I suddenly felt a hand on my shoulder and I didn't realize how tense I had become until I relaxed a bit at the touch.
"Don't mind him," came a soft voice from behind me. I glanced over to the speaker, it was Gani. "C'mon," he said taking my arm. "Let's find a nice place to sit." We wandered the crowded hall for a moment before he finally found us a seat near the back. He managed to make up a plate to give to me before I could even sit down.
"It was the hair you know," he said quietly after a moment, glancing down at his own plate. "I know people like him. He was probably uncomfortable with all the attention on him and you were the first person he noticed in the crowd because well..." he chuckled. "With your features you stand out. He most likely just wanted people to stop being so focused on him. It's not easy looking like that in a training area with 50 other boys-"
"49," I corrected him. "It's 49 men since he had a boy already kicked out."
Gani sighed heavily.
"I'm not saying how he treated you wasn't terrible. What I mean is...sometimes people get nervous when they're not used to being the center of attention or they...have something bad going on in their own lives which causes them to need to push people down to feel better about themselves. I just..." he shook his head gently. "I'm sorry. Perhaps I'm wrong to try and defend him. I just believe...this competition is to try and turn us against each other. People should become Kingsmen due to their hard work and actual ability to protect the Prince, not because the others were kicked out due to a petty fight." I swallowed my pride and met his gaze.
"Alright, I'll try my best to get along with him, I promise." Gani nodded and grinned at me.
"Thanks Nicky, God I'm so lucky to have such a nice person roomed with me." I could feel my stomach sink. I didn't deserve to be looked at by him like that. I felt like a fox staring at a deer...a pure sweet innocent deer who simply wanted to do what was best for his Prince. And there I was, the fox, the predator, here to snatch that one thing he truly cared about protecting away.
After Breakfast our first day of training officially began. We were sorted into groups containing of our color team and a team of another color. The Purples were paired with the Blues. We were informed continuously that today was to just get us used to the schedule. We were also told that today wasn't going to be nearly as rigorous or as long as the following weeks to come and that we should consider this as more of an...evaluation day.
To gage our natural abilities we practiced hand to hand combat for hours against the other team. They were good but I was still able to beat most of them. My fighting style was different than theirs. I had been trained as an assassin, not as a knight, they couldn't predict my attacks. After that we practiced etiquette for about two hours with Orla, here was where most of the boys fell short. I managed to do alright during our first few tests. She would ask us questions and we would have to respond correctly. Gerner was noble born and Gani had worked at the palace for years so they made it past the test fairly easily. Munny and Khalil on the other hand...they could hardly get through a sentence before Orla would give them a harsh whack to the knuckles with her fan. We had a short break for lunch before training resumed. We had to run obstacle courses, ride horses, practice both performative and defensive sword fighting. All the while Orla and a small group of what I assumed must be lords at the palace would weave in and out of the training watching on as they scribbled notes on each boy's performance.
Finally we retired for dinner. Everyone appeared so hungry and tired that hardly anyone talked through the entire meal. Our group sat down at a table and within moments we were all stuffing our faces with food.
"God I'm famished," Munny mumbled between mouthfuls of chicken. "If this was just the evaluation day can you imagine what tomorrow is going to be like?"
"Shit...I don't want to," Gerner said grabbing for a loaf of bread.
"Me neither," Munny whined in agreement. While this was going on Khalil sat silently at the end of the table, the boy had even been even more quiet than usual ever since the etiquette training earlier today. Gerner scootched over to Munny to whisper just loud enough for us all to hear,
"God, what's wrong with him?" Munny shrugged grabbing for another piece of chicken.
"He's probably upset he got yelled at by Madame Orla for most of training. No one wants to get sent home just because you can't learn any goddamn manners." He snickered and Gerner gave him a little pat on the back.
"Ha! You're not one to talk. She didn't quite take a liking to you either."
"Yeah but at least I don't talk like a fucking slum rat..." I could hear his voice fade when Gani gave him a warning glance from across the table. When Munny had stopped I saw Gani move closer to Khalil and whisper something to the dark haired boy. I noticed Khalil say something back and Gani present him with a kind smile. I caught a few wisps of their quiet conversation. He was telling him that he had grown up in the slums too and could teach him how to speak properly if he wanted to. I stopped trying to listen after a few moments...it just felt rude to do so. Munny changed the conversation topic.
"Remember Emery? Well I heard from the people on his team and the group with them that he beat everyone at every fighting portion. One of the guys said he had never seen that kind of skill in a swordsmen before."
