Unknown L (Book 1)

~~ Unexpected ~~

She climbed up over the side and sat on the guardrail for a second to admire the view. They could see for hundreds of miles around the forest and beyond. The two watchers who were also in the tower spotted her in alarm, but she put a finger to her lips. They must have understood what she was doing because they half smiled and returned to their watch.

"Having fun up here, are you?"

Robbie spun around so quickly he nearly lost his balance, and the guards had to steady him. He recovered when he realised it was her, but he was holding a hand to his chest.

"L! You scared the life out of me! I could have fallen out of here."

L smirked and shrugged, "Now you know how your mum's been feeling since you didn't come back from your appointment. You do remember that you've recently been through a near death experience, don't you?"

Robbie grimaced, and he looked guiltier than L had ever seen him.

"I didn't even think... I met these guys on their shift change when I was looking up at the tower. They offered to let me have a look around from up here. I guess I got distracted. Is she upset?"

L nodded, and her smirk disappeared, "Yeah, she really is. She didn't know if you'd been taken again or what had happened. She tried to hide it from me at first but it was obvious... and I thought we'd already talked about coming up here when you're up to it?"

Robbie still looked extremely guilty. "I'm gonna be in so much trouble when we get back." Robbie winced, "Yeah, I know we did, sorry, I just wasn't sure when you'd be free to do it with your training, and they offered. It's incredible, though, isn't it?"

L wasn't bothered that he hadn't waited, but she realised how much she'd been worrying too. She moved to stand beside him and leaned against the edge of the tower. 

"Yeah, it is. You can see everything from up here."

That's when a thought struck L, and she looked curiously over at the two guards. They had short, brown cloaks covering their clothing and strange looking earmuffs on. L guessed it was for the strong winds up here. She couldn't be sure what species they were, but their features were almost identical; one had yellow eyes, and the other had blue. They were glowing in the shade of the tower roof.

"Excuse me, how long have you been up here?"

"About an hour maybe, it gets a bit hazy some days. Why do you ask?"

L furrowed her brow and pointed towards the point in the wall where the mystery figure had been stood.

"Did you see anyone standing by the wall over there and then lots of running. It would have been about half an hour ago?"

They both glanced at each other and appeared to be having a silent conversation. A moment later, the one with yellow eyes turned to look at her.

"We did, but we only saw one figure, you."

L tilted her head to the side, "How do you know it was me?"

The one with blue eyes answered this time. "We have strict instructions to recognise and keep an eye on you. Your safety is imperative according to the Council... Are... are you really a Keeper?"

L was surprised by the sudden question. She nodded in answer, causing a stir between the two guards. Their amazement was evident. L peered at Robbie, who was finally getting to see beneath the Keeper situation. 

L turned her attention back to the guards, "Did you say you only saw me running, nobody else running ahead of me?"

They appeared to be containing their excitement now. "No, it was just you down there. You do seem to move around a lot... do all Keepers do that?"