I held a poll and asked if people would want chapter 4 early or post both chapters 4 and 5, the latter won out. So if you are confused, I have posted chapters 4 AND 5 tonight! So go back and read chapter 4 if you have not done so. As always let me know and if you would like early access to chapter 6, let me know and I will put you in this "lottery" to "win" a chance to read ahead. Chapter 6 will be posted next Friday (7/2)!
When Helia had walked into the dining room that night, his father and Duncan had already been deep into their discussion. Helia couldn't help but notice how pleased his father looked as he talked strategy with Duncan. He never talked to Helia that way, never a smile on his face. Helia was constantly reminded by his father how much of a disappointment he was and that he had been the one to make his mother infertile and useless to him as a queen. Azrael also never missed an opportunity to sneer and tell Helia that he had looked like her too even though the resemblance to his father had been everywhere except the eyes.
Helia took his spot at the seat at the right side of his father, Duncan at his father's left, though Helia knew deep down that his father probably wished that Duncan were to his right. Helia immediately turned around to one of the servers and demanded that whiskey be brought out. Princess or no princess, Helia was not going through this dinner sober.
"You're late, boy." Azrael turned from his conversation with Duncan and glared at Helia.
He wasn't late, in fact, he had been five minutes early. But Helia knew better than to argue with his father.
"I apologize, sir." Helia kept his face straight.
"Duncan here was just telling me that the campaign in southern Koria had been successful and that our armies have pushed back the enemy closer to their northern border," Azrael smirked as he held up a glass of clear liquid, vodka Helia assumed, and took a sip.
"Their so-called paladins were unable to withstand the might of our forces, Your Majesty." Duncan cheered on for good measure, calling Azrael's attention back to Duncan.
A servant filled up a crystal glass with the warm amber liquid and before they could step back, Helia grabbed their wrist, "Leave the bottle."
The servant nodded and left the bottle of whiskey on the table in front of Helia before silently retreating.
The sound of laughter and the crackling of the wood in the large lit fireplace at the side of the large dining room. Helia took a large gulp of his whiskey and felt the liquid burn down his throat. He was used to it. The burning sensation no longer having an effect on him, in fact, he kind of liked it. He was used to the way that his father ignored him unless it was to blame him for something or to tell him that he wasn't good enough. He was used to being silent. Used to just watching.
As Helia finished off his glass, the large wooden doors to the dining room open. All eyes turned to the entrance, Helia and Duncan rising when Princess Krystal walked into the dining room.
Krystal smiled as she walked in, the pale green dress flowing behind her and complementing the soft olive tones of her skin. Her lavender hair had been braided and each braid wrapped around one another until they formed a bun on the top of her head. There was no denying that she looked beautiful.
However, like at the pier, Helia found that the air in the dining room had grown thick as right behind Krystal, Flora had walked into the dining room. Her blush pink dress having been replaced by a gown of the same sheer material but this time in a light purple. The material was layered in a way that covered everything that needed covered but Helia could still make out every curve of her body. The dip of her waist as it curved down to her hips then meeting long legs. Helia brought his eyes back up Flora's body until they landed on her face, the pink of the cold gone from her tanned cheeks. Her green eyes cast down to the floor in reverence for him and his father, and her long honey-colored hair pulled away from her face in a long braid; a few strands of hair escaped the braid and framed her face.
"My," Azrael remarked with a smirk, "don't we look ravishing tonight?"
Helia's eyes jumped back to Krystal as she bowed her head and thanked his father.
"That is very kind of you to say, Your Majesty." Krystal thanked the seated king as she made her way over to her seat beside Helia.
Azrael said nothing in response as he took a sip of his drink. Helia looked over to his father and to Duncan as their eyes trailed Krystal and Flora to the table. The smirk was still on his father's face as the women came closer. Helia trailed his father's eyes and noticed that they had landed on Flora. Why was his father looking at the princess's handmaiden?
