Slowly Burning

The Harvest

Even though the sun was beating down on the prince, he still tried to do anything to help until it was by far way too obvious he was suffering from a heat stroke. Sweat dripping down his face, trying to wipe it off with the sleeve of his shirt.

His caretaker used a damp wash cloth in order to cool his Majesty off, giving a small sigh. "your highness, please take a break for a bit. I'm positive no one would care if you relaxed for a moment. Please, it's for your own health." He reminded kindly, hoping his words would reach the prince.

Val was not one for getting babied, especially not by his own worker and friend. He was a strange and sometimes downright cruel person to serve under, as Zeke had learned from experience not to cross him. His worst offense was being late, and ending up cleaning the entire bathroom with nothing but a tooth brush. It took him two days to complete but he was never late again, so Val kept on doing as he pleased.

Of course, just because he was the one handing out punishments didn't mean he was clear from them either. The worst punishment Val got was polishing shoes, and by polishing shoes he was meant to do the entire kingdoms. Anyone who stepped up would have their shoes shined to perfection. Of course it was only for a day when he was younger and misbehaving, and he has, shockingly, toned it down quite a bit. Zeke didn't even want to imagine what a rascal the prince was before his parents finally intervened.

Zeke brought a chair in to the farm land, getting it a bit muddy but nothing that would have him killed by the other servants over, propping it up for the prince before grabbing him a glass of water, the ice clinking as he walked. It was a dainty sound, almost to the rhythm that he used to dance to with Queen Miora in his dreams. He wished to see her again without having to contact his father. Val took a seat after being promoted to again by Zeke, sipping on the water.

 Zeke knelt down in front of the prince, getting both his boots and trousers muddy in the process as he got to work on farming the vegetables. He ripped the carrots out of the ground, tossing them in to a basket. He felt a pressure on his back, giving a small chuckle. "Your highness, what are you doing?"

"Using my servant as a stool. Since you insisted I relaxed." The royal replied, crossing his legs. Now the back of Zeke's white shirt were covered in a muddy boot print. He'd definitely get fussed at for that one.

Zeke didn't mind it, it wasn't an overbearing push on his back either, and anything to keep the prince from over exhausting himself. He didn't want the prince to end up like his mother, no matter what. "Alright your majesty, I already said you're allowed to use me however you please, if it is professional or not. This would fall under the not professional, in case you were wonder-" he didn't finish his sentence, instead getting a small push on his back. Definitely a signal to shut the hell up. Fair game. He was getting by far way too cocky when speaking to royalty too.

Though as the local paper boy ran around, taking notes of what he saw to return in order to write daily papers, well he spotted what the prince and the servant were doing and went to investigate. Maybe, he would finally have his big break. After all, the point of his holiday was for the royalty to be reminded that they are like the common folk, the peasants even, and here was the youngest prince using said common folk like a chair.

Zeke spotted the paper boy approaching first, now there was one thing Val hated more than getting interrupted while working, and that was getting interrupted when he was taking a break 'for once'. He spoke up first, making sure he was audible from a larger distance, something he couldn't have dreamed of a few years ago. 

The night before his father killed the Queen, he had finally surrendered to King Rota. The war had lasted for years and finally he agreed to go on their land and write the agreement. When he got there, former King Brutus was shocked to see his son behind the prince. Zeke, even as a prisoner had kept following around Val, seeing as that's where he felt safest. Plus, it was easy for king Rota to keep an eye on him. Most of their communication was through writing as Zeke was still banned from speaking to those outside of the family. It was one of the ways Brutus intended to make sure if one of his children were captured, they wouldn't be able to tell.