Sage woke when only the light of the moon sharpened the shadows around his long and large bedroom. He rolled over, pulling his cold silk sheets to his chin, but he couldn't pull it as far as he would've liked. Sage tugged sleepily until something else moved next to him.
He froze, staring wide eyed into the dark, until his eyes adjusted, and he recognised the cheekbones, the round nose, and the dimpled chin of his Valet, Taro Vinea.
Sage relaxed and reached out to shove him awake.
Taro grumbled and slapped his hand away.
"Get up," Sage hissed, not because he wanted him out of his bed. "You said you can't sleep in your human form all night."
Taro shot up immediately and clutched his throat. He dashed to the bathroom, and Sage quickly followed to see him sucking water from the gold sink tap. Taro drank until water was dripping down his chin and filling the sink.
"Um, are you okay?" Sage stood awkwardly in the doorway until Taro wiped his face dry.
"Slept too long... human form..." Taro cleared his throat. "Your bed is too comfortable for your own good. It's unnatural to sleep that deeply."
Sage arched a brow. "It's a good thing I woke up then. Will you be alright?"
Taro nodded. He followed the Prince back to the bed and sat on his bedside table. He transformed, and for a moment, the green glow lit Sage's room brighter than daylight. He winced, scrunched his eyes shut, then opened to darkness. "Well, night then," he said to the plant on his bedside table. One of the vines wobbled as a response.
When Sage woke again, it was by Taro's hand. After morning tea, his Valet fixed cufflinks to his shirt, and someone knocked on the door. Sage allowed entry and his mother's secretary, Finley Wainhouse, stepped awkwardly into the room.
"What is it?" Sage asked, eyeing the letter in his hands.
"The Queen wishes to inform you that you will spend the day with her, shadowing her Royal duties," Finley said, staring blankly at the Prince with piercing blue eyes. His thin face stretched over his thin skull. His mouth was even tighter, clearly disapproving of having someone trail after the Queen, especially someone as hated as Prince Sagerian Greenthenor.
"Today?" Sage allowed his arms to smooth inside a navy-blue blazer. He did his best to ignore Taro's fingers brushing his hips as he pulled his waistcoat down and straightened out the front.
"Yes, your Royal Highness." Finley cleared his throat and bowed his head lowly.
Once alone, Sage chose not to mention that Taro sleeping in his bed last night was not only highly inappropriate, but extremely risky. Taro was his friend, as well as his Valet. Sage had to cut his tongue short and allow their friendship to form.
Sage sat through a quiet breakfast. His father burst into the room only for a slice of toast, then left. His brother clearly nursed a hangover. Every time Oxley looked at Sage's eggs, his tanned skin paled.
His mother, however, had much to discuss. "First, we're looking through the green cabinet," she said with a twinkle in her dark eyes.
Starting off the day with important documents, great. Sage found everything mundane, now that Taro's secret was unearthed. Taro told him that there was more to life than the monarchy, and he was absolutely right.
Sage didn't voice his boredom and followed his mother to her office. He tried to take an interest, knowing his future would be much the same. The documents were a case of putting them into piles for his mother to visit later, though she did her best to explain to Sage about the importance of, well, importance.
Other documents were signed and some needed immediate attention. Overall, Sage wasn't particularly in the mood for politics, but how could that be avoided when he shadowed the head of state?
"Next, we'll be visiting a new sports centre that's opening today."
"Wait, we're going outside the Palace today?" Sage's stomach dropped.
"Yes. You can't hide in this building forever." Marigold left her desk and stood by the window that stretched from the ceiling to the floor. If the curtains ever needed changing, they'd require a ladder. "Look at this city."
Sage looked. Beyond their green luscious grounds, he saw concrete, high buildings, motorways, bridges, rivers, but his eyes kept trailing to the hills beyond.
"Don't let those fools with a camera scare you into wasting your life. No king hides behind his Palace walls, not in today's century."
"I'm not their king," Sage said.
"Not yet," his mother added. "But one day you will be, and they will love you."
Sage wasn't convinced, and his mother knew that. Still, she insisted that he go with her, and Sage had no energy to argue with the Queen.
His visit to the sports centre was unexpected. The money-hungry freelancers that hounded Sage for an ugly photo were not waiting for him outside the building. Those who waited for the Queen still shouted his name, but only for nice pictures of him spending the day with his mother.
His confidence grew when nobody yelled obscure abuse. Sage had learnt not to frown in public. Too many times, he would hear something cruel about himself, and scrunch his brows, only for his anger to be spread across the tabloids that evening.
