Usually only the Royal Advisor would come down to the kitchen to check on things, and by check on things I actually meant that he would beat me within an inch of my life. He was probably the worst out of all of them when it came to doing cruel things to me. The entire kitchen staff just played pranks on me or threw a punch here and there. But the Royal Advisor didn't even bother to hide his distaste for me. This time though he came down looking very nervous with a pretty, young lady walking behind him. I immediately recognized her as the princess. She was wearing men's clothes that were completely black and hung loosely on her frame, making her appear bigger and scarier. The scars that I could see on her visible skin only made her appear even scarier. Everyone else in the kitchen suddenly seemed to be more focused on their work. She really had an interesting effect on people whenever she walked into a room. Just like back in the dining room with those two knights.
"Well here you go your highness, this is the kitchen. Now, shall I escort you back to your quarters?" the Royal Advisor suggested almost too forcefully. What was the Princess doing down here in the kitchen anyway? None of the royal family ever came down here, not unless someone had done something inexcusable. I've heard a rumor from the kitchen staff that the Princess herself carries out most of the punishments and executions since her mother's murder. Some people say that she has a taste for blood and others say that she is trying to make sure that no evil being goes unpunished, and that no innocents are harmed in the process of justice. Although it appeared that most people believed the first one.
"No, I would like to meet the people who work for me," she replied in a tone that left no room for any other arguments. The look that she gave the Royal Advisor made doubly sure of that. I barely noticed the Chef glance hatefully at me before returning his attention to the Princess. I knew that he hated me the most but would he really plan to do something to me with the Princess in his presence? I was pretty sure that they didn't want me to ever be seen by the Princess but I was sure that the Princess had already seen me since I was standing on a dangerously old stool doing the dishes in a large water basin. I wasn't tall enough to be able to reach the sinks myself. I was short for a 10 year old boy which was just another thing that I was made fun of for. I also still hadn't told him about what had happened yesterday, and I wasn't really planning on telling him.
I hated doing the dishes or being near large containers of water especially if the water was cold, because sometimes the kitchen staff would push me into the water and hold me under. The water already burns my skin just by touching it, I didn't need people trying to drown me in it too. Right now as I was washing these dishes I had blisters and painful rashes breaking out all over my skin where the water had touched me. Everyone else was very nervous as the Princess walked around the room with a critical eye and perhaps I should've been nervous too. But I didn't bother to pause in my work, knowing that it would only get me into more trouble. I grabbed a couple dry plates and began to walk towards the back of the kitchen to the cupboard where the dishes were kept, as the Princess was introduced to the rest of the kitchen staff. I felt a weird pang in my chest when I realized that the princess hadn't even glanced at me once.
I felt someone shove me in the back as I made my way to the dish cupboard and I fell forward, dropping all of the plates that I been carrying. The plates shattered and shards of porcelain hit me in the face, and cut into my hands as I tried to stop myself from going head first into the shards and the ground. I had thought that I was getting off way too easy today. I probably should've seen this coming. I just hope that the chef didn't hear the dishes break. But the sudden silence in the room told me that he probably did.
"What have you done now you little rodent!?" I heard the Chef yell from behind me. I turned to see him stomping towards me. I scrambled backwards through the shards of porcelain, cutting up my hands and feet even more. I knew what was coming next and I was already starting to panic. The same thing that had happened to Gero last night was about to happen to me. I closed my eyes and braced for impact as the Chef went to swing at me. I waited, but the blow didn't come. Cautiously, I opened my eyes to see what could've been taking him so long to hit me. I saw that the Princess was standing right in front of me, her wings of legend were now in full view. It's said that she could decapitate an entire army of soldiers with her wings at full length. She wasn't wearing the man shirt anymore, instead she had on a special, much more feminine shirt that allowed for the addition of her wings. They were beautiful and dangerous just like she appeared to be.
"Is this really how you treat those who work underneath you?" asked the Princess in a tone that sounded completely unlike her. Unlike any female in general. Actually it sounded more like two voices were speaking at the same time, one male and one female. I was so transfixed by the Princess and her wings that I barely noticed the Chef who was lying on the floor at the Princess's feet, cowering. Everyone else in the kitchen was as far away from the Princess as they could possibly get. I couldn't see many of them because they were on the floor bowing so far that their heads touched the floor.
