Armond has a minion!

Wind the Bonnie

He would no longer cower in the shadows of three older brothers. He was a Palace Guard now. Nobody would call him Armpit or shove him in the mud or...

"Double time, Trainee. That latrine isn't going to dig itself."

Heat crept up the back of his neck.

Okay, so technically he was a Palace Guard Trainee. His instructors saw a pasty-faced merchant's son who didn't know a cutlass from a cut of beef but he'd show them all that his record-setting score on the Palace Guard Entry Exam hadn't been a fluke.

Right after he finished digging a regulation-standard latrine.

His friends rushed to his aide. Norvin was a Farmlander with hair and eyes the color of dirt. Quin was the first girl accepted into Palace Training in nearly twenty years. They were the only three trainees assigned to West Tower under the watchful eye of Captain Daron. Not only was he the youngest Palace Captain in history...he'd trained under the legendary Julian Silera, the celebrated Hero of Biwater.

Daron was a thorn in Mortol's side, always making the men of West Tower look good despite the Guard Maestran's constant attempts to undermine their achievements. West got the trainees Mortol deemed the weakest.

Every single one had achieved his Yearling Badge.

That was one record Armond certainly did not wish to break.

"Hey, Straw Hair. Moonbeam on your own time, huh? I'd like to finish this hole before those apes from East decide to come over and fill it for us."

Armond blushed, attacking the task with vigor. Quin saw him as one of the boys. His feelings for her were decidedly more complicated. She wasn't a classic beauty but her natural tan and intricately braided crown made him daydream of some long-forgotten warrior maiden fighting alongside the First Alphan.

Captain Daron rode into camp with half a dozen Senior Guards protecting a pair of Delegates and an Ambassador from the Tenari Nation. She was a stately figure of dusky beauty with citrines arranged like drops of sunlight in her thick black hair. The silver strands holding the gems in place were finer than spider silk.

Norvin whistled. "There's a sight you don't see every day. Hey, Arn. Didn't you say your parents sometimes trade with the Tenari?"

Armond was no less enchanted. "Huh? Oh...yeah."

Quin scowled and rolled her eyes. "You two will collect flies that way."

The woman had a musical voice that carried. Armond translated her words under his breath.

"The crystal that gives us life has turned against us since the Usurper took an innocent man prisoner. Nature does not stand for imbalance. The time is fast approaching..."

He winced and fell silent when a black-gloved hand clapped down on his shoulder, eyes darting up to meet the gaze of his captain.

Daron's face was a neutral mask. "Walk with me, Trainee."

They strolled in silence along a well-worn goat path, not pausing until the camp was nearly out of sight.

"You're fluent in Tenra. That's rare, this far north."

Armond swallowed. "Ma said I've always had an ear for tongues. Sometimes we'd get goods from outside the Alphanship. I'd help Pa negotiate. Sometimes he'd even get me books in the different languages. Tenra, Marn, Akrir...never Malev. They're more into spilling blood than keeping diaries but I know a few phrases. All that studying...it made my older brothers grow bored of me."

"Are they in the Guard?"

"Great Spirit, no! Er...I mean...no, Sir. Anthios is training to take over for Father. Acrion and Artal barely have half a brain between them."

Daron's lips twitched. "Your Foreign Relations instructor tells me you're the best in his class. You can recite the basics from all seven tongues without consulting your guide. No trainee has ever managed that."

Armond prodded a clump of laceweed with his boot, desperately wishing his pale skin didn't blush so readily. "Yes, Sir."

"I'm curious. Why not join the Messengers? They pay translators handsomely. Or even the Scholars? You've aced every knowledge test we could throw at you."

"All Ive ever wanted was to be a Guard. A Palace Guard. Grandfather told such tales of working under Alphan Thor. How he helped forge paths to remote villages and how he actually helped those in need. Messengers just run back and forth all day long. Scholars talk from sunrise to moonrise without once taking action. I could never sit by and watch the world become a worse place without trying to do something about it."

Daron smiled. "I'm putting your name in for accelerated training...and a specialty in languages."

Seven languages at his disposal and he couldn't come up with a response.

Armond was speechless with delight.