“Mara! You did it!” Katya threw herself on my neck, praising my victory more than I did. That’s how it felt, in honesty, like passing a simple exam. “You’re officially King’s Guard!”

“Yes, yes…” I placed a hand on her back, embracing her for a moment, before carefully pushing her slightly away. She probably pressed herself against all the bruises I had gotten, but I couldn’t point out where all the pain was coming from. “Your love hurts me, and I need a shower. I stink.”

The exam had not only taken all my energy but all my water as well which I could still feel as a damp layer on top of my skin.

Katya, who seemingly just started using her nose, sniffed the air and then scrunched it cutely; the freckles on her skin, sprayed like black pepper, gathered in a folk dance.

“Yeah, you’re kind of in a… in a cloud of your own. You should take that shower before the ceremony. Don’t wanna miss that!”

“I really don’t want to.” I felt the shiver of imagining all those people staring at me. No one really needed to see the newly promoted King’s Guard, but I guessed it was something I had to go through only once and never again.

“Wreck ‘em, champion!” Katya carefully smacked my shoulder and kissed my cheek quickly, probably to not spend too much time in my cloud. Then, she almost jumped in the other direction, waving her red hair like a flag. I smiled, not only from the relief of passing but also because the exertion from the exam had hidden the blushing that had covered my face. If I had a weak spot, it was her. And she knew it.

The shower was the best thing that happened to me that day, relaxing all the strain I had gathered and washing it down the drain. I was really tempted to either stay under it throughout the ceremony or perhaps just take a really, really long nap, but Katya kept reminding me, until I was out, so she could hand me my armor.

I donned it and looked at myself in our mirror, as Katya put an approving chin on my shoulder. The bone white metal jevritite was broken into separate triangular segments that tightly covered the entire torso, and separately the entire arms up to the shoulder and the legs up to the thigh. The crotch and pelvis did not have any armor over them to avoid constraint of movement, even though jevritite was thin and similarly flexible like rubber metal. The unfortunate fact about it was that although one could move in it as if in particularly tight clothes, it could bunch up and become really uncomfortable at the joints of the body.

Every segment was encrusted with gold in between, every one of those lines eventually gathering at the golden royal symbol in the middle of the breast part. It had the shape of a horned Ancient that kept the world above its head like a halo. And it even suited my dirty blond hair. I didn’t even need to wear a helmet, so I just carried it under one arm.

“The royal family, eh?” teased Katya, still leaning onto my shoulder from behind. “I heard that the princess is pretty and eccentric.” Her lips had an evil smile as my eyes clearly opened wide in the mirror.

She only giggled and pulled me around as if to have a look at me for herself. I still felt the poke of the joke, but then I realized her face was close enough, so I stole a kiss from her lips. She laughed in my face:

“Aren’t you playful, guard Winters? Aren’t you going to be late for your ceremony?”

Her smile was contagious and I couldn’t contain my own. She didn’t stop smiling as she handed me my sword, the same I carried through the exam, with flair:

“Your sword, madam.”

I took it and hung it on my waist. When I looked up, she was close to me again, with her hand on my shoulder. Her smile wasn’t as wide as just now, but the one I liked more - calm and warm, like one of those pleasant sunny days.

“I’m proud of you, you know.”

I smiled back, hopefully, the same way:

“I know.”

I turned around and opened the door into the painfully familiar green corridor of the military dorms. Looking back over my shoulder, I received an air kiss. Catching it and putting it in an inner pocket of my armor, which I was still getting used to, I said quietly:

“Bye.”

“Bye-bye,” she smiled wide again and closed the door after me, looking through the gap until the end.

While I traversed the familiar halls of the academy, I still could barely contain the amazement itself, that I had passed. And I was moving on with my life. I had done it. I had achieved all that I had ever wanted - the hardest position to get a promotion for in the military rankings of Noelle. Not because of a current imminent threat, but a tradition that had kept itself strong since the stormy days during the active hunts of the Ancients.

I was going to live in the castle. Give courtesy to the royal family. Walk the perimeters with beautiful sights back at the city from sunrise to sundown. I could take Katya with me. I had done all the work for myself and it was time to reap the rewards.

The spring sun blinded me as I exited the military academy for the last time and with no intention of ever going back. Looking back at the building, the only memories that I was ever going to be fond of were the ones I shared with Katya.