Helia sat down as Krystal got to the table, grabbing the bottle of whiskey and refilling his glass. Duncan also took his seat across from him and resumed his conversation with King Azrael. Krystal floated down into her seat, the soft green fabric of her dress grazing his arm. Flora stood to the side of her, bending down so that Krystal could whisper something in her ear. Helia took a sip of whiskey and turned away, not wanting to intrude on their conversation. Even though nothing that was said between a princess and her handmaiden would ever be the source of curiosity.
Flora rose to an upright position and gave Krystal a small bow before walking over to the side of the room where she stood across the table from Helia and Krystal by the large fireplace. Her tan features seemed to glow, illuminated by the light of the fireplace. Her hair a deep gold and her eyes like emeralds. In a castle so cold, she looked so warm.
She stood so still by the warmth of the fire, her eyes trained on the princess to Helia's right. Helia noticed the way that her eyes would sparkle as her mouth curled up into a smile, bringing her hand up to keep herself from laughing. He had heard her laugh but had never seen her in the act, she was even more beautiful when she did so. Krystal had to be mouthing or gesturing something to Flora.
"Is there something that you find amusing, princess?" Helia asked, turning his head to the princess.
Krystal's face fell into a soft and coquettish grin as she turned to face Helia, "Not at all, Your Highness. Just glad that your father had something else to say other than 'she will do' when I came tonight."
"He's not a man of many words." Helia scoffed before taking another gulp of his whiskey, "Other than when talking about war and strategy."
"I take it that you are not fond of such talks, Your Highness." Krystal raised an eyebrow as she looked at Helia, a servant filling her metal goblet with wine. She picked it up and took a sip, the wine staining her lips.
"I avoid it when I can." Helia softly groaned.
"What do you like to talk about then, Your Highness?" Krystal asked with a grin, "Perhaps I can provide a reprieve from the unpleasantness of your day."
Helia thought about Krystal's question. While he detested the conversations that he had with his father, it is not like he had ever talked with anyone else about any other topic. Everyone around him was meant to either serve him or to train him so that he would be a stronger leader and more effective in battle when he was sent to the lines.
"I don't like to talk." Helia shrugged as he gulped down the rest of the alcohol in his glass. Krystal took a hesitant sip of her wine, turning her head away from Helia.
Krystal looked up to Flora with a worried and unsure look. Flora simply gave her a soft smile of encouragement for Krystal to continue talking to the prince.
"Um, what-"
A thunderous roar of laughter from King Azrael cut Krystal off from her question. All eyes turned to the king as he and Duncan were laughing at something that the young captain had said. Krystal took another sip of wine and Helia clutched his glass tightly in his hand.
"Very good, my boy!" King Azrael cheered as he slapped his hand on Duncan's shoulder. Helia's grip tightened on the glass but soon loosened before he sent shards of crystal flying across the table. Instead, he finished off the glass, grabbed the bottle, and refilled the glass for the second time in ten minutes. His head and body would hate him in the morning. But he was used to it.
King Azrael, his hand still on Duncan's shoulder, turned to Flora, "You, girl! Come here!"
Flora looked at Krystal and Krystal merely shrugged. Flora walked from her place by the wall and went to stand between the king and Duncan.
"Yes, Your Majesty?" Flora asked, her hands positioned demurely in front of her as she gave a soft bow.
"Captain Duncan tells me that you are Princess Krystal's handmaiden," Azrael stated.
"Yes, Your Majesty." Flora's voice was soft but strong, appearing not to be phased by Azrael's booming voice.
"Tell me, do all of Linphea's handmaidens look like you?"
"Your Majesty?" Flora's eyebrows rose in shocked confusion.
"Go, sit next to Captain Duncan." King Azeal pointed to the large empty seat next to Duncan. Flora looked at Krystal, waiting for Krystal to say something, give her a look, anything. But instead, Krystal averted her eyes and continued to nurse her goblet of wine.
