Chapter 8: The Handmaid

After my stunt, my handmaid effectively put me on lockdown. She had somehow told all the gardeners, all the maids and handmaidens, all the knights, especially my personal knight, to watch out for me. It was kind of oppressive, but exciting at the same time. In my past life, my parents would care, but care at a distance, never really sparing me a glance unless it benefited them. Those days, I would run around, trying to find the best spots to hide, all in hopes of finally escaping so I could see Dancing Shadow like I promised.

But freedom was always out of reach. I bemoaned this as I sat in front of Gradua once again. After some initial conversation, I forced myself to pay attention. Even though I had more influence and been given more freedom within the grounds than I ever had back then, an invisible hand still rested on my shoulder, a hand that guided an invisible crown.

“Let’s talk about Willfuls today, my Prince.” Gradua started. He then clapped his hands and three people entered. The first one I recognized as my handmaid, the other two I’ve seen in brief passing but I had no idea who they were. “These three are Willfuls that have been employed by Our Majesties.”

I raised my hand and Gradua nodded. “I did some reading, but I still don’t really get what Willfuls do? Is it magic?”

“Perhaps we should go over reading after this.” He sighed before gesturing to the three. “Will one of you explain what it means to have a Will?”

“I shall explain this one.” A relatively short man with red robes and a golden sash stepped forth and bowed. His soft, almost babyish features, painted him as very young, but the weariness in his posture and a seriousness reflected in his eyes betrayed his experience. “My name is Gellert Ionru, my Prince. I serve as chief advisor to Our Majesties. My Will is to remember every single detail that my senses can commit because there is no greater fear than missing something important, especially when helping to lead a kingdom.”

“Yes, like Lord Gellert aptly mentioned, his Will stems from his fear.” Gradua waved him back, almost impatiently. “This seems to be the trend found in Willful, their Wills originate from a driving force, often from fear or from passion.”

“Isn’t fear just passion for survival?” The third person asked. Their dusty hood made it difficult to discern any features. What did strike me as odd though was his slouch and glaring unkemptness.

The others shifted uncomfortably. Gradua and my handmaid made no effort to hide their disdain whereas the king’s advisor tried to look stoic to mixed results.

“Yes…that can be said of fear.” Gradua sniffed. “This is…”

“Sir Chan Cey at your imperial service, my Prince.” The figure took off his hood to reveal what I would describe as a hobo. Scruffy beard, red marks scarring his features, glazed eyes. To complete the look, he swigged at some drink and grinned yellow at me.

“Show some respect to your prince!” My handmaid barked at him, much to his amusement.

“My apologies, my Prince.” Still giggling, he bowed with all the decorum of a drunkard. “And segueing into probably the question everyone is asking, why am I here? Well, my Prince, I don’t know. Why am I here, Gradua?”

“You have a Will.” He replied, making no effort to hide his annoyance.

“Ah, but see, that’s where you are mistaken.” Chan walked around, clutching his drink like a lifeline before slumping against the wall and sliding down. “By your definition, my abilities have manifested because of my Will responding to a fear or passion I possess. Is this an equitable synopsis, dear Gradua? And then succeeding that logic, I too, should possess a Will that acknowledges my fear or passion. Listen here, My Prince, I alone shall disclose to you the veracity behind the pretense that showers our mighty Kingdom so. Wills are the bane of humanity as the deities above seek to curse us with their infidelity. Spare no heed to the ramblings of the naive. I’ve now said my piece, good Gradua, deign me the dignity to shamble out of here myself.” True to his word, I watched as he half crawled half dragged himself out.

“It always is an unpleasant day when you run across Chan.” Gellert sniffed.

“Um, what Will does he have then?” I asked, still very much taken aback by what had happened.

“Remember when I said that Wills has a trend? We believe that he is the sole exception. He alone considers his Will to be a curse although I’m still not entirely sure what his Will actually is. Something to do with coincidences." Gradua frowned.

“I’ve been told that he finds himself in coincidences that then lead to a beneficial outcome later.” Gellert explained.

“I will not believe it. He just so happened to slip on spilled water and find himself in the maid quarter where they were preparing for bed?” My handmaid fumed.

“To be fair, good madam, by doing that, he did find the culprit who’d been…accosting the maids.” Gellert pointed out with slight hesitation.

“Who’s to say it wasn’t a cover!?”