At the sports centre, they met top athletes, managers, and cleaners. Sage was polite, and pleasant, and distracted. One normal Royal engagement was too dull now that he knew about Taro Vinea.
He was a plant man, and Sage knew about it. Who else are like him? Sage kept looking around for green nails until his mother dragged him away for lunch.
"You're distracted," she commented as they ate their food from the backseat of their car.
"I'm not."
"You barely spoke a word, and the words you did say, you said to everyone else. Your mind is not here today. Where is it?"
At home thinking of Taro, my Valet, the plant man. Sage didn't reply quick enough.
"The paparazzi, they're getting to you again, aren't they? I will admit that they are getting worse." His mother watched the streets zoom by as she talked. "But you realise they're bored, and you're great, and they love to tear down great people."
Sage had heard it all before. Would she think I was so great if she knew I was gay? Sage crossed his arms and looked the other way. "Where are we going now?" Their glamorous life meant wolfing down food as they jumped from one engagement to the next.
"I'm going to make a statement about your return after the break-in."
Sage wanted to shrink. In the presence of the Queen, he had to grit his teeth and stare ahead. "I'll wait in the car."
"No, you'll be there. You should be there, this is about you, and I want you to look confident."
Sage pursed his lips. "The guy who broke in, who was he?"
"We are not yet sure. He makes no connection to Patrick."
Sage snapped his head in her direction. "Why would there be a connection?" he quizzed.
"Patrick was a traitor," she mumbled with dark eyes scanning the bodyguards in front. "He was killed for a reason. Someone breaking into the Palace with a weapon, not long after his death is not a coincidence to me." Marigold pulled long black curls over one shoulder. "We will talk about this later."
"So, I have permission to ask you about what you know about Patrick?"
"Later. Maybe ask your father, he knows more than me."
"I doubt that."
His mother smiled. She was the Queen and always knew everything.
Sage felt emotionally drained when they returned home for dinner. His mother had invited guests back, so Sage excused himself and asked to have food brought up to his room. He didn't know how she managed to smile every day and follow such a strict and long daily routine. Sage only shadowed the Queen for one day, and would need a day off to recover.
How can this be my life? He flopped onto a chair by the window and stared at the sky until his ears stopped ringing.
All eyes had been on him during his mother's statement. Sage had tensed his jaw and concentrated on keeping a straight face, for almost an hour. The moment they entered a building full of people, Sage turned to stone.
He ran a hand through his curls and sank into the chair, unbuttoning his waistcoat. "Come in," he yelled when someone knocked on the door.
Taro entered with a golden tray full of golden dishes. "Evening," he said with a smile that wavered when Sage only stared blankly at him from his corner.
"Thanks." Sage sighed and sipped his tea.
Instead of leaving him to eat alone, Taro sat on his desk chair and twiddled his thumbs. Sage didn't mind. He was getting comfortable with Taro's presence.
"Busy day?" Taro asked.
Sage nodded and ate his food in silence. He listened to Taro talk about his day and how a servant smashed a glass in front of Osier and how Osier's fat head turned as bright as the red sun shining at them through the window. Taro spoke of how he managed to sneak into Sage's room and sleep for an hour. "Someone came in," he then said. "I don't know who it was, but they touched my leaves. I know it wasn't you because you're gentle, they pinched me."
"Someone came in? It might have been the cleaner. Did she water you?" Sage asked. "Is she a plant person?"
"Nobody watered me. And yes, she is."
"Oh." Sage wiped his mouth with a napkin. "I wonder who came in."
"I wonder that too. Maybe you should get a guard outside your room."
"Maybe I should." Sage sat back as Taro wheeled the desk chair across the wooden floor. He stopped when their knees clashed.
"I could be your guard."
Sage raised a brow. "I had already thought about it."
"Really?"
"One day you'll be caught sneaking into my room, and you'll either get fired, or rumours will spread about us. Being my guard would resolve it."
"Can I still be your Valet? I'll be both. You don't have to pay me any extra."
"Why so eager?" Sage questioned. His eyes dropped to their knees. Taro's hands touched his own, but his fingers graced Sage's knees.
"I like being around you."
I like being around you too. Sage's heart fluttered. He didn't move away or tell Taro to stop being inappropriate. He couldn't, not when his touch was so exciting, and so distracting.
"I'll talk to my father about it tomorrow. After what you did with the intruder, I don't think he'll object."
"That position is like going back to my roots, for someone like me."
"Protecting a Royal." Sage watched Taro's fingers slide further up his knees.
"Yes," Taro spoke softly, "protecting a friend."