the Queen's man (Original story by me)

Ch 2: dirt

𝓘𝓽 𝓽𝓸𝓸𝓴 𝓪𝓫𝓸𝓾𝓽 𝓪 𝓭𝓪𝔂 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓪 𝓱𝓪𝓵𝓯 𝓽𝓸 𝓰𝓮𝓽 𝓽𝓸 𝓥𝓮𝓻𝓼𝓪𝓲𝓵𝓵𝓮𝓼, 𝔀𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓺𝓾𝓮𝓮𝓷 𝓵𝓲𝓿𝓮𝓭. 
It was a quiet ride. I spent many hours watching the trees and reciting back to myself what my uncle had told me. he gave me a new identity, new clothes, a new family, a new birthplace, even a new birthdate. It was all so confusing at first. one moment I was preparing to be the duke of  Dialskarr, the next I was in a coach with two men I didn't know and my uncle who had planned all of this nonsense.

Friedrich Caldwell was born into a noble family along with his brother Andre. as the younger of the two, Friedrich was often not the topic of conversation among the friends and families of House Caldwell. he was left in the shadows while his older brother became the great duke of  Dialskarr. But just because he was quiet didn't mean that he was sitting around doing nothing. He was responsible for my mother's marriage to my father; he was there at my birth, and he even suggested to my mother that I should be named after my grandfather. I had always loved him because he was my uncle. my own flesh and blood. when my father died, he was there for me and he took care of me. but as I got older, I realized that he was not all that I thought he was. He schemed. he plotted. he attempted to tear noble families apart for his own benefit. I lost my love for him the day he shipped me off to France.

As the coach traveled along the road, I tried to focus on the stones that were disturbed by the wheels. but all I could think of was how minute by minute, hour by hour, we were just that much further away from my home. the place that I had known all my life slowly drifting away from me. my childhood dissolving before my very eyes like a cloud being blown by the wind.
I also thought of Jamie. about the day that he ran unknowingly into my bedchambers. about how after that day, he made a vow to always be there by my side no matter what became of us. about how I had made the same vow. we looked into each other's eyes and decided it right then and there that we would forever be friends. I couldn't help but think that I was betraying that vow. I decided to break the silence.

I turned my head away from the window so that I could face my uncle.
"Is Jamie going to be okay?" I asked. "Because if you've hurt him, I swear I would never forgive you."

Uncle sighed. "Your pet is fine. In fact, I think right now he's taking his mid-day stroll like he does every day." 

"He's not my pet," I growled. "And how do you know what he's doing right now?" 

"When will you learn, nephew, that I know everything that happens in that house."

That was the end of that. He always had the final word. it was silent for the rest of the journey.
I don't know how long I slept.
I 

       Just

                            Drifted

                                                    Off.....

I dreamt of my mother. I never actually knew her because she died shortly after I was born. I had a portrait of her hanging on the wall across from my bed so that I could look at her before I went to sleep. 
In my dream I was sitting on my mother's lap. her long, silky, dark curls brushed against my face as she worked on a quilt for winter. I looked up at her dark face and wondered what she was thinking. her eyes were greener than the greenest leaves in summer, and they shone in the light of the candle beside us causing them to look like emeralds. her lips were painted a dark maroon, and her cheeks were just ever so pink with blush that you could barely notice it, but it was there. her dress was dark blue with a low neckline where she wore only one piece of jewelry, a necklace that my father had gifted her on their wedding day. It was a pendent in the shape of a heart that held a small portrait of her and my father. I still have the locket, but I never saw my mother wear it. 
Every night I have this dream, but this time it was different. this time my mother was singing to me. a lullaby that I had never heard before. As she sang, I instantly felt safe and loved. I felt the warmth of her hand on my face, and the cotton of her dress on my skin.