The Failed Contract

[Eyelessraven]

Christine turned towards the window blinking a few times as her brown eyes adjusted to the vivid light outside. It was a special day and she couldn't wait to tell her majesty. The Valain kingdom had a special announcement that they were going to visit their decades old allies the Serion kingdom. Valain was a much smaller kingdom compared to the 6 major kingdoms, but they had backed up the Serion family for as long as either family could remember. Christine quickly made her way to the princes chambers and lightly knocked on the dark wooden doors. "Your majesty? I spoke with the town crier today, and I have important news!" She spoke softly, but loud enough to help calmly interrupt his slumber as she stepped inside. The small maiden stood about 5 feet and was as innocent as she looked. She took a ribbon and tied her long medium brown hair into a messy bun and moved over to open the curtains letting in a bit of light. "We'll be having a visitor today; can you guess who it is?" She asked turning to meet his eyes with hers.


@Karate Cat

 

[Karate Cat]

Argillys Frauvert Serion winced upon receiving sudden sunlight. The Prince had been undertaking an all-night spree of reading books. Piles upon piles of tomes were scattered all over his feet, another pile on the tables on his either side, and a book he was concentrating on was laid open on his lap, his figure hunching over on the sofa as he was getting absorbed into the book.


He wasn't sleeping like everyone else had thought. It was a bad habit of his, and one which the servants had reprimanded him again and again. He was so absorbed with the book that he didn't notice Christine coming in, and she certainly hadn't noticed him as well as the corner he was sitting on was on the blind spot from the door.


"Ugh," he grimaced, trying to suppress a yawn. "Have mercy at me, my eyes weren't adjusted yet," he pressed his fingers on his eyes and began to massage them. It might not make it better, but the feeling of contact was nice. "What did you say again? Something about visitor?"

 

[Eyelessraven]

Christine turned to see the tomes resting around the young prince. "Your majesty! Were you up all night again?! One day I'll send a guard in here to be sure you sleep properly." She teased as a polite thread. "I said the Valian's are coming to visit your kingdom today. Their bringing their daughter to come meet their favorite allies for the first time! Of course your father wants you to personally show the princesses around. He said it'd be good for you to get out of the castle." She said softly and moved to take the book away from the prince and begin cleaning up his mess. "Every room must be perfect. Mother is working on polishing the kitchen utensils and I guess i'll start here. With all these books the room just looks cluttered your highness you really must stop." She nagged, but it was for his own good. He can't be a good king tired all the time and it worried her and the king. Christine sometimes wondered why he read so much instead of going out to see the people more, but it was not her place to ask. The prince was always kind to her like a friend more than a servant, but her mother always warned her not to get to  close to royalty. The small maiden shook her head and silently went to go run the princes bath water.  Hopefully this would awake him enough to be ready for the Valian family's arrival.

 

[Karate Cat]

Argillys raised his hands up in the air. "Spare me that, please. I'll be careful from now on." Which was a lie...or not. He had said that for a long time now, and he did try hard to sleep, but that one more page or one last look had always kept him up all night. There was too many thing he needed to know, to understand, and the days were barely enough. He wanted to protest a bit when Christine started to clean his "mess", but ultimately decided to not struggle so it will finish faster.


"I'm just a no-good Prince stuck in the castle all day, it must be a good riddance for my father," not like he was the only successor for the throne. There were sixteen more Princes, although half of them were still kids. Even so, it was no secret that the King favored the second Prince, who had led many successful campaigns at the northern border. As for him, the Seventh Prince had been famously known as the "shut-in Prince". Reading books all day either in his room or the royal library, showing no interest in the military or kingdom management.


"So I am to be a tour guide for the princess. A ploy to get me out of the castle, huh. Well, not that it's so bad by itself. So what should I prepare...err, Chris?" She had went out to prepare for the bath before he could ask that question.

