Set Them Free: Chapter 2

 I've handed in my report, and now I at last have some free time to myself. Sometimes I will head to the Great Balcony, for I am high enough in the Guard to be allowed use it. It's a pleasant feeling standing out there, with the endless plains of grass below and the faint glimmers of water. But on this night, I don't feel much like watching the servants, and so I attend the Great Hall where all manner of Guards are now spending their time or preparing for the next change of shift.

I spy my closest friend in the far corner and move with purpose to speak with him. I filter through my mind to recall what it is he prefers to be called in public conversation. A lot of the Guard have been led to believe that by using their full names the conversation becomes a matter of official record, so most have nicknames for each other. It's not too difficult, provided you can remember what everyone calls themselves in public. I always have trouble, and end up just using abbreviations of their full names. It usually gets me in trouble, but nothing I can't handle.

“Hello Luke. You're back late from your shift. Spying on that family again?”

I smack Sam around the head before responding.

“It's not spying you ignorant lummox. I'm doing my job.”

“Our job is to enforce the law.”

“Our job is to protect and guide the people.”

“Same thing.”

“Not quite.”

A few minutes of comfortable silence pass between us and I use the time to examine the other Guards in the hall. In the far side are gathered Michael �" he refuses to accept any kind of nickname or abbreviation, won't even respond otherwise �" and his cohort. I don't particularly like them. They stick to the rules like flies to tree sap and won't break them no matter the consequences. Michael himself stopped me from intervening when I found a man being murdered in his own home. It's a crime worth reporting, but not interrupting apparently. Even when the man's daughter was forced to watch.

At times, the servants disgust me.

Michael catches my eye and I nod politely. He nods back in acknowledgement before returning to his pathetic posse. Sam sees my disgust and pulls me out onto one of the balconies.

“You know how Mike gets, and you're not doing yourself any favours by having your little grudge match with him across the hall.”

I push Sam's hand off my shoulder and glare at him, my eyes boring into his own. He flinches away, lowering his gaze and fiddling with his hands nervously.

“I can't stand it anymore Sam. Everyday we see crimes committed and we can't do anything, lest the King or Michael come out to the aid of the disgusting, diseased criminals.”

Sam looks at me again. We've spoken about this before, and he knows exactly what I mean. I know he does, because he broke the law himself not so long ago. He brought food from the Guard's chambers down to a starving village. If it weren't for my own influence in the court he'd have lost his status as a Guard at the very least, or been executed at the worst. He's afraid of trying again, but he doesn't know what I do....that we are not alone. The King treats the citizens of the valley below like slaves. He has given them apparent freedom, since they cannot easily distinguish Guard from citizens unless we wear our armour, but they obey his laws through fear. It's not right, it's not fair and it needs to stop.

“I know, Luke, but what can we do? There's what...two of us? Against the King and a few thousand Guards.”

I shake my head, letting a smile creep across my face, and I see Sam's eyes light up. A smile begins to poison his own features as realisation hits.

“What's the plan, Luke?”

“Nothing overt. We can't help if we all get demoted. But with combined influence we should be able to provide small things. Give help on the farms, bring food to the starving and medicine to the sick. With more of us as part of the whole thing, we can cover each other's tracks. We need to educate the citizenry, so that they can make their own choices rather than just doing what they're told. It will take time, but it should work. We just need to be careful.”

Sam's head looks about ready to separate itself from his neck, such is the ferocity and enthusiasm present as he nods his head. I knew Sam was a good kid, if a bit overeager to prove himself. He knows corruption when he sees it, and it's everywhere in the court. We can't fix the court, its ways are too set in stone, but we can at least make life simpler for our charges. The King won't notice, he tends to keep to himself and not bother with the everyday workings of those he calls his own. It's the other guards we have to watch out for. We won't exactly change the world, but each one of us has a family we hold close to us down in the villages, and if we could just make their lives more like our.... The trouble we risk would be well worth it.

