Captain of the Guard

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“Why the face?” the eldest of them asked Elt as he walked into the guardhouse.

He had never bothered learning their names. He had honestly thought that they would be completely disbanded and there would be no point. Dropping face first onto his cot, Elt groaned into his pillow.

“Can’t be that bad,” said one of the others. The door of the guardhouse opened and people filtered out. Elt glanced up as everyone but four people left. The same four that Elt had always trusted, even if he hadn’t known their name, “come on, tell us about it. Crown prince have a fit?”

“No,” Elt said, sitting up as one of them poked him. Novan blinked at him from the end of the cot and Elt sighed again, “Niph offered me the badge.” Silence as the men stared at him, “I know, it’s crazy, right? Any of you, even Novan, half trained as he is, could do a better job than I could.”

They shared a look and then Novan spoke up, “you’re a fucking idiot.”

“That’s what he said!”

“…” Novan frowned and looked to the oldest, who sighed out.

“Niph called you an idiot?” the oldest asked.

“No, he called me a fucking idiot, said I had no balls or backbone and would only follow instead of lead,” Elt said, drawing his legs up, “Says I will take the position because he says so. Captain of the guard can’t have any kind of a relationship with a warrior. He set us up and lets us get mated and then he. He says this and we can’t even. He did it on purpose!”

“So just tell Leo.”

“I’m not allowed to tell Leo why I’m taking it, I’m just supposed to take it like I. Like,” Elt swallowed and set his head on his knees, “he’ll hate me.”

“Ah,” they said as one.

“And if I’m such a bad choice, why can’t one of you take the position? Captain of the guard or not, I could still have the sway over Leo that I have to have.”

“Because when I wake in the morning,” Novan said, “I roll over and go back to sleep.”

“I hate cutting my hair,” said another.

“I haven’t got a head for traditions.” Said another.

The eldest hesitated when everyone turned to him, “I’m asexual. Everyone knows, a warrior goes to the captain of the guard first. I couldn’t keep up with him if I was having a good day and he was having a bad one.”

“Yeah, but I’m not-“

“You know the traditions and the training routines. Leo certainly gets a work out, trying to keep up with you and that’s more than can be said for any of us.”

“Niph said-“

“Not everything Niph says is true,” Novan said, “he once told me that he has four toes. I’ve seen him barefoot, he’s got all his damned toes. When folk get old, they start forgetting things. Warriors are no exception, they’re just more dangerous than the rest of us when they get rusty.”

“He knows what he’s talking about when it comes to the capabilities of others.”

“What did he say to you?” Novan asked, “that took the wind so out of your sails?”

“That I had no talent or remarkable skills and that I’m nothing more an unremarkable failure.”

They all sighed as one.

“What?” Elt demanded.

“He’s right,” the oldest of them said, “you are a fucking idiot.”

“You aren’t making any sense,” Elt grumbled, holding his suddenly aching head in his hands. For a moment he clenched his hair, then he forced himself to straighten, “I’m not made to be a captain, I couldn’t lead myself out of a well lit room!”

“Sometimes the best leaders are the ones who think that they will do a poor job, because they never forget where they came from or how difficult it can be to take an order from a man who gives no explanation,” the oldest grumbled, rubbing at his jaw with a finger, tracing a white line that ran along his jaw bone.

“Besides, you wouldn’t be taking this alone,” Novan responded, “each and every one of us will back you, if a man wants to question your rule, he’ll have to go through us as well as you.”

“That’s true,” another murmured, “a leader is only as good as the foundation that he creates within his team. The only question is, what kind of a foundation will you create?”

“None!” Elt protested, “it’s a stupid idea. Besides. If I do, I can’t,” he turned his bronze mating ring on his finger, “I’d have to leave him. How could I do that?”

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