 

[Eyelessraven]

Christine filled the bath with warm water and opened the door for the prince to enter. "You're not a no-good prince, don't think of yourself that way it'll never get the throne! Now, your bath is ready if you need anything I'll be tidying up the place." She commented sweetly and moved past him to fix the freshly agitated bed linens. "You know your father sees this as a huge opportunity. As a king you'll need a queen." She commented drifting off and leaving the rest for his mind to piece together. She wasn't told this of course, but Christine had overheard the kind talking to the royal adviser about possible romance opportunities and how it would help redeem the princes image. Christine personally didn't agree with using the princess as a ploy, but she knew it would help the prince win this war betwixt his half bothers and that's all that mattered to her. "I wonder what the princess is like? Do you think she's blonde hair with blue eyes? A pink royal gown? maybe even satin slippers?" Christine fantasized aloud for the prince to hear while he rested in the bath.

 

[Karate Cat]

Looking at her coming back and spouting nonsense made him want to smile. Good ol' Christine had served the castle ever since he came here six years ago. Deciding to come to the capital all by himself from his hometown in the Frauvert domain down south was a tough decision, but having an honest servant like her helped his transition more than she could've thought of. She felt like a friend, something nobles found hard to find in their life. Nevermind whether she was instructed to play that role or not, what he felt was the most important.


He slowly lowered himself into the bath, enjoying how the warm water refreshed his sleepy mind. Chris had been talking about the princess for a while now, but he didn't really think much of it. "Chris, I'm not really interested in being a King," he replied from within the bathroom loud enough so she could hear it. "Brother Einrich is better suited for it. Or it could be brother Cruzefort. I'm not the type who want to burden myself with kingly duties."

 

[Eyelessraven]

Christine sighed softly. He didn't have to say it since it was rather obvious but it pained her none the less. "You have the talent to be so much more than what you're allowing yourself to be... It pains me to see you let go such an opportunity." She said softly and started to take the piles of books out of his room and into the royal library. What will happen to him when he isn't announced king? Will his brothers make him move back home? What of her? She's been with him ever since she came out of training, and at this point she only knows how he works and how to serve him. The thoughts scared her, but maybe this new princess will convince him otherwise. As she came back for the next stack of books she noticed a panic among the servants and knew they were close. She rushed to the princes room and slowly entered. "Your majesty! Their in town are you prepared?"

 

[Karate Cat]

Argillys had went out of the bath and dried himself after hearing Christine exiting his room. Probably to bring the books back to royal library below...correct. He sighed. Opening his wardrobe, he laid eyes on the clothing he wanted to wear today. Being a Prince, servants were ready at hand to assist him in every aspect of his life, including getting dressed. However, he had preferred to get dressed by himself from time to time, which was also helped by the fact that he rarely exited the castle and thus not needing much assistance in the fashion division.


This time he chose a simple black shirt and pants to wear, covered by dark blue jacket emblazoned with the royal crest of Serion, a black dragon. He's supposed to guide the princess around the city, and so something with ease of movement in mind like this should be best instead of overly-decorative clothes. As he finished getting dressed, Christine entered the room. They were here already? Damn that's fast.


"I'm not actually, but what can I do? Heh, let's just get this up and over with," he picked his favorite rapier and put it on his waist. "So what should I do? Do you have the instruction?" 

 

[Eyelessraven]

Christine smiled to the prince and helped to straighten his clothing and hair. "Just take her out for a stroll. Show her our kingdom and how amazing it is! If the girl's going to be forced into an arranged marriage like they say she is you gotta make her at least like the place." Christine muttered the last part and stepped back taking a good look at him. "They started their travels last night just so they could make it here by morning. Maybe you should show her around the castle first let her get settled in her room before offering to take her out." The maiden herself seemed a bit nervous about the princesses arrival. It wasn't often that they got visitors since the supposed cold war among the brothers started, but with a princess in the mix this was sure to start some kind of trouble. With her being the daughter of a great ally talks of arranged marriages were bound to happen... unless she fell in love with one of the brothers then his chance of getting the throne would passively greater. Christine turned to see her mother had entered the room with news of the Valian's arrival. With another quick check up Christine wished the young prince good luck and walked down the grand stairs with him to the main hall where the guests waited for the king to come greet them as well.


