~Talfen, the capital of Coldshore~
~The King's Palace~
Andras pushed away what had happened out of his mind as he stepped back into his previous position. It was almost time for lunch, and after lunch he would switch patrols and possibly get paired up with Randall this time.
Like he had summoned the other, Randall bounded over, curiosity shining in his eyes. "I heard there's royalty visiting." He immediately said as soon as he got to Andras' side.
They would head over to the guards in training living quarters before going for lunch.
Andras wasn't even surprised that he had heard it, Randall always managed to remain informed on a good number of things, it came in quite handy.
"Seems like it." He answered shortly.
Randall was long used to the other's short, curt replies, he had long decided that Andras just didn't like to speak much.
"There's rumors going around that it might perhaps be some troublesome nobility…"
"Aren't they all." Andras muttered, keeping his steps brisk.
He had already forgotten about the incident that happened with the said nobility that had already made waves in the few hours that he had arrived at the palace.
That was a kind of person he would like to stay very far away from, he preferred to blend into the background for his own sake.
Randall already knew that gossiping with Andras was an effort in futility unless he had the ability to hold two sides of a conversation, he just didn't expect it to be this terrible from the start.
"I heard news that we would be patrolling the inner court today." Randall finally cracked and gave in, the only thing Andras seemed interested in listening to was important information.
Just as he predicted, Andras glanced at him. "As a part of our training?" He asked.
Randall shrugged. "No idea."
The innermost gate was called the inner court, where the King resided and all the top ranking nobility. Everywhere else was the outer court where they currently were.
They had training in the mornings and then spent the rest of their days patrolling and getting accustomed to being official Royal guards.
If one got assigned to patrol the inner court after their time in training, it was essentially a double promotion. Guards patrolling the inner court had a higher rank than those patrolling the outer court.
So a good number of the guards in the inner court had already spent years as guards, patrolling the outer court or the outer palace walls before being assigned to the inner court.
It was no doubt a part of their training and it would be the only chance they would get to catch a glimpse of the interior of the inner court so Randall was looking forward to it.
Andras as well, although he hid his curiosity far better, while Randall was a ball of excitement the entire way to the lunch halls.
He rambled on and on about how magnificent the inner court was, the large opulent palaces, the sprawling grandiose.
"Randall?" Andras spoke up in a collected voice when they had freshened up and were on their way to lunch.
Randall lifted his head so quickly it slightly hurt, he didn't think he had ever heard Andras say his name.
After spending a reasonable amount of time around him, Randall was able to pick up the slight accent that proved the fact that he was a foreigner because he spoke their language extremely well.
It was very evident when he said his name. "Yes?"
"Have you heard any stories of guards in training getting assigned to the inner court?" He asked the thought that had been troubling him for a while.
He didn't have the time or patience to wait several years to climb the ranks enough to get access to the information that he wanted.
Randall was taken aback by this, he had never tagged Andras as ambitious so this truly surprised him. But then again, he supposed that people could have goals and aspirations too, no matter how laid back they seemed.
He thought deeply about this, it was merely difficult to achieve that, but not impossible. "There have been a few but there's no definitive way to achieve it." He tried to explain the best he could. "If you rescue or protect some high ranking nobility, you will be instantly promoted to an inner court guard but it's never that simple." He said dismissively. "You would be better off having less grander aspirations."
Andras said nothing to this, he had already gotten all the information he needed. He had been expecting that response, if anything, he was surprised that there was even a way. They couldn't just appoint unqualified strangers to such a fragile position.
The dining hall was the same as ever, the maidservants had learned quickly to leave Andras alone when it became apparent that he was apathetic to their presence.
It was a relief to the both of them for very different reasons.
Randall was already rambling about their patrol of the inner court. "We have the night shift at the inner court but we have the entire day to ourselves before then, want to check out the city?" He suggested with bright hazel brown eyes.
They hadn't had the time to leave the Palace grounds because they were always occupied all the time. It wasn't against the rules to leave the Palace grounds but that was only if you were free of duties.
"But we have a patrol shift after lunch." Andras reminded him with a frown.
Randall was quick to hush him, looking around furtively like he expected people to jump out from behind the hedges and walls to accost them. "Yes but it's an outer wall patrol, we can sneak away for a few minutes, no one will even notice we're gone." He said convincingly.
Andras wasn't averse to it, after all the reason he had embarked on his journey was to gather experience. As long as it wouldn't cause issues.
"Fine." He agreed without hesitation.
Randall was caught off guard by this, he couldn't believe his own luck. He had been expecting Andras to shut him down immediately, this was an unforeseen turn of events and he wasn't complaining.
Randall pumped a fist in the air, his robes swishing in his excitement. He immediately started rambling about the big city square that was just a short carriage ride away from the first gates and how colorful and bright it was.