Sea salt and pomegranates

Two

      The first thing I heard when I woke up was all of the other boys, hustling to get ready, slipping on their tunics, yelling at the people who were still asleep. I groaned, rubbing my tired eyes as my vision adjusted to the daytime. My movements were sluggish as I got up from my bed, my hair disheveled and knotted.
I slipped on a tunic myself, placing sandals on my feet before heading to the kitchen, where all of us ate. We would eat after the cooks and a number of us helped serve the King and the Prince, but lucky for me, I wasn't one of those people, so I could wake up each morning without seeing Prince Nektarios's face.
I stuffed a piece of bread in my mouth. It tasted decent, and I was grateful for that.
"Fotis!" Selene hissed at me, bringing me back to reality. "How are you this morning?" She softly asked.
I perk up as I see her. "Selene! I've been well." I then clear my throat, looking up at her. "How have you been?"
She grinned. "I have been well." She stuffed a piece of bread in her mouth, chewing it loudly.
The two of us and the other servants soon scattered, doing our work slowly, none of us fully awake yet.

I scrubbed the flooring of the luxurious palace, my knees aching from sitting on them as I worked. I fought the urge to sneeze, the dust getting into my eyes. I bit my lips, continuing to do so, but now with more anger and frustration. My knuckles became red from scrubbing too hard, my body aching from cleaning for the last two hours.
If I couldn't clean for two hours, how come Nektarios could train for five hours..? I wondered. I gritted my teeth. He was perfect in every way, no flaws whatsoever. It bothered me profusely. He was a demigod, sure, but he was still somewhat mortal. How could he do everything so swiftly and elegantly, with barely any effort, or so I thought.
"Foolish..." I mutter, practically grinding my teeth, my jaw aching.
Foolish prince...that's what he was.
I tried to take my mind off of him, but he was the only thing I could think of now, as though he had invaded my brain. Why? Why couldn't I stop thinking about the prince?
I bet he'd be laughing at me if he found out. I somehow hated the idea of that, even though I completely despised the prince. How could he not have realized yet? Or did he just pretend not to notice..?
Before I even realized it, I had stopped cleaning, and was now walking around the halls, getting them more dirty. I'd most likely have to reclean afterwards.
I didn't fight it, and just walked, letting my mind guide me. But to my dismay, I stopped walking at the end of a hallway, realizing I was right in front of the prince's room.
I clenched my fists, digging my nails into my palm, the marks red on my skin.
Then I heard the dreaded footsteps. My frown deepened, when I saw the Prince walk up to me. "Hello, Fotis." Nektarios said. "Are you having a good morning?"
I nod quickly. Instead of leaving, for some reason, I wanted to stay and talk to him, if he would let me. "I am good, how are you?" I politely asked him.
"I am well." The prince told me, looking me up and down. "If you have finished your duties, I would not mind if you joined me in my room."
My eyes widened, I felt surprised. Why would he want to talk to a mere human who just works, and takes care of him? I was busy, yes, but for some reason, I didn't want to tell him that. Instead I bit my lip, looked him dead in his ocean blue eyes and told him, "I would love to."
We walked into his room, and it looked practically the same from the last time I was there. The only difference was a basket of fruits, and his lyre laid on his bed, though his kithara was still where it was before, untouched.
Nektarios sat down, crossing his legs. I waited for him to instruct me to do anything, but he did not. Instead, he patted the area of the bed next to his own, and said, "You can sit down, if you would like to."
He surprised me more and more, I realized. I nodded slowly and sat down, making sure we were somewhat apart from each other. He reached out to grab an apple from the bowl of fruits, his arm brushing against my own. I felt a tingling sensation through my body, and my cheeks had turned red. He did not seem to notice, as though he was somehow unaware of my presence beside him. He took the apple in his soft and nimble fingers, the fruit balancing on his palms. He then took a bite of the juicy fruit, and I looked up at the food with longing. He noticed this, however, and picked up another apple from the basket. "Would you like one?"
I nodded quickly, and greedily sweeped the second apple from his hands. I watched as Nektarios's dark hair fell over his freckled face, and he pushed it to the side. "Thank you..." I told him, after an awkward pause.
"No problem..." Nektarios replied, smiling gently at me. "I enjoy your company."
He...enjoyed talking with me? I felt guilty for all the things I had thought about him once he said that, my stomach tightening. "Really?"
He nodded. "Yes, it is refreshing, actually." He sat his apple down in his lap, and we looked at each other, his gentle and warm breaths against my face.
"Refreshing..?" I murmur, my eyes still lingering on him. 
Nektarios nodded yet again. "Mhm...you always say what you want in front of me, instead of treating me differently based on my royal title and godly heritage."
I blushed as he said that. It felt unbelievable that this is what he thought about me. He liked my presence? He wasn't bothered by it, nor found it revolting?
"I am a demigod, and heir to the throne, so everyone always treats me with respect and loyalty, but it sometimes is to an upsetting point." Nektarios explained.
