A Whole New World Chapter 2
What was it about mornings that never failed to make him feel so…alive?
Was it because he was born in early dawn?
Was it because he found the time to be so peaceful once he saw sight of the sunrise?
He really didn't know why, but did knew there was something about waking up at early dawn and looking out the window to watch the beautiful sunrise that was like his personal cup of coffee helping him get through the day.
The moment the sun slowly rose, the young man stirred in his tiny bed before slowly opening his aqua eyes. Quickly getting out from bed, he grabbed his sketchbook and charcoal, went over to his window just in time to watch the sun slowly rising, and drew the basic outline of it in a fresh, new page in his book.
As an aspiring artist, he loved drawing things that sparked his fascination or inspired him. The sunrise and sunset were two basic inspirations he loved drawing in his sketchbook every chance he got, along with writing poems in his journal every free moment he had when he wasn't busy. Drawing-art in general-and poetry were two talents he discovered when he was younger, and he loved doing them because they always took him away to a private world, his own paradise that made him forget about all the pain in his life.
The handsome, aspiring artist was known as Helia Gabriel, a young man who didn't have the easiest life but was somehow always able to overcome them with a little luck by his side.
He doesn't know much about his early life, but remembers enough to know it wasn't pleasant. His home plant was a place that was so dark it always seemed like it was nighttime there and bitterly cold as ice. He was the only son to a young couple who were traveling performers, two skilled acrobats who were quite good but were very poor. By the tender age of six, he was actually traded by his own parents for a loaf of bread, never looking back and seeing the painful hurt in their young son's eyes as he was given away. He was traded to a wealthy widow, a grouchy and unpleasant woman, in need of a young servant to care for her. He worked so hard for so little for the past several years until she died, and he was left on his own.
With his new-found freedom but also with very little money to help him get through, he went to city of Magix in hopes he would gain a better life. He worked over dozens of odd jobs there from kitchen sweeper at a local restaurant, busboy at a café, and cleaner at a petting zoo. Even though he had worked and was making money, he was homeless but thankfully wasn't alone. He made a friend at Magix, an elderly man named Saladin who didn't have much but always happy to share what he had, treating the young boy like he was his own grandson.
Unfortunately, the year he turned twelve, Saladin died and the boy was left on his own again-with no work or money to support him. He started working again as a servant-this time to a king in Solaria, who was a bit kinder than the old widow he worked for. From late childhood to early adolescence, he worked from kingdom to kingdom as a servant for a king or queen in different realms, having the opportunity to travel nearly all over. By the time he was seventeen, he came to Linepa and came across the king who was kind enough to give him a job at his palace.
He had already heard about the King Edmund from the other kingdoms he worked for, hearing his name spoken in whisper by the gossiping ladies in court or kings discussing an alliance between the kingdoms over dinner. He heard enough to know the king was a widower trying to raise his daughter on his own after the queen, dying quite young, died from complications of childbirth and how wise of a king he was, always careful around decisions centering on his kingdom.
King Edmund, he would have to say, was one of the kindest kings he ever met and also one of the generous people he ever worked for. Unlike his previous masters, he didn't treat his servants like they were slaves he could push around whenever he wanted, but treated them with enough respect and kindness. He made sure everyone who worked for him was treat good care of, feeding them well and paid well for their services. He even had a special quarters-featuring a kitchen large enough to room thirty-five servants, dozens of bathroom for them to bathe and fresh-up, and each person had their own room.
Though the room was a bit small with no enough room for additional space besides his bed, was a bit bland with its plain colors, Helia was still grateful for the amazing view his window had of the realm that was perfect for his drawings.
When he was given the job as the new servant, King Edmund made sure he felt welcome into his home and personally introduced him to everyone at the castle-including his own daughter, who was a year younger than him.
Slowly Helia lowered his piece of charcoal, pausing with his drawing for a moment, and stared at the sunrise with dazedness in his eyes. Her imagine swept across his mind before his very eyes, putting his troubled mind at ease: her lustrous, flowing caramel hair cascading down her back, her emerald eyes soft with joy shining in them, and her soft pink lips curving up into that beautiful smile.