Esmour walked through the castle doors with her "father" and shifted looking at her new surroundings. She wasn't the slightest impressed with the place. All castles looked the same it seemed, just different colors and royal paintings of king and queens faces decorated he walls. She gave a straight look of not wanting to be there but kept her posture and a fake smile as she saw the prince enter the room. King Evian Valian walked over and gave the prince a firm handshake. "Argilly! It's been a while dear boy!" He cheered. Evian was a burly man with a full dark brown bear and mustache that was lightly starting to grey. He had deep green eyes and a hearty laugh that no one could forget. He used to roam these halls a lot more with how close he was with the king. Like a second brother it seemed, but when the seventeen princes grew up to start this silent war he stopped visiting as much as to not get in the way or be accused of showing favoritism and swaying the king's opinion. "Argilly, please meet my dear daughter Esmour!" He said patting the lad on the back and moving him closer to the dark haired female before them. Her piercing light brown eyes stared into his soul as her rosy lips curled into a more genuine smile, but maybe for the wrong reasons. "It's an honor to finally meet you, father has told me many stories of your family." She spoke in a low tone, seductive even, but not intentional. She broke eye contact for a brief moment to straighten her long brown dress and moved to gaze to her father with a gentle smile.

 

[Karate Cat]

Argillys gave Christine a wry smile. Marriage was not something he'd like to think at the moment, thank you. But alas, it was the duty of a royalty to at least look the part. He muttered thanks to Christine and her mother in the passing, then braced himself for the meeting.


The grand hall, where countless parties and diplomatic meetings had been taking place in the past, was a large room lined with paintings of previous Kings and Queens who'd once sat at the throne of Serion. It was lavishly built to show off the greatness of the Kingdom, although for Argillys it fell to a bad taste. Too extravagant. Too stifling. Servants stood ready at the sides, bowing toward him and the guests who had entered from the opposite door. Argillys remembered King Evian Valian. While his father had felt cold and distant to him, King Evian had always been a nice uncle. Outside of official duties, he would told him of various misadventures the King had taken in his youth. It was fun.


"It's been a while, uncle! ...uh, no, that's wrong," he coughed. King Evian had always been like that, carefree and loose on protocol. If only his father would be more like that. But today he should play the card of a good Prince, so he straightened his posture and gave him a slight bow. "Welcome to our castle, Your Majesty. It's been an honor to be graced by your presence today."


When King Evian turned him toward his daughter, however, Argillys' eyes grew wider. To tell the truth, even before Christine informed him of her arrival, he had heard about her since long ago. She was as beautiful as what had been described to him, no, even more than that. He had waited for her for quite a while, and now the real sight of her in front of him was breathtaking. For a few seconds he stayed silent like a fool, until he noticed the servants were staring at him. Once more he straightened his back and then gave her a bow.


"The pleasure is all mine. You are more beautiful than what I've been told." He had a soft eyes while looking at her, a sense of relief and satisfaction.

 

[Eyelessraven]

At the princes pause she gave a slight blush and looked down causing her hair to cover parts of her soft face. "Thank you." She replied and turned to see the servants start to unload their belongings from the carriage. There was a silent pause between the three before Evian gave a deep clearing of his throat. "Do you mind making sure my princess gets to her room safely? I've got to see my old friend again it's been ages!" He chucked whole heartedly and turned to head into the throne room to see if he could find the king. Esmour stood for another quick moment of silence before looking back to the prince. "I can have a servant show me to my room. I'm sure my arrival interrupted something. It was a little unexpected for all of us, but kings get what kings want." She trailed off rubbing the velvet sleeve of her dress. Esmour wasn't the type to be pampered or get in the way of someones duties and she wasn't going to start by bothering the prince.

 

[Karate Cat]

King Evian's random quip returned Argillys to reality. He watched as the King went over toward the door behind him, most likely heading to the throne room. His father would be saying things like "what are you doing, it's such a bother," but deep down he knew that his father enjoyed King Evian's presence as well. Nothing alleviate stress faster than an old friend.


