Chapter 4: Does He Like Her?

      Harriette walked solemnly down the castle halls, led by the chain held by Aldous that connected to the handcuffs that kept her unable to fight. She was embarrassed to be dragged around like an unruly dog. We never got any time alone, there were always guards watching her at every moment, day and night. They had stopped for something, Harriette ignored what Aldous was saying to who she assumed to be some dark dimension lords. Then she saw it, dangling from the ceiling, a whole thirty centimeters away from her, a black spider the size of her face.

      She let out a yelp. She grabbed onto Aldous’ arm, putting him in between her and the spider. “What the?!” He stared at Harriette with a puzzled expression on his face. He saw that she had her eyes locked on. “It’s just a spider.” A wicked grin appeared on his face. He let the spider climb on his hand. “Is the mighty Captain Harriette afraid of spiders?” He held her chain tight as he brought the spider closer.

      Harriette tried her best to keep as much distance between the spider and her as possible. “If I wasn’t wearing magic nullifying chains, I would have just got rid of it.”

      “Now why would you do that? It’s just a baby.” Aldous was holding the spider only a few centimeters away from Harriette’s face. After a minute of watching her squirm, he pulled the spider away from her. He saw Narcissus walking past at the end of the hall. “Hey! Narcissus!”

     Narcissus came over instantly, giving a small bow when he arrived. “Yes, my liege.”

     “Do you want this?” Aldous showed him the spider.

     “Yes please.” Narcissus gently took it in his hands. “Thank you.” He the walked away, fascinated by the eight-legged creature.

       Aldous then turned back to Harriette. “I wonder what else you are scared of.” He cooed.

     “Nothing.” Harriette pouted. “Just spiders.”

    “And then he had the audacity to call me cute!” Harriette shrieked at me. “Like who does he think he is?” She asked rhetorically.

    “The undisputed ruler of all of Bugalas, and both the demon and dark dimensions.” Ignatius replied without looking up from his nails. Harriette scowled at him.

     “Let’s change the subject.” I clapped my hands together. “Now that you don’t have work anymore, you can think about guys.”

     “Amice, I’m a prisoner of war, I can’t just go off and get married.” Harriette rolled her eyes at me.

    “Well, you can at least imagine what your ideal husband would be like, come on, describe him to me.” I pried. “Fall into a fantasy to escape this world.” I almost sung those last words to her as I rocked from side to side.

     Harriette refused to look me in the eyes as she blushed. “Well, I guess. Hm, if I were to get married, I would want him to be taller than me, a half decent fighter, good with children of course.” She shook her head. “Uh, I guess I don’t really know what I like.”

     “Could you two have a more interesting conversation, I’m getting bored.” Ignatius sighed as he rested his head in his hand.

     “Apologies, your grace, I’m not a jester.” I retorted, technically I never said anything out of line. Harriette snorted at my response and silently laughed.

     Ignatius bared his teeth. “Guh, you sure are annoying. Get out of here, Amice! You two have yapped for long enough!”

     I stood and bowed. “Yes, your grace.” I then left with a smile. I was disappointed that my time with Harriette was cut short, but sometimes you must make sacrifices. Since Ignatius was occupied with guarding Harriette, I can go spy on Aldous. Ever since he arrived, I have a suspension he has fallen for Harriette, and since I refreshed myself on what Harriette is looking for in a man, I know that he is her type. I can just imagine the power couple they could be. If anyone can trigger a redemption arc for Aldous, it’s the willful Harriette. If my intelligence is correct, he is meeting with an artist privately in a room on the second floor at north of the castle. If it’s the room I’m thinking of, there is a supply closet with a discreet, well-placed hole in the wall one could peak in through. When I arrived, I was correct. I pressed my eye up to the hole. Aldous spoke to the artist. “Did you do as I asked?”

      “Why yes, my liege. I am quite familiar with the subject, I only had minor difficulty with the size of your requested piece, but I do love a challenge. It what makes my work so enjoyable.” The artist voice was purposefully breathy. She then handed a tiny painting to Aldous; it was the size of a photo people would keep in their wallets back in my old world. “I hope this is satisfactory, my liege. If it’s not, I’ll take another crack at it.”

      I watched carefully as Aldous raised the painting to inspect it. “No,” he ran his finger along the edge of the miniature frame. “She- uh, it’s perfect.” Then I saw who was depicted in the painting. It was Harriette! I was right, Aldous is head over heels for Harriette.

        Unfortunately, my inner victory was short lived. Ignatius grabbed me by the shoulders and pinned me against the adjacent wall. “You shouldn’t be snooping.” I kept my head down, staring at his torso, where his weak point is. Any damage he sustains is halved, expect for there, where it is doubled. My hands were tucked underneath my apron; I could reach my special knife that I have hidden underneath my skirt. I could just picture how it would go down. I stab him straight in the weak point, he will stumble backwards bewildered, I would get on top of him and stab! Stab! Stab, until he his defeated! Tragically, he is immortal, but I know where I could bury him alive and he wouldn't be able to dig himself out for at least three months. He grabbed my chin, snapping me out of my lovely daydream. He made me look at him. “Why are you smiling? You do think this more than me just protecting my master’s privacy?” He hadn't called him master, or at least to my knowledge, in about seven centuries.

