Brynn woke me up early so I can tell her everything about yesterday's events and to have time to say goodbye. Before going to the lobby to meet the others, we bawled our eyes out.
On my way out I looked around for ghost boy but the only people here were the royal family and my new team. I guess he slept in and forgot about me. The queen was excited to meet us individually, the king didn't even spared us a look and the prince was staring at me, he didn't even notice me looking back as if he was deep I thoughts.
I had to make sure there's nothing on my face. Was there drool on my face? Or my eyes were so red from crying? He recovered and gave me a warm smile, a nod, and walked toward their private train car.
We used the same train we came in, to the castle. Breakfast was waiting for us in the dining car. Everyone was excited for the chance of their life. I was the smallest between but I overthrew them in reality.
I didn't want to talk with anyone so I stayed in my room for the next hour. The train was slowing down, I knew we arrived. I looked outside and the castle was huge, the size of an entire town.
The castle had a bailey with a perimeter of fifty meters on all sides enclosed by towers thrice the size as mills; the parapets along the walls seemingly went on for infinitude and were stocked with medieval armament in preparation of a siege - unlike it was needed - and the entirety of the castle was girdled with wooden fencing and once more with a moat in equal area of a lake. The trees surrounded the lands like great armies defending their citadel. Their armored trunks reached out in the air protectively. This great expanse of green enhanced the castles eeriness and busty as its portcullis made out of hard iron guarded the passage. Knights silently walked the walls keep two eyes watched. The backyard consisted of big gardens maybe this is where all the big ceremonies were held.
"Welcome everyone to the royal castle. All of you will have a tour of it but only Olivia will continue towards the royal suits so she can know her way around. Follow me." We followed the white hair lady inside. She wasn't wearing a maid outfit neither expansive clothes so I guess she works here as a guide or something like that.
The castle is even bigger on the inside. It will sure take me a while to remember every turn.
Towers, turrets, stone steps, massive oak doors, steeply twisting spiral staircases, ancient stone walls, circular rooms in towers, great hall for feasting, long oak table, rich tapestries of royal red and gold hung on the walls, suits of armor standing guard, coat of arms, swords crossed on the wall, dank steps twisting down to dark dungeons, narrow passageways, windows like great slits in the thick walls, central open air courtyard, moat choked with weeds, colossal oak draw bridge on iron chains, reflection of castle in moat.
We walked through the big halls toward the sitting room, dining room, the meeting room for the royal counselor. Everyone was supposed to present himself at the throne room once the tour was finished.
We waited outside the massive doors before the king gave us the permission to enter. The room was even bigger than any room I ever saw in this palace. The roof was made of pure gold, the walls were covered in a rich red fabric. The king sat on a big throne, behind a picture of himself and the royal crest on each side.
The chair was carved of fine gold, crested with several jewels and decorative metals forming an elegant coat of arms. The cushions made of the softest red cotton fabric. It was situated between two long white and gold columns.
I couldn't stop looking around at the beauty of the room but instead I did the only reasonable thing to do in presence of the king. We knelt in front of him until he told us to stand.
"Welcome to the castle, you all now know your way around. I don't want anyone late for his shift, and I won't tolerate bad attitude and if any of you decides to fight with anyone in here for any reason, he'll be fired immediately. You'll make as you're told and you don't have a say a word in it. You came here to serve me and my family and to protect the castle with your lives. Am I clear?" I could open my mouth to say anything so I just nodded. "Now go to your rooms and Olivia you can continue your tour towards the east wing. And remember you'll be loyal to the prince and protect him at any cost, this job is not for the weak hearts. You can go now." I mumbled a thank you and followed the lady to show me the rest of the place.
The east wing was different than the rest of the castle it looks all modern, as if it was build last year. It had a feminine touch, I bet the current queen designed it.
"Now you are responsible of arriving to the prince's room. No need to roam into the rest of the corridor or the upper floors of this part unless his highness was going there and called for you to assist him." She explained everything I need to know, every hidden door in case of an attack or the place of the secret passages inside the walls. She finally showed me the quickest way from my room to the prince's room.
