Key To A Goblin's Heart

Maland's POV 

As I stared at the magnificent castle, I felt my heart rate raise. The walls of what I have stared at innumerable times, dreaming of crossing the gate some day. Something was beyond that gate, and I wanted to discover that forever. 

Ever since I was a child I knew that my father was a knight. I didn't know what it meant though, but I knew that title deemed him worthy of crossing those gates, to see the arena hidden from countless peasants like me. A title one day I hoped to achieve myself. And today was that day.

My father trained me ever since I had expressed my interest in doing what he does. To have the honor to protect someone, let alone your nation, was something that drew me from within. I have entered from these walls before, to partake in combats and trials until only the worthy were chosen. And every single time I faced someone in a challenge, I found myself questioning if I was doing it right.

After five stages of selection, when I finally made it, it simply felt surreal. Amongst thousands applicants, only 100 were chosen, and I was one of them. While I stood in front of this door, ready to cross it as a knight, I couldn't help but question if this too was a dream. Cause if this was not, dreams do come true.

As I passed through the grounds where I fought countless applicants, the memories of those times, every wrong strike I made, every near miss that I saved resurfaced. But I looked away, I looked forward, cause now this will be my entire life. From this point onwards, my life only had one meaning, 'to protect this kingdom'.

We were led to the general's hall by a marshall where we would be instructed about the ceremony which would give us the batch of valor, the one which will allow us to pass through the gates. As we went there I saw a few men standing side by side in a queue forming a triangle of hierarchy. "Men, welcome to the Queensguard. From today onwards you must consecrate your life for the benefit of this kingdom. If at any point you are deemed unworthy of this batch, you will be stripped of your position effective immediately." The man standing in the center, who seemed to be the General, instructed us. "Understood"? He asked in a much louder and clearer voice.

"Understood" All of us answered in a choir. "Now, I shall introduce myself, I am General Dorin and I am responsible for the entire north division of the security. You all will be hired under my watch. You will be trained, pushed to your limits, and most importantly.. You will be dragged through each and every task I assign you" He declared in a much stricter tone. I loved training, but I could feel a few of my teammates getting a chill in their back from hearing this. 

"Good. Now, all of you will enter the hall of Justice. The Queen awaits for all of you. She'll call your name, one by one, and you are to go to the stage accordingly, and receive your batch of valor. After the ceremony, you will be directed to your respective Cabinets. 

You will have a few hours to yourself during which you can freshen up and possibly change into something more robust, that will be provided in your room. You will be called for training this afternoon, following which you will be leaving this castle to protect our borders" He declared. "Any questions''? He tagged.

One of the soldiers next to me raised his hand. The general spotting his hand, gave him a slight nod, encouraging him to speak. "When will we get back from the borders"? 

"That totally depends on you. You can come back anytime you want" He smiled. The soldier who asked the question seemed relieved, "But yes, you must give up your batch of valor." His expression morphed into a stern one before he took a glance at all of us. "Any more questions"? He asked.

But none of us dared to speak. How could we? We were too scared to ask.

"Very well then, follow me" Declared General Dorin.

We walked through the hallways that led us to the Hall of Justice. Despite us walking in clusters, we were made into two separate rows and we had to enter through the edge of the gate. We walked in and stood behind all the great sorcerers who were part of the council.

Suddenly a horn went out, following which every council member stood up. From the back of the stage, the queen walked in wearing a porcelain gown engraved with golden embroidery, giving her the appearance of the beauty goddess herself. Most of my teammates were enthralled by her beauty, but not me.

Beauty was something that never caught my attention. All those girls trying to approach me ever since I was a boy, sending me secret letters kept trying and trying to make me look their way, and yet they failed. Their poor attempts often made me feel pity for them.

Some even cursed me that no woman shall ever have me with my head held up so high, but little did they know, that was exactly what I wanted. I didn't have time to spend on women, my goal was much more important.

As the queen took her seat some pending cases were brought up. Few were the farmers rioting due to their demands not being met. It took around almost an hour for the court to adjourn. We stood there idle waiting for our turn to receive our batch of valor.

"Now, I have an important announcement to make." The Queen began. "As usual we arranged a battlefield to choose the best and the finest of our kingdom to protect us. This ceremony is held every three years to ensure we have enough soldiers, to replace those who perished, and today is the day we honor the chosen ones with a batch of Valor" She declared.

She called our names one by one, and with every other name I counted to determine which number did I come. It took a while, but at sixty seven my name was finally called and I walked into that stage with an audible heartbeat. No enemy can raise my heartbeat like this, but receiving the batch I dreamed of my whole life can.

"Maland Sylvester, make this nation proud" The Queen declared as she put the batch on me. To have the hand of the queen herself on my vest, it was hard not to rejoice at all. Nevertheless, I didn't let my expression show. And walked down the stage gracefully and stood next to the soldier sixty six.

After the ceremony was over we were directed towards our respective Cabinets as instructed. Our assigned rooms were much smaller, more than one person and it would already be suffocating. The bed itself took almost the entire area, not to mention that the mattress was so hard that the floor seemed like a proper alternative. Why have this bed at all?

Nevertheless, I wasn't here to complain. Despite certain difficulties, I enjoyed the perks of being a knight. And what's honor, if there aren't some hardships attached to it? I went out to freshen up only to be greeted by a long line of soldiers standing in a four queues leading to four washrooms. Just when I thought it couldn't get worse. 

Luckily I come from a locality where I almost always had to stand in line for my turn in most of the cases, and guessing from my lack of urgency I might just be able to wait it out.

After what seemed like two hours, I finally got my turn. There were still a few people left after me so I tried not to take much longer. I was starting to get pissed at the arrangements. If things were already turning out this bad on our first day god knows what awaits us in the future when we are all wet and sweaty from the rigorous training General Dorin promised us.

After we were done we were called for the training in the evening. Before it started, we were all offered a piece of bread each to keep our energy. That day the General promised us mild training, mild being intensive sword fight. 

It was hard not to feel drained, even if I was an ace at training. I always had adequate food before training but this time, I felt thoroughly starved.

It was no wonder that I ended up being unconscious when I did. I think it was after twenty second rounds when I finally passed out. Interestingly enough I wasn't the first one to do so, and yet the general kept us pitting against each other. At this point all I hoped was to survive this rigorous training, before everything turned black for me.