The Arsenic Widow #Wattys2015 (mxm)

Chapter Five

I couldn't help myself; I laughed in his face.

For most of my life I have served royalty, but never really came face to face with them. Now that it seems my life is suddenly revolving around them, I was puzzled as to how to act. Especially when a man's name was something like Acorn.

Prince Acorn looked puzzled, as if wondering about my sanity and I slowly stopped laughing and blinked up at the ceiling. Whoa!

The room was glittering with gems and jewels! I could barely even focus on one gem; my eyes kept moving over the grand area and to the walls which were also covered. My eyes finally settled on a woman sitting on a throne, looking at me with a less than impressed look on her face.

I stumbled to my feet, feeling Prince Acorn's hand on my arm to keep me steady. The smile was wiped from my lips and I awkwardly bowed to them, "Good morning. My name is Incent."

"I know who you are," the woman stood from her throne and began walking towards me. "What I want to know is why you came here with such a crazed look in your eyes!"

My eyes flicked from her feet to Prince Acorn's, not wanting to meet either set of eyes, "Uh... well... I am not royalty, so I'm sure my ways must appear rough and untamed to you." It was the best excuse I could think of at the time.

Queen Esmeralda sniffed, "I guess that's acceptable. Oh, do stop bowing!" She sounded put out by my simple stance as if it affected her personally.

I stood awkwardly, finally meeting her eyes. She was a beautiful woman, albeit older than I had first thought. She had pale skin and bright green eyes, much like her son. She had dark brown hair that fell down her back, and that, like the palace walls, was also adorned with sparkling stones.

She seemed to be scrutinising my appearance as well, "I've never met someone with such dark skin before," she mused. "Even your King isn't so dark. Although I'm sure that's because of a long line of royal marriages to people from other kingdoms."

I nodded, wishing I could tell her that she was the palest person I had ever met, but didn't know if she might consider me talking as rude so I kept my mouth shut.

"Are you hungry?" a voice came from beside me and I jumped. Turning, Prince Acorn was still looking at me with worry evident in his eyes.

"Um, no," I murmured, keeping my eyes off him. "I just... the travel makes us a bit sick."

"Yes," the Queen tutted. "Magic. Not our choice of travel, but to each their own. Would you prefer to see your room?" She snapped her fingers and several slaves came to her side.

"Yes, please," I nodded with a grateful smile.

"We've chosen you a fine room that overlooks the great lake that surrounds half of our palace. As you probably already know, it keeps intruders out, so it's probably one of the safest areas."

"Not that you would need to worry about safety," Prince Acorn said softly. "I'm sure you're more than capable of keeping yourself safe."

"And," the Queen sent the Prince an annoyed look for interrupting her, "I have personally picked out an escort for you."

"An escort?" My eyebrows hit my hairline as a young woman stepped forward from the group of servants surrounding her. She was younger than me, probably about 16 years old, with a warm skin tone and dark hair making her an exotic sight in this area. She was beautiful, there was no denying that, but I definitely wasn't interested. I did not want to be creating ties here, whether friendly or sexual. My mind needed to be focused on the task and ready to leave at a moment's notice.

She curtsied in her long, red dress, "Nice to meet you," she said meekly.

"You too," I nodded, before looking back at the Queen. "This is a nice gift but-"

"I chose her," she interrupted, "because her skin was the best match I could find. I felt like you'd feel more at home with someone who looked like you."

I felt a small surge of irritation at how the Queen kept mentioning the colour of my skin, but I kept it down, "Your gift is greatly appreciated."

"Take him to his new quarters," she snapped her fingers and the servants all started moving in one direction except for my 'escort'. Instead, she linked her arm with mine and began leading me away. I threw a look over my shoulder, hoping for someone to save me, but all I saw was Acorn... and the look of amusement on his face.

Bastard.

I shook my head and was led by the escort down an equally glittery hallway, "So, what's your name?" I asked pleasantly, not wanting to refer to her as 'the escort'.

"You can call me whatever you want," she smiled, tightening her grip on my arm. "I'm here to serve you."

"But you must have a name," I frowned. "It feels weird naming someone."

"I don't have one. None of us do. We're raised like that."

"Raised from birth to have no name?"

"That's right," she smiled and stopped at a door. I noticed that the other servants were lined up with their heads bowed. "Here we are. These servants are here to help you with whatever you need, including me of course."

I ran a hand through my hair, "I would just like to look around my room and get used to it," I admitted. "Also have a lie down. My head is killing me!" It was true; my head was thumping with pain from the travel.

The escort waved the other people off and led me into the room. Much to my relief, the room was plain white instead of dazzling and I fell onto the bed with a contented sigh.

"What would you like me to do for you?"

My eyes snapped open at the words and I looked over at the escort, "Uh, nothing. You can, uh, leave?" I felt strange ordering someone around.

She lowered her eyes, "You know, I'm very good with my hands... and my mouth..."

"Please!" I held up a hand and covered my eyes with the other, "I don't want to hear any more! I don't want to use you like that!"

"But..." she let out a long sigh. "Fine, sir."

"Just call me Incent."

"Sir Incent."

I groaned and sat up, "Just Incent. Look, don't look all sad like that!" She was looking up at me with wide eyes. "It's not you... I just... I don't do this sort of thing..."

"You like men?" her eyes widened in understanding. "I can get you a man!"

"No!" I nearly shouted, my head throbbing harder. "I just... I have someone waiting at home for me," I lied. I didn't need this place knowing I fancied men and using that against me.

"She doesn't need to know," she reached out to touch me.

"Just stop!" I took a few breaths before looking at her with a serious gaze. "You seem like a nice girl, but I'm not interested. If you're working here, then you can help me out with things like getting ink when I need to write a letter, but I will not use you like that. Do you understand?"

She snatched her hand back and looked at me in surprise, "I understand."

"Good, now let me rest."

She got up and went to the door. Before she opened it, she looked back at me, biting her lip, "They might get suspicious."

"Let them," I growled. "I have nothing to hide."