Tralj, a guard captain in Emperor Ma'ar's personal battalion of elite soldiers, watched the young man he was guarding carefully. The Heir to his Emperor's legacy was right in front of him and he was the one assigned to guard him. That was nothing short of amazing, for a twenty-one year old, already a captain, to be guarding the eighteen year old Heir. But everyone in the battalion agreed, that Tralj was uniquely suited to the job. He was half Kaled'a'in himself, as was the Heir, though not many knew that, and he was young, and he was one of the best fighters the battalion had ever seen.
What no one knew, was that Tralj wasn't the amazingly loyal and dedicated guard to Ma'ar that he appeared to be. He was in fact an agent for Urtho, the main rival of Ma'ar. His Emperor was not his master, that title was reserved for the man who had saved his life when his family had been slaughtered, by the very man he was currently serving as a guard to his son. Urtho had seen Ma'ar's actions as danger signs, and had raised Tralj, then sent him to a family that was in Ma'ar's territory and asked him to be his agent in Ma'ar's guards. Neither of them had ever expected him to make it this far, as a personal guard to the second most important person in the Empire!
Kiyamvir, or Amvir, was working with his father's armsmaster, and he was uniquely skilled in the art. He had been trained from the cradle, true, but it was still impressive to watch his near fantastic speed and odd style. A sort of mix, of everything he had ever been taught, street fighting, Kaled'a'in, which had been taught to him when he was younger and even now he was continuing that aspect of it. There was some northern fighting styles, as well as some western ones, and some assassin moves thrown into the mix. If he had only been born in the position to be a guard, he'd be an amazing asset! But he would be a strong Emperor, and a hard one for anyone to kill, which was all to the good in the agent's opinion. Especially since he had set himself the rather lofty goal of subverting the boy to his side as a favor to his master. Urtho had a personal attachment to the boy, though he tried to hide it. The boy even resembled Urtho more than he did his father, which was no surprise since his mother had been Urtho's younger sister. Virtually no one knew that of course, there would be some bit of controversy over that. Tralj was still trying to figure out if Kiyamvir knew of his mother's identity, and the reason behind her death, but he didn't even know of he'd be able to get Kiyamvir on his side.
Wincing as his charge blocked a flurry of blows from the armsmaster, he went back to his musings as he carefully watched his surroundings. He may not be the truly loyal guard he appeared to be, but he took his job seriously.
The two of them, Tralj and Kiyamvir, were actually going to be leaving on a year-long trip, seeing how far south they could go, going anywhere really. Ma'ar had asked his son to leave, go venture outside of the Empire, to get a feel for the vastness of the realm he'd eventually rule, at least, that was the Emperor's excuse. Tralj had an idea that the real reason that the Emperor wanted his son to leave was to get him away so he could plot with impunity, for his son had shown signs of actually giving a damn about people and those his father hated.
In fact- after this, they'd have to get their horses, report to the Gate terminus, and leave. Maybe he'd have his chance to subvert the younger man more easily there.
Two weeks later, Tralj and Kiyamvir were getting on much better than they had, and a true friendship was starting to develop. However, there were moments when Tralj doubted his charges sanity, like one time when they'd been talking, and Kiyamvir's eyes deadened, and he watched him with flat eyes and an expressionless face, just taking in information, and they had been talking about his father's slaughter of the Kaled'a'in, and Tralj couldn't help but think uneasily that there was something inhuman about his friend, a cold quality that caused him to be capable of the atrocities his father called everyday work.
That conversation had taken place a few days ago, and the occurrence hadn't happened again, so Tralj calmed down slightly, and came off his close monitoring of his friend's mental state.
They really had no clue where they were or where they were going. All they knew was that they had been gone for a certain amount of time and Ma'ar would call them when he wanted them to Gate themselves back.
They were camped for the night, staring up at the stars through the trees they were under, when Kiyamvir asked hesitantly, "You're half Kaled'a'in, but the parents that registered you to the guard were full Kaled'a'in, how did that happen?"
Tralj stiffened suddenly, and Kiyamvir watched him silently, debating with himself whether he could tell his guard and friend what he had found out. "You work for Urtho," he said simply. "I haven't told anyone. I'd prefer to work for Urtho myself. I- lost all illusions I had of my father when my mother died." The last was spoken softly, nearly inaudible.
Tralj was rigid as he sat up and then he moved extremely fast as he grabbed his charge's arms and pinned him to the ground. When he was satisfied Amvir was sufficiently immobilized, he hissed, "How the hell did you find out I was working for Urtho? And how am I supposed to believe you that you haven't told Ma'ar already and he sent us away to prepare a warm welcome for me?"
Kiyamvir met Tralj's blue eyes with his silver/blue ones and said in his mind, :I have told no one that you work for Urtho but for you. No one knows that you work for him. Any suspicions my father had about you were eliminated ages ago, or he wouldn't have assigned you to guard me.: He thought he hid the slight fear he felt rather well.
Tralj gulped, knowing you couldn't lie mind to mind, and slumped over, relieved beyond belief. It was then that he realized he had collapsed on top of his charge. He rolled off him, muttering, "Sorry."