He turned to this princess from another Kingdom, to whom he had been given the honor to keep company of for the next few days. He waved his hands and showed her a smile. The official smile he had trained himself to give to people for communication purpose. Nevertheless, to be able to smile means he wasn't bothered by her presence.


"Please, do not think of such things! You had come at the right time, I had just finished studying the politics of the land, and right now I am quite free," he held up his hand on his back, secretly stopping Christine from blabbering that he had just read random books about Magic and children's tales. Can't have his image of a perfect Prince be broken in front of the Princess now! Especially for someone this beautiful.


"While I agree that the servant can show you your room just fine, it would be a pity if you just holed up in your room for the entire day, right? Therefore let me be your entertainer until it is time to take a rest. Pray tell me if you have something you want to see, or should I show you the halls? While this castle might not be as interesting as your own, I am sure that we would have something which will perk our interest."

 

[Eyelessraven]

Esmour raised one of her perfectly shaped eyebrows. "Studying the politics of the land hmm?" She said seeming less interested than he might have hoped. "I suppose if you don't mind, I've never been here before after all so, wheres your favorite place in the castle?" She asked seeming genuinely interested as she stepped forward. She took a moment to appreciate his looks as he had done hers but stopped herself from admiring to much so she hopefully wouldn't have been caught by him. "Though, do you mind if i wash up first? I've been in a carriage with my father all night I'm sure I don't look the best right now." She chuckled lightly and moved strands of her hair behind her ear.

 

[Karate Cat]

Argillys was taken aback when she stepped forward. Although meeting her gaze with a straight eyes before, now he averted them a bit due to nervousness."Why, I honestly don't have many places which I can call favorites. My room would be one, by chance," he winked mischievously, "but there is also the library. And the treasury, which held quite a few interesting artifacts. Uncle...I mean, your father, His Majesty, should've told you this much, right?"


He started to explain eagerly, like a child. When she said that she wanted to wash up first, he motioned for Christine to come closer. "Ah, certainly. Forgive me for being so uncouth. Chris, could you help to attend to the princess' need? I presume it would be less awkward if it was between women. In the meantime, I shall continue my study in the library, if you allow me to do so. Chris knows where it is, she can guide you there. I'd also like to show you our Royal Library. However unimpressive it might be, it's still a place I hold dear."

 

[Eyelessraven]

Esmour seemed unamused by his lewd comment of his room, but lit up a bit when he shared his genuine interest in the library." Um, well, not really actually. I've really just heard about how good of a prince you are. You focus on your studies a lot it seems from what father shared and you've told me so." She shrugged and turned to see Christine move closer and bow to the princess with a kind smile. 


Chirstine smiled to the prince as a goodbye and lead the princess to her room. "Is this room alright for you?" She asked sweetly, but the princess didn't really seem interested in her help. She acted similar to the prince treating Chris with kindness, but gently refusing all of her services and even opted to have Christine just leave.


At last Esmour was alone. She quickly counted her suit cases to be sure they were all there and started to unpack before the servants had a chance to go through her things. It'd be a pretty big problem if they found her stash of poisons and daggers that were held in her leather warp for them. She slid the wrap under her mattress and continued to put up the rest of her items before moving into the bathroom to clean her face and go for a more natural  look. Her father had insisted she wear make up to try to impress him, but her complexion was near perfect and she honestly hated having to do such things. Regardless she slipped into a lilac silk gown with wide sleeves and gold trimmings of scroll work. Esmour gave herself a flower grown and lightly brushed her hair before having Christine escort her to the library. "Why hello your highness. Mind if I join you?" She asked in her usual seductress voice. She stood in the doorway waiting for his response before stepping into the large room. She glanced around and noticed a few stacks of the child tales and such that he had read just last night. Her fingertips running over the leather spine as she read the titles.