The prince had never been out of the palace or its grounds until this year's events. For him all floors were marble, what else would they be? All stair rails were ornate mahogany, carved and polished so that it shined. Everything looked new on the inside even though the castle looks ancient from the outside. Family portraits were painted in oils and hung in gold frames. Furniture was all handmade by master craftsmen. Nothing ever got dirty. He had never seen dust in his seventeen years of life. The air was scented with fresh flowers every day of the year, yet he had never seen a flower ever die or wilt. Food was always perfect and served precisely on time, but he had never seen a kitchen. Each room was as big a three bedroom apartment and came equipped with an intercom system in case he should need to call for service, there's one even connected to my room.
It was the last stop of my tour, I'll have the rest of the night to rest, since it took us the entire day to get familiar with the place. I followed the woman to an empty corridor, I wonder why no one is occupying this wing yet. She opened the door to my room.
I looked at it in amazement. This was my little room! A small single bed, looking like a snow drift, so white and feathery and high was it; one window curtained with a square of starched white cotton cloth that drew over the panes by means of a white cord on which it was run at the top; a tiny wash-stand with an old-fashioned bowl and pitcher of red and white stone-ware, and over it an old-fashioned gilt mirror; a small splint-bottomed chair and large braided rug of red woolen rags. That was all, except for the small closet that contained some casual outfits, nightgowns and my knight armor was made of hard metal to keep us safe in case of any war.
I was left alone to shower and rest before dinner. Knights had their own dinner room, even though we were working for the king, we're treated like royalties. A hot bath was already waiting for me and a strawberry scented soap, I took in every second of luxury I could get.
I sat into the water thinking about what could happen tomorrow. Would I get along with the prince or would he be an arrogant little brat that will order me around like some piece of trash? At first glance, he looked cute and kind hearted but at the competition yesterday, I got scared from the way he looked at me. I don't want to think about anything for now. I need to relax.
We had stew for dinner, I talked with Jason for the last time before we get caught up in all the work, he promised me that he would find a way for us to meet, maybe sneak around and if it didn't work we still have our food pauses.
I realized that this floor was meant for the workers like me, not royalty and not peasants. Plus I should be close to the prince all time. I curled in my new soft bed, trying to rest my muscles and profit of every bit of sleep.
I like describing falling asleep as like being caught in a carousel of thoughts. Every idea, notion and event from my day would replay in my mind, demanding analysis before I could be allowed to sleep. And then finally when the carousel came to a stop and my mind was able to meander freely in the random thought that is the precursor of sleep, I would often realize that I was close to drifting off and my anxiety would start the carousel up all over again.
I remembered every second of my day, every feeling, happiness, sadness, excitement and anger. When my thoughts became nonsense, and all the more interesting for it, I knew I was falling asleep. Now all I had to do was let go.
I felt this blackness come over me. Like a blanket, but not a blanket of warmth but a blanket of coldness making me shiver. But somehow it's making my eyes feel heavier and heavier. I finally close my eyes finally sending me into a dreamless sleep.
I wake the way king wakes, just the same. We are all blessed with the same time, the same experience of consciousness. My eyes greet the day shine, my heart and lungs expand. There are times that I feel that I must have been so blessed to live the same day over and over, even though I age, for those first few moments are so identical. At first there are the dreams, then the sense of welcoming a new day, the anticipation of whatever comes. It took me some time to adjust to my new room, I realized I'm at the palace and I'm supposed to be in front of the prince's room at seven o'clock. Good thing I woke up an hour early, I still have time to prepare myself and have breakfast.
I was on time for my first day of work. As soon as I stood in front of the prince's room, he opened the door.
"Good morning your highness." I bowed in respect.
"Good morning Olivia, I wish you didn't bow each time you see me, we would be working everyday together and I would feel uncomfortable if people kept doing it. How did you sleep? Are you comfortable in your new room?" He talks a lot for a prince that should only order us around. He's friendly, I get it why the maids and the other knights like him so much.
"I'm fine, thank you for asking. I did sleep well, the room is amazing, thank you again for your generosity." Did I really have to ramble and embarrass myself in front of him like that?
He gave me one of his warm smiles "No need to thank me, it was only fair to give you a place to feel comfortable and come to me if you need anything, no need to be shy."
"Thank you," stupid he just told you not to thank him. He was looking at me like I was some precious prize he just won, I twisted my head in confusing but he didn't say anything.