Amvir hesitantly put his arm around his friend's shoulders and rested his head on his shoulder, asking softly, "My mother- was she related to Urtho? My father- he mentioned it when he- interrogated her." He chose the last words carefully, not wanting to have to relive what he had seen without his father's knowing.
"Yes, Urtho was her older brother," the guard replied just as softly. He flashed a quick smile at his friend and said, "He was like a father to me, Urtho. He saved my life and I owe him a great debt. I set myself what I believed to be a lofty goal to make you switch sides and introduce you to your uncle. He'd like that. I think you would too. You two have a lot in common. Now I come to find out you've already switched in heart, but haven't been able to find a way to switch in deed."
Kiyamvir grinned up at him shyly. He was still slightly unsure of his new friendship with the guard. Every so often- he felt strange twangs deep in his soul- quickly suppressed, but not before he recognized them for what they were, and he wondered how he'd ever be able to remain sane as friends with Tralj. He'd manage though, he usually did.
"So, I have a location mentally, think you can Gate us there? You can meet you're uncle. Besides I'm scheduled to report," Tralj continued, looking at his friend and grinning. "He'll be surprised."
Amvir snorted and said, "No shit. All right, first thing tomorrow then. We'll build a Gate."
The next day, they Gated directly into Urtho's stables, and Kiyamvir swayed where he stood, near collapsing, he was pretty good at doing Gates, but he was still only eighteen and he'd never done one with that kind of distance.
Tralj stabled the horses, knowing where everything was, and he called greetings to some people who recognized him, they saw Kiyamvir's pale face and assumed he was a refugee seeking a home in Urtho's sanctuary. Little did they know.
Tralj and he got up to Urtho's study, knocking and receiving permission to enter, Tralj led his charge and friend in. Seeing his master and mentor in his fireside chair, they both instantly grinned at one another and brightened while Kiyamvir shrunk back. Urtho and Tralj engaged in cheerful greetings and catching up on news, hugging each other quickly.
Tralj remembered him and turned to put his arm around his shoulder, drawing Kiyamvir forward and saying, "Urtho, this is the real reason I showed up to give my report in person. Urtho, my charge, Amvir, Amvir, your uncle Urtho."
Kiyamvir watched the Mage of Silence carefully while the man realized what Tralj had said, "Amvir? Amvir. Is that short for- Kiyamvir?" the middle aged man asked hesitantly.
He nodded quickly, starting to shrink in on himself again. Urtho didn't really notice, but Tralj did and he linked minds with his charge, :It's all right, he doesn't hate you, you're a relative, he'd never be a blood traitor.:
:Unlike my father,: he replied, too distracted by examination of his uncle to be bitter.
:Yes, unlike him,: Tralj allowed.
"How long will you be staying?" Urtho asked them, they were all three sitting in his study, and he seemed to understand Kiyamvir's nervousness with meeting a previously unknown relative, because he was acting as best he could to put him at ease.
"I'd say as long as we can, that way I can get used to it here, and Tralj and you can catch up," Kiyamvir said hesitantly, he was still worried and whenever Urtho moved suddenly or quickly he couldn't help but flinch. Urtho and Tralj both noticed this, and couldn't help but think what kind of fear he must have in him for his instincts to be like that. His father was a very appealing man in public, and they couldn't help but wonder too what kind of man he could be in private for Kiyamvir to be this on edge with someone new.
"I'd tend to agree," Tralj said, "If you get used to this as much as possible then it'll be easier for you to report and all."
Kiyamvir nodded gratefully, happy that his friend didn't think him foolish for wanting to remain in a place where, quite honestly, he didn't have to fear for his life constantly.
Tralj and Kiyamvir had linked rooms, after all, Tralj was still his guard, and currently Tralj was in his charge's room, making sure he was all right.
"Are you certain about remaining? If you don't feel at ease here, I don't have to stay any longer than right now," he said worriedly, looking into his friend's eyes.
Kiyamvir grinned at him uneasily and said, "I've never been here before and I've been raised to hate this man, of course I'm uneasy, but I'll get over it, Urtho- seems nice."
"Once you get to know him better seems nice will be replaced with 'is awesome'," Tralj grinned at him, sitting next to him and putting an arm around his shoulders. "You know, your little habit of flinching whenever he made a sudden move had me worried."
"I don't know if you remember, but I did the same thing with you. After I saw my father kill my mother and my illusions were shattered, I knew that eventually he'd figure it out and he'd come after me. I conditioned myself to believe that every new person I ever met was a potential assassin sent by my father to kill me off."
"So that's why you were always doing that!" he exclaimed, nodding, "You know Amvir, it makes sense."
"Yeah, I know, the fact that I've been conditioned to hate this man will actually make it easier, because the odds that my father assigned Urtho the task of killing me are astronomical."
"He wouldn't do it. He hates killing, even when people are attacking him. That trait is something neither you nor I share with him. If there's just cause I'd slaughter a family down to the last babe," his eyes were cold as he said it, staring off into space, and Kiyamvir knew his friend had an idea of what that kind of 'just cause' would be. He could too, now that he thought about it.