The prince and the slave
Chapter 2
ArchAngel woke up with a smile on her face. Sure, her back was sore because of the bit of hey on the ground she was sleeping on, but still. It's been so long she had slept that well. She remembered the wonderful dream she had, when the Prince came to her and treated her like a lady. She still remembered the warm feeling of clean water on her skin and the smell and taste of the food they enjoyed together. The most beautiful dream she ever had.
When she got up she felt a little heavy and….. full? Now she remembered, it wasn't a dream! She really had been with the Prince, used his bath and ate dinner with him!
And they danced in his rose garden, flew out of the kingdom and saw the clear night sky, magical forests and huge deserts and the ocean….. No. That really was a dream.
They never left the castle and they didn't dance together.
She got four left hooves anyway. But the rest, the rest was real!
Now she wished last night would have never ended. But it did and she couldn't change it.
A guard came by and brought some food, a piece of bread and some tiny carrots and a bowl of water.
"Eat up and get ready. You have to clean the halls today! Meet the first guard at the exit, he'll show you what to do!"
ArchAngel wasn't really hungry, she was still stuffed from the food from last night, so she hid the food under her hay bed, drank some water and left to meet with the first guard and some other slaves.
The first guard, a brown Pegasus, teamed the slaves up into 6 groups with four ponies each. He gave them cleaning utensils and send them to their duty.
ArchAngel spend most of the morning cleaning windows, carpets, the floors, pictures hanging on the walls, old knight suits, tables and much more. After she and her group, another mare and two stallions where done, they were allowed to have a short break back in their cells.
They were all exhausted, but they still found the strength to talk.
"How did you ended up here?", ArchAngel asked them.
The mare, a golden Earth pony with a white and orange mane and red eyes spoke first.
"My family and I had a honey farm and we used to sell honey to the royal family. Our busyness was good enough to have a nice life. But one day, the royal guards came and accused us to be traitors. At some point when we didn't noticed, somepony put poisen into our honey which was meant for the prince's uncle. He got really sick that day, but he survived. We tried to explain, but the Lord wouldn't listen. He wanted to behead us, so we tried to flee. My family made it, but I was left behind. Instead of being killed though, I was brought here to serve them. My name is Honey Bee by the way."
Next was one of the stallions, a white Pegasus with very short brown mane and tail.
"I'm Snowdancer and I've been a slave my whole life. I once tried to free myself and ran off, but I got caught and as punishment I was sold. That's how I got here."
The second stallion, a blue Unicorn with glasses was last.
"I lived on the street and stole money to survive. One day I wasn't very lucky and got caught as I tried to steal money from a Countess, a friend of the royal family. I, Finkle Berry used to be the best thief on the streets and got caught by a little colt. The countess's son saw me take the money."
"What about you?", Honey Bee asked ArchAngel.
"I stole an apple from the royal cart and got caught."
"Man, that sucks. It's like everything is a reason to become a slave nowadays!"
"This Prince sure isn't the greatest ruler. Treating us like dirt, leaving us to die here just so he can have a good life!" Finkle Berry kicked a small stone in anger.
"I-… Can't believe that. He looks so nice and kind!"
"Open your eyes ArchAngel, not every pony who got a nice face is a nice pony!"
"But-", she was about to answer and almost told them what happened last night when a guard came in.
"Break is over, get back to work!"
The rest of the day they spend cleaning the dining hall.
As the sun set, ArchAngel made her way to the wall she came through last night to meet the Prince again. She couldn't wait to see him again. She waited.
And waited.
And waited…..
The moon was already high and ArchAngel noticed that she almost fell asleep against the wall. He still wasn't there.
'Maybe he doesn't want to see me. Why should he? I'm just a stupid slave. I guess he got bored of me already'.
Slowly she made her way back into her cell and lay down to sleep.
The Prince kept looking at the clock every 2 minutes. It was amazing how much his advisers could talk and it didn't seem to end soon. He wanted to leave, get away from this boring conversation and see her again. He loved talking with that mare, they shared some interests.
And it was cute the way she acted. Whenever she laughed, she would shyly look away or cover her mouth with her hooves. Or she would burst out laughing and he just couldn't resist but to laugh along.
As soon as he got into his bedroom, he opened the secret door behind his fireplace and made his way down to the slaves's cells.
But when he opened the door, there was no ArchAngel. It was already late in the night, so she must be asleep by now. The Prince was sad, he had promised to meet her here, but thanks to his advisers, he had broken it.
The Prince thought of looking for her and apologize, but he didn't knew which cell was hers.