“Settle down, we have gotten off topic.” My tutor turned to face me. “Do you have any other questions, my Prince?”

I shook my head, still kind of flabbergasted. Life was about perfection. To achieve one’s goal was to attain perfection. If you didn’t, if you weren’t successful, you fell. To fall was to leave everyone else with your mess, a disturbance in that great ocean of tranquility that no one deserves to feel or wants to see. These adults, those who'd achieved some of the most powerful positions in the Kingdom, were squabbling like children. What was there to ask about that?

“Can I take a break?”

“Of course, my Prince.”

And with that, I slipped away. As I closed the door behind me, I could hear the three voices rise as they resumed their shouting match. But that wasn’t important. The world fell away into secondary distractions as I embodied my goal of getting to the wall. Using the skills I had meticulously studied and gathered the past three days, I maneuvered my way through the garden, eventually having snuck right to the guard tower. A quick push and pull later, I made it outside.

“My Prince!” A voice called out, but was quiet enough to not alert anyone. I almost slipped, startled, as I looked about. Dancing Shadow grinned as he melted out of the shadows of the wall.

“Shadow. How…” My voice stalled a little, unsure of what to say. “How’s it going?”

“Haha. I don’t know what that means, but I guess I’m going.” The other boy pulled something out of his pocket. “Here, catch!”

I caught it and looked at it. It was grape-sized and maroon colored. “What is it?”

“Ghost fruit. I bought a bunch of it off of the money you gave me.” He laughed. “Wow, I knew royalty was sheltered, but to not know what ghost fruit is? I don’t even know what to say to that.”

I hummed at him and then at the fruit. It didn’t look poisonous so I licked it, but couldn’t taste much. I steeled myself then took a dainty bite. An unnatural chill numbed my mouth but at the same time an explosion of fruity sweetness spread itself across my tastebuds. I popped the rest of it, savoring how it seemed to just melt in my mouth.

“Thish ish amazing.”

“I know right?” Dancing Shadow tiptoed across an invisible line of his own making. “I think they’re my favorites, so I was really happy to be able to buy a bunch like that.”

“Do you…do you need more money? I don’t know what else I can give you without getting into much trouble.” I scanned every piece of anything that I currently had on my body.

“No, there’s no need for that, my Prince, really.” He turned slightly to look back at me, grinning. “You’ve given me enough as it is. Thank you.”

“Heh.” I chuckled awkwardly, unsure of what to do next. “Yeah, I don’t know. I just, I’ve seen some really bad things and seeing you kind of reminded me of that. I couldn’t help back then, I couldn’t help her, but this time, maybe this time, I could help. I’ll help you. Are you sure you don’t need anything else?”

“...yeah. I’m good. Thanks.” Dancing Shadow’s smile lessened, but the gratitude still seemed sincere and that was enough for me. Just maybe, this could serve as my first step to making things right.

“So…uh, want to go to the tree or something?” I asked, suddenly very aware of how silent it got.

“Tah, actually, I kind of need to go somewhere. You should probably head back too, right?” He glanced up at the sun and took a few steps back, his face apologetic.

“Oh, yeah. Probably.” I sighed, suddenly terrified of what my handmaid would do if she found out. “See you later, maybe?”

“Yeah. Maybe.” He started walking off but turned back after a few steps. “How about in seven days at the same time?”

“Sure!” I smiled as he sped off. That smile stayed plastered on as I dodged my way back through the garden and walked back into my room. The bed was comfy and definitely felt a lot better after that chaotic lesson and little excursion.

I’m not sure when it happened, but I must’ve dozed off as loud pounding woke me up. Bleary eyed, I pushed myself up and croaked for them to enter. My handmaid rushed in with such a frenzy, the shock woke me up.

“What’s wrong?”

“My Prince, we need to move. Now!” She grabbed a chair and thrust it underneath the door handle. She then grabbed a vanity closet and heaved with all her might, briefly impressing me with her strength. “We’re…heeeee…under attack. My priority is getting you to safety. Quick, the secret passage.”

I followed dumbly as she led me to a section of the stone wall where a torch hung. I half expected her to pull it but instead she punched the wall with all her might. I gaped as the wall crumbled underneath her blow, revealing a staircase. My brain couldn’t keep up but whatever thought processes I did have were immediately dashed as she pulled me in.

The staircase spiraled deeper and the air got crispier. I struggled to keep up, but my handmaid made sure to never lose sight of me. It was when we got real deep that I noticed that she had snatched the torch earlier, guiding our footsteps.

