At Your Service- A Royalty Solangelo AU

Chapter 22

For the first time in his mission at the palace, Will was given actual clothing to wear rather than a lame chiton which he always found himself draped in. This instead was much similar to what the Aruman Prince wore, long sleeved corseted tops with far too many laces for his liking, and slacks which were somehow tailored perfectly to fit him. The clothing itself was soft, likely made of incredibly expensive silk, but it reminded him perfectly of home. 

He had been standing in the long open hall for what felt like hours now, his mission to tuck away into the shadows to prevent himself from being dragged to help the frenzy of servants running around with last minute preparations. Unfortunately, this left him at the mercy of the many generals and  ambassadors who wanted nothing more than to talk politics with him, for whatever reason. At the moment, he had found himself enthralled in a rather boring debate about  the true legitimacy of the Aruma and Hele kingdoms.

"I just do not think it fair that we determine our rulers based off of bloodline," One of the foreign ambassadors from the Nebo kingdom argued. As a Roma-continental state, Nebo was not even supposed to exist, for ages Will had thought that they were simply a myth. To his dismay, they were not. And they were especially chatty people. 

A member of one of the Greco-continental states piped up from Wills side, voice nasal enough to match his short stature. "You have no no say here, general Octavian. Your state's divergence from ours ages ago gave up all claims to our affairs."

"I'm just saying, both of our kingdoms get their heritage from Olympia, so why do they not chose our leaders for us?" 

Another Roma interjected before the greco could speak, her voice cool and calculated. "They made it clear long ago that they wanted nothing to do with any of our states, Octavian. It is now up to Hele, Aruma, and Nebo to choose our own leaders that actually match the wishes of the people, not Olympia. Why don't we leave it at that?" 

Will looked over to her along with the rest of the group, moreso out of admiration than distaste. She was in the process of staring down Octavian, her black eyes piercing into his. For an ambassador, which is what Will assumed her to be, she had a rather strict demeanor, her hair braided tightly over one shoulder, skin speckled with small scars which led will to believe his assumption of occupation for her was wrong. She quirked one of her eyebrows at Octavian, as though begging him to disagree with her. And he almost obliged. 

"Commander Ramirez is right," A new voice spoke out, "And I would appreciate if we leave all the shop talk at home. For once let us enjoy this occasion without the mess of politics."

Octavian let out a huff and stalked off, likely going to find his new acquaintance from Olympia, Kronos, to complain. The rest of the group turned to look at the source of the voice, bowing graciously when they realized it was the Prince. 

"Thank you, your highness. I appreciated you stepping in to help me win against that awful mule of a man." The woman who Will now knew as Ramirez spoke.

"Anytime, Reyna. And enough with the formalities, I have known you long enough for you to be at least comfortable with my last name."

She let out a soft laugh, "I see your tactfulness has not changed, Nico. It has been too long, I'm afraid, since we last spoke."

"I agree," The woman pulled him into a hug, which clearly came as a shock to the Prince, but he did not back away. It was such a sweet moment, and Will could not help but feel as though he were intruding on something, so he tried to back away silently. Just as he was about to turn away, he felt a cool familiar hand grab his wrist, pulling him back to the group. 

"Apologies, Reyna, I realize that you have not met my gentleman-in-waiting yet," He finally let go of Will's wrist, motioning to him. "This is William Solace. Bright man, but even better for mindless company." 

Will flinched at the insult, but smiled genuinely to the woman. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Commander Ramirez. I wish I could say I have heard great things about you, unfortunately the Prince here has no real appetite for socialization beyond stabbing jests." 

Ramirez laughed, but much more purely than before, "Oh, I can see why the Prince enjoys your company. You are quite entertaining, very quick in thought indeed. Though I can tell you would much prefer a kinder company than the coldness of his highness, so I enjoy it very much if you would take a turn about the room with me." 

Will looked to the Prince who just shrugged, "Please, you would be doing me a great favor by taking him off my hands." 

Reyna smiled at this, and he extended his elbow to her, allowing her to loop her arm through his. For a moment, they walked in silence, which he gathered to be her favorite form of existence. But her silence was much different than the Prince's. Hers was a peaceful silence that felt very old, whereas the Prince had a chaotic silence, he was always thinking about something or planning his next move. 

She nodded to many people, never really uttering a word to them. But heads were certainly turned with her on the arm of a gentleman-in-waiting of the Hele palace. 

"Tell me William, from which kingdom do you hail? I am much too wise to think you come from this kingdom of bats who have barely seen the sun." 

Will chuckled at the statement "They are rather pale, aren't they? But I am originally from Hele, to answer your question." 

"Ah, the kingdom of the sun. Such beautiful architecture, and even more beautiful people," Upon seeing the look on his face, she laughed and quickly corrected herself, "Do not take that as an advance, my apologies. I am already spoken for by my role, I am afraid." 

"No worries at all." 

He looked around the room once more as they fall back into silence, eyes landing somehow back on the Prince. It was always interesting to watch him interact professionally, how he stood with such rigid posture and carried himself. It was scary, but it was somehow beautiful. The way that his eyes bore into other people, his sharp smile at those he evidently did not care for, his calculated way of communicating to not give anything away. He was a puzzle. 

"General Ramirez," He broke the silence and she looked at him, "How did you and the prince become friends?" 

"Oh it is a long story indeed, but I will give you the shortened version. He and I were on a mission together long ago when he was barely eligible. See, there was this lovely artifact that we needed to retrieve since the Greco states were have a heyday with Olympia at the time. The Aruma palace sent him to retrieve it, and I went along since the artifact was buried far in Roma. We spent ages together on that journey, and at first, neither of us wanted to talk. It was as though we were too proud to open up to one another, so we worked in silence. But eventually, we made breakthroughs, found common ground, and he began to talk to me more," She paused, casting a sideways glance around the room before lowering her voice slightly, "I have never been more saddened by a person's story than his. As just a boy, he had already gone through so much, yet the palace insisted on parading him around as a test of strength. Just hearing about his pain took a toll on me. He truly is one of the most precious people in the world, that is why he has so many layers built up to protect himself." 

Will nodded softly, noticing the tears in her eyes as she spoke "I have heard that he is a special person. Everyone I have talked to has told me that there is more to him than meets the eye, and I am slowly beginning to understand that they are right." 

"That is good," She looked at him, "You have a pure soul William, what you are doing with the Prince I believe will benefit you both. Take care of him, please." 

He looked away once more to see the man in question, shut down as always with his eyes scanning the room in anticipation. They briefly met Will's, and a small smile crept across the man's face, breaking away the shell for a moment before that mask went right back up as he turned to speak to the man next to him. 

"Do not worry, I swear to protect him with my life."