He was already aware the king had a daughter who was said to be a true beauty, but really saw how true those words were when she walked into the throne room after she was summoned by her father and introduced to him.
Flora, that was her name he constantly got chills from saying and thinking of, was radiant as a beautiful rose fully-blossomed in the spring. She had a type of beauty that was unbelievable, too natural and also so breathtaking angels would envy it. Her beautiful, angelic face was framed by locks of her lustrous hair, which was a brilliant combination of dark blonde and light brown, giving it a beautiful caramel shade. Her skin was tan and flawless, featuring not even a blemish, and her slender figure was being hugged by a forest green spring dress that made her own eyes bigger and greener.
The moment he saw he walk gracefully into the room, practically gliding like an angel, he was stunned into a silence and could only stare in awe as she curtsied before him. He wished he could say something, but his heart leaped into his throat, and no words could come out. She didn't even seem to mind it; in fact, she seemed to find it amusing. He could tell by the certain gleam in her eyes as she looked at him, her eyes smiling as well as her lips.
Seeing that smile made one thing came to him: he had fallen for her-big time.
After that moment, he couldn't get her out from his mind. He has seen her plenty of times before, but quite rarely. The king was quite protective of his daughter, not really recovering since the death of his beloved wife, and so the princess was never alone for a moment. Wherever she went to, she always had someone right by her side-an escort, a servant, or the king himself. And the only times Helia did actually see her was during meal times when he called to serve them, or at balls and parties the king Edmund threw. But even though he saw her little of the time, that didn't stop him from falling more and more for her.
What he would give to have just a minute, a moment to be alone with her? He didn't even know what he would do or say if he was given such a wish. But did know he would tell her she was the muse in most of his poetry, filling up most of the pages in his notebook, and was the face he loved drawing in his sketchbook. He would tell her how beautiful he thought she was-both inside and out. And, if he was bold enough and able to do it without backing down, he'd tell her how he felt about her.
He wondered what she would do if he were to tell her? Probably, without a doubt, in his mind, she'd stare at him in shock before bursting into uncontrollable laughter. As harsh as that would be, and even though he knew the princess was far too kind to do something like, he knew it wouldn't be too typical if that were to be her reaction. She was a beautiful princess, he was a poor servant. He had only ten dollars in his pocket, had nothing to offer her, and they ran in two different circles.
But what if she saw all past that, he wondered, already thinking of the possibilities.
"Still daydreaming again, aren't you, daydreamer?" Helia's thoughts were soon interrupted as he heard that familiar loud, foreign voice. That voice belonged to Cordatora, nicknamed Cora the terrible by the servants since he severely punished them if they don't get the job right, was the King's most trusted bodyguard and head butler whose job it was to make sure the servants did their jobs and did the jobs right.
Mentally rolling his eyes, Helia turned back to the older man and slightly bowed before him. "I was only thinking. What can I do you for, Sir Cordatora?"
"It looked more like daydreaming to me," he chuckled slightly before becoming serious. "The princess and Lady Disprao are at the rose gardens and need tea. The princess requires her favorite rose tea while the Lady prefers her with brewed water, skim milk, and light on sugar-organic sugar. I want you to be the one to deliver the tea for them."
After Cordatora left, Helia quickly tucked his sketchbook under his pillow and got dressed for the day. When he was done with his shower and brushed his teeth, he came back to his room to change into his uniform, which consisted of a loose white long-sleeved shirt he made sure was ironed, black pants, and black loafers. He then ran quickly to the kitchen where he saw a servant and a maid cleaning, deeply engrossed in the conversation they were having that they didn't even notice him standing there.
The servant was rather scrawny type of boy with organish-brown hair and brown eyes hidden behind his square-framed glasses named Timmy, whom Helia was very closed to and seemed to be the only friend he could call his best friend. The maid was a seventeen girl named Musa, who was attractive with her creamy skin and dark hair that matched her eyes, but she was more of a little sister to him. The sister he never had but still wanted. She was a close, good friend to him and Timmy as well as a sisterly companion to Princess Flora.
"Are you serious?" Timmy asked, scrubbing the countertops hard with elbow grease.