Noelle was a beautiful and elegantly pompous city. Its architecture and citizens always had the idea that beauty and aesthetics were more valuable than practical applications and both in sync was stylistic perfection. But because of how well they or I should say we, practiced this tendency, the citizens of Noelle were some of the happiest on the continent.

The royal family were the ones that set this direction centuries ago and it became a culture in many ways. The quality of life was a priority for many and all, after it became such an established value by the eccentric grand-grandfather of the current king, who was already getting old. Because of this, “Peace, Prosperity, Excellence” was the polis’ motto. And every street aimed to show it off.

The spacious apartment buildings made from pale and white ivory, barely distinguishable from marble, sometimes sprinkled here and there with golden, red, or green were always overgrown with controlled roses, vines, ivy, and other similar plants with wide leaves which always turned the white streets into magical alleys of nobility and extravagance. The streets themselves were paved in greyish white that never wore down because the only vehicles were hanging carriages designed with almost completely silent hover engines that glowed in a faint white. The sidewalks had engravings and patterns of various shapes in different shades of color, but the white always prevailed.

The parks were wild and sometimes breathtaking, with meadows and forests never touched by a civilized hand. When I took missions in other countries, I always thought of Noelle’s greatness as some utopia that other cities simply couldn’t reach. Later on, I started to realize that all of it was paid in blood by the Ancients. And we all were proud of it. Even being aware of it, I gave it not much more mind than simply accepting that it was how it had always been.

I continued along the main street that strung on many of the important locations in the city and was, in itself, a pleasant place to meet up with friends or go shopping, with its colorful pavement, pleasant music coming off the speakers from various cafes and restaurants that never lacked in clientèle and alongside the bakeries and the pastry shops, one could always have their fill of delicious smells just by passing through. At its center there even was a wide fountain which’s calibrations were always a relaxing spectacle.

One of the ends of the main street arrived at King’s Plaza, a wide circular place with engraved pavement. In its center, there stood the six-meter statue of King Gretor the Beastkiller - the last king to kill the last Ancient that ever existed. The current royal family was the fourth generation after him and unfortunately for their popularity, there weren’t any more beasts to kill. But in school, we were still taught to thank them for protecting the people of Noelle from the Ancients.

However, thanks to them, Noelle was a piece of heaven no other city could achieve. It felt impractical to push against them and most of them seemed to raise their throne heirs well. Most approved of Noelle’s current princess exactly because of that.

On the other end of the plaza, the castle stood proud and tall and square, in white, yellow, golden, green, and the red of vines in shades from blood red to sundown orange that grew all over its facade. A main building and two wings formed a horseshoe-shaped complex that faced the city and spread out further than the front allowed to see. Behind were situated the royal gardens, famous for the queen’s artistic demonstrations in shrub sculpting.

In front of the main entrance, there was a smaller paved square, beyond the gates of darker in color metal with the royal symbol weaved from the bars. They were open, to welcome all the newly accepted King’s Guardsmen in front of the grand stairs under the grand doors of protowood and with a large engraving of the royal symbol yet again. Sometimes I wondered if the Ancient holding the world in its horns was triumphant or suffering. Perhaps it had always neither.

That smaller square was filled with common people who patiently buzzed in anticipation to see the newly admitted King’s Guards. The ceremony had been a tradition since ever, although the function of the guards before was to protect the king during hunts, now they were only people with high military education and not a whole lot to do.

Since magic never ceased to exist in the world, many continued to suspect the repeated emergence of the Ancients and most that decided to push through and take the position were people who hoped for that to be the case, to take on an Ancient. And that’s why the process itself was so specific and dangerous.

Although I thought it exciting, facing such a creature, all I ever wanted was to be here, in this moment. And every moment thereafter.

Captain Herald, the one who had recommended me as a promising guard, met me just before the castle gate:

“Where have you been? We’re starting in only a few minutes! The princess waits for no one!” After taking a deep breath and letting the worry wash away from him, he ran an approving look along my new armor. “It suits you well. And I’m proud of you.”

“I know, captain,” I said, with a sigh.

“No, Mara,” he shook his head and gave me a hug. “I’m proud of you, my daughter.”

The military code didn’t allow for family ties, or any kind of ties to get in the way of training or service, but seeing my father break it just for today filled me with warmth.

“Thank you,” I whispered back with a hidden smile.

“Go and be amazing now,” he grinned after releasing me and pointed me somewhere beyond and to the side of the crowd. I gave him a nod and one last smile, before going for the smaller, not as grand side entrance of the castle.

