Wanna Be My Queen?

Chapter Two

Getting Lost, Eggs, and Insulting the King

First night in palace: done.

Hunger satisfied: nada.

Arthur lay on top of the silk sheets with limbs sprawled out and a very grumbly tummy. Sunlight streamed in through the small crack in between the curtains, and Arthur had an urge to tell it to shut up.

His stomach rumbled for the nth time that morning. With a determined huff, he pushed himself off the extremely soft bed and onto his feet, grabbing his suitcase filled with clothes and changing into more suitable attire for the day (which was a grey collared shirt and another pair of tweed pants, seeing as that was the nicest thing he had).

Arthur hadn't been paying attention when Matthew had been leading him to his room, but now, as he peeked out into the hallway, he wished he had.

Right? Or left?

He decided to go left.

There was nothing else down this hallway except for a few doors here and there on the sides, and Arthur was too scared to open any of them. In his defense, he had no idea what could be hiding behind them, so he opted to just leave them alone.

Once he came to a dead end, he turned around, passed the room he was staying in, and kept going straight until there was another right/left decision to make.

He went right this time.

This happened a few times (just how many freaking corridors are in this place?!) before he finally found himself in a room with a wood tiled floor and high-rising roof. Every wall had more of those tall, blue-tinted windows, with more doors in between each one.

It certainly wasn't a place with food, but at least Arthur was out of those hallways for now. (This time he paid close attention to his surroundings, so he could find his way back on his own).

Footsteps stopped him from advancing into the room, however, and even if they didn't faze him, the voice definitely would have.

"Mr. Kirkland, what are you doing standing in front of the ballroom?"

Arthur looked over his shoulder to see who was addressing him before fully turning around. Matthew stopped before him with feet together a small bow, wearing the same outfit as yesterday (it's actually different, but it looks exactly the same).

"Ah, well, I was looking for food, but this place is very big and I, uh..." He trailed off, and Matthew nodded in understanding.

"It's quite alright, Mr. Kirkland. Many guests become lost, but I assure you that once you get used to the palace, you'll be able to navigate yourself around very easily." Matthew offered a small smile. "Would you like me to show you to the kitchen?"

"Yes, please. If it isn't any trouble."

----

With one last bow, Matthew turned away, leaving Arthur alone in the kitchen.

Well, not entirely alone, since there were a few chefs milling around, but the lack of familiar faces left Arthur feeling lonely.

A couple of the female chefs looked over him with an appraising eye, but no one came to speak to him. He wasn't complaining though; these people didn't look like they wanted to be talked to anyway.

After a few minutes of banging around in the cupboards, Arthur found himself standing before a gas-lit stove with a pan in one hand and two eggs in the other. He cracked them open, and left them sizzling as he looked through more cabinets and drawers to find a spatula. As he was searching, he realized there was only one more chef in the room, and he was actually walking out the door as Arthur watched.