Plot Pieces

The Paranoid Prince

The Paranoid Prince

Except from a possible sequel to Simple Servant

Prince Phillip Gregory Marcus Lyonal hugged his father tightly as the loud sounds of war beat at the Terrain Castle walls. He was nearly three years old, but he was already use to the seemingly constant ruckus.

The shouting could be heard clear across the Kingdom of Terrafeuw, but he wasn't supposed to be paying attention to the violent sounds. His father had told him that it was unlikely that the war would be ending any time soon. He had advised Philip to focus on each day.

That day wasn't just another day. It was a sad day.

The young prince tore himself away from his father's chest and looked around him. Even though it was technically spring he saw white everywhere he looked. From the servants, to the Royals, to the nobility, to the flowers, everything was a sickening shade of white.

He looked up at his father and noticed silent tears rolling down the king's face. It was the silence that Philip would remember that for years. In the mist of the war, in the mist of the shouting, and in the mist of clanging swords his father remained silent.

Philip turned in his father's arms and glanced at the large white oak wooden box in front of him. His nanny, Lillany, told him that many brave people went into such boxes. Her husband had gone into one.

His mother was inside that particular box, and she wouldn't be coming out.

People talked about Queen Gwenwyn in hushed tones. They said large words that Philip didn't understand. Words like:

Casualty,

Blessed,

Disowned,

Savior,

and

Traitor.

Philip didn't know what the words meant, but they scared him.

His father hugged him closer and brought him closer to the white box. The white box with his mother in it. He could barely remember what she looked like and it made him cry. He wanted his mother back. Why couldn't she come out of the box? What was so important about it anyway?

It wasn't fair.

He wanted to play with her.

He wanted to see her smile.

He wanted her to hug all the tears and all sadness away.

His father handed him a large white flower his nurse called a gladiolus. It was just another big word to Philip. He noticed his father had a gladiolus as well. More silent tears rolled down the Terrafein King's face as he placed his flower on the white box.

Philip held on to his flower tightly. He wanted to give it to her in person. Why couldn't he go to her? She was right there in the white box in front of him. His father nudged him to place the long white flower on top of the box as well. Eventually, and reluctantly, Philip did.

He watched as more people came and placed similar flowers on his mother's box. That angered young Philip. He wanted his flower to be special, but now he couldn't tell which one it was.

Young Prince Philip hugged his father tightly and cried in frustration. He heard his father whispered that it would be over soon, but Philip wasn't sure what he meant by over. Did that mean he would see his mother soon?

A strange looking man wearing all white said a few more words about his mother. He talked about how proper and regal she was. Again, Philip was confused by the large words. Soon Philip stopped listening. He wrapped his arms around his father and sobbed. He was too tired to care about anything.

The noise of war had kept him up that night, and there was nothing that his nurse could do to keep little Prince Philip's nightmares at bay.

Although all memory of his mother would eventually fade, and his father's tears would eventually dry up, there was one thing about that day that would stick with Philip for the rest of his life. It was the day that he began to hate the color white.