"Dead serious." Replied Musa, who was sweeping the floors. "She actually slapped him right across the face after the jerk had the nerve to kiss her in front of everyone. If it were me, I'd kick him somewhere particularly hard so he'll never be able to have children."
"Who in the realms are you two talking about?" Helia questioned as he walked into the kitchen, receiving a sisterly peck on the cheek from Musa while he and Timmy did their own personal handshake as a sign of greeting.
"Princess Flora." Musa answered.
Hearing her name caused alert and protectiveness to fuel inside him, already hearing loud alarms and whistles going off in his head. "Did something happen to her?" he asked worriedly with a tone of urgent, as if she were injured.
Musa and Timmy shared amused looks, knowing Helia's true feelings for the princess and how immediately he became protective of her when it came to her well-being.
"You mean you don't know already?" Timmy said.
"Know what?" he asked, confused.
Realizing he might not have been there to witness the moment, Musa explained to Helia what happened yesterday between the princess and the new prince the king wanted her to meet. The prince was the cocky Prince O'Neil who actually kissed the princess in front of everyone, acting like she was his piece of poverty he could do whatever with, and how the princess smacked him twice before leaving in tears.
When Musa was done telling him, Helia was silent with his tight fists clenched to his sides while anger was fueling inside him, growing at a fast and dangerous rate while his blood boiled. At the moment, he would have given anything to find that arrogant O'Neil and give him the kind of beating the arrogant devil would never forget.
He was so lost, so consumed in his anger and the thoughts of what he would do to the
Prince, he didn't realize how tight his fists were becoming until he felt a painful sensation burning in his knuckles. After that, he realized he was wasting time thinking when tea was expected to come to the ladies.
"Oh bother," he groaned, running over to the cabinets to find some of things he was going to need. But the time he opened them, he saw they were practically nothing left. Panicking, he turned back to his friends, who were arching their eyebrows questioning at him, and asked "Where is everything?"
"Empty," Timmy shrugged. "Because the prince kept making the chef and his crew take back and remake his meal, they used practically everything in the kitchen. Jared, W, and Mirta went to the market place to buy more food."
"And the princess and Diaspro are waiting for their tea," He ran his hands through his hair in frustration as he paced around the kitchen, trying to think of something. "What the hell am I going to do? The princess is waiting for her tea, and I have no tea. I'm wasting time just pacing around. And Cora the terrible is going to have my head-"
"Helia!" Musa exclaimed, cutting off his panic attack and getting his attention. She smiled secretively at him, as if she knew a secret she knew he wanted to know, and then snapped her fingers at the countertop. Streams of red escaped from her fingertips, swirling into a small tornado until it exploded into a dazzling display of light once it hit the countertop. By the time the lights disappear, blowing into smoke, a sliver platter tray filled with two tea kettles filled with hot tea and cups, a mini tower of oven-hot stones, and another tower of fresh-baked muffins.
Still smiling, Musa weighed the heavy tray in her arms and handed it over to Helia, who felt how much heavier it was than it appeared and was struggling a bit to keep his grip on it. Even though he was struggling, he still was able to shot Musa a grateful smile, never feeling any more grateful till that moment for having a friend who was also a magical fairy, before rushing out from the room.
With that smile still on her face, Musa sighed as she turned back to Timmy, who was wearing an amused smile on his face that was similar to her. "He's completely love-struck, isn't he?"
"Indeed." He nodded, causing them both to laugh.
...
"I really don't understand you sometimes, Flora," said the snotty blonde fanning herself with her delicate, red Chinese-styled fan as the girls walked along the path through the red rosebuds the princess wanted to see, with Cordatora walking behind them but also keeping a good distance, watching their every move and keeping his eyes open for any possible danger. "Prince O'Neil is a fantastic, edible bachelor nearly every girl in the all realms wants to sink their claws-not to mention teeth-into. Only God knows why you would think of smacking someone like that."
Until the moment the crude girl spoke her statement, Flora was barely paying attention to a word she was saying and directing her attention to the mass of beautiful rosebuds in front of her, already picturing how beautiful they would be as soon as spring arrives.
