Waking up

Wilhelm woke up with a start, peeling himself from his sweat soaked bed, sitting upright and throwing the blanket onto the floor. He breathed heavily as he regained his bearings trying to expel smoke from his lungs that was not there. He felt his body burn as his muscles recoiled from the necromantic exercise he did last night. It had become a normal routine for him to use necromancy to maintain his muscles despite the backlash he receives from using it. It beats being dead.

Wilhelm dragged himself off the bed and walked over to the wash basin in his luxurious room fit for a crown prince. He would have liked to take a bath for the sweat but his father was expecting him at breakfast, he had something important to talk about with him in the morning. He splashed his face and looked at himself in the mirror, his shoulder length white hair stuck to his face. Despite his best efforts to look like a calm, collected prince, he still had a slight sneer on his face. He was never great at socializing to begin with. The fact that it seemed like he was constantly disgusted by everything around him did not help. If anything, it has gotten more pronounced over the past few weeks. Julius Jubilous, the archbishop of the temple of Ragna, was a festering tumor in the Kingdom.

Ever since he came to the Ragna Kingdom four centuries ago, long before Wilhelm was born, the kingdom slowly bent to the will of his god. The Ultimatum. The peasantry adored him for his ability to heal even the most fatal of diseases which other Ougonite healers could not. His arrival coincidentally brought with him Ougonite traders that began to dominate their local competitors. Eventually, the Ougonite Empire demanded that the Kingdom convert to the Cult of the Ultimatum and abandon the ‘false’ Cult of Synthara. With the Kingdom’s economy at their mercy and the honeyed words of Julius, the then King Aethalstan complied. Now he has the gall to ask to participate in the election of the Royal Sorcerer. Wilhelm felt his sneer grow uglier on his face the more he thought about it, his fingers digging into his palms.

Yet, the pain from that pales in comparison to the nightmare. He felt every single wound he acquired in them in frightening detail. The fire in particular felt as if he was at the peak of Mount Ignus, formerly Mount Ymir. Was he that stressed? Who was that woman at the end? She felt vaguely familia-

“Uh, my lord, is now a good time?” A small feminine voice said behind him.

Wilhelm suddenly turned towards the source of the voice, causing them to yelp and hop away in fear.

Camilla, a short lady with dark blue hair tied in a bonnet cowered on the wall opposite of Wilhelm.

Wilhelm looked back at the table and saw that his hand crushed the drawer it was sitting on. He sighed.

“I have startled and created more work for you and the servants, I apologize.” Wilhelm turned his head back towards Camilla and bowed his head slightly.

“Oh no, it is fine my lord! I understand you have been tense lately. If it helps you calm yourself please break as much furniture as you want!” Camilla said nervously, likely to lighten her master’s mood.

“No, a prince should not be so wasteful, money and time spent on purchasing and acquiring a new piece of furniture is wasted tax money and manpower. Just leave it, it will serve as a reminder that I need to take care of the kingdom’s property.” Wilhelm says as he turns back to the mirror, his hair tickling his shoulders.

“So cool…” Camilla thought to herself, before looking down and feeling blood rush to her face. Wilhelm looked at her through the mirror concerningly.

“There is no need to concern yourself with such a trifling matter, please continue your duties.”

“Yes but ah, my lord? May you…please…put on some pants?” Camilla bore her eyes into the disheveled bed, her eyes laying in its comfort and hiding from the bare sight before her.

Wilhelm looked down and saw his exposed manhood. He remarked in his mind the wonders of internal necromancy.

“Is there a wound somewhere?” Wilhelm said as he grabbed a towel.

“No, it's just…please put on some clothes!” Camilla walked over to the bed and did her best to not look at her exposed lord.

“If you insist.” Wilhelm walked towards the closet, and began to dress himself, doing his best to hide his smirk. His body was one of the few things he was proud of, having sculpted it to perfection. He relished any opportunity to show off.

As she began to strip the bed of the sheets, she noticed that they were drenched in sweat, blushing at his musk while wondering how a person could sweat so much.

“My lord, are you all right? Do you need to see the priests?”

Wilhelm winced at the thought of asking anything of the white-golds as he put on his white dress pants. “No, why?”

“Your sheets are covered in sweat, do you have a fever?” She said as she methodically stripped the bed and neatly folded the sheets and blanket into nearly perfect squares on the floor.

Wilhelm would rather not talk about his traumatizing nightmares to…he did not know her name.

“What is your name?”

“Camilla my lord.”

“I do not recognize that name, I assume you are new?” Wilhelm put on his double breasted white shirt with gold buttons.

“Yes, I was made a maid a few weeks ago. Only recently have I been deemed worthy enough to clean your room.”

“I see.” Wilhelm put on his white gloves and grabbed his scabbard with his longsword tucked away within it. “Yet you did not knock?”

“I did, you never responded my lord.”

Wilhelm pursed his lip in thought as he put on his black leather boots. His enhanced ears should have picked Camilla entering the room. His distaste for Julius seems to be clouding his senses.

“I-If what I did was wrong, I am ready to receive punishment…”

“Very well, your punishment will be to brush my hair.” Wilhelm said as he sat down on a chair before a large mirror.

“Bu-but I was already going t-”

“Your prince has spoken.”

“Eep!” Camilla squeaked as she quickly grabbed a brush and comb from the damaged dresser and followed her orders.

Wilhelm sighed, it seemed that his sneer made him seem more furious than he was.

“I apologize for frightening you.”

“No, it's fine my lord.” Camilla said as she brushed and combed Wilhelm’s hair, turning gnarled chaos into straightened order.

“I am particular about how my hair is handled, yet your touch is very gentle.”

“Thank you my lord, I try my best.”

“The other servants who served me for years do not understand how to handle my locks, yet it's as if you always brushed it. Were you a barber once?”

“Oh no, I just helped my sister and mother out with their hair plenty of times. I must be pretty good at it if I receive praise from my prince.” Camilla smiled.

“Where is your family currently?

Camilla hesitated. “They are not around.”

“Are the-”

“Ah, I just remembered you are expected in the dining hall! Your father actually sent me to come and get you, we should not keep your father waiting, my lord.” Camilla said as she flattened the last few standing strands of Wilhelm’s hair.

“Very well.” Wilhelm said as he stood up and walked to the door. Camilla got in front of him.

“Let me get the door for yo-ah!” Camilla gasped as she tripped and fell, only to be caught by the waist by Wilhelm. Their faces were only a few inches away from each other.

Wilhelm looked into Camilla’s grey eyes. Her face looked soft and unblemished, Through the folds of her maid dress he could tell her body was lithe but firm, especially around the thigh area.

“Ah, what are you doing my lord?” Camilla blushed and widened her eyes in…surprise? Perhaps but there was something else to her expression.

“You tripped on something, please watch your step. You are taking me to my father are you not?”

“R-Right!” Camilla quickly recovered and led Wilhelm to the dining hall as he slowly retracted the extended bone from his arm. She recovered oddly quickly from that fall, he did not need to catch her at all...the joys of court life...