“Who’s…who’s attacking? What about the King and Queen?” I managed to breathe out. “And how?”

“I don’t know. It doesn’t matter. Your safety matters.” The crackle of the fire echoed in the loneliness of the secret tunnel. “As for the King and Queen, we’re going to meet up with them at the end of this passage.”

Her curtness and pace didn’t leave much room for any other questions so I followed quietly. I had never considered myself claustrophobic but I suppose everyone has their limits. The cobblestone walls loomed over me, even higher than the tallest skyscrapers I knew in my previous life. The endless stretch of darkness just oozed horrors that can only be conjured by the mind.

“Here we are.” She announced after a while, as they stopped by a random section of said wall. It looked innocuous but I took a step back nonetheless. Sure enough, she pulverized the stone, leaving me uncharacteristically worried about someone’s knuckles.

The now opened wall exposed what looked to be a cellar. A few guards were huddled by a staircase going up and in the far back, a few handful of women and children huddled behind barrels of what I assumed to be wine.

“Head Maid, what’s the situation out there?” One guard came to her and asked.

“There are rumors it’s Empire mercs.” She replied just as tense. A guard in the back cursed only to be smacked by another. “Where are Our Majesties?”

“They haven’t gotten here yet. We’ve been ordered to stay here and guard. If possible, can we ask you to go out and look for them?”

“Will you protect Our Prince?”

“Even The Writer wouldn’t be able to spin a fate upon my failure.” The guard announced his conviction. My handmaid nodded then turned to me.

“You stay here and stay safe. Going out will not only endanger you but everyone here.” She looked straight into my eyes until I nodded fearfully. She was completely different from what I’ve known.

“Um…”

“Yes?”

“Can I ask…what’s your name?” It didn’t seem right to have somebody I only knew in half to risk their life for me.

“...it’s Kalli, my Prince.” She seemed to smile a little at that, but it disappeared just as quickly. She grabbed an empty tankard from somewhere and patted me on the shoulder. “It will soon be over, my Prince. To worry about fate is like fighting the storm itself. What the Writer writes will be.” Kalli chuckled grimly before taking off. The other guards saluted her as she breezed by them up the stairs only to disappear at the top.

I had read a quote once for history class. War is ninety percent doing nothing and waiting. What it didn’t mention was the excruciating nothingness that waiting was. Every single second that ticked by was met with thumping stress. Every hour that passed could not be differentiated from the hour before.

The sounds of guards shuffling their feet, the cries from children, the occasional rumble from up above. It all played on a loop in my mind, burrowing itself into my very subconscious. Escapism had never been my thing as there was no point when I needed a destination to reach, why waste a second looking away. And yet, I searched for something, for anything, just to disappear from this fragile reality.

When the doors exploded inward, scattering wooden and metal shards everywhere, I nearly took it as my own imagination searching for entertainment. It was the horrific screams of one guard whose abdomen was pierced by a metal hinge that snapped me back to reality.

I slowly looked up from the now pooling blood to the two shadowy figures standing above them. One carried two arm blades that accentuated the sheer deadliness his figure seemed to scream. The other carried just a normal sword but exuded a familiar aura tainted by a weariness borne from the suffering of a soul.

“Ehehehe, what do we have here, Pure? Shall we stain the wine?” Arm-blades cackled. It was then that I clocked in on the screams and whimpers of the families who were hiding in the back.

“There’s no need to harm innocents, Child. Let us continue.” Sword sighed. Even his voice sounded familiar.

“Tsk. You never let me have any fun. What’s wrong, is your title too heavy a title?” Child, supposedly, chuckled with a gratingness that sent shivers down your very soul. “Suppose The Reaper will bless my blades and I strike them down right here, what would you do, Pure?”

“Nothing because The Writer hasn’t written this fate. We also shouldn’t keep the captain waiting, you know how she gets when we’re late.” Pure’s voice didn’t even waver.

“Torn fates, I’d forgotten about that.” Child slapped Pure on the back. “You’re alright sometimes, Pure. But…just in case the people down there think they’re safe. The King and Queen are dead, the Kingdom’s going to The Reaper.”

My body completely froze as I watched the two figures retreat before eventually disappearing. Their words echoed like a pendulum, ringing through my very being. The King and Queen, forever upon the Kingdom’s thrones, were dead.