"No way? Really"
I looked back to my food. I really didn't want to hear about bitch faced Emery while I ate.
Once dinner had been cleared away the boys were given the opportunity to visit the baths. Naturally almost everyone went after being drenched in sweat from a long day training. Though the baths were crowded luckily the room accommodated us all. The baths were located in a large building and the floor, along with the large tubs, were carved from marble. There were multiple baths each containing different temperatures and kinds of water. There was a lilac bath, a rose bath and even a sea salt bath. Different kinds of lotions and faucets lined the walls and soon the room was a frenzy with boys everywhere. I got undressed and made my way to the closest tub with my other team members. As I slowly slipped in I felt the warm water brush over my aching muscles and a small sigh escaped me. Gani spoke suddenly.
"Have any of you seen Munny?" Gerner shrugged in response.
"I haven't seen him since dinner. I hope he's not one of those people who never bathe. That's freaking disgusting."
"Well," I said with a shrug, "at least maybe he would smell so bad Orla wouldn't be focused enough to criticize his shitty manners." That earned me a snort from Gerner. I found myself glancing over to Gani who had gone silent. He had leaned his head back and his eyes were shut. He had turned slightly and I could make out a scatter of freckles on his back tracing their way up his shoulders, faint against his olive skin. His hair had become damp from the steam and a few strands had fallen into his face. For some reason the site made my heart pound and I found myself instinctively reaching out to gently brush them away. Suddenly his eyes opened and I was met with that warm hazel gaze of his.
"Oh...I'm sorry," he said softly. "I almost drifted off for a moment there." He laughed kindly. "My goodness, this has been quite the day hasn't it?"
-----
We were one of that last groups to leave, getting out only as the others had already begun filing out of the baths entirely. We dried ourselves and got dressed before beginning to head back to our rooms. Half way down the hallway I stopped.
"Damnit."
Gani glanced back on me, a confused expression on his face. "Is everything alright?" I nodded giving him a little shrug.
"Yeah, I just realized I left my belt back at the baths. I'll just run back and get it. They're probably empty anyway." Gani nodded in response to this.
"Alright, I'll leave the door open for you."
I hurried quickly down the hall and soon I was entering back into the baths. It was quiet and slightly cold in there now that the boys had left and the constant flow of hot water was turned off. The lights were dim and for some reason it gave me an uneasy feeling. I scanned around the baths quickly looking for my belt. I didn't find it which was troubling but I was quickly met with something far worse.
"Well, well well," a cold voice cooed from behind me echoing in the empty chamber. "Why little doggy, what are you doing here so late? Wandering around here at night isn't something a little pup should be doing, he could get in trouble." I slowly turned around to see Emery standing there, dark eyes staring right at me. My body tensed but I managed to hold his gaze letting out a deep breath. I wouldn't take his bait. He wanted me to fight with him, I couldn't do what he wanted. Something hit me just then...maybe this was his strategy. He baited people until they lost it and then he got them kicked out. I swallowed hard.
"You're here late too. Don't you think what you're saying is a little hypocritical?" He hadn't been expecting me to be so calm and it threw him off, I could sense it. I found myself growing a little bolder. "Tell me, Emery? Why do you hate me so much? I haven't done anything to you. Why do you insist on trying to terrorize me? Is it because you're insecure? Is it because you need to push people down to make you feel better about yourself? " I could find myself starting to lose control and the words just started tumbling out as Gani's calm voice in my head slowly faded. "Well listen, I'm not going to put up with the bullshit of some jerk that thinks he can tear me down just because he's insecure about his little prick. Or maybe this is what you want? You want me to fight with you so you can get me kicked out too? " Emery was just staring at me now, his face unreadable.
"I don't hate you because I'm insecure. I hate you because I know you cheated during the tournaments."
I felt my stomach drop. How did he know? He wasn't speaking, just staring at me from those dark murky brown eyes. I saw his mouth open to say something and suddenly my instincts kicked in. Blame it on years of training as an assassin, the sudden fear of losing everything I had worked so hard for, I don't know what it was, but in that one second I lost all control and slammed my fist into his face. I saw him stumble back and finally look up at me, his expression now filled with disbelief as the blood dripped from his nose. The realization hit me like a rock...I had just delivered the final nail into my coffin. Emery was going to tell on me...I was going to get kicked out. If not kicked out...oh god what if he knew why I was here? What if he knew I was going to kill the prince? I would be executed for treason. I just stared into those unreadable eyes and tried not to focus on the blood dripping down his porcelain skin.
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