The Royal Servant

The Royal Servant- Chapter 1

Personally, I love writing this story and I hope you love reading it too.

Enjoy.

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Fiddling with my blue satin dress, I overlooked my grey stoned city through the iron windows; vines twirling around the copper coloured ridges. It was a beautiful sight to see the cobbled streets soaking in the soft licks of early morning sunlight, but the butterflies dancing in my stomach seemed to be dimming my eyesight, making me feel sick to the stomach.

I was so nervous. There was something wrong -- I could feel it.

With an apprehensive glance to my left I smiled hesitantly at my mother who sat beside me, stroking my hair and telling me small nothings about the court gossip in order to pass the time.

"Lord Dermouth is available and in want of a wife. He seems to have gotten very close to Lady Bridge recently. I would not be shocked in the slightest if a match occurred there soon," she rambled on with animation, the feel of her hands running through my hair not soothing me in the slightest.

"Hmm." I wasn't really paying attention to anything she was saying, I was thinking about my father, and how he had been ignoring me all week.

"Ma, what do you think father is up to?"

"I don't know Portia, I really don't know," Mother murmured, patting me affectionately, her brown hair swishing gently at her shoulders as a small strand escaped the net that fastened half her hair on top of her head.

My mother was a beautiful woman; she, unlike me, was voluptuous and had hair that gleamed under the light, its touch as soft as my satin dress. She also had that easy charm that seemed to bring a smile out on everyones' face. Not mine though, that smile after seeing it for every day of my life had almost become lost like a small glass marble in a giant sand tray. Only a good bit of shaking could lure it back to the surface again. Today was a day when the marble was buried deep, well in the depths of the sand.

We both sat in silence waiting for the news once she had finished talking about the Lords and Ladies. It was awkward, and I didn't quite know what to do with myself. In general my mother was quite reserved and all the attention she was giving me made me feel even more nervous. Usually she saved her energy for entertaining those who she felt needed enertaining -- those who she wanted to cast under her spell. In some ways, I think my mother is a lot like Helen of Troy. Beautiful, alluring, charming, but also deadly. I have to say that I am thankful I am her beloved child, not someone who could be cast aside without an ounce of remorse.

With a jump, I felt my shoulders go rigid when there was a small knock at the door, two guards dressed in matching red uniforms wandering in. "King Carislo has requested a seating with Princess Portia."

The men gave a short bow in unison before exiting the way they came, nothing but the tails of their blazers diminishing out of sight when they had finished.

"There you go my dear. God must have answered yours prayers today. Now you can finally find out what your father has been up to," Mother said, ushering me to the door.

With a slight grin, giddyness beginning to overwhelm my senses. I kissed the small cross that hung around my neck before making my way through the castle to the King's study. I was finally to know what was happening around here. There was definitely something going on, that's for sure.

The stones on the ground seemed to echo under my wooden slippers as I made the journey to the other side of the castle, each sound making my stomach jump in trepidation and the journey seemed to take an eternity, each footstep only guiding me a fraction of the way there.