Prolog: A Matter of Hours

Eleven o'clock. One hour until the awaited time. He waited and waited, but the shaking in his arms and legs wouldn't stop. He was nervous, anyone would be faced with his duty. He had been waiting for hours for the sky to grow dark, telling himself over and over that it must be done, but no matter how many times the words where forced through his brain, they didn't console him. He looked up at the moon again, still in the eleven hours of the night. Eleven thirty? No, earlier. Eleven fifteen? He couldn't tell. All he knew was that he was going to be the Knight of Honor by his Lord's side in a matter of hours. That was all that mattered.1

Nothing would hold him back from telling his Lord exactly what he needed to know. Nothing. Not even death. There where ways for the Sworded to cheat death, at least, there where if the Lord looked upon them with what little mercy he had. Time passes too slowly, he thought to himself, looking again at the sky above him, now stained an inky black. Nearly twelve. Nearly twelve! But still not close enough.2

The shaking in his joints had not subsided. He sat down on the cold hard earth beneath him and waited. The damp soil soaked the bottom of his riding trousers, numbing his backside. He switched up to his knees, which didn't fare any better. He stood back up, a distant chime sounding from a far off city told him it was eleven forty-five, nearly twelve. He counted the seconds. One minute past. two minutes past. Three. Four. He sat back down.3

Nothing could be worse, he thought, than sitting in a pair of soaked trousers waiting for hours on end to see someone you don't want to see. But all that mattered was the position of Knight of Honor. He would be rewarded for his information grandly, with even more than the position of Knight of Honor. He would be rewarded with jewels, women, and, if his Lord thought on him well enough, his own section of the Kingdom! He couldn't wait any longer, he had to have them now! But time moves so slowly, if only I could speed it up, he thought.4

More minutes passed. First ten, then fifteen. Finally, it was time. He looked up at the Twelve o'clock sky. It was time. Midnight. Now he would betray all to the Dark Lord for his proper place in the Shadow Kingdom's great history.