 

[Karate Cat]

Argillys had perched in his usual corner in the deepest reach of the royal library. His father, the King, rarely visited this place, and the only ones who would frequented this place would be himself and the fourth Prince, Cruzefort. On his lap was the book he was currently immersed in, the history of the Three Goddess Church. It was the major religion among the six Kingdoms, the only thing which become a commonalities between the rivals. While each Kingdoms had their own representatives of the Church, the organization itself remained neutral from the power struggle and maintaned delicate peace throughout the continent.


On the desk beside him was another book, the history of Valian. It was one of the series telling histories of neighboring Kingdoms, a staple read for rulers. Knowing your enemy was half of the battle, after all. He put it as precaution in case the princess did join him in the library, so he can maintain his image of a serious Prince.


Unluckily he was too immersed in his reading such that he didn't hear their footsteps coming closer. Only when the princess had spoken to him that he awkwardly looked up to meet her gaze as she strolled closer while examining books stacked around the shelves. Oh sh...he quickly closed the book on his lap, trying to switch to that other book, but frankly it was already too late.


"W-welcome! I was too immersed in my 'study' that I didn't hear you coming! Haha..." he said with a strained smile.

 

[Eyelessraven]

Esmour moved over to Argilly's side and picked up the book that was resting next to him with a sigh. "The history of Valian huh? Reading up on me?" She asked, but seemed to know it wasn't true as she turned to the book he had in his lap. "You don't have to lie, I get it. No one really studies when they go to the library. Christine told me what you really do in here." She smiled and sat next to him, but not to close as she lifted a different book that was stacked next to him. She flipped to the first page and began to read the prologue to see if she wanted to read it. "Do you mind if I take one to my room tonight?" She asked looking up to meet his gentle gaze. She seemed much happier now that she was in a more natural appearance and even looked more beautiful if that was possible.

 

[Karate Cat]

Ah, so it was Chris, he sent a glare over to where Christine was standing. He kinda expected her to do so though, after all he didn't expect his facade to hold up for too long. He sighed. "Okay, you guys got me. I'm just reading on the Three Goddess Church. You got one in Valian too, right? They're an interesting bunch. Especially here in the capital, because their Head Priest for this Kingdom resides here. Not like I've ever met him though, only my Father had the honor of given audience with such important person. I've heard that he was still young though, only a few years older than me."


Being the official religion of the six Kingdoms, their position was strong, both religiously and politically. Therefore it was not strange that the King and the Head Priest would establish a mutually beneficial connection between each other. If he wanted to be a King, it would be his duty to maintain that connection in the future.


"It would be a pleasure if you would take the book. Please, do not hesitate to do so!" He replied excitedly. He seemed to be happy that the princess showed interest in his hobby. He had thought that she was beautiful before, but now that she looked more relaxed, he found this natural appearance of her more intriguing.


"Ahem, so, welcome to the royal library. You can find any book that you want here, and personally I also helped to procure some of the rare books here, if I might add. I hope you find this place pleasant."

 

[Eyelessraven]

As Christine received a glare from her majesty she gave a harmless eye roll as she turned exiting the room to give them a bit more privacy. She didn't mean to upset her prince just give him a bit more of a chance with the princess. Esmour didn't seem like the normal stuck up princess type so revealing this information wouldn't have hurt.


Esmour gave a gently smile and closed the book that rested in her lap. "That sounds like fun... My father never lets me go out anymore. After what happened in our kingdom I'm surprised he even left, but I'm sure there's a reason why." She admitted but tried not to go into much detail, but he could see the pain within her eyes as she spoke about the topic. She took a deep breath and stood moving over to glance at a bookshelf to try and break the tension she had created for herself if not both of them. 


Christine knocked on the door to the library and slightly opened the door. "Your majesty? Me and the servants have set up the noon snack you requested in the garden." Christine knew he didn't actually request a snack but she seemed to intrigue Esmour with it as the princess turned.


"A snack in the garden hmm? Do you have anything else planned for me?" She asked seeming to have lightened up as she moved towards the door only waiting for him once she reached it.