/path of wisdom\

yes, yes, a dream perhaps

I wake up in an unfamiliar bed. The chipped, peeling ceiling above me is the first thing I can see, barely visible by the faint, wavering glow of a candle on a table next to my head. Worried that the flame will singe my hair, I prop myself up on an elbow and carefully push the candle a couple of inches away.

Having woken myself up at this point, I throw the thin tattered sheet away from my body, noticing that this bed, even with its severe lack of comfort, is still more expensive than anything I had in my apartment.

My apartment. Mom. I can hear her crying...God. Where am I? Why did they take me here? What's going on? I...I...I...??? The questions swirl in my head, dazzling me. I feel a hand on my back.

"There, there, you look all in a panic, relax, trust me, this is better living than what we had before..."

"M-Mom?"

I looked up at a completely foreign face. Her smile dropped.

"No, sweetheart, we've never met before. I'm just another servant here at the castle."
Castle?

"Castle?"

"Yeah, the Mayor's Castle."

"The Mayor?"

The Mayor?!

"The Mayor. Don't you remember, sweetheart?"

"I...I think so...why am I here, though?"

"The prince needs a new personal servant. You're just his age."

"I get...to meet the prince?"

"Every day."

"What...if he's mean to me..."

The woman laughed.
"I've heard that the prince is shockingly friendly. Cuddly, even. It's quite absurd. I think they want you to report for duty in the hallway. Upstairs. I'll show you?"

"Yeah..."

I don't know what's going on. I don't know why I'm here. I don't understand why this hallway is so...large. It's not as large as the gap between the city-walls, sure...oh, my entire world was our apartment, my mother's apothecary, and the hallway between all the other properties. Everything was always lined in a film of dirt and rust, including me. In comparison...this place is bright, and clean, and intricate, and massive. I follow closely behind a well-dressed servant. I'm still in the torn clothes the police whisked me away in.

The hallway extends nearly as far as I can see. A faint end is the point the windows and bookshelves lining the space condenses into. Three figures grow steadily clearer as we walk closer; two similarly clean-looking servants and a short, regally decorated boy.

The prince.
My eyes go to the windows on my right, feeling too overwhelmed to meet the prince's gaze. Yellow-tinted light pours in through the tall windows and hangs in the air, draping the floor in an amber glow. The carpet is well-maintained but old, a faded yet ornate pattern woven into it.

"Excuse me?"

I hear a young and delicate voice. I glance up to see the prince. He's right in front of me now, and I realize we're both about the same size.
"I've been told we share a birthday..." He awkwardly stares at the floor and smiles. Like I have been for the past several minutes.

Sweat rolls down my back and my jaw clenches. The servant next to me gives me a violent nudge.

"Y-yes, Your Majesty..."

The prince grabs my hand.

"Come on, I'll show you my room and we can talk more there." He grins and starts running down the hallway, taking me in tandem.