Sorry, this took a bit longer than planned. As always, let me know what you think!
Hetalia and the vocaloid song "Servant of Evil" belongs to their rightful owners, I take no credit for any characters used!
~Satsue
"Lukas," His bored voice reached my ears and quite plainly I answered, "My lord?" as I always was supposed to, as I'd always done.
He'd been pronounced king at age fourteen. And I had stood back and watched as my brother placed his small, timid right hand on the clock tower as the people of the kingdom watched with narrowed eyes, hostile glances being tossed at him, Emil signing his own death sentence away.
From that day on all orders he gave would only push him farther towards death as the soils of madness were sown among the nation, the pitiful kingdom not much unlike glass, cracked, but not yet completely shattered.
"You'll run my errands in the next town over; don't stir up unnecessary trouble, it's a rather nice town. It'd be a shame if the people.. were to revolt." Absent minded, he bent down to reach a beautifully plain and ordinary white rose, and pulling it close, he sniffed its delicate petals, a soft sigh escaping his lips. It was such a lovely garden, the most elegant and exquisite of all the kingdom, tended to daily by expert gardeners for the king alone of such a ruined nation.
"Yes, my lord, it would." I murmured, my eyes trained on the piteous rose clutched tight in one of Emil's pale hands, the thorns threatening to puncture his frail skin.
"Lukas, hurry and away with you, You've no spare time to waste away here." Emil never even looked up, he never did anyways. Not when he ordered me to do something. It wasn't rare that he'd do this after all, I'd imagine it pained him to bid me his cruel deeds which ranged greatly as to fit the master's wishes. It was often times I was sent to preform a task Emil wasn't allowed to do, such as leave the castle. It was law, he wasn't permitted leave from the stone walls high and fortified for his protection. Often times the people would rebel and cause chaos in the courts, in which Emil had to sentence them the punishment of death in order to restore peace within the kingdom.
And so away I swept fast and swift as a diving seagull over windy skies and into a frozen sea below, planning to arrive before noon reached its peak. I quickly saddled up Emil's precious white mare, Josephine, he'd given me his permission to ride to town.
Emil owned all the riches in the world it seemed. How strange this thought has only just come to me as I patted Josephine's well-groomed back, though it was true. All the riches, more than anyone could ever imagine.
Maybe I should feel jealousy and greed at these rueful thoughts, but I could not say quite as much. Not all the riches in the world could bribe me into such a powerful position as ruler.
Off I rode on Emil's noble horse away from the lavished castle adorned with guards nearly every entryway. It was an old castle, hollow and ghastly on the inside, beautiful and bold on the out.
The town was many miles off, I knew, but I still loved the beautiful hills and forest greens on the way. I rode fast, my long red cloak whipping in the wind behind me as frozen cold air blasted me in the face.
It was a steady pace up until I came to the fields vast spreading around the small houses.
I knew how dangerous it was with the white horse I rode as riding her was an obvious clue I was from the castle.
Slowing the beautiful beast down to a gentle halt, I glanced around to meet the faces, both hostile and welcoming, of the townspeople, making me shiver lightly.
After I dismounted, I quickly tired the reins of the horse to a sturdy wooden pole and left to pick up Emil's necessities.
The soft breeze tugged at my tangled, silvery-blonde hair. A few hairs were longer in the front and constantly got in my way all the time.
Tugging the edges of the cloak in closer to trap body heat and also draw unwanted attention away from myself, I hurriedly pushed open an old book keeper's shop, a place I could escape to for a short time and relinquish myself to a wonderful story, a fantasy that could only remind me of my own hardships of being a lowly servant.
My hands skimmed the rows and rows of bookshelf after bookshelf, my eyes closed, waiting for my hand to stop on the perfect book. Gradually, I slowed my pace and felt for a leather-bound book laced with dust over a carefully cared for spine with elegant golden lettering, and, pulling it swiftly from the shelf, I held it, examining the title.
"Romeo and Juliet," I spoke aloud, scanning the beautifully decorated cover and turning it over in my hands, feeling the weight and texture of pages as I leafed through it. An old English book, perhaps.
"Ah," A softly spoken voice poked into my thoughts and I looked up to see a taller man, his eyes a dazzling bright blue, his hair an insane mess atop his head in which seemed almost gravity defying. "I read that once." He smiled his perfect smile stretched across his face, a face I'd never seen before.
Curious, I asked plainly, "Yeah? Is it good?"
He nodded and lifted a hand to grab the open book out of my own hands like he was snatching a toy from a child and flipped through it quickly in silence before saying, "I've nothing else to do in my boring palace anyways."
Crossed that he had taken the book away I glared at him stubbornly before realization dawned on me after his words had been spoken, "You're palace, you say?" Quirking an eyebrow, I felt in no place to pry, but a curious soul I was, so I had to know.
"Mhm, north of here, the green kingdom."
My jaw must have dropped in astonishment because then he asked, "Why do you ask?"
Emil ruled the red kingdom to the south. As almost every story goes, we were naturally enemies with the green kingdom. The green kingdom was in favor of the people of the land, in order to abolish all unfair laws created by the red kingdom, the evil royal family's bloodline must cease to exist, and this could only be done by the green kingdom's assistance. Honest,y, I didn't know why they hadn't already attacked, their forces with the angered people of the kingdom was enough to bring the red kingdom down, yet they seemed to hesitate as they were a kingdom of justice and would rather wait to see Emil's actions before launching an attack.
"Dammit," I swore lightly under my breath, inaudible to the man before me before continuing on with a sigh, "Nothing. So what is your name?" I asked, but already knew the answer before he could utter it because of many years studying the green kingdom's royal bloodlines.
"Mathias Køhler. Prince of green kingdom."
He held the book out for me to retake and then frowned, "Sorry, I never caught your name."
"Lukas." I replied shortly, not bothering with my last name. He'd know for certain that I was a red kingdom heir.
"Lukas...?" He drawled out, probably hoping for me to say more, but I had no more words for him to hear.
"Just Lukas."
"Well, 'Just Lukas,' I've got to leave, see you sometime?" He held out a hand, his stupid grin plastered on his dumb looking face. I took it slowly, my soft, small servant's hands in his tough, calloused, large one.
"Mhm." I remained stoic, my mind concentrating on this man's shimmering eyes, like two pools of rainwater on a nice cool day.
He loosed his hand, taking it and turned, heading for the oak door. As he turned the brass knob, he stopped suddenly, whirling around and called out, "By the way, I really like your eyes, they're.. pretty." He spoke, and surprised a bit, I clutched the book in my hands tighter as he left, leaving almost as fast as he'd come.
My hands shaking violently, I slid down onto the stone flooring and buried my eyes in the old copy of Romeo and Juliet, to stanch my excitement of meeting somebody who had no idea who I could possibly be. My face burning, I stood, placed the book back on the shelf without even reading a single letter concealed within the book, and left, gathering the rest of Emil's things together with exceptional speed and rode out, back to the palace, my escape from reality over.