He turned around and went back to his room. He couldn't risk to get caught by his guards and try to explain why he was down there, because he never went down there.
That night he didn't got much sleep, too many things were rushing through his mind.
"Shut the buck up, stupid brain!", he told himself. Of course his brain wouldn't listen.
At some point, while he was half sleep, his thoughts wandered off and random things flashed in front of his closed eyes. Then, there! He thought of her. He thought of the fun they had and he felt guilty, because he broke his first promise to her.
When he opened his eyes again, it was already morning. The Prince felt like he didn't slept at all
"Screw those advisers and duties, I'm staying here today!"
He turned around and closed his eyes again.
While the Prince was still resting in his bed, the slaves were already up and started to work on whatever they were told to.
ArchAngel didn't wanted to think about the Prince, so she worked extra hard this day to keep her mind focused. She would talk with the other slaves as well and got to know them better. Maybe she could make some friends.
It was shortly before lunch when a guard came and told ArchAngel to stay in her cell today. They didn't all of the slaves today, they would only stand in the way.
As she was resting on her bed, she heard someone calling her name. She cautiously followed the voice and found herself at the secret wall again.
"Psst! Come inside!"
It was the Prince! He was calling for her. She turned around just once more to be sure that no pony had followed her and entered the secret path behind the wall.
The Prince and the mare were now face to face. She was more looking at his chin though. She had to look up to see his eyes. ArchAngel noticed his ears lay flat against his head and he looked a bit away, ashamed even.
"I'm…. sorry about yesterday. I wanted to come, but I couldn't get away soon enough. When I arrived, you were already gone. I'm really sorry."
"It's ok, you were busy. I just thought…. You wouldn't want to see me again…."
"That's not true, I really wanted to see you!... Come, I prepared a little something!"
It felt like forever as they were walking through the dark corridor as they suddenly stopped at a big wooden door.
They entered and ArchAngel was surprised to be in a bedroom. But it wasn't the Prince's bedroom.
"Where are we?"
"This is one of the secret rooms hidden inside the castle. I guess they were suppost to be hiding places for my ancestors if they should be under attack. No pony knows about them anymore. I managed to take a day free, so we can stay here all day long! Only, if you want to?"
"Of course, this room is beautiful!"
"I brought some food, if you're hungry."
"Thank you."
The rest of the day they spend the time together in that room, talking and just having fun.
Since that day they spend as much time together as possible. Of course the Prince couldn't see ArchAngel every day, he had so many duties as prince and couldn't be with her whenever he wanted.
She as well had a lot to do, sometimes she had to work till late in the night, sometimes even the night through. And then she would be too tired to leave her cell and just wanted to sleep.
But the time they had together was wonderful. For a few hours they could just forget about their lives, forget who they are and what they're meant to be and just be themselves, enjoying the presence of the other.
He would tell her about his life as Prince, his duties and about his interests and the funny but also sad things he went through.
She too, would tell him about her lost family, her parents and her little brother, how much she missed them and how it had changed everything.
"How exactly did you lose your family?"
She looked at her hooves.
"It was 4 years ago. We had lived in a nice house, my parents, my brother and I. I was 17, my brother was 12. I remember, he had just gotten his cutiemark a year before. It was during the night, we were all asleep. No pony heard the gang outside our house.
They were drunk, threw with bottles and it seemed like one of them hat matches with him or something. I don't know. All I know is, that when I woke up, I smelled smoke and I noticed that our house was on fire. I screamed, I called for my family.
I tried to get to them, but the fire already had reached the second floor where we all slept. At first I ran to my brother's room, but he wasn't there. I could hear my parents screaming, they were trapped in their bedroom but I couldn't reach them.
I tried, but the fire blocked the door. It also blocked the stairs, so I couldn't go downstairs either. All I could do was climb on our roof. Some pony had already called the fire department. One of them, a Pegasus, picked me from the roof and brought me to safety. I was treated and stayed in the hospital for the night. Our house was burned down to ashes. So were my parents and my brother. I didn't saw him in his room, but he must have hidden somewhere in the house.
Since then I've been all alone. I had no other relatives and most of our friends had moved away and I couldn't contact them. I was left alone to live on the streets, 'cause no pony would help me…."
He just stared at her.
Her eyes filled with tears and she was shaking. The wound was still too deep and the pain she felt was too great.
He took her into his arms, held her close and stroke her mane with his hoof.
"Shhht, shhht….."
He gently patted her head and rocked her to calm her down. She sobbed hard into his chest and he let her tears run down his coat.
To them it felt like forever until she finally calmed down. He still held her close, refused to let her go.