Flora gulped and gave the king a small bow before taking a few steps to the seat to the right of Duncan, pulling out the chair, she smoothly sat down. A servant appeared behind her and motioned to fill the metal goblet in front of her with wine.
"No thank you," Flora gave the servant a smile, "I don't-"
"Fill her cup." King Azrael commanded the young servant.
Flora shut her mouth into an uncomfortable grin as she watched the burgundy beverage flow into the goblet in front of her.
"Drink." Azrael commanded and Flora slowly reached for her cup and brought the metal to her lips. She took a small sip before bringing the goblet back down in front of her.
"What is your name, girl?" Azrael asked as he picked up his own glass of vodka and brought it to his mouth, taking a large gulp.
"Flora, Your Majesty."
King Azrael smirked, "What a Linphean name. Tell me, Flora, are you just a handmaiden?"
"No, Your Majesty." Flora answered, her hands fidgeting and her thumbs twiddling under the large wooden table, "I am also a Guardian of Linphea."
"And what is that?" Azrael leaned back in his chair, draping his arm over the wooden armrest of his large chair.
Flora looked forward to Krystal, unsure of what to say. When Krystal provided no guidance Flora answered, "A special kind of servant to Linphea, Your Majesty."
"A special servant, eh?" King Azrael smirked as he gave Flora a leering look.
Flora didn't react to the king's gaze, wanting to not offend anyone at the table or make matters worse for an already uncomfortable Krystal.
"Captain Duncan also tells me that the Linpheans are masters of wordplay. Tell me, Flora, is this true?"
Flora turned to Krystal and smiled, "Your Majesty, Princess Krystal is one of the best and would put anything I say to shame. You should tell the king one, Your Highness."
Krystal smiled and shot Flora a thankful look, "Yes, Linphea is quite renowned for our-"
"I asked you, girl." Azrael shot Flora a cutting glance, cutting Krystal off, "If I wanted the princess's answer I would have asked her."
Flora turned her attention back to the king as she gave Krystal a concerned glance, "Yes, Your Majesty, what Captain Duncan says is true."
"Then you shall entertain us tonight." King Azrael finished off his glass and held it up for a servant to quickly refill.
Helia looked at Flora who still stood up straight, holding her own against his father. While most people would have faltered under his father's questioning and intrusive gazes, Helia was surprised at how well Flora had taken it all in stride. Helia then looked at Krystal who had finished her goblet of wine and kept her head down, not daring to look at Flora or anyone else at the table, despite Flora's desperate attempt at trying to get the princess's attention.
"Go on then," Azrael waved in Flora's direction. She took a deep breath and closed her green eyes, missing the shit-eating grin that covered Azrael's face, causing Helia to take another gulp of whiskey.
Opening her eyes, Flora looked at Krystal who still avoided her gaze, "What belongs to you but other people use it more than you do?"
Flora looked at the king who furrowed his brow in concentration as he thought of the answer to the riddle. His face brightened as he stared at Flora and gave her a toothy smile.
"My name."
"Very good, Your Majesty." Flora gave him a small smile and bow of her head. "I will remind you that Princess Krystal is far better than-"
"I did not ask Princess Krystal," King Azrael spat darkly through clenched teeth.
"Very well, Your Majesty."
Flora closed her eyes again as she thought of another riddle.
"I reach for the sky, but clutch to the ground; sometimes I leave, but I am always around. What am I?"
Once again, King Azrael's brow came together in thought. And once again, his face brightened as the answer came to him.
"A tree."
Flora's face softened into a reluctant smile, "Correct again, Your Majesty."
"I have one," Duncan said as he turned to Flora, his elbow coming onto the table as he placed the side of his head on his hand. "If you see me in bed, you whack me off. The bigger I am, the louder you scream. Seeing what's between my hairy legs will send shivers up your spine. What am I?"
Flora blushed as she averted her eyes from Duncan's gaze.