I bit into my apple, my mouth becoming slack as he said so. This is how he felt about it all? He finished his apple, placing the core into the bowl before he laid down, propping his head on a majority of his pillows.
"I see..." I murmured, not sure whether he heard it or not. "Are you alright, Prince Nektarios?" I asked him curiously, noticing a solemn expression on the usually so lively and content face of his.
He nodded. "I enjoy my life, but it tends to be too much sometimes, you know?" He sighed, and we sat in a peaceful silence.
I put the core of my own apple in the bowl like he did, and laid down beside him, though my body was slightly stiff, not sure if I was overstaying my welcome.
"I have the exact opposite...mine is always too little." I tell him, sighing.
"Really?" Nektarios said, raising an eyebrow, a glimmer in his bright eyes of green.
His expression was not one that I had seen him wear, for he was usually so formal and elegant, yet there was a mischievous glint in his eyes, one that made him seem even more intriguing to me.
"Yes..." I replied, looking away from his mesmerizing features awkwardly. There was something about him...he had  a tranquil yet mysterious way to him, as though he were hiding something.
The silence started up again, and I bit my lip nervously, my nails digging into the flesh of my palm, making the skin that it had sunk into red. I looked up at him again. He was adjusting the way he laid on his bed, an uncaring and casual expression on his face, his soft features impeccably handsome in the light of the sun that Apollo had seemingly blessed us with, the rays shining down on us in his formal room.
"Calliope is your mother, right? The goddess?" I asked him. I was sure I was right, but I wanted to make sure...I could see all the godly features he had most likely gained from his godly blood, but it still felt unbelievable that I was looking straight into the soft eyes of a demigod, let alone a prince.
"Yes. What about her, Fotis?" Nektarios asked with his soothing voice, the tone making me feel a mixture of contentment and unease. He was too perfect. I despised that fact, I desperately wanted to be like him.
"How does she treat you?" I asked him curiously.
"She treats me well, when she can visit me, but she is usually busy, and I don't see her as often as I wish." Nektarios told me, sighing.
"I see...what about your father, does he pay attention to you?" I asked. I didn't know if I was crossing a line, scared he would kick me out of his room, but I asked the question anyway.
Nektarios stared at me, silent and still. Was he going to kick me out? Did I make a mistake? Instead he nodded, turning away from me. "He is also always busy, for he is king, so it is no surprise that is the case."
I wonder how that would feel, to have two busy parents who barely paid attention to you..? My stomach clenched, I would despise that feeling.
"What about your parents..?" Nektarios asked me.
"Me?" I said, surprised. Why me? My life wasn't as interesting as his own...so why?
He nodded again. I knew that was an order when he did so...I knew his title, I had to tell him if he asked.
"I grew up nearby...my father was a trader, and my mother would weave in her time." I tell him, my breath and words having been shaky. "But, one day, my father disappeared, until someone found his cold, dead body." My voice tightened and I fought not to cry in front of the prince.
Nektarios looked as though he was pitying me, which made me quite bitter. I needed no pity, I did not want to be seen as weak to him.
I would never forgive myself.
"I'm sorry..." Nektarios said. I did not want his kind words, so I shook my head, closing my tear stained eyes tightly.
"It is okay..." I mumble. "Well, after that happened, my mother became sickly, and died not long ago, so your father took me in so I was able to support myself..."
"I never would have guessed..." Nektarios whispered. I then realized he was tearing up too...from my story. He didn't deserve the right to do so, he had no idea how it felt.
"That's alright...nobody does...not many people know, either." I replied.
"Who else knows..?" Nektarios asked me, pushing his dark hair to the side.
"Townspeople." I told him. "I am quite glad I live here now...that way I don't hear the whispers as I pass by their houses..."
Nektarios's eyebrows furrowed, and he reached out to put a comforting hand on my shoulder, but I moved away from his attempt. "You do not need to show me pity. I do not deserve it."
Nektarios interrupted me, "Yes you do." he had spoken. "Everyone does. You may not like me, for whatever reason you may have, but that does not mean I despise you."
I feel my cheeks begin to turn red, his affectionate and kind words soothing me. "I didn't think you noticed..." I admitted.
"I noticed..." He replied simply, stretching out his limbs on the bed, the sheets wrinkling underneath him.
"Then why did you keep going up to me?" I ask him out of curiosity.
"You looked lonely." Nektarios told me. "You always have this sort of longing in your eyes, like you wish things would go back to the way they once were..."
My eyes widened, surprised he could tell that simply from the way I looked.
He then got up, sighing. "I have to begin training. I will see you later, yes?"
I nodded, my expression softer when I looked at him, which frustrated me. I could not become kind to him! "Umm...yes, you will..." I mumble, focusing on my own two feet instead of his bothersome yet handsome features.
He left me alone in his room, and as soon as I knew he was gone, I left myself, though I did so reluctantly, enjoying the big and luxurious yet cozy room that smelled like pomegranate. I noticed the prince smelled like pomegranate as well, along with sea salt. It was refreshing, though I wouldn't tell him that to his face.
Not ever.