Even though Flora was a princess, she was a nature fairy who loved Mother Earth and put it first before anything. She loved the trees, the smell of fresh grass, and the scent of flowers lingering in the air-thus, making springtime her favorite season since that was the only time when nature really had its moment. The rose garden was her favorite part of the castle, the only place she could escape to have a moment to herself and was also a place she felt closer to her mother, who was also a nature fairy and loved it just as much as her daughter did.
"Flora!" she flinched at her name, and then sighed as she straightened up and turned back to look into the eyes of an un-amused Diaspro. Both girls were silent as they looked into each other, warm emerald green glaring at cold citrine orange, both knowing the other would rather be any other place than here at the moment.
Diaspro was a princess to another realm, which was a neighboring realm to the kingdom of Eraklyon. Their mothers have been best friends for years, so it only made sense they also wanted their daughters to become close friends, too. Even though the girls were always arranged play dates since they were toddlers and visited each other often, the only relationship they had was a forced acquaintance. And that being because the girls were too different from each other. Flora was shy and sweet, born with a gentle soul, while Diaspro was very spoiled and rude, constantly throwing tantrums if she doesn't get what she was wants.
She was a beauty herself with her pale honey blonde, shoulder-length hair, citrine eyes, and fair skin tone, but that beauty seemed to be the only positive thing about her. Like Flora, she was a fairy also-a fairy of rubies-but her cool attitude and obsession with herself, thinking so highly of herself, was what made her seem more like a witch.
"I heard you the first time, Diaspro," Flora said as she continued her walk, and saw Diaspro, along with Cordatora, weren't too far away from her. "I chose not to answer it because I already knew you wouldn't understand."
"What is there to understand?" the blonde princess snapped, throwing her arms in the air. "You have to be married if you want to keep your crown. You need to pick a husband before your eighteenth birthday, which is coming up soon. You know that!"
"I know!" Flora snapped as she whirled around to face Diaspro, not noticing or even hurting the look of hurt in her eyes by her harsh snap. She was too upset herself to even take notice of any person' feelings, too fed up with the rule to even care. She know this was going to happen sooner, that she was going to marry soon before eighteen, but that didn't mean she loved it. "I know." she repeated, her expression softening.
Seeing how the harsh lines on her face vanished and noticed tears welling in her eyes, Diaspro decided to forgive Flora for snapping at her so rudely and took pity on the girl. Her birthday seemed to be getting closer everyday, and she needed to be wed to someone before time runs out. She knew any girl under that kind of pressure would explode sooner or later.
Allowing herself to smile just a bit, Diaspro placed a comforting hand on Flora's shoulder and said "What is that's bothering you, Flora? Usually a girl would be thrilled at the chance of getting married. That's every girl dream to have a big wedding and look beautiful in her amazing dress. I know that's my dream."
"It's mine, too," she confessed in a tiny murmur. She could feel darn tears welling up in her eyes after they were starting to burn, but took control of herself and willed them not to come. Taking in a deep breath and letting it out, she continued, "But I always thought that when I got married, I would be married to someone that I love and who loves me back. My own prince charming who loves me for me, and not for being a princess."
"Love?" Diaspro repeated. When Flora had spoken of the word, she said it in such awe and daze, like it was a dream she wanted to catch. But when Diaspro said it, it sounded like just a simple word that was foreign, as if it was something unimportant. "That's all?"
"What do you mean that's all?" Flora questioned.
"What I meant was-" Before Diaspro could explain, their attention soon was directed toward a dark-haired servant coming over with their tea, but seem to loose his footing as he was walking down the small, steep hill and tumbled down, spilling the items he was carrying and falling flat on his face.
"What is the meaning of this, daydreamer?" Cordatora ordered, but the princess could barely hear his rant. Instead her attention was focused on the poor servant trying to get back on his feet and take control of the situation, and she could tell by way his bottom lip was being bitten hard he was in pain. Forgetting about Diaspro and their conversation, she went over to help him.
Poor Helia was blushing bright red, his entire face bright and red as a tomato, and couldn't even meet anyone's eyes without feeling more shame to himself for being so stupid and klutzy.
