still clump in my ears.
I open my eyes, staring towards the hole we created to enter the house, and it is only when I hear a man’s voice that I realise the footsteps aren’t Opie’s. Instead there are
two Kingsmen standing directly outside.
10
‘Cold tonight, innit?’
The strong, thick voice echoes around our space, waking everyone instantly. It is dark but I see five sets of eyes flash towards the men and then me as the others realise what is happening.
After we entered the dilapidated building, we wedged a piece of wood across the hole, but I thought it would be too much work to completely cover the entrance with stones from the inside,
especially as we seemed to be so far away from the rest of the inhabitants and were only going to be here for a matter of hours. Now I wish we had spent five more minutes concealing our
location.
Although the piece of wood covers most of the entrance hole, we can see the outlines of both Kingsmen leaning against the front of the house, their swords hanging limply from their waists.
‘Did they even give a reason why we all have to be out here?’ the other replies. ‘I can’t be bothered going into the woods. We’ll just say we did.’
The second voice is slightly higher-pitched than the first but the casualness of their conversation is something none of us would ever have associated with Kingsmen. To us, they are authority
figures in black but as they lean and chat, they seem more like men simply doing a job.
‘Just something about being more vigilant,’ the first man replies. ‘It’s been chaos all week since that castle stuff.’
‘I heard the girl was spotted a few miles away this morning.’
‘Silver Blackthorn?’
I feel a tingle slide along my back as everyone’s eyes again turn to me.
‘Aye. They spent hours looking for her but she either got away or wasn’t there to start with. Some of the lads got to tear a few houses down looking for her, mind.’
They both laugh but I cannot stop watching Faith through the dim light as the knowledge sinks in that the actions of her parents have torn apart more lives than we knew. She is still in the
corner of the room, cradling her knees to her chest, staring at the floor in shame.
We watch as the outline of the first man reaches down to scratch his thigh. ‘What do you reckon?’
‘Of the girl? Who knows? I don’t know what all the fuss is about – some kid with fancy hair. What do they think she’s going to do?’
‘There must be something in it. Have you heard the people in the towers talking about the Offering? They’re wondering what happens to all these kids after they get chosen.’
The second guard doesn’t sound overly bothered. ‘Not much you can do if one of them goes crazy and tries to kill the King though, is there?’
‘Did you see what happened? It was really confusing. There was no sound and these kids were on the screen and then the King was choking and coughing. They said she tried to kill him but
she was nowhere near him.’
Even without being able to see them from the waist up, it is obvious the second Kingsman feels uneasy. ‘I try to keep out of it,’ he says, trying to end the conversation.
‘Someone said they’ve taken a handful of us down to Windsor.’
‘Okay . . .’
‘Think about it. We only get new people in when one of us is killed. If they’ve got that many people being sent down there, what do you think happened?’
The second Kingsman suddenly sounds interested. ‘What are you saying?’
The first guard lowers his voice. ‘People are saying the King’s lost it . . .’
‘Which people?’
‘Just . . .
people
.’ There is a definite edge of tension between the guards. ‘They’re saying that, if some girl can take out six or seven of us and try to kill
the King, then something strange must be going on down there. Have you ever seen so much coverage? It’s been on the screen every night and they’ve been giving out weapons so those
capture
I open my eyes, staring towards the hole we created to enter the house, and it is only when I hear a man’s voice that I realise the footsteps aren’t Opie’s. Instead there are
two Kingsmen standing directly outside.
10
‘Cold tonight, innit?’
The strong, thick voice echoes around our space, waking everyone instantly. It is dark but I see five sets of eyes flash towards the men and then me as the others realise what is happening.
After we entered the dilapidated building, we wedged a piece of wood across the hole, but I thought it would be too much work to completely cover the entrance with stones from the inside,
especially as we seemed to be so far away from the rest of the inhabitants and were only going to be here for a matter of hours. Now I wish we had spent five more minutes concealing our
location.
Although the piece of wood covers most of the entrance hole, we can see the outlines of both Kingsmen leaning against the front of the house, their swords hanging limply from their waists.
‘Did they even give a reason why we all have to be out here?’ the other replies. ‘I can’t be bothered going into the woods. We’ll just say we did.’
The second voice is slightly higher-pitched than the first but the casualness of their conversation is something none of us would ever have associated with Kingsmen. To us, they are authority
figures in black but as they lean and chat, they seem more like men simply doing a job.
‘Just something about being more vigilant,’ the first man replies. ‘It’s been chaos all week since that castle stuff.’
‘I heard the girl was spotted a few miles away this morning.’
‘Silver Blackthorn?’
I feel a tingle slide along my back as everyone’s eyes again turn to me.
‘Aye. They spent hours looking for her but she either got away or wasn’t there to start with. Some of the lads got to tear a few houses down looking for her, mind.’
They both laugh but I cannot stop watching Faith through the dim light as the knowledge sinks in that the actions of her parents have torn apart more lives than we knew. She is still in the
corner of the room, cradling her knees to her chest, staring at the floor in shame.
We watch as the outline of the first man reaches down to scratch his thigh. ‘What do you reckon?’
‘Of the girl? Who knows? I don’t know what all the fuss is about – some kid with fancy hair. What do they think she’s going to do?’
‘There must be something in it. Have you heard the people in the towers talking about the Offering? They’re wondering what happens to all these kids after they get chosen.’
The second guard doesn’t sound overly bothered. ‘Not much you can do if one of them goes crazy and tries to kill the King though, is there?’
‘Did you see what happened? It was really confusing. There was no sound and these kids were on the screen and then the King was choking and coughing. They said she tried to kill him but
she was nowhere near him.’
Even without being able to see them from the waist up, it is obvious the second Kingsman feels uneasy. ‘I try to keep out of it,’ he says, trying to end the conversation.
‘Someone said they’ve taken a handful of us down to Windsor.’
‘Okay . . .’
‘Think about it. We only get new people in when one of us is killed. If they’ve got that many people being sent down there, what do you think happened?’
The second Kingsman suddenly sounds interested. ‘What are you saying?’
The first guard lowers his voice. ‘People are saying the King’s lost it . . .’
‘Which people?’
‘Just . . .
people
.’ There is a definite edge of tension between the guards. ‘They’re saying that, if some girl can take out six or seven of us and try to kill
the King, then something strange must be going on down there. Have you ever seen so much coverage? It’s been on the screen every night and they’ve been giving out weapons so those
capture
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