"I don't know." Flora breathlessly replied.
"A spider." Duncan chuckled, leaning in closer to Flora. She stayed still, not wanting to come off as rude if she moved back. She didn't want to ruin the dinner so she indulged Duncan with a small laugh.
Flora glanced over to Krystal, silently pleading for her to say something. Krystal still kept her head down. Flora then turned to Helia who sat silently glaring at his father as he sipped his whiskey.
"Tell us another, girl. I quite like the thrill of being correct." King Azrael laughed.
"What breaks yet never falls, and what falls yet never breaks?" Flora asked as she looked at the king.
Azrael silently thought along with Duncan, the only sound that could be heard was the crackling of the fireplace. Flora kept her eyes on the two men, hoping that they would get it wrong and then she would have an excuse to end this embarrassing game. She could tell that both Helia and Krystal were uncomfortable but what was she supposed to do? Say no to the king?
A few more seconds passed until a deep voice spoke through the tense silence.
"Day and night."
Flora's head turned to look at the source of the voice. Helia stared at her, his glass raised to his lips as he finished his drink. His blue eyes stared intensely at her face and she could feel the blood rise to her face. She gave him a soft smile and nod.
"Correct, Your Highness," Flora whispered.
Helia smirked as he reached for the bottle again but set it down when his father's voice boomed through the dining room.
"I almost had it, boy!"
Helia quickly picked up the bottle and filled up his glass before chugging the amber liquid. Flora watched with worry as she watched the young prince react to his father. She once again turned to Krystal who looked at Helia through the sides of her eyes, nervous and shy.
"Tell me another!" King Azrael commanded as he slammed down his empty glass.
Before Flora could respond, the doors to the dining room opened, and in came servers carrying trays of food. Flora only counted four trays and used that as the perfect excuse to get away.
"It appears that dinner has arrived. I will leave you all now and wait for Princess Krystal to finish." Flora bowed to the table before standing up.
"Sit, girl." Azrael pointed to her seat.
"Your Majesty, I must-" Flora replied but was quickly cut off when Azrael glared up at her, his black eyes sending a shiver down her spine.
"I said, sit. You will dine with us."
"There is not enough food, Your Majesty."
"Then I will have the cooks send out more." King Azrael rolled his eyes.
"I don't want to-"
"You will dine with us and I will not hear a word more on this, am I clear?"
Flora slowly sat back down in the large chair. She nodded and held her head down.
"Good," King Azrael said through a sickly sweet smile, uncharacteristic for someone like him, "you will soon come to find, Flora, that I am a man who always gets what I want."
Flora and Krystal arrived back to Krystal's room in complete silence after having finished what could have been described as one of the most awkward encounters that either of them had. Flora shut the door behind Krystal and took it upon herself to be the first to speak.
"Is there anything else that you will be needing tonight, Your Highness?" Flora asked as she stood straight at the door.
Krystal looked out of the large window in her room, the Dearil Mountains blocking some of the light of the moon that hung in the dark sky.
"He hates me." Krystal sighed, her voice cracking before she snapped her head to look at Flora. Her green eyes were hard and welling with tears as she glared at the woman by the door. "King Azrael hates me but for some reason, he could not get enough of you!"
"Your Highness, I did not-"
"I know," Krystal calmed her voice, "I know. I know that it is not your fault but just seeing the king so enamored by you. It just-"
"Your Highness, if I may speak freely?" Flora asked, waiting for Krystal's reply. When Krystal simply nodded, Flora continued. "That dinner was uncomfortable for me as well. I looked to you, multiple times, hoping that you would say something. You should have dismissed me, I wish you would have dismissed me. Azrael may be king but as a Linphean, you are the one in my life who has the final say. I looked to you, and you did nothing."
Krystal stood in silence as her gaze softened, knowing what she had done and feeling shame for not stepping in to protect Flora.