       “Of course not. Why I’m smiling has nothing to do with you.” I let my innocent little maid mask slip slightly. “Six years ago, I made a promise.”

      “Oh really?” Ignatius raised an eyebrow; he was clearly intrigued.

     “Yes, I promised Harriette to find her the best husband ever, and King Aldous is fitting the bill.” I grinned as I hissed those words.

     Ignatius was taken aback. “What? They hate each other. Although, if my master did marry a noble woman, it would at least secure that clan’s loyalty.”

      “Furthermore, King Aldous fancies Harriette,” I motioned to the peephole, “look.”

     Ignatius did just that. “Ah! Is that a miniscule portrait of Harriette!”

    I yanked him by the shoulder. “Keep your voice down.” I then stuck up a finger and waggled it. “I think we want the same thing, for different reasons, but the same thing nonetheless.”

     “You are pretty crafty for a lowly maid. I must concur. If my master likes her, then he should have her.” Ignatius nodded as he stood up straight, almost hitting his head on a shelf. “I propose we work together, you are close with Harriette, and I am my master’s oldest servant. Between the two of us, we should be able guide them together.”

    “I’m receiving help? Ah, I’m glad we can see eye to eye.” I extended my hand out.

    Ignatius shook my hand. “Just so you know, I still don’t trust you.”

    “I don’t trust you either.” I then returned to the meek maid persona. I grabbed some items from the closet as a cover. “Okay, I’ll see you later!” I then left before anyone else caught me.

    I spent the of the day doing normal boring cleaning stuff. During the mundane work I pondered how I could convince Harriette that the man she hates with the passion of ten dying suns, could be the man of her dreams. I was unable to come up with any good ideas, though.

    The next day I was delivering books to Camillus. I’m not sure if that kid has properly slept for the past few days, I’ve never seen a kid have an addiction to studying. My knees were killing me, going up and down those stairs all day was toucher. I heard rumors that the royal guards that were captured were going to enslaved and shipped off to Ravivui, Aldous’ homeland. My top priority should be saving them. I won’t be able to get everyone free, but even if only a few escape, it would a victory. I made a note to my allies in the cell with the secret passageway. I handed it to the maid that would be delivering their rations, I figured I would be preoccupied as usual, otherwise I would do it myself. Ignatius admitted he doesn’t trust me, he shouldn’t, am I’m sure he isn’t the only one. Luckily, the maid that will do the delivery is someone I trust, so I’m confident.

    While I was in the kitchen one of the chefs requested something of me. “You’re the one who as been carrying all those books to Lord Camillus’ room, correct?” I nodded. “Would you mind taking his lunch to him, the other maids say he has been hostile with them when they bring him food. Maybe he might be more welcoming to someone he is more familiar with.”

     “That makes sense, I don’t mind one bit.” That was a lie, I did mind a small bit, I wanted to sit down, but I knew it was for the best. I was at least able to rest while the food was prepared. When it was ready, back up those dreadful stairs I trudged.

      As I opened the door to Camillus room, he didn’t even bother to take his eyes of the book he was reading. “I don’t need anymore materials, leave.”

    “Actually, my lord, I brought you lunch.” I began to unload the tray on the little free space on his massive, book covered desk.

    “I don’t want it, take it away.” He whined.

    I held the empty tray in front of myself as I politely rebutted “My lord, you need to eat to do the best work.” Out of the corner of my eye I could see some movement out the window. Without a moment’s notice, out of pure instinct, I held the tray in between the window and Camillus’ head.

     An arrow thunked into the tray. Camillus finally brought his head up to see what had made the noise. “Oh, someone is trying to kill me again.” He then went back to reading.

    “What do you mean again!?” I shrieked. I then picked him up and started running down the tower.

     “Unhand me you dirty wench!” Camillus snapped.

     I kept running, trying not to trip on either my skirt or the stairs. I could hear someone had began chasing after us. I can’t stop, even though Camillus will become one of Aldous’ most heartless commanders, he is still just a boy.

     “Stop this, I deserve to die.” Camillus moped.

    I couldn’t help but use slang from my precious life. “Bruh, you are like six, what could you have possibly done?”

    “I’m five.” That was all Camillus responded with.

   “That only helps proves my point.” After I spoke, I could hear someone coming up the stairs was well. I stopped, which is the safer option, the assassin from above, or whoever could be coming from below. I decision was made for me, as a familiar figure appeared down the stairs “Narcissus, thank goodness!”

     “What is going? I heard a commotion on the listener stone.” Narcissus was internally panicking, usually it’s external, but he is putting on a brave face for the kid, how commendable.

    “Why is there a listener stone in my room?” Camillus questioned Narcissus.

    “In case something like this happened.” Narcissus replied was he brushed by. The assassin came into view, stopping mid-step at the sight of Narcissus.

       Narcissus charged up a magic attack. I covered Camillus’s eye. “Why are you-?“

     I interrupted him. “You’re to young to see something this brutal.”

    “I’ve seen things much more brutal.” Camillus voice deepened, it was so cute, him trying to intimidate me.

    “Okay, edgelord.” I laughed. Narcissus then destroyed the assassin in a bloody display. I flinched. “I’ll clean this up.” I remarked as I watched blood dip from the ceiling.

   “I guess I went too hard, there is anything left to interrogate.” Narcissus nervously laughed.