FIFTY NINE: The First Time

Kel had never been particularly close to Barclay.

She'd always respected him and thought well of him, but the opportunity to form a friendship never happened before circumstances had forced them together.

Thinking back, Kel could still remember her first impression of the man.

He had been in his twenties, wearing his jet black hair at shoulder length with a stubbly face. His cheeks were round and rosy, a stark contrast to his intimidating brawny frame.

Among the many soldiers, eight-year-old Kel picked Barclay out immediately, less due to his bulging muscles and more because of the snot-nosed kid clinging to him. Everywhere he went, a ruby-haired child, who looked about Kel's size, followed the husky soldier

Barclay would have been the fiercest-looking of the king's guards if it weren't for his tiny sidekick and jolly face. 

"Dash! Look!" Kel had called excitedly one day when she spied the soldier and the child passing.