I duck back inside the hall wand glance about, scanning the assorted guards for a friendly face. I catch not just one, but two. Lily and Adam �" as they prefer to be called �" are talking with each other on one of the couches near where I'm standing, and I wave them over. Adam saunters over slowly, but Lily practically skips, bouncing towards me and embracing me in a hug with such force I almost fall from the step I'm on when I catch her. She giggles playfully in my ear and I kiss her cheek. Adam fakes nausea while Sam looks away uncomfortably. I put Lily back on the ground before closing the door behind herself and Adam.

“All present and accounted for?”

“Everyone not on duty anyway,” responds Adam, his usual demeanour not changing in the slightest. I hold myself as a stoic fellow, but Adam is a whole different level of staying calm. I don't think I've ever seen the man smile, let alone touch somebody. Somehow, though, he and Lily get along almost as well as Lily and I do.

“Okay, in two weeks Mike gives up as shift master, and I take the stand for the next six months. I figure that should give us enough time to get a few things done. Lay the groundwork as it were. Remember what we agreed on, nothing to serious, nothing which could be easily noticed. Once Mike takes over as Shift Master again, we need to postpone anything else until next command change. So nothing that needs more than a week to prepare. Agreed?”

A round of nods, except for Adam who simply crosses his arms. That's about as much a show of agreement as I'm bound to get from him, so I let it be. With the plan in place, all we need to do is wait for Michael to hand over the quaterstaff to me. It's symbolic, sure, but at least it means we can cover our tracks better. I bid the others farewell as they return inside, and lean against the railings of the balcony. This view is much simpler than the Great Balcony, and all I see are mist covered mountains and a small stream. I breathe in the fresh air and close my eyes.

I don't hear the footsteps, and as a result am thoroughly shocked when I open my eyes and Az is standing beside me. I jump ever so slightly, and Az smirks. He's a strange one, doesn't really spend time with the other guards. He does his shift, comes back and then disappears into his private quarters to read. I always feel slightly uncomfortable around him, and when he speaks to me my blood runs cold. Michael just angers me with his tone of utmost loyalty to the King, but Az.... Az sounds like he's dying, and always has.

“There are rumours. Michael suspects.”

I glare at him for a moment for using Michael's name in conversation, but either he doesn't notice or doesn't care and he continues to stare out at the mountains. In time I return to my position leaning against the pristine white balustrade and respond myself.

“Have you been spreading lies, Az?”

“No, of course not. I prefer not to meddle in the myriad trivialities of the internal conflict of the court. It does not change the facts. Michael suspects you intend to break the law.”

“This would count as meddling, Az.”

He laughs, and like his voice it is hoarse. Like a whisper, filled with illness and for a moment I fear that blood is about to follow from a rotten throat. But Az shows no discomfort and seems not to notice my fear. I may find him slightly disturbing, but in an odd way I like Az, and would hate for something to happen to him.

“Perhaps it would, perhaps it would. Consider it a favour that I do not talk to Michael. He does not like me.”

“Most don't.”

“I suppose that is why I talk to you. You alone don't ask me to leave.”

“I alone have manners and a heart in this court.”

He nods sadly and turns to leave me in peace again.

“Do not do anything stupid, for I would miss you my friend.”

I wave his concerns away and listen as the door clicks shut behind him. I do not know how much time I spend out on the balcony, but when I return indoors the shift has changed again, and Lily has gone to bed. I step quietly up the stairs hidden behind a statue in the hall and navigate the winding halls of the castle. I make no sound on the floorboards, and only the lightest of creaks as I push open the door. I strip off my work clothes and melt over to the bed, a shadow in the darkness. Lily is reading.

“I was wondering when you would make it.”

I smile at her, taking in her naked beauty. Her skin is pristine, perfect and seems to glow even in the darkness. This is something even Sam does not know about, for sexual relations are forbidden between Guards, but I love this woman, and she loves me. I cannot recall when we both realised this, but I try not to become mired in the brightness of the past, and I focus only on the present. She closes her book and I slide in under the covers beside her. The lamp is turned off, our breathing becomes heavy and as the night carries on we make love.