Kingdom of Shadows and Lies

Chapter Two

Sebastien

I remain two steps behind as the Princess storms out of the throne room, her curly brown ponytail bouncing behind her as she heads for her personal quarters. She huffs as she flicks through the document.

"This is so unfair," She says, "He never thinks about what I want"

I remain silent.

"Honestly, has it ever occurred to him that perhaps I don't want my marriage to be simply about politics?"

She stops walking and turns around to look up at me with her hazel brown eyes. She looks nothing like the King, getting her brunette curls and dark complexion from her mother, the Queen Consort. She does however get more of her personality from her father than she would care to admit.

"What do you think, Sebastien?"

She truly does like to make my job difficult for me. "I really can't say, Princess."

"But you do agree, do you not?"

I school my features and continue to hold her gaze until she huffs again and turns away.

"You know, it wouldn't hurt to speak your mind every once in a while, Sebastien." She says as she continues on her way.

Once we get to the Princess's quarters, I take my position next to her door as she walks in and slams it behind her.

The Princess can be a bit dramatic at times.

I nod to the guardsman, Adrien, standing on the other side of the door. Having just turned forty years, he is one of the oldest guards assigned to the Princess.

I can often stand here for hours on end, looking straight ahead and assessing the occasional passerby, but this time the Princess is in and out within twenty minutes, bidding farewell to her handmaiden, Marie, and heading on her way again. She is wearing one of her red summer dresses–a colour that she seems to favour–with a long flowy skirt that billows out from the high waist, and her curly hair has been put up in a bun. She mutters something about it being much too early for all this as she turns a corner and opens the door to the sunroom.

The Prince is sitting by the table closest to the window, sipping on a cup of tea and looking out over the grounds, but stands when he sees the Princess.

"Good morning, sister. You're late."

I take my place at the door as I watch their encounter.

"Sorry, Xavier, I had a meeting with Father."

The Prince is every bit the male version of his sister, with brown curly hair and a complexion just a shade lighter than their mother's. The only attribute he doesn't share with her is the blue eyes he gets from their father. Although whilst one might say that the King's blue eyes add to his cold and icy demeanour, Prince Xavier's evoke an image of a clear blue sky on a warm summer's day.

He waits for the Princess to sit as he waves over a maidservant to pour her a cup of tea and place an assortment of pastries and fresh fruit on the table, giving the young maidservant a charming smile that causes her to blush and scuttle off as he sits down, smoothing out his loose white blouse.

"So what is so important that you dragged me out of bed at this hour, Coco?"

This hour being a respectable mid-morning.

The Princess rolls her eyes, "Firstly, I'd actually like to talk about my meeting with father. Do you know of Prince Laserian, second in line to the throne of Taragh?"