While I was walking, Princess Ava stepped out on top of the staircase with a smile like the sun and blond hair like its rays. She wore her own version of my armor, but much more elegant and refined, something to wear at noble parties and shine in, despite that it could still successfully block a jet weapon attack.

And Ava did shine with her pale skin and demeanor, truly a royal for the people’s praise. She began a speech that she had probably just learned behind the doors.

“Welcome, ladies and gentlemen!” Her voice, empowered by her magic, as she was the only magic bearer in Noelle, rolled down the walls like the red vines that framed the entrance like a stage. Everyone went silent to listen. “We all know why we have gathered here, so there is no need for me to repeat it all over again.”

I couldn’t get a good look at her because of the crowd and some rumors that painted the princess as a spoiled girl protected by her parents like a rare tea set started to buzz around in my mind. I only could hope it wasn’t true, as now I was supposed to live with her in the palace.

Eventually, I managed to make my way through all the carriages and reached the side entrance. The walls had hologram signs that pointed the way for me and anyone like me, which led me to the castle’s spacious lobby, large enough to hold a banquet. At its other end, there was another large staircase, almost as large as the one outside the great proto-wood doors.

Some of the newly admitted were sitting on the stairs with their armors and some of them I knew personally. They all had gotten different traps, which was interesting to listen to, but eventually, I lost interest and leaned on one of the columns to the side, until all the preparations were ready.

I few minutes passed as we all waited until a servant emerged from the top of the staircase, whistled, and started energetically waving at us. Without even thinking, we all instantly ordered by height and spun around in unison to see the wooden gates opening wide to pull us out next to the princess. And just as well, by habit, we split into rows of five and marched out onto the stage.

Princess Ava greeted us with warm chestnut eyes and a smile. I noticed that a second or two were spent on me, and before I could wonder what could that have meant, I realized just how many people had their eyes pointed at us.

My body immediately tensed up and my throat gulped dryly on its own. I felt warmth spread along my body like little anxious needles. I felt the sweat from the warmth of the sun blasting the warmth of my body and face. I fought the urge to close my eyes, won, took a deep breath, and stared off at the roofs of Noelle’s buildings, the sky and the clouds, and anything but the square and the crowd.

The sky always had been my favorite place. When I finally had gotten my sound-speed jet flying permission, which allowed me to conquer the skies with ridiculous ease, I felt like the universe itself was celebrating my birthday, and the sky smiled at me like a long and loved friend. Many of the moments I shared with Katya were in the sky. After all, she had opted into full-time piloting after completing the basis for being a soldier. I smiled, lost in thought.

My view of the sky was suddenly blocked by Princess Ava’s pretty and practically glowing face, who smiled at me with warmth and spoke with her enhanced voice:

“Lieutenant Winters, I’m proud to announce you as part of the King’s Guard. But, before you can proceed, I need to get a few promises from you…” Still smiling, she locked eyes with me, as if looking straight into my mind, to see if I would be dishonest.

“Do you promise to protect the royal family with your life and spirit? Answer loud and clear.” The last words were meant just for me, without the magical enhancement of her voice.

“I promise!” I shot out and my voice echoed even outside the palace square. I realized that the princess was applying the same magic to me. I gulped yet again as if to prevent my voice from shaking.

“Do you promise to take your decisions with an honest heart?”

“I promise!”

“And, most importantly, do you promise that your body and soul will belong to you and you only, as you are here by your own will?”

“I promise!” Every answer I gave, felt like it was for Ava, rather than the crowd taking in the scene with wide eyes.

Although the princess’ smile had relaxed a bit in the moment of seriousness, it shone on her face again, as she pulled a double-edged sword:

“I pronounce you Guard of the King!” She nodded at me to kneel and I did. The blade touched my shoulders, then its tip pointed at my chest where the sigil was. She nodded at me again to stand up and as she pulled her sword away with a flourish, small golden lights gathered into a pale hologram sigil that floated just above the actual one. Barely noticing that the princess had proper skill with holding the sword, I stood there, enchanted, while the crowd offered its proper applause.

I had learned to not give too much leeway to my emotions, but I allowed myself a tear, of happiness, before I stood upright once again and smiled at the sky.

I remembered the little Mara, who watched the King’s Guard marching with her mouth agape, them glistening in their bone and gold at every ceremony. That little girl wouldn’t even be able to comprehend what was happening to her future.

I wouldn’t say I could too. But it really was a good feeling.