The Princess's Servant

74. Ground Rules

Sybil turned to face Holden, who stood above her, clutching a burlap bag. Sybil clutched the diary close to her. "I didn't think you'd be back so soon," she said.

"Clearly." He moved his eyes from her to the kitchen table. He set down his bag and pulled something out. "Here." He tossed something at her.

Sybil caught it. It was a small white cotton bag with something soft and heavy in it. "This is..."

"Food." Holden pulled vegetables and cured meat out of the sack and tucked them away into the cupboards. "I figured you'd be hungry after... Well, everything, so I got you something to eat. You're welcome."

Sybil looked inside. Bread rolls and... Dried apricots. She thought back to that day with the boar and her lunch. Was this some sort of retaliation? She wondered. Or was this just the only food he knew she liked?

"Tell me." Holden headed to the wash basin and poured water over his hands. "My brother — was he harsh with you? Or did he leave you alone like I asked?"

Sybil shifted as she remembered their conversation. "Oh, he was great," she said. "He gave me a pat on the back and a huge warm welcome to the royal family."

"Uh-huh," Holden replied without turning. "And did he get so excited that he did anything to you? Or have Sebastian do anything to you?"

"If by 'do anything' you mean 'physically harm,' then of course not. That would be illegal. Wouldn't it?"

"It would."

Sybil felt the phantom impression of ropes and shivered a bit. She cleared her throat. "Hey, listen," she said, doing her best to conceal how desperate she was to change the subject. She set the apricots and rolls down on the couch and approached her former servant. "I was thinking..."

Holden reached for a hand cloth and eyed her skeptically.

"And if we are to live as a married couple..."

"Which, we are."

"Then I think we should set some ground rules."

Holden smiled a bit as though something was funny. "'Ground rules,'" he repeated.

"You know, to coexist."

Holden sat down at the kitchen table but Sybil stayed standing.

"I think it's fairly obvious that we have our differences. But with some adjustments, I think we can make it work."

"'Adjustments.' What sort of adjustments?"

"Well," Sybil paced once or twice back and forth. "For starters, I'm going to need my own place."

"You want you own cabin?"

Sybil couldn't help but crack a smile. "Not quite. Listen," she leaned forward on the back of a chair. "This little house of yours is charming, but it's not really suited for a princess — let alone a couple. I want a my own home with high walls and a garden. And an interior courtyard. And my own staff. Oh! And a sunroom," Sybil counted on her fingers. "And a circular library — around the courtyard. And definitely a place for Peaches."

"So... you'd like a palace," Holden said.

"Precisely." Sybil smiled.

"Your own palace. Just to 'coexist.'"

"Well... That's not all." Sybil stood up straight and paced around a little again. "I'm also going to to need to visit Lailoy for at least half the year. I was and still am to be their queen, and I can't afford to be away from my people for so long. Not only that, but I need to be recognized as a legal citizen by the Wardian court. I refuse to be bound to you or any other man in this god-forsaken empire. And I'm going to need that in formal writing and publicly announced to the entire empire."

"Anything else? Would you like half the treasury, too?" Holden asked.

"I would not ask too much. That's all I need. For now."

"Fantastic," Holden stood. "I grant you all of it."

Sybil froze where she stood and blinked a couple times. She waited for him to break into laughter or to tell her this was all a joke.

The prince did neither.

"Seriously?" She asked.

"Sure," Holden shrugged. "As long you do one thing in exchange."

Sybil tilted her head. "And that is?"

"I want you to promise that you'll never hurt me ever again."

Now Sybil smiled. "Ha ha," she said crossing her arms.

But he just stared at her back.

The princess's smile twitched. "You can't be serious," she said.

Holden sat back down. "But I am. If you can promise to never harm me or attempt to harm me ever again, and if you can keep that promise, then I will give you everything you ask. Now and forever."

Sybil laughed a little. "Oh, come on, Wardian! There's no way—"

Holden just looked at her.

"I mean— It's a little much to ask, don't you think?" Sybil thought on it. She thought hard. "Like maybe if once a week I could—"

The prince shook his head.

"Er— Twice a month—"

Another head shake.

"Once a year?"

"Never again, Sybil."

Sybil slouched a little and her smile faded into a frown. "But... That's not reasonable," she told him.

Holden stood from his seat. "You may not think so," he said. "But it's the only thing I want." He turned from her and stuffed the empty burlap bag into a drawer. "So unless you agree to those terms, then I'm not giving you anything."

Sybil simply watched him. "You... Have changed," she told him.

He shot her a glare from over his shoulder. "And you haven't," he said. "So I need you to make that promise."

Sybil exhaled and dropped her arms to her side. She stepped past the prince and put her hand on the front door.

"Where are you going?" he asked her.

Now it was Sybil's turn to glare. "Out."

"Out where?"

"It doesn't matter. That is what a good wife doesn't, isn't it? Excuses herself while the urge to impale her husband with a fire poker passes?"

Holden glanced at his fireplace instinctively. The iron fire poker was miraculously still there.

"I'll be back before dawn," the princess said, and she pushed the door open.

"Wait, Sybil—" Holden took a few steps towards her.

To his slight surprise, she stopped. But she did not turn around.

"The light is falling," he told her. "Take this." And he tossed her a green velvet cloak that landed on her shoulder.

Sybil took the cloak in hand. She brushed its silken surface. "You're terrible at this, you know." She draped the cloak around her and tied the ribbon. "If the roles were reversed, I could have made you swear whatever I wanted five times over by now."

Holden just looked at her. "The roles were reversed, Princess."

Sybil stood stark-still. "Goodnight, Wardian." And she took a step off his wooden porch, down the little steps.

"Yeah, don't hurry back," he said, and he shut the door behind her. Sybil just kept traveling forward, into that thick and darkening wood.

A/N:

Please vote! :)