If there was one thing he wished he could take back from this moment, it would have him focusing more on getting the tea over to them without them any issue instead of staring at Flora. Everytime he looked at her, drinking in her beauty, his heart would be pounding hard against his chest, knees buckling, and his mind in a trance that completely blocked everything else out-except for her, of course. As he walked down the small yet steel hill, struggling to keep his grip on the heavy tray, he made the fatal mistake taking a quick glance at her that quickly became a long, hard gaze, studying every feature of her into memory.
Unfortunately, because he picked that moment of all moments to stare at her, his mind was an utter blank so he didn't realize he was walking down that hill until the very last second, when he was found himself tumbling down and felt a sharp pain in his ankle as he landed flat on his face.
With his cheeks flushing in embarrassment, knowing he had unwanted attention set on him, Helia tried ignoring the sore pain in his ankle he was sure was either badly twisted or broken as he quickly gathered all the things that fallen as he tripped and placed them back on the tray, which suffered an awful dent from the fall. As he was picking up the items, it suddenly hit him he couldn't give them back anything. The tea had spilled onto the ground or splashed on nearby things, and the muffins and stones were smashed against the ground, looking less delicious and more unpleasant. There was no way he could give them anything now, Musa was too far away for him to ask to make a new set for him, and there was hardly anything else in the kitchen. He needed to think of something.
"Here, let me help you." Hearing that soft, warm voice broke him from his thoughts and he could feel his heart close to jumping out from his chest by the way it was beating faster and harder. He took in slow, deep breaths before slowly looking up, looking right into the beautiful, gentle jaded eyes belonging to the princess. Her caramel hair was shimmering under the sunshine, turning into a soft and rich caramel color, and she smiled softly, almost shyly as she looked brushed her hair away from her eyes before kneeling down next to him.
"Flora-I mean, Princess-I mean your highness…" As he was stammering with the words, his cheeks flamed and were turning brighter by the second.
Flora couldn't resist smiling at his stammering, thinking it was kind of adorable, and Helia couldn't stop himself from smiling once he saw her smile. They continued to smile at one another for a few more seconds, their cheeks feeling warmer as they blushed brighter, and then started to get to work picking things up in silence.
While working, they both spotted a squashed blueberry muffin lying in front of them, and reached for it at the same time, only to pull back in a flinch as an electrical sensation sparked as their hands touched and their fingers brushed against each other. Touching her hand was completely unbelievably…phenomenal. It was so warm, smooth, and soft, surprising him since she usually spent so much time outside in the garden when she wasn't inside, and it felt so unbelievable to feel her hand with his own, which was rough with some cuts from hard work and cooler than hers. But as phenomenal as touching her hand was, the sensation that seemed to spark like fire as their hands touched was also unbelievable as well.
He let go too quickly before he could fully enjoy it, shocked from the strange electric pang. But something inside, those deep feelings he tried to hide, were stirring inside, and something strong was coming over him, almost overpowering him. He looked at Flora and saw, judging by the slightly stunned expression on her face and the way she was staring at her hand, she was shocked by what happened. But there was something in her eyes, an emotion he couldn't describe, swimming in those pools of emerald green.
Their eyes met again, and slowly they smiled softly at each other as clear aqua blue and warm emerald green bored into each other. For those few moments the princess was able to forget she was a princess and the servant was able to forget about all the badness in his life, as everything else unimportant seemed to fade away. Except for these moments and each other.
It was almost as if Helia was living out his dream he dreamt of a thousand times. Only it was real, and he found himself enjoying it ten times better.
Those moments were so wonderful, so amazing he wished it could last forever. As did she. But sadly, as wonderful as it was, it ended quickly as soon as a loud, ear-scattering scream was hard and they both snapped out from the spell of their gaze. They looked at each other for a moment or two, as if to re-catch that moment that happened between them, and then turned to face the source of that scream.
It was Diaspro, who was screaming at the top of her lungs from the tea spills that somehow reached far enough to her and splashed ugly streaks on her red corset dress Helia had a good feeling was new and irreplaceable. After she spent a good ten seconds shrieking at the top of her lungs, her face was bright red with anger and smoke was practically bursting from her ears as she angrily walked over to Helia and jabbed her sharp finger against his chest, nearly piercing his skin.
