AN: I'm posting these probably 2 a day until I get all 8 chapters out. But if you're in a hurry, feel free to look up the same user name over at AO3, or visit my tumblr under the url hisquccn. I still really like feedback though so try to leave me some on one of these outlets please.
Roy tried to ignore the proud smiles from his guards come morning. The young woman in his bed hadn't fled before sunrise that time, even though she was the only woman who'd possibly had such reason to do so. Nevertheless, she'd stayed, and, to his relief, even seemed to sleep soundly through the night.
"A chambermaid." The male ordered, his voice low through the barely opened door to the young guard just outside. "Send a chambermaid with breakfast for the two of us."
The other looked at him, meaning well before speaking. "Surely she would prefer the company of her own stature, my lord. As would you..." The young guard knew his place, though also knew the placement of servants and slaves that had been placed upon the hierarchy of society. "Your father will be expecting you, won't he?"
Roy almost pitied the boy. He obviously hadn't been around long enough to be aware of the way his young prince behaved. With a simple chuckle, he replied. "And he can continue to expect me. Please retrieve a chambermaid with breakfast." He repeated.
With a nod and a clammer of his armor, the male turned away, taking his order with no further question. Roy turned back into the room, eyes directing to the shifting form in his bed. "Good morning." He offered, a smile forming on his lips as she sat up, revealing the mess her short blonde locks had twisted into throughout the night.
Riza greeted him with a yawn and a wave. Her newfound calm was surprising. After a single night's sleep, she was relaxed enough to greet him at all without attack. The change made him wonder just how long her previous days had been, and how long it had been since she didn't have to be on edge.
"I've cauled for breakfast. While you dress, I will go and discuss your room."
"You're leaving?" She asked quietly, tired brown eyes turned to him. "What if I run away?"
Roy paused, seeming to consider this for a moment. "I suppose there are a few outcomes in that scenario. You could escape and be free. Or you could be caught and be brought back to me." He commented, "or someone could steal you away. I'd rather that not happen, miss Riza." The smile he gave her was kind and warm. "Please wait on your escape until I can guarantee your freedom and your safety. And as selfish as my request may be, I'm begging you, don't give them a reason to drop more lives at my feet..."
she nodded, turning her head away from him. "You're kind." She commented. "You're a naive fool, but you are kind."
He laughed gently at that, hearing a soft knock on the door before commenting to her. "I'll take that as a compliment." Roy opened the door before pasting on his charming smile. "Vanessa!"
A young chambermaid, still in her late teens with light brown hair and gray blue eyes, gave the male a soft smile. "My prince," She greeted, bowing her head gently. "I've brought breakfast for you and your guest."
"Thank you, milady, for coming with such haste."
"I'm no lady sir." She corrected, laughing gently. "I'm just a chambermaid." For the prince to even acknowledge her, let alone call her by name, would be enough to stun most people, but this seemed like a daily routine between Roy and his help. Their place in the world, and where he decided to place him in his world.
"With a face like that," he teased, "perhaps you are a princess..."
The young woman laughed. "My lord, you are as strange as ever." With that, she slipped past him, wheeling a small cart before her.
"I'm afraid I'll be skipping breakfast today, miss Vanessa."
Riza looked at him then. "You're not eating?"
"I'm a prince. I eat all the time. One missed meal won't kill me." He joked, patting his stomach, as fit as he was, with a smile. "But I thank you for your concern." He added. "Enjoy it for me, Miss Vanessa, as well as Miss Riza's company."
Vanessa simply nodded, placing the meals on the small table near the window. Riza had begun to see, now, that the maid was used to his usual strangeness. "Say hello to the Madam for me." Vanessa commented, earning another smile from Roy.
He nodded gently, turning the same warmth to Riza. "You can trust Vanessa. More so than you can apparently trust me."
The blonde couldn't help the way her eyes rolled above her amused smile. "I'll take your word for it. But that's not saying much considering I still don't trust you."
"Probably a good idea." He responded with a laugh before bowing his head. "Good day, ladies."
"You can't save everyone, Roy." A middle-aged woman, hair and eyes a perfect match for the prince's own, tapped her pipe clean against the rail of her balcony. "You are a prince, not a god."
Roy frowned, leaning on the same rail, eyes turned to the other. "But if I can save even one, at least I've tried. If I can..."
"Then you must..." The woman finished. "You certainly get your selflessness from your mother." She commented. "It's a shame she was married off to my brother. He never deserved her."
Even for the king's own sister, the way she spoke could have been reason enough for strict punishment by the courts. Had she been in other company, that is. Her nephew, however, was more like her son than her brothers. It was that trust between them that brought Roy to Madame's side time and time again.
"I'll let Vanessa and Rebecca take care of her. If you want this charade to work long enough to give people a chance to take their eyes off of you, you'll have to bring her in your room a few more times." The prince nodded, mentally noting the wisdom his aunt had to offer. "If they believe you've grown tired of her, they'll bring you someone new. It doesn't matter what you said yesterday, your father will think the same thing. But, if they believe you are growing too fond of her, they will make her disappear."
Roy's eyes widened at that. He hadn't thought about the idea of growing too close to her in the eyes of those around him. She wasn't of noble blood. If she were to come between him and any future betrothal, the king would have the threat removed by any means necessary.
"It's a thin lines you'll be treading in this role, nephew."
"Yes ma'am." He nodded. "I'll be careful. For both our sakes."
"I know you will." The Madame lit her pipe, taking a soft puff of smoke into her lungs. "I'll have her assigned as a chambermaid-"
"Mine." He interrupted. "She will be my personal chambermaid. If anyone asks it's because I want to get a good look at her every day. She is supposed to belong to me, after all. They'll think she is cleaning up the messes she helps create. But that she is also low enough to clean my room and serve me."
"That would work." Another puff of smoke left her lips. "Your new chamber maid. What is her name?"
"Riza Hawkeye."
"Elizabeth." She corrected. "Her name is now Elizabeth to anyone who asks. I'm going to do a little digging into that apothecary father of hers. I'd appreciate it if there weren't other noses in my hunting."
"Why are you..."
"I'm an old unmarried woman with nothing to do but smoke and drink. Chalk it up to boredom."
The prince shook his head, smiling softly, but inquired no further on the subject before allowing their conversation to wind down, bidding farewell to his second mother before making his exit.
His mother, his true mother's memory still hung on the Madam's wall. A beautiful woman with pale skin and dark hair just like his. Unliek Roy and his father, however, her eyes were a crystal blue. The painting did them no justice, he thought. No color in the world could match the color of his mother's shade of blue.
When sickness took her, and her white skin began to fade to gray, her hair, once a shining obsidian, dulled like old coal, but her eyes never faded. They were as brilliant as th eday he was born and first looked into them. They held all the love in the world.
Roy couldn't blame the artist for his inability to capture that. How does one capture love on canvas, after all? What paint existed to even try?