The Prince felt her pain and hated to see her this way. As he dried her tears, he noticed that she was fast asleep.
Quietly he picked her up and lay her on the big king sized bed in that secret bedroom
they used to visit the most, then he covered her body with a blanket.
He turned to leave, wanted to let her rest… But he couldn't leave her here, all by herself.
So he returned to the bed and lay next to her. She shifted a little, her expression changed and it seemed like she was troubled.
He came closer and cuddled up to her, took her back into his arms and she finally relaxed.
Silently he whispered into her ear.
"I'll never leave you alone. I promise. And I swear, I'll keep my promise this time."
He planted a kiss on her nose and fell asleep next to her.
For months now they had kept their friendship a secret from the world. And for months none of them had so much fun in their lives like they had during that time. They had decided not to just hide in the secret catacombs within the castle, but also to go outside. The two ponies would wander through the royal garden, see and smell all the beautiful flowers. Watch and listen to the animals playing or play hide and seek inside the small labyrinth at night.
Sometimes, the Princes invited the mare into his room in the tower to watch the stars with him. And whenever ArchAngel had to work outside, he would leap down his balkon and do tricks in the sky, flying with top speed through the clouds, deforming them or make them disappear. He made loopings, flew in circles, pretended to fall and shortly before he hit the ground, he would rise back up into the sky, leaving her in awe.
One time, during spring, he raced through the cherry trees, showering the small mare with pink cherry blossoms.
She loved to see him fly, envied him for his wings, for his ability to fly away if he wanted to and be free. But she also worried for him, if he got hurt she would care for his wounds. Then he would call her his "Little nurse".
One evening, summer had come, she was standing in his bedroom, looking out of the window, watching the stars.
"There're many stars tonight. Pretty, isn't it? And the moon is full tonight."
She sighed. "Yes, it's very pretty. A perfect night for a flight. I envy you!"
They stood there for a few minutes, silent.
"What would you say to a ride?"
"A ride? In a carriage?"
"No, a ride on me!"
"O-On you! W-w-wh-what do you mean by that?" She looked at him with wide eyes, blushing.
"I mean, that I would take you for a ride on my back. We could fly together!"
"Oh…..OH! Oh, y-yes that… Would be great! He he… ". She was ashamed, her face almost as red as her mane.
"Good. What did you thought I meant?" He looked at her and gave her a knowing grin.
"N-Not what you are thinking of!" She quickly turned around so she didn't have to look at him any longer.
"I see. Well, let's do it then."
She turned back around and he bowed down in front of her.
"Hop on!"
"I-I don't know…. I'm scared. What if I fall off?"
"Don't be scared. Do you trust me?"
"What?"
"I said, do you trust me?"
He waited for her to answer. She smiled and came closer. "Yes."
Slowly she climbed on his back, held onto him with all fours.
"Ready?"
"I-I guess-" Suddenly he spread his wings and dashed towards the big open window and leapt into the night sky.
ArchAngel held onto him with everything she had, screaming into his ear.
"Stop screaming and open your eyes! It's not that bad!" He chuckled as she slowly opened her eyes and her mouth hang open.
"Wow… This is awesome!"
"Let's go higher, then you'll see even more!" And with that the Prince flew higher and higher until they were above the clouds.
"Wow. I've never seen the moon so close before! I've never seen anything like it! It's wonderful…."
"Yeah, it's pretty cool. But don't worry, there's more to come!"
Together they flew over the city, watching the ponies under them walk through the streets like ants, the stars and the moon above them and then forests underneath.
They flew and flew, it felt like they had never done anything else besides that. It felt so…. natural!
After something like hours they returned to the castle. He was pretty exhausted, also because he had to carry another pony on his back this time.
"Thank you thank you THANK YOU! This, was the coolest thing I've ever done!"
"I'm glad you enjoyed it. I had fun too. Puh, now I'm pretty worn out!"
"No wonder. I'm not really light."
"Nah, you're not heavy either. It's a good training, we should do that more often. Then I'll be a stronger flyer."
They both laughed at the comment. "It's very late, we should go to bed!"
"That's a pretty good idea!" He moved towards his bed and turned around to see her already open the door behind the fire place.
"Good night and sleep well."
"You know, I was more thinking of you-", but she already vanished behind the door.
"-sleeping here with me…..Damn!"
And again he went to bed alone that night. The Prince wondered how she always managed to change the subject or, like this time, disappear whenever he tried to go the next step.
"I guess giving her hints doesn't work on her."
It seemed like he needs to be clearer if he wants her to notice his affections. Apparently she still saw him as a 'friend'.
And that, he needs to change.