The reader might ask why I did not speak at all during these nightly meetings. I might say I was respectful of his privacy, I felt sorry for his situation, or some other rot of that sort. However, the simple truth is that I was scared.
I was scared of being thrown out. This was a good place for me to be. There was no public exposure; the work was simple, if hard on my body at times, but it was growing stronger with the work. I had food to eat and a place to sleep. I had no desire of being thrown out because I had bothered the monarch while he was thinking about something serious.
I was also scared of being discovered. He had probably learned through the gossip chain that the daughter of King Phillip had run away from home, and Jeremy would probably be more than willing to return her to her father's care. And that would mean returning to a commitment that I simply could not keep. If I revealed myself, he might ask me to show my face. Then one thing would lead to another, and I would be trapped inside my father's castle once again with no hope for escape this time.
But I wasn't too scared to pry for information. I thought that maybe if I knew some of his background, I could understand the reason for his nightly wanderings. My curiosity kept pushing me to know more, but I was too dammed scared to ask the source himself. The nearest (and easiest)) source of information was Leah, so she was asked for information first. I didn't try to be subtle, and asked all the questions at once, to make the actual interrogation as short as possible. It came out something like this:
"Who is King Phillip? What kind of king is he? Is he compassionate? What are his relations with others? Does he have any enemies? How about friends? Is there any trouble right now here? Does he have a female friend?" Don't know where that last one came from…
Leah responded with a chuckle and a question. "Ah… what's the sudden curiosity about His Higness?"
I blushed a little. "Only that I have already worked here for a little while, and I am a foreigner that knows almost nothing about the country or ruler. I just want basic information that everyone would know." OK, so maybe more than basic….
Leah chuckled again. "Alright. King Phillip is king of this here land. He is a kind king, who doesn't like much fighting or stuff like that. He could also be called a wise king, though that will probably be better when he's a little older. He is considered unusually compassionate for a ruler, and no one especially dislikes him. No wars or anything of that sort, he gets along pretty well with others in the kingdom. Not that there are never any quarrels, but he usually is the peacemaker. No enemies to speak of, but not many friends either, I would guess. He had to grow up quicker than all of the other young ones in the court, so he never got a chance to make many true friends, I believe. And he does have a lady friend, she's staying here now, I believe. Lady Fiona. She's nice enough, but she probably wouldn't look twice at His Highness if there were someone wealthier about. "
Hmmm…too bad her finger probably wouldn't fit my ring. However, there was no way to find out, as it was still stuck on my finger. I covered it up with work gloves, but it was still there.
But this information was interesting. It at least gave me a tiny clue into his personality. Some small dispute was probably enough to make him worry, and a bigger one would probably make him stay awake at night from worry. And now I had something to add to his face when I examined him that night.