The Game: Chapter 2

"I must see the King."

"There will be no action of that kind. Back off peasant and your day will not begin in a way you do not want it to."

"I am no peasant! I am here to deliver an important message to the King! Let me through!"

"So was the last man who demanded that they simply had to see the King. I'll tell you once more and no more than that. Leave my castle."

"No, I must-"

No more words were exchanged before the castle guard put his spear point to the neck of the demanding man. He hissed, a common warning sign displayed by his race. His slitted tongue flicked from the scaly snout that hovered near the commoner's ear.
"Back off peasant, or your life will end."

Seeming to finally get the message loud and clear, the persistent peasant gulped down a breath and turned tail. He vanished from sight soon enough, leaving only a small cloud of dust kicked up from the bricked walkway leading up to the first castle gate.
The guard straightened back up, resuming his unmoving post on the right side of the gate, staring straight ahead. No movement was allowed among the guards, lest they were stopping someone from entering the castle. They had to look as if they were statues, unmoving, uncaring. Ereldiss had his duties down perfectly. A massive dislike for anyone of any species had already created a feeling of no care for anything in his mind. Instinct allowed staying still to feel normal. He curled his thick scaled tail on the ground in front of his legs and kept watch for anything unusual.

Quite often there was commotion around the main gate of the castle. Messengers, foreign parties, villagers, knights, guards, castle folk, slaves, livestock and everything and everyone from the land seemed to visit the castle often. Crowds would often build after the morning hours, when people had finished their daily chores and sought it fit to pester the King or one of his men. So called princes came calling for the chance to wed one of the three daughters of the King. The job of a castle guard was not a slack one. But eventually, all of the people seemed to blend together. Oh, a messenger let that one in. Oh, a disappointed civilian, tell that one to go away. Oh, another one looking for attention from the princess, ask one of the King's men.

Today though, the first castle gate had been rather quiet. A festival in the village below kept the attention of many of the townspeople, satisfying them and shushing their complaints for now. Because of the quiet, Ereldiss took such pleasure in scaring those few away who even attempted to seek the court of the King. If this man truly wanted to speak to the King, he would wait until the King held court, which happened twice every month. The dates were the same every month. Could this man be so stupid and ignorant as to not know about court dates? And that the King or one of his close men would make an effort to address every issue of every peasant? Sometimes the sessions would last for three days at a time, just to try and quiet the peasants until the next time court was held. It was through these excruciating court sessions that riot was prevented. The King had enough men on his side to defend against an uprising if one did occur, but the results would be costly. The people of the village brought life to the castle, and kept them living their uppity lifestyle. If the villagers were unhappy, the royal lifestyle would begin to degrade. This was the cost of being the King.

Ereldiss had no concern for these matters at all though, and knew only of these sessions and the workings of the castle because there was constant talk flowing from one castle guard to the other. A bunch of gossipers they were. He listened only because it was impossible not to listen. He cared for his job only because he enjoyed the ability to threaten the lives of others without having to worry about threat from the law. Killing those who were so called innocents though, was a whole different story. And the craving to kill had begun to creep back in the guard's veins. Threats and slight actions had sated his hunger for only so long. He wanted to kill, to watch the blood leak from a wound, to see the faces of those upon whom he inflicted death. It was a high for him. Death was a drug. And Ereldiss was beginning to suffer withdrawals.