Forged in Stone - Alyssa Rose Ivy Page 0,8

the garden was not in the girl’s house sitting duties.

I made my way toward the village where I had left my horse. I was tired, and the little sleep I had gotten at the house was insufficient, but I had no choice. I needed to head back to Bellgard. After eight years of serving as a Guardian, I was ready for a break. Too bad my job came with longer than a lifetime duration.

I took the long way back toward the walled city I had always called home. I had loved my city as a child, but that was before everything changed.

Two guards opened the gates as I neared. They knew me well enough to avoid keeping me waiting. Of all the things about me that had changed over the years, my impatience had not. I was used to getting what I wanted. It is a hard habit to break after being raised as royalty.

I avoided the city center in order to get back to my house without being noticed, but my luck quickly ran out.

“Where have you been?” my friend and co-Guardian, Henry, called as I wound my way past the barracks. I had lived there for a few years, but I eventually moved on to a place of my own.

“I went into town.” There was no reason to pretend. He would notice it by the jeans and t-shirt I wore. I preferred the comfortable, simple cotton clothing of Energo, but they stood out in Charleston.

“Why? Why bother with the place?” Henry knew exactly where I was talking about. He spent time in Charleston back when I lived there, but the difference was he had fallen in love with a girl he had been forced to leave behind.

“No one knows me there, unlike here where I cannot go anywhere without being recognized.” I jumped off my horse.

“Why does that matter?”

“It matters because I am sick of it.”

“Everyone knows me too. It is part of being a Guardian.” Henry had not chosen the position any more than I had. It was something you were born to be. Turning down the job was out of the question. As much as it was an honor, it was also a curse. A Guardian was tasked with protecting the Essence, the most powerful person in our world. The current Essence also happened to be one of my best friends, Charlotte.

“They do not know me as a Guardian, they know me as my father’s son. That is different.” My father’s evil was widely known. He had nearly destroyed Energo in his lust for power.

“They also know you as the man who saved Charlotte. That counts for something.” Henry ran a hand through his blond hair.

“It is not enough. It will never make up for me bringing her back against her will to begin with.”

“Charlotte’s the only reason we have food to eat. If you had failed to bring her back we would all be dead.”

“No one remembers that.” They only remembered how close we came to losing everything. People only remember what they want to remember.

“Since when did you care what others thought? You have always been more concerned with your own assessment of yourself.”

“I am sick of it all.” Something in me had snapped. I was tired of being the man no one trusted. No matter how hard I worked, I was always viewed as a risk. As someone who had no right walking among the royal family.

“Then take a leave. I am sure Liam will let you. You have never taken one.”

“Like I will ever care whether Liam gives me permission.”

“You should. He is the Gerard, and your boss.”

“Yes, I am well aware.” A Guardian only answered to two people: the Essence and the Gerard. I had no problem answering to Charlotte, but Liam was another story.

“You could not have expected Calvin to have made you the Gerard in his place?”

“Of course not.” In addition to wielding power, the Gerard was also united with the Essence. That was never in the cards for Charlotte and me.

“She wants to see you by the way.”

“Charlotte?” It was not often that the Essence wanted to see me. She usually left me to my own devices.

“Who else would I mean? Unless...did you meet a girl?” Henry nudged me.

“Nope. No girl.” If it was so obvious that someone as oblivious as Henry was picking up on it, I needed to work harder to hide it. The problem was the gorgeous brunette was impossible to push from my mind.

“Use