"If any more harm comes to him or anyone else under you, you will never see daylight again," the Princess told the Chef quietly but the way she said it sent shivers down my spine. I wonder if the princess knew about what had happened to Gero last night. "And as for you. You will be relieved of your duties effective immediately and my father will decide the proper punishment for you."
She was looking over the prep tables to where the Royal Advisor must've been hiding. I heard some movement coming from that direction and suddenly I could see the Royal Advisor. He looked very shaken and his eyes were on the ground. He did try to look up at the Princess once but immediately dropped his eyes to the floor again.
"B-but your highness, he is one of the evil creatures and should be dealt with properly," the Royal Advisor said with growing confidence. I think that he might've been trying to convince the Princess that his point of view was the correct one. Now I was nervous, I was nervous that she would turn on me just like everybody else did. Other people had tried to defend me at one time or another but they all turned on me one by one.
"So you're objecting to the worker that I hired?" the Princess replied sounding mildly angry now. Whoa, she was the one who brought me here to work? I didn't even think that she knew that I existed until yesterday. I had always thought that the royals were to be feared and that they didn't care about the little people like me. Although I have been told that it didn't used to be like this when the old queen was still alive, I'm not too sure what had happened to her and no one ever spoke of her. The children of the king and old queen were said to be thousands of years old, and knew magic that was said to no longer exist. The Princess was the eldest and only daughter of four children, which meant that she was probably 5000 years old give or take a century.
"Y-you h-hired him, milady?" the Royal Advisor asked nervously but he sounded kind of lost. I was right there with him on that part. What was so special about me that the Princess wanted me to work for her?
"Yes, I did," the Princess replied and then turned around with her head up high in a very regal gesture. She walked over to me and, before I had a chance to react, she picked me up in her arms. She turned around one more time and pointed to the two kitchen workers that were standing closest to her. "You two, clean up this mess."
She had gestured to the shattered porcelain to make sure that the kitchen workers knew what she meant. They nodded but kept their eyes on the floor. The Princess nodded once and then walked out the back door of the kitchen. She didn't put me down again however, until we were surrounded by trees and a small bubbling creek that cut through the forest was right in front of us. The Princess put me down on the soft grass and tended to my wounds from the shattered porcelain. I was a bit embarrassed at having to be tended to by a woman, especially after my father had hammered it into my head that men are supposed to be able to take care of themselves. Then again my father had most likely been killed by my mother, so his advice was out the window. Frankly though, even if I could speak, I wouldn't try to argue with the Princess about tending to me. It was kind of nice to be taken care of for a change.
"There we go, good as new," the Princess said when she was finished. The wounds on my hands and feet had completely vanished. She looked very different now that we were out of the kitchen. The Princess looked happier and more relaxed. I don't know what made me and others think that she was so scary. Right now, with the sunlight coming through the tree leaves, she looked like a goddess. Even though it was probably wrong of me to want to know but I did want to know. Why did she pick me? I mean out of all of the people she could've picked, why did she pick me? I mean she could've picked Gero to save but she didn't she chose me. The Princess smiled down at me like she knew something I didn't know.
"I'll tell you when you get older, my love," was all that she said and then returned her attention to watching the creek. Hang on, what did she just call me? Stunned, I sat down beside her and leaned against the same tree that the Princess was leaning against. Had she just read my thoughts, too? I was starting to feel a little sleepy after the adrenaline had come down from the scene in the kitchen. The peacefulness of this place and the sound of the trickling water helped with my exhaustion. I felt my head grown heavy and tip over on to the Princess's shoulder. I kind of forgot that she was the Princess for a moment and forgot why I was so stunned by something that she did. I don't remember what it was right at this moment but I was sure that it was something important. My eye lids began to droop and the Princess bent her head down and kissed me tenderly on the forehead. I think that I managed a smile before I fell into the very first good sleep that I've ever had since the day I was born.