Beyond Castle Walls (Janiel AU)

Chapter 2: Stewards and Guards

Joey's P.O.V.

I'm awoken by a knock on my door, as I am most mornings. Most people would dream about this life. It is the life found in most children stories. It is a life of wealth and opportunity. It is the life of a prince. However it is a dreadfully boring life. Every single day my personal steward, whom I despise, wakes me up, then I get dressed, also with the help of my steward, and then I walk around the castle for the remainder of the day. Do I have tasks to do during the day? Yes, but most of them are things like meeting up in the grand hall for dinner or sitting in on an official meeting to hear my advisors speak of things they all think I'm too young to comprehend. I shall be king in not too long, as my father was recently slain on the battlefield, and my entire royal council seem to think that I am immature and unfit for the job. Unfit for the job? Compared to whom exactly? My father was an incredible warrior, but he was no great king. He was homophobic, discriminating, ruthless and without any sense of compassion. No one should, in my opinion, follow his footsteps in both being king and a father. It was different when my mother was around. She was a sweet woman, but years of fighting with my father took it's toll and she turned to drinking. Eventually she died from starvation, as she would refused to eat anything and only drink wine all day. We told the nation that she died from illness, but the only real disease was her addiction. So now here I am, about to be king, with no living family except for my sister, Nicole, and with a council that could not hate me more.

The door to my bedroom swings open and my steward, William, walks in. Allthough I've only had him work for me for a week, he is by far the steward I have liked the least. I do not understand why it is so difficult to find a steward who can be polite, honest and friendly while doing his job well.

"Good morning Your Majesty." He says in a monotone voice.

"Good morning William." I answer him as he starts dressing me. He does his job perfectly, but he is like a robot. No real emotion, no conversation unless it's requested by me, no diversions. It's almost like he's not actually there. He adjusts my jacket before exiting the room, just like he is supposed to. And that is the problem. He makes no mistakes, ever. Another knock on my door and my personal advisor, who is the only person in the council I can stand, walks in.

"Good morning Joey." He says casually.

"Good morning Sawyer." I answer in the same manner. Sawyer is the only person in the castle whom I can call my friend, and therefor he has a very casual manner of speaking to me. Of course, he would never speak to me by nickname, or even by name in public. But in the safety of these four walls we could be ourselves.

"I seriously can't stand William, Sawyer. We need to get rid of him." I say.

"Joey, he does his job perfectly. On which grounds would we possibly let him go?" He questions.

"On the grounds that he simply wasn't a good fit for the job. Now I have a hunt to get to, and I really don't want to deal with William the Robot. So will you please just make sure he's gone by the time I'm back?" I ask as I'm about to head out.

"Sure Joey, but you need to give the new one a chance." He asnwers and with a quick thank you, I am out the door. 

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There is nothing I love more than being in the woods. I always tell people I'm out hunting but the command of my guard, Connor Franta, knows that I am absolutly not hunting when I go out here. I just love the freedom I feel out here. I'm not restricted by the castle walls, I for once do not have to feel like everyone else decides how I should live my life. Out here no one will notice if I'm not the perfect prince, our here I can breathe, out here I am simply Joey.

"Do you need my assistance, Your Majesty?" Connor asks. He knows what my answer will be, as it is the same answer I give him every day, but he knows he should ask anyways.

"No, you may ride into town if you like. Report back here in an hour." I state with a smile on my lips. Connor rides away towards the small village as I head the other direction, deeper in the thick forest. I ride around for about twenty minutes before I spot a small creek. Great, I could use some fresh water. I walk closer and I'm about to bend down to drink when I see a man sitting by the edge of the creek. He has dark hair, beautiful blue-gray eyes, and prominant cheekbones. But the most intranzing thing about him are his plump, pink, full lips. They looked so amazingly kissable. He was like a perfect painting, or a carefully carved skulpture.

"Hi." I say as I lightly tap him on the shoulder. He turns around and his face quickly changes from calm to shocked as he realises who I am.

"Oh my! Y-you're, y-y-you're the prince." He stutters out.