"Do not feel bad, Your Highness," Flora took a step and wrapped her arm around Krystal's shoulders in a comforting embrace, "If it makes you feel any better, I find the king to be a pigheaded drunk who does not know beauty when he sees it. He is blind if he cannot see how beautiful and enigmatic you are, Your Highness. It appeared that he and Captain Duncan had been drinking before we arrived and come morning, everyone will be rested after this long day that we had and all will be the way it is supposed to be. It is only the first night."
Flora gave Krystal's arms a reassuring squeeze before she pulled her away.
"You're right, Flora."
"I usually am, Your Highness." Flora giggled.
"And that is what I hate most about you." Krystal rolled her eyes.
Flora began to undress Krystal from her pale green gown as Krystal turned to look out of the window once again.
"Prince Helia barely said a word to me tonight." Krystal softly lamented as she gazed out to the snow-capped mountains.
"Maybe he was just as nervous as you or maybe it was his father and Captain Duncan who made him uncomfortable. They are...big personalities, Your Highness." Flora shrugged as she undid the ties on Krystal's gown.
The green fabric slipped to the floor and Krystal stepped out of the pile. Flora then began to loosen the strings of Krystal's corset.
"Perhaps I could speak to Saladin tonight and see if there is a time in Prince Helia's schedule where you two might meet alone. With supervision of course."
Krystal spun around, "You would ask that for me?"
Flora smiled at the young princess, "Of course, Your Highness. Now turn back around so I can finish and hopefully find Saladin before he retires for the night."
Krystal beamed as she turned around and allowed Flora to finish taking off her corset and pull the pins from her hair. When she was done, Flora placed the pins back into the silver container, folded Krystal's clothes, and placed them in a pile on her arms.
"I will be here in the morning to help you get ready for the day and I will let you know what Saladin says if and when I find him, Your Highness."
Flora gave a shallow bow as Krystal crawled into her new bed for her first sleep of many in Hademort.
"Goodnight, Flora." Krystal smiled as she placed her head on the pillow and pulled the warm blankets up to her chin.
"Goodnight, Princess," Flora replied before blowing out the candle and walking out of Krystal's room for the night.
Making her way down the quiet corridors of the palace, Flora sighed as she thought back on the disastrous dinner. Following her own advice, Flora decided to look positively and hope for the best come the morning. It had really been a long day for everyone and maybe everyone would be more relaxed and less drunk tomorrow.
Flora began to hum as she turned and entered the large door that led down to the servant's quarters. She placed Krystal's clothes on a wooden cart for the launderer to take to the wash in the morning. She ran into a young woman who had been sent to do the night cleaning before the royal family woke up in the morning.
"Excuse me," Flora smiled as she approached the young woman. Flora's smile fell slightly as she watched the young maid recoil slightly as if frightened by Flora, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"
"It's alright," she said harshly, "is there something that I can help you with?"
Flora held onto her smile despite the young maid's prickly disposition, "I was just wondering where I would be able to find Saladin. I just had a question for him and-"
"I think that he was heading towards the kitchen. The rest of the kitchen staff has already gone to bed but Saladin sometimes does stock counts to confirm the purchase order that gets sent to the market."
"Thank you...um..." Flora hoped that the maid would give Flora her name but instead the maid just walked off, obviously not wanting to exchange any kind of pleasantries.
Flora shrugged, telling herself that everyone had a long day. Hopefully, Saladin would still be as amicable as he had been when they had arrived at the palace.
Making her way down a set of large, stone stairs, Flora followed the smell of what appeared to be that of freshly baked bread down to the kitchen. The air became warmer and Flora felt the tension that she had been carrying all day and from the events of the dinner began to melt away. She began humming to herself once again as she entered the kitchen but soon stopped when she saw one of the last people she expected sitting at the large prep table, eating from a fruit bowl and nursing a glass of whiskey.
Flora gasped as she fell into a deep bow, strands of hair falling from her braid and her face turning bright pink.
"Your Highness!"