The Princess's Servant

45. The Morning After

Holden didn't know the morning had come until the guards opened the dungeon door and revealed a sliver of sunlight. He'd slept as he normally had, slumped against the moistened cobblestone walls of his cell. There was never enough dry stone floor for him to lie down.

But unlike other nights, on this night, Holden had slept well. After his chat with Sebastian, the prince felt as though he could endure any number of tortures over the next three days. Two days, now, he told himself. Whatever the next two days brought, he would bear it. His freedom was just around the bend.

The guards took Holden from his cell and escorted him down the winding hallways until they came to a modest bathroom. The room was empty save a large wooden tub that was set in the center of the stoney floor. They tossed him the lukewarm water and scrubbed at his head and his skin until he couldn't feel the sting of their brushes any longer. They tugged at his limbs to get this place and that, though Holden didn't seem to notice. He just sat through it all, an expression of pure determination written across his face.

They toweled him off; gave him fresh clothes. They led him to that cursed dining room where Sybil had once unleashed the thousand bugs. And though it'd been cleaned, it appeared that one pest remained. At the end of a long walnut table, sitting straight up in the face of the rising sun was the Queen of the Pests herself, the princess of Lailoy.

"Take a seat," said the 'queen.'

Holden stared down at Princess Sybil as she ate from a tiered dish rack and sipped from a tiny cup. He glanced at his own place setting: a gilded teal dish full of bright yellow eggs, thick buttery toast, and a pinkish sort of citrus fruit that resembled the oranges they grew in the south. He stood there as he decided what he wanted to do. Did he want to sit? Did he want to stand? Did he want to try and leave the room right then and there?

The guards left Holden's side and closed the doors behind them. He sat down in his chair.

"Are you recovering alright?" The princess asked. Her voice was dampened by their distance. "Last night was pretty intense, and I..." The princess smiled with a certain sadness and gently shook her head.

Holden stared at the princess with the same expression he'd worn in the tub — the same expression he'd worn when he'd woken up.

"I may have gone too far," Sybil told the prince. "I was excited to see you again, and I... I overdid it. I'm sorry." The princess watched Holden from the corner of her eye as she took another forkful of skyberries and waited for his reaction.

But none came. The Wardian didn't so much as blink in the face of her apology.

The girl sighed and slouched in her chair, breaking her perfect posture. She rested her chest against the smooth wood of the table top and placed the heel of her palm against her scrunching cheek. She stared off past the wall with half-open eyes as she sat with her bad feelings.

And then her eyes shot wide. "Hey!" She faced her servant again. "I forgot to tell you — the Wardians found your prince! Turns out he'd just gone bar hopping without telling anyone. Can you believe he caused such a commotion over nothing? So typical of the Wardian royals to not think beyond themselves."

No comment from the prince.

Sybil straightened out in her chair again. "I presume he's on his way back to Ward now, though, safe and sound. That should bring you some relief," she smiled. "Shouldn't it?"

Holden narrowed his eyes at the princess.

She tilted her head and her smile grew on her face. "Oh, come on," she said. "Are you really going to give me the silent treatment? I'm trying to be nice, here."