani who had stood up abandoning his leisurely position on the bed. "We are a team, a unit. They want us to fight and take each other out, we can not allow that to happen. From now on we will be respectful of each other. Age, country, social standing, it does not matter. The Kingsmen are all one unit and that's what we all strive to be so please let us try to act like one." The room fell silent for a moment before there was finally a quiet murmur of agreement. Gani gave a small nod before lowering himself back onto the bed as if nothing had happened. He had handled it well. Gani truly was a natural leader. I glanced over at him. I had a new respect for the tall servant boy with the warm eyes and the commanding voice. Suddenly I realized he was staring back at me and I blinked. Why was he-

"It's your turn. I'm sorry, I would address you by name but," he chuckled kindly, "I do not yet have the pleasure of knowing it."

"Ah....right, sorry." I had rehearsed this story countless times. "My name is Nicolai," I said as calmly and as naturally as I could. "I'm 19 and I came here for my sister. We're poor and uh...I wanted to make sure I could take care of her. The Kingsmen are paid as if they're nobles and they're the most prestigious positions in the Kingdom. I just wanted her to get to see her older brother as something more than a poor failure like my father. " That wasn't entirely a lie. Gani nodded, staring at me through those warm chestnut eyes.

"You're noble, it's hard to find such good and dedicated people like you anymore." He smiled at me. For some reason it gave me a warm fluttery feeling in my chest and I hated it. I foolishly felt like I could trust him, like I could tell him anything. That wasn't possible, obviously. If Gani knew the real reason I was here, to kill his beloved prince, he wouldn't be smiling at me like this. There was something else about this situation that made my stomach twist. I had never really thought of the other boys here as people before I arrived. They were simply another obstacle in my path to kill the prince. But now that I was among them, now that I could see they were flesh and blood with lives and stories and dreams it felt different. All these men had worked so hard to get here, they most likely had trained like I had for a good section of their lives to get into this very room we now sat. There was only one group of Kingsmen per king...if I took out prince Mikhos these boys would never be Kingsmen. Oh well, I couldn't feel bad about it, these boys did want to serve the false prince after all. There was no place for guilt here, I just needed to lock it in some place deep inside of me and never think about it again. My thoughts were interrupted by Gani.

"You're lucky Nicky," he chuckled, "You don't mind if I call you that, right?" I shrugged and I was met with an undeserving beam. "You know, the prince has a thing for redheads...or at least that's what the rumor is. You have an advantage over us all you sly bastard." He said it teasingly with a glint in his eyes and I forced a smile at him in return.

"You don't say? Luckily for you all the Kingsmen are picked by who can protect him, not by which way his dick points." This comment earned me a huge snort of laughter from Gener. There was a heart beat of silence before the entire room erupted into laughter. Munny nearly toppled over, giggling hysterically. I believed I even caught a glimpse of tears in his large blue eyes.

"Oh my God...haha..." Gener managed to say between laughs. "Going by that logic...haha...if we were to all truly meet the prince's tastes we would not only need to be red heads but...hehe...huge busty women as well so...pfft...unless you're hiding some huge tits on that scrawny frame of yours Nicolai I think you're out of luck like the rest of us." This brought around yet another bout of hysterical laughter from the boys. Even Khalil who had appeared to have been holding back from the others seemed to loosen up a bit letting out a small giggle. When the laughter finally died now Gani straightened, once more gaining control of the room.

"Alright, listen boys. Today marks the first day of what will soon be months of strenuous training. Everyone is going to be against us so it's going to be up to us to work together to look out for each other. Besides," his gaze swept over them. "There are five of us and there are five spots as Kingsmen. It could be us, all of us, who knows." This earned a cheer from Munny and Gener and even I could feel myself joining in even though I knew I really wasn't one of them. "Now that that's out of the way," Gani said with a yawn, "I think it's best we all get some rest. Tomorrow is a big day, it's our first day of training. We don't want to get kicked out day one because we didn't sleep." There was a murmur of agreement from the other boys and one by one they began to turn in for the night. I snuggled into the smooth silk covers. The fabric felt cool against my skin and was a nice contrast to the thick and heated early August air. I shut my eyes and allowed sleep to slowly take hold of me. The last thought I had before I drifted off was of prince Mikhos. Who was this man...what would he be like...what would the false prince's face look like as I watched the life drain from his eyes?