The Midnight Watch

Chapter 5

The closer I got to Evarlin, the bigger it looked until I couldn't possibly imagine what all of the space was used for. The gates themselves were larger than my house and almost two metres thick. At the moment they were open, but I didn't fancy anyone's chances of getting in if they were closed.

The instructor glanced back at all of us admiring the fortress and I was surprised to see a faint smile on his lips. "You'll get used to it," he told us as we entered the courtyard.

But when I was standing in that open space, I couldn't conceive ever getting used to this. There weren't many people on the grass training field, or scattered along the balconies that protruded from the walls all around. However the few people there were seemed to fill the space more than a thousand others would.

They laughed and joked cheerfully, poked fun at each other and held loud conversations, not caring who heard them. In the centre of the courtyard, a pair was wrestling while a circle around them shouted encouragement and advice. Along a narrow walkway, several more practised archery with sleek silver bows.

This was a place where everyone could be themselves. This was my sort of place.

Everyone was wearing the same uniform of black edged with silver. The colours symbolised a moon in the night sky, the namesake of the Moon Guard. I had always admired the clothing when I saw the members of the guard around my neighbourhood.

When we were noticed, the vigilantes didn't fall silent. Quite the opposite actually, if anything they talked even louder. Somehow I wasn't surprised.

"Go and sit on the grass. Tammie will be along in a minute," the instructor told us in a bored voice. He then proceeded to sit down on a bench just out of earshot and fell into conversation with a group of older guards.

We formed a very awkward circle, split distinctly into two groups. One half was the prince and his followers, the other was Ethan's cronies. I took a neutral spot in the middle with Alex, having no desire to choose a side. Another thing I couldn't help but notice was that despite trying out for a guard who governed every family equally, we still grouped with others from our house. It was sad really.

"Alright, everyone. We're going to do some team building!" a cheerful voice announced. A woman in her early twenties with the distinctive red hair of the Winterusk family joined the circle. I assumed she was Tammie.

There was a low grumble of dissent, but she wasn't dissuaded. "We'll go around the circle, saying your first name, age and why you're here."

She put extra emphasis on the whole first name thing. As if we didn't already know everyone's family affiliations from school. It didn't matter to me ... at least, I tried not to let it matter. Sometimes, you couldn't help getting a bad impression of a person if you knew they were a Curringham.

She looked expectantly to the kid unfortunate enough to be sat to her right, who didn't bother to conceal her groan. "Olivia and sixteen," the girl said. "I got bored of school."

The next boy was the one Kaeden was always talking to. He looked like he would prefer to be swimming in a shark infested ocean than sharing and caring with the group. "Ben," he finally forced out. "I'm seventeen, and I'm here to prove my father wrong."

It was the prince's turn then, and the whole group sat up a bit straighter. We were all interested in what exactly he was thought he was doing here. "I'm Kai, I'm also seventeen. I'm here because I figure I can either sit around on my ass, getting fat and lazy until it's my turn to keep the throne warm, or I can actually do something useful."

He didn't really talk like a prince. Although to be fair, he made a good point. Most princes just sat around and waited for their parents to die. I wasn't sure how I felt about giving the future king a nickname, but Kaeden was a bit of a mouthful, so why not? I missed the next few introductions because of my intense thinking, and I finally refocused when Alex started speaking.