Yui Staav leaned against a weather-worn wall of his usual post, another dull day in Katharan guard duty as he waited for his brother Alistair. In the meanwhile, he watched a merchant-seller pair bicker over an exchange of velvet rugs. In his head he did mental equations of how much more gold these two must of had than him, in order to make a debate about rugs worth it in the first place.
"Yui!" A familiar voice boomed behind him. Alistair strode towards his brother, his broad smile stretching ear to ear, utterly oblivious to the irritated glances from the civilians who had stopped their argument just to see who was making the racket. "You'll never guess who wants to see us!"
"Who?" Yui asked, raising a brow at his brother's excitement.
"Ketal Whisperwind! THE Ketal Whisperwind! The Commander of the King's Guard!" Alistair exclaimed, unable to contain his enthusiasm.
Yui's immediate reaction was skeptical. Why would someone as revered as Ketal Whisperwind, who held the highest martial position in all of Kathara, want to meet them? Doubt wormed its way into his thoughts as he recalled the recent incident at the docks. It was likely that the meeting was less optimistic then his brother was letting on.
"Well? Come on!" Alistair urged, grabbing Yui's arm and dragging him along the crowded street.
It wasn't long before they stood before the imposing figure of Ketal Whisperwind. His golden armor gleamed in the fading sunlight, and his stern gaze seemed to pierce right through them. At this point, he was quite old, but it appeared the man was in as good of physical shape to even surpass the two young city guards in front of him.
"Yui and Alistair Staav..." Ketal began, his voice deep and authoritative. "I've heard quite a bit about you two from Captain Monty."
Yui swallowed hard, fearing the worst. Garth Monty was not one to mince words, and their latest debacle had likely reached his ears.
"Captain Monty tells me you both insist on being part of the Staav-Dinee bloodline," Ketal continued, his unwavering gaze locked onto theirs. "Of course, Relico Staav and Kithara Dinee had only three children. Two died in birth, and the other never married."
"But it's true!" Alistair insisted, to Yui's somewhat chagrin. "Our father was Malene, who in himself came from Caldera, who was Relico's third son! He might have never gotten married, but he had children!"
"Commander Whisperwind," Yui spoke up, interjecting a cough to interrupt his brother. "We mean no disrespect to the legacy of the Groundlands. We simply think that-"
"You have reason to believe it is true," Ketal responded, finishing Yui's sentence. "And perhaps that is true. But the mystery of the Staav legacy is not what brings me here today."
Yui, exchanging a puzzled glance with Alistair, expected the worst.
"Your antics, as your captain has described them to me, may be ill-advised... but they've also demonstrated a certain resourcefulness," Ketal explained. "A certain resourcefulness that I believe is fitting for a member of the Sun Guard."
"Really?" Alistair's eyes lit up at the prospect, and Yui could almost feel his brother's excitement radiating off him. Here they were, practically street urchins, sitting at the lowest level of crown authority, now all of a sudden being elevated to one of the highest. The Sun Guard were Kathara's elites, second only to the King's Guard, which in reality was just selected from the best of the Sun Guard itself.
As much as Yui wanted to believe in the sincerity of Ketal's offer, he couldn't shake the nagging feeling that there was more to this than met the eye. But as he looked into Alistair's hopeful gaze, he knew he couldn't crush his brother's dreams.
"Well? Do you accept the offer?"
"Of course!" Alistair spoke first, almost immediately after Ketal finished speaking.
"Alright," Yui responded, in a much more casual manner. "We'll do it."
"Excellent," Ketal replied, a shadow of a smile playing on his lips. "Welcome to the Sun Guard."