The Silent Prince

4: Never Take A Walk, Ever

$ RIKKARD $

"Rikkard! Oh, my son!" Samantha Genevieve Ambrose held me at arms' length from her, her warm eyes perusing my body. I tried to jerk out of her grasp, but unfortunately my mother had more strength in her small frame that one would initially expect from a woman who was dressed like a cloud at sunset: pink, frilly, and fluffy. "My child! Are you quite alright? Did those nasty bandits hurt you? Oh, don't be so stiff! There are ladies present, you could at the least be polite!"

I surveyed the area to see if this was, indeed, true. It was an extreme exaggeration; the only members of the female persuasion present were a maid who was busily dusting the furniture and pretending not to notice every word we spoke, my mother, and my sister. 

"I see no ladies present," I replied.

If she hadn't been queen of Battlewood, I was fairly certain she would have slapped me. As it was, she simply tightened her grip on my arms until I felt like I was tied up once again, only to a less feisty and more chiding woman-- 

"Hurt? Why would Ricky be hurt?" Adaira bounced over, her dark curls and blue silk dress gleaming in the light of the chandelier. Her blue-green eyes were bright with curiosity--curiosity that I would certainly not satisfy.

"No reason," I said quickly.

At the same time, Mother answered her. "He was attacked, didn't you hear? Karim and the palace guards needed to rescue him from the clutches of some horrible highwaymen!"

I could already see the smirk forming on my sister's face and hear the countless re-hashing of this anecdote at numerous state dinners. I needed to stop this, right now!

"That is hardly true. I was not the one being rescued, I was rescuing someone!" I quickly lied, hoping my feigned chivalry would be enough to hide the truth.

"Oh, really?" Mother stepped back, eyeing me in a new light. Adaira waggled her eyebrows at me in a ridiculous use of facial muscles behind our mother's shoulder. "Is this true, Karim?"

Karim, who had managed to be as still and unnoticed as a shadow--a seven-foot tall, sabre-wielding shadow-- stepped out of the corner. I shot him a cold look. "Yes, Your Majesty. Sahib fought off the assailants most valiantly, in the defence of..."

"A woman!" I interjected. "I fought off those bandits in my attempt to protect a Miss Linton, who had been set upon by thieves and raiders. I was outnumbered and fortunately the palace guards came just in time when Miss Linton alerted them with her... feminine cries."

"Is that so?" Mother looked extremely excited for reasons I could not fathom; Adaira looked extremely paranoid, her curiosity definitely not sated. "Well, I suppose there's no more time to discuss these things. Perhaps we'll see Miss Linton at the ba--that is, later."

"Why would we?" I asked, having a sneaking suspicion that Miss Linton had been right--a woman being right, of all things!--about the ball after all. "What exactly have you been planning, Mother?"

She sighed. "Karim, could you please escort Rikkard to his room so that he may dress for the banquet tonight?"

Karim nodded in stoic silence and we were off to my chambers. I dressed in my customary plain black suit and top hat, as they were all that I had in my wardrobe: not a speck of colour to be found, and that was the way it ought to be. What use had I for colour or variety in such a rudimentary thing as attire?

"Your Highness! I have been instructed by your mother to ensure you go to the formal ballroom," a liveried servant dashed in front of me, his only unique feature being that he was roughly the same height and girth as me. 

I presumed that his instructions from my mother had been to use physical force in doing so. After a quick cost-benefit analysis, I deduced that whatever my mother wanted me to do would only last one night, and that considering the poor quality of every secretarial candidate, I was unlikely to find any qualified candidates for the position tonight or any night. Therefore, it would save me precious time and grant me precious knowledge if I agreed to go with the servant.

"Very well," I responded, taking quick strides towards the ballroom. Only Karim kept pace with me; despite the servant's size he had to run. "Well? Are you not supposed to ensure that I go to the formal ballroom? You ought to be ahead of me, then."

He said something between panting breaths that I could not make out--but none of it mattered when I saw Lillian Linton standing in front of the entrance to the formal ballroom in a brilliant red dress, anger blazing in her eyes as brilliantly as the fire crackling inside the ballroom. 

"You!" she spat, before launching herself at me.

She made it exactly one step before Karim stepped in front of me, sabre drawn. 

"It's quite alright, Karim,"  I said, watching the situation bemusedly. "You may let her go."

"Ifrit of a woman!" I heard him mutter under his breath before releasing Miss Linton, whereupon she fell to the floor in a heap before dusting herself off and getting back up.

I had to admire her tenacity even if her fighting techniques wouldn't have knocked over a fly. "What, exactly, did you hope to accomplish by attacking the crown prince of Battlewood, Miss Linton?"

"Well--" she stammered, clearly having not thought so far ahead. That was the problem with everyone else; they were unable to think of the consequences of their actions, only that they wanted to pursue them and that it would give them some momentary ounce of pleasure. 

"Miss Linton, I saved your life possibly from those thieves. Now you would act as though I am no better than one of them? Curious, indeed."

Her face heated, her brown hair unravelling from an already dishevelled knot. "You saved me? I would have gotten out of there myself if you hadn't come along with all your... your pompous, princely swagger and... and stupid palace guards!"

I had to admit that it was the first time someone had used princely as an insult and managed to make it sound like "tax-collecting." "Really? Miss Linton, I would ask you to enlighten me as to how, but I'm afraid I am late for a ball. Good night, Miss Linton."