We were walking through the long empty corridors of the castle, it was hard to keep up with him. His steps were bigger than mine, I think he noticed because he quickly slowed down. "I only have one meeting today with my father and then I'm free so maybe we can use the sitting room to get to know each other more." It sounded more as a question that an order. I didn't know how to respond, I nodded once and we continued our way.
It's been three hours already that the prince has been in the meeting room and I'm standing outside. My feet hurt and there's no one other than me and the king's personal guard but he doesn't talk or move. Am I supposed to stand like a statue? I guess I'll have to ask about that too. There's so many things I should've been informed about.
At noon the doors opened and the king exited the room angry. I guess things didn't end up well. The prince was sad himself but quickly covered his emotions when he saw me.
"I'm sorry I kept you waiting this long. I thought it would be quick, but next time feel free to rest in the room next door and I'll call you when I'm finished."
"It's okay, it's my job to keep you safe at all time after all." He looked very troubled.
"You must be hungry, it's lunch time. I think the maids already prepared our food upstairs." I tried to decline "I insist that you join me, we agreed on talking and getting to know each other." I finally gave in and followed him to the private section of the castle.
The cooks in the castle work hard every day to prepare that much food, I wonder how many are there. We had risotto parmesan with roasted shrimps and wine but I didn't drink, it's nothing near the fake ones we used to steal from the training center's kitchen. The dessert was a small chocolate mousse cake, which was very fancy made. How do they not get fat when eating this much food.
"I bet a million people asked you the same question including my father," he paused as if he was thinking or remembering something. "Why did you choose to be a knight instead of royalty?"
I couldn't stop myself from laughing, I should've have known already the question. All the staff here asked me the same thing. "My father was a knight but he died saving this land. I used to watch him train at home, he taught me some skills. I guess I've always wanted to become a knight. No offense to you, your highness, it would be a great honor to have a chance to marry you but I have a boyfriend and we're hoping to get married when we both get back to the town.
"I'm sorry about your father. Did he teach you that skill you showed us during the trials?" I couldn't help myself but smile at the memory of that night.
"No. I wasn't very skilled in throwing knives before the training back at the center," he waited for me to continue and tell him the entire story. What a curious prince. "At training I didn't even achieve our goal so I stayed for an extra time to practice but a mysterious boy showed up and helped me the right way to do it. I used to watch him close his eyes and throw them blindly, I tried it out and it actually worked after a few times. I liked to show this skill as a personal show."
"So it's actually the skill of that mysterious boy you're talking about.'
"Actually I improvised it, I used a blindfold." I confidently defended myself.
"Oh yes big difference. I wonder who this mysterious boy is." Me too but before I could say it, he began laughing.
The laugh came from the prince like a newly sprung leak - timid at first, stopping and starting. He wasn't done yet though, I could tell from the way he rolled his blue eyes to the roof and half bit his lip. From deep inside his chest came a great shaking motion and his face muscles grew tight. I folded my arms, eyebrows arched, waiting. In moments William's laugh was more like a bust water main arching into the brilliant summer sky soaking everyone around him with unrestrained gales that debilitated him to a thigh slapping and pick faced picture of glee. I wanted to stay straight faced, flip my hair and storm off - he was after all laughing "at me", not "with me." But before I could stop myself my poker straight mouth twitched upwards and I was giggling despite myself. His laugh is contagious and reminded me of someone. He cleared his throat, contained himself and the picture perfect of a prince returned. A portrait with no emotions. He was impossible to read like that.
"I'm sorry for laughing but I couldn't stop myself. I was impressed by your performance. It was very courageous to take this risk and execute this move."
"Thank you I was pretty sure of myself that I would do great." I wanted redeem myself in any way possible.
We talked for a while, he asked all the questions in the world and seemed interested in knowing my thoughts about some stuff. Time pass quickly, it's before dusk already outside so he excused me for the day to return to my room.
I opened the curtains in my room and watched the sunset with an unwavering gaze, as a fiery red orb of light slowly sank beneath the horizon, and threads of light lingered in the sky, mingling with the rolling clouds, dyeing the heavens first orange, then red, then dark blue, until all that was left of the sunset was a chalky mauve, and then that melted away in turn as stygian darkness took over the sky. Sequin-silver stars like the glowing embers of a dying fire winked down at me, illuminating the enormous curtain of sky, and then suddenly the clouds parted, and I found myself looking at a lustrous, argent disc casting brilliant rays of moonlight onto the dark grounds...