"You klutzy, brainless, piece-of-garbage idiot!" She yelled right in his face. "What kind of brainless slave doesn't even know how to deliver tea without spilling it and letting it ruin my favorite dress!"
Cordatora pulled out spare napkins from his pockets and tried helping Diaspro clean her dress, but somehow his effects were only making the stains more horrible and making an already-mad Disprao even madder than before. Smiling sheepishly, he tried chuckling a bit to lighten the mood but saw it was only making things worse. "Lady Diaspro, a thousand times my apologizes. I'm so sorry," As he turned to Helia, his sheepish smile vanished into a tight, angry scowl that darkened his face and his brown eyes hardened into cold, hard stone. "As for you, daydreamer, perhaps extra work will help get your head out from the clouds and more focused on getting the job done."
"But-" Helia tried to defend himself, but was immediately cut off by the chilled, ice-cold and anger-blaze glare Cordatora gave him.
Continuing on, as if he didn't hear Helia, he barked, "For the next two months, you're on stable duty. And are expected to clean after the horses with nothing more than your bare hands, a sponge and toothbrush, and a bucket of water."
Diaspro whirled around to face Cordatora, snapping, "You think two months of cleaning horse poop will make up for the damages of replacing this dress? Do you have even idea how much money and work my seamstress put into to make it for me?" Turning around to Helia, clearly not finish with him yet, she exclaimed "I can understand well enough why you're here. Your parents saw failure in you as a child, and decided give you up was far better than putting up with your garbage. And I can't honestly blame, considering how much of an idiotic, disappointing failure you are?"
"That's far enough!" Princess Flora exclaimed, unable to take even more of the abuse the poor man was going through because of a simple mistake and wasn't going to let it continue any further.
Helia couldn't believe it. The princess was actually standing up for him. For him a lowly servant against a high-spoiled princess and his boss. He had to pinch himself quickly on the arm and blinked his eyes several times to make sure he wasn't dreaming, but even as he found out he wasn't it all seemed to surreal.
And judging by the shock look written all over their faces and how they flinched, as if they've been smacked hard in the face, Diaspro and Cordatora found it just as shocking as he did.
With her hands on her hips and a frown darkening the soft features of her face, Flora said to Cordatora, not even suggesting but full on-demanding, "If there's any speck of kindness in that cold heart of yours, you'll see it was only a minor mistake and give him a break. The tray was heavy-looking and the hill's steep, so you can't blame him for something he wasn't responsible for."
Stunned for a whole minute, Cordatora was still, and it was the first time in so long Helia saw the man was speechless with nothing to say at all. Slowly, his lips sealed and thinned into a tight line, he nodded.
After she was done with him, she turned to Diaspro. The frown on Flora's face morphed into an ugly scowl as she looked at the blonde standing before her, and her green eyes narrowed into slits that were cold as the coldest ice while considering her coldly. "I'd love ask you the same thing, but know you're too much of a witch and so full of yourself to even consider listening to me. But listen to me this one time, if you please," She waited till she was sure she had Disapro's full attention before continuing. "You are a spoiled, nasty brat who's rotten to the bone. You love throwing your tantrums, but I had to put with it for years and now I'm done with it. You're a fairy with magic, so quit whining like a spoiled princess, used a spell to clean your dress, and quit taking out your childish tantrums on him. If anyone is an idiot or a failure, then it would have to be you."
And with that being said, Flora looked at Helia quickly one more time before walking away and making a dramatic exit. Not too soon after she left, Diaspro and Cordatora went after her, leaving Helia all alone in the rose gardens.
He stared at the place where the princess made her dramatic exit, still able to smell the fragrance of her flowery perfume in the air, and still couldn't believe it.
She actually stood up for him. Him, a person no one really noticed or even bothered to know. No one has ever done that for him before in the longest time, with the exception of Musa and Timmy and Saladin who always looked out for him, and the fact it was actually the princess, someone he was sure she had no idea he even existed or quickly forgotten about, made it even more surreal.
I'll pay you back for your kindness, Flora, he thought as a smile slowly curved up the corners of his lips. And he knew the perfect way how.
By getting her the wish she always wanted.