Algernon Black

(Chapter 13) The Awaited Arrival of the Psychotic Prince

"Selice." The senior servant of the castle, Erenzo, called out to the young aid.

"Take this tray up to the prince's room." Erenzo handed over the metal tray with the finest-crafted vials of potions. The colors ranged from bright pinks to dull blues and were forged for one specific purpose, one the prince seemed in constant need of.

Selice accepted it reluctantly.

"He's back?"

Erenzo laughed upon witnessing the young servant's face twist into a grimace of sharp irritation. "You don't speak much Selice, but you make the most expressive faces."

Selice couldn't help the pout. It formed after a lifetime of dealing with Loy's absurd behaviors as the prince was profoundly annoying whenever he was unfortunately in. For the last seven years he was away traveling, but when he did sporadically stop by, his presence wasn't something anyone could ignore. Especially Selice, who happened to be his favorite servant to bother.

"Be a good boy and deliver them to Loy quickly." Erenzo snapped. "He's bound to be finished soon, and these potions are most effective immediately after."

Selice wondered what the potions were for but didn't pry, knowing you don't keep a position working in the castle for 15 years by asking questions. Especially when you yourself have quite a big secret you didn't want anyone else inquiring into, as she did.

Selice sighed and started teetering through the hallways of the palace knowingly. When she first arrived, it seemed impossible to learn the layout of such an extensive place, but it had become more familiar to her than her own face. She wasn't much used to seeing her own face, however, because any time she looked into a mirror it showed a reflection of the male version of herself, and thank the gods it did, or she would be a beggar on the streets instead of working and living in the castle on the crimson coast.

It was often shortened to the crimson castle when it wasn't red at all. Instead, it should have been called a castle made of sand because the stone used to build it was pure white and taken from the crystal-clear sea it overlooked. Even the many swirling accents and fountains spewing ocean water were bleached white, with the only color being from the flowering bushes scattered around the landscaping. The petals were a distinct dark purple that came to represent the royalty of the country, and walking through the castle was either a sea of white or an abundance of purple depending on where the bushes bloomed.

Selice's favorite time of year was when all the petals fell before winter and turned a dark red. The petals would then drift into the ponds where the fish, with their elegant, feathered tails, would eat the petals and turn bright red to become living art in the water.

Selice passed a part of the castle, overlooking the inlet. The same trees lined the castle's wall bordering the ocean, and when the red petals would fall, it looked like the castle was bleeding into the ocean where the water would be red for days. It was why they started calling the ocean on Etilia's borders the crimson coast.

She stared out to sea. It was six months away from any winter, but she looked forward to the time. She quickly stopped her gazing when two male servants rounded the corner and caught her lollygagging. She politely nodded to them before carrying on. It was the extent to the relationships she had with all of the servants in the castle, out of necessity to keep her secret.

Selice decided on taking the back corridor to the prince's room to avoid any more run-ins. She had been there many times in her years of service, and because she and the prince were of similar age, he took an interest in her that made her life considerably more difficult. She was four when she met Loy and twenty-one now, but Loy still acted like he did when they first met when he was six. But he didn't really meet her. Loy met the young boy servant that would be starting at the castle, not the girl hiding underneath loose-fitting clothes and a magic necklace that concealed the feminine features of her face. Selice wasn't found of deception but was forced to keep up this lie because no female servants were allowed in the castle after one of Loy's ancestors had too many bastards with the staff and some of them tried to take the thrones for themselves, evoking the bloodiest civil war in the kingdom's history.