Goliath, Volume One Page 2

  The door wasn’t opening for anyone, they insisted.

  David stood in front of the two guards, swinging his gaze from one to the other, watching as they assessed him as a threat.

  “Surely the prince has visitors.”

  A weighty glance was shared between the two of them. David tried to decide which one was the more relaxed one, likely to let him in, but their carefully blank expressions and identical uniforms made it hard to tell which was which.

  “Captain, sir, you’re allowed a certain amount of freedom in this wing of the palace.” Because of your mother, the guard’s tone implied. “Freedom even most of the military isn’t given. But the prince must not be disturbed.”

  Inside the chambers, a door opened and closed. “But he’s in there, you’re saying.”

  The guards shifted warily, obviously wondering if he was going to try to burst in and make them do something about it. David watched their thoughts broadcast across their faces, and sighed.

  “Never mind, men. I’ll just have to talk to the prince sometime… later.”

  Both men relaxed visibly. “Thank you, sir. And apologies.”

  David smiled tightly, then turned on his heel and walked down the hallway. His heavy boots echoed on the hardwood floors.

  He slowed as soon as he’d turned the corner, shuffling in place for a moment. Backing up against the wall, he peered around the corner to see if the guards were paying attention to him.

  They weren’t.

  Sliding around the corner on soft feet, David ducked behind an ornate tapestry and held his breath.

  Then he listened.

  For long moments he was rewarded only by the sound of soft feet walking by and the guards shifting or murmuring in place. Just when he was about to give up and sneak back out again, he heard the doors to the prince’s chambers open.

  “Give me your reports,” said a low, tired voice. Leaning forward on the tips of his toes, David peered out of his hiding place to see a third guard, one who just exited the chambers, talking to the other two.

  David watched them for a long moment, hoping the prince would come out on one of his infamous nightly jaunts, but the new man simply spoke to the others for a while and started to walk in David’s direction.

  His eyes flitted over to the tapestry.

  David flattened himself against the wall, heart pounding. He was going to be in deep trouble if he was found skulking in the hallway outside the prince’s chamber, even if it was just to talk to him about his petition. Holding his breath, he strained to keep as still as possible.

  The guard walked in his direction and stopped right in front of the tapestry, his boots pointed towards it as if he was staring at - or even through - the fabric itself.

  A mote of dust tickled at David’s nose. He strained to hold his breath

  “God damn me for loving you.” The voice, soft and lonely, was the guard who’d left the prince’s bedchamber. David’s lungs were about to burst, and the urge to sneeze was overwhelming.

  Finally, the man moved on. Apparently he’d been talking to himself. David let go of his held breath, taking in gulps of air. He checked to make sure the guards weren’t looking, then ducked out of his hiding spot, relieved that he hadn’t been caught.

  As he turned the corner to the servant’s stairs, he looked behind himself at the tapestry he’d been hiding behind. Woven in brightly colored threads was the image of the crown prince, life-size and facing towards the viewer, his eyes a brilliant amber-hazel.

  David spent a moment staring at the figure, thinking of the guard’s sad, defeated tone, then moved on, shuffling quietly through the darkness.

  David

  David lay awake that night, listening to the other men’s soft breath echo through the barracks.

  He would be leading these men out onto the road tomorrow, piling them into trucks and driving to Abeesa at the edge of Panath, where they’d pick up horses and forge through the thin border path.

  All in all, it would take one week, precious little time for David to enjoy before his men faced certain death.

  He turned over, trying to banish dark thoughts and get some sleep. He couldn’t help but turn his thoughts towards his day, though, and recall how he’d wasted his audience with the king and failed to corner the prince alone and talk to him.

  Of course, the spoiled little prince probably wouldn’t have lifted a finger for my men.

  Still, David felt like a failure for not managing to save his men. He could still remember the last battle, the way the thing just shredded soldiers, like a child knocking over nursery toys. They said the Gibrani were a consequence of genetic engineering, but in David’s experience they were akin to demons.

  Giving in to the reality that he wasn’t going to sleep tonight, David got up and quietly walked outside. The night air around the barracks smelled of rain, horses, and the city around them. In the distance, not too far from where he stood, the palace’s spires jutted up in the darkness.

  “You always come out here the night before we ship out.”

  David turned. One of his new recruits, Kiyum Sinn, had followed him out into the night. A spindly young man, he’d shaped up significantly in training but still had a soft, naive face. His red, curly hair hooked around his ears, and freckles stood out on his skin when he blushed. David liked him. He didn’t want to see him die.

  “It’s a good place to think,” he told the younger man, studying his face for signs of the nerves that came over new recruits before their first mission. “The night air clears my head. It’s different from air during the day.”

  Kiyum smiled. “You’re always saying things like that.”

  “Ah, I suppose I sound pretentious.”

  “I like it.”

  David raised his eyebrows. “Really?”

  Kiyum turned his head up to the stars, not meeting David’s eyes. “Really.”

  “You’re not going to like it when we’re on the front lines, wading through muck and blood, pinned by monsters on all side. You’ll find my pretentiousness very useless, then.”

  “No.” Kiyum turned towards him, his face half lit by moonlight, half lit by the lamplight spilling down the street. “You give us all hope, sir. The fact that you still believe in beauty, after everything - it’s a good thing.”

  They were standing very close together, bodies taught like string on a bow. A cool night breeze washed over David, and he shivered. “We should get back inside. It’s important to rest, in times like these.”

  Kiyum hesitated, glancing at the door and back at David like he didn’t want to go back in. “As you say, sir.”

  David let the other man go in first, taking another look at the sky and sending his prayers up to the heavens.

  If the king wouldn’t protect his soldiers, he would